Chapter 1

Sadie POV

Hullo! I'm back! New story for you to listen. (Carter says that it's more than just a story. That it's vitally important. Ya, ya. Whatever. Now let me tell the story.) So… the world is saved… again. We have a lot of recruits. This little adventure all started one Saturday morning…

I was having a wonderful morning. We had finally started vacations. So we were free from school. But my perfect morning was ruined by Carter. (It was! Now shut up.) I was having breakfast and staring at our beloved Philip of Macedonia, when Carter sat next to me. "We need to talk." He said in a voice I sadly recognized. This was serious business. "What? I can't have one day with peace?" I questioned. I knew I was being childish, but everyone got to be childish every once in a while, right? (Carter says that I am a child so I'm always childish. Now he's groaning because someone punched him.) "You know what. There have been too many reports of magic. We have to investigate. This is getting out of hand. Maybe there are some magicians out there." He sighed. I gave him a deathly glare. And considering that my boyfriend was the god of death, I did pretty well. "Is it really that bad?" I asked. He nodded. "We can split up. I know Alyssa wanted to go on an adventure, so she can go with Felix to Canada. Paul and Julian can go with Khufu to Mexico. Bast can take some of the anklebiters to Boston so they can get some more experience. We'll go with Walt to Manhattan. We'll need our strongest because Manhattan has had most reports of magic." He drilled. I immediately blushed at the mention of Walt's name. Bloody relationships. Why was my life so complicated? "Can we leave tomorrow?" I pleaded. He nodded. So my day was ruined. Now I had to worry about going to Manhattan. I remembered someone telling me that Manhattan was not a good place for blood of the pharaohs to be. Just what I needed.

Now the truth was that we did need this. We had been practicing our magic, but it was getting a bit boring. We needed action. The crew was hopping with excitement. So much for a calm summer. I packed my usual stuff in a backpack. Normal clothes, clothes for magic, gum, my wand, some amulets, a shrunken staff, and a bit of wax were some of the things. That's right. It's just the usual things you pack for going to Manhattan. I dressed in normal clothes because we would look like freaks I we walked around wearing what looked like pajamas. Not that we hadn't done it before, but it was nice to go some days without everyone staring at you. I left my room and I saw that everyone else was also ready. God, they must have been extremely excited to have gotten up early and look awake. Cater pulled me away from the others, into the library. He took something and handed it to me I dropped it in shock. He was trying to give me the amulet that contained part of Isis. We had agreed not to use them unless it was necessary. "Look, we're going to Manhattan. It could be dangerous. We have to be prepared." Carter reasoned. I picked the amulet up warily and threw it into my pack. "Let's go." I ran out of the library.

Walt was waiting for us. Everybody else had left. I avoided his eyes and hurried out to the roof. Freak was waiting. He looked even more ecstatic than the others. Carter calmed him down so we could ride him. He took us the Central Park. It was about five in the morning so no one noticed us. I got off as quickly as possible. I did not like riding griffins. It was most terrifying. The second he had left, something pounced on me. I screamed. "Get it off!" I squealed. I will never forgive myself for acting so weakly, but the thing on me was huge. It pinned me down. It looked vaguely like some kind of dog. Other than the fact that it was much bigger and it had red eyes. I looked to my sides. Walt and Carter were also pinned down. I saw Carter moving a bit. He held out his hand. His sword materialized in his hand. He stabbed the mutt on him in the stomach. It turned to dust. The hound on me jumped off me and went for him. I took out my wand. "Tas!" I yelled. The symbol for bind flared over the monster's head. Then ribbons wrapped around it like a mummy. Carter rolled his eyes. "I could have taken him." We remembered Walt. Carter stabbed his mutt too. "It's about time. I thought you were going to let that thing rip my face off." He grumbled. I turned suddenly. There was a boy with his arms crossed. Behind him, there were ten more dogs. "Who are you?" He demanded.