Hayleigh took three deep breaths and jumped off of the cliff edge. There was no way she was going to stay where she was, pinned between a monster and the ocean. It wouldn't happen. Not to her.

Months ago, she wouldn't have believed that any of this could have happened. She didn't believe in Greek myths. Who did anymore? They were just stories people had told thousands of years ago to explain seasons and accidents. But this was real. She had just faced the Minotaur, a half-bull and half-man monster.

She would have won, too, if she hadn't been distracted by the storm. It gave the Minotaur a chance to swipe her off her feet. She had gone flying into a tree and probably broke her arm.

She knew right then that her only choice would be the ocean. It was over a hundred feet down, but she could only hope that her uncle, Poseidon, would help her. He had never played attention to her once before, but she wished sincerely that he did this time.

It was sudden that her fall began to slow. A voice wispered in her ear, "Do not worry. I am Zephyr, the north wind, and I have been instructed by your father to help you."

Her father! Zeus had heard her prayers, he had protected her on her journey down to the ocean! She quickly thanked Zephyr and was carried over the ocean like a child.

When she had blown out the candles on her Sweet Sixteen birthday cake and wished for an adventure, this wasn't what she had meant. This wasn't what she wanted.

And even as she was set on solid groud, she knew her adventures had just begun. The monsters and gods that dilikes her would never give up the hunt until she was dead. She would not be afraid. She would face them with her head held high. If she had to die, she would die like a hero. Yet, she had chosen to jump before rather than die at the Minotaur's hand.

That's different, she thought. I would not be his next meal, like Castor.

Castor, her very best friend, had mysteriously died the year before. She didn't know why until she discovered the Greek myths. Castor had been more than a friend. He was her cousin. And she would not give in to the Minotaur. She would kill him before he died. This she swore. She swore on the River Styx, the biggest binding possible. This was not over. Not now.