"Duck!" Magnus screamed and we all clambered to the ground, waiting for the creature to pass.

*

The creature landed with a thump on the ground in front of us, scorching a hole in the ground.

I silently thanked the gods (wait does that mean I thanked myself) and almost burst out laughing as I got a proper look at the creature that had given us all a fright.

A larger-than-usual, glossy black raven was shaking it's feathers with a sort of dignified annoyance, and I immediately knew that this was no normal bird.

Annabeth, Magnus, Hearthstone, and Alex were now looking at the raven curiously too, and both Magnus and Hearthstone's faces were pulled into grimaces, probably from the memory of unfortunate past experiences.

"I don't like ravens," Magnus said, standing up and looking at it suspiciously.

I stood up, brushing myself off, and took a step closer to the glossy mass of carefully preened feathers.

"Careful," Annabeth warned, and I shot her a small nod, taking out the pen I always had in pocket, ready to use.

The raven looked up all of a sudden, staring at me with its beady onyx eyes.

It seemed to analyze me, looking me up and down so intensely, I was pretty sure it knew what I was thinking.

With a slight nod, it ruffled its feathers, took two hops forward and bowed, a graceful, dignified bow, the kind that I could never pull off without feeling stupid.

I felt a tingle at the back of my head, and the raven's voice filled my brain, a high pitched, accented squawk.

"My lord," I heard him say, "my master Odin sent me. I was to give you this."

He flew up onto my shoulder, and I struggled to support his weight, and not to mention the claws that were digging into my skin. He dropped an small, decorated bag into my palm, and flew to the ground once more.

"Thank you," I said, and with a slight nod of his head, he flew away, his huge wings creating a slight breeze.

"Well," Magnus said, "at least you didn't go through all that suffering for nothing."

"Yeah," I replied, holding up the cream colored bag.

Hearthstone stepped forward, silently asking to see the runes. He still looked more pale than usual, and still didn't seem to be back to his normal self.

I handed him the bag, and he started examining it with a slight frown of concentration etched on his face which for Hearthstone probably was equal to a surgeon making a life saving cut or something.

"Are you going to teach me the ropes?" I asked, because there was absolutely no way I could learn this by trial and error. I had seen the tiring tax the runes had left on Hearthstone and if he was a skilled rune user, who knew what would happen to a beginner?

Hearthstone handed back my pouch of runes and gave a short, hasty nod, almost as if he was scared of agreeing. He then turned away, leaning heavily against the huge tree for support.

I thanked him and turned to Annabeth, who was grinning so wide, her face was practically spilt in half.

I wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of her gorgeous princess curls.

"We should really get back home," she said, and I grunted in agreement.

Magnus glanced at Hearthstone who shook his head weakly.

"I don't think Hearth is strong enough to get us back," he said.

"And Percy doesn't know how to use the runes or his godly powers yet," Alex added, making the faint spirit of happiness and hope blink out.

"What are we going to do?" I asked, feeling stupid that I knew pretty much nothing about the Norse world. But then, I had known pretty much nothing about the Greek world too, but I learned as I went along.

"We could go via Yggdrasil," Magnus suggested, "but it's not easy and it's not safe."

"So we could die?" I asked.

"It's very likely."

"I promised my mom I wouldn't try to go into danger, but she doesn't need to know all the details," I said.

"Knowing Percy we'll probably meet all the obstacles and monsters if we go," Annabeth added.

"Hey, it's not my fault trouble seems to like me!" I protested and she laughed.

"So are we doing this?" Magnus asked.

"Definitely," I replied, without a hint of hesitation in my voice.

*

We stood at the base at the huge tree, watching its study branches weave in and out of the pastel sky. Every single crevice in its trunk seemed to lead somewhere else, some looking cold and menacing, others looking light and airy.

"So how exactly does this work again?" I asked and Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Each of the branches lead to a different world. You could end up in Helheim if you aren't careful," Alex explained.

"So how do we know which leads to where?"

Alex grinned.

"Maggie can speak tree."

"I do NOT speak tree!" Magnus protested, but he still reached for the branches and closed his eyes. After concentrating for a few moments, he pointed out a branch on the far left.

"That one leads to Earth," he said, "where on Earth, I don't know."

"But at least we'll be on Earth," I said.

"True," he said, "we could pop up in a country that's having a war but..."

"Relax," Alex said, "Boston is the center of the Nine Worlds, right?"

Magnus nodded.

"So we'll probably end up there," he concluded.

"Are we going to do this or not?" I asked, "because I didn't sign up for a debating club. I signed up to get runes, which we got, and now I want to get back home."

Magnus rolled his eyes.

"Fine, whatever, let's go."

*

The tree was filled with obstacles, designed to trap you and kill you wherever you went.

"Careful," Annabeth said, warning me of a large hole, which did not remind me of pleasant memories.

We walked along the huge branch in silence, only breaking the silence to warn of an upcoming trap.

There was something menacing in the air, like the tree itself wanted to kill us, which it probably did. Everyone and everything wanted to kill us.

"Don't freak out or anything," Magnus whispered, his voice piercing the silence, "but I think something may be watching us."

Hearthstone, of course, could not hear, but Alex tapped his shoulder and passed the message along to him.

With a well trained eye, Hearth slowly raised a trembling finger to a clump of leaves where a camouflaged monster was slowly creeping out, with the sole intention of killing us.