"No!" I screamed. "No, Luke! We have to go back! We have to help her!"
"Keep going!" Grover urged. "We're almost there!" We charged up the hill – or rather, Grover and Luke charged up the hill, Luke trying desperately to keep hold of me as I struggled in his arms.
"Annabeth, hold still!" Luke tightened his grip around my waist, and I wriggled even more. "We need to get to safety! We-" The rest of his words were drowned out by an impossibly loud roar from one of the creatures pursuing us, the creatures that Thalia was now facing, alone.
From my spot over Luke's shoulder, I could see the whole gristly scene. The monsters were enormous, and they looked very, very hungry – hungry for blood. Thalia, brave as always, stood her ground and unveiled Aegis, her magic shield, with a tap of her wrist and a "HA!" The creatures backed off momentarily – with its likeness of Medusa's face, Aegis truly was terrifying – but they quickly got over their fear and attacked.
Thalia raised her spear and uttered a wild battle cry as the first monster – a gigantic dog with glowing red eyes – attacked. Spear connected with fur, and the beast exploded in a cloud of gold dust. Unfortunately for my friend, dozens more of the creatures still remained, as well as three bat-like women with sharp fangs for teeth and talons for claws. Thalia fought bravely, bringing down several more hounds, but finally, one of them hit her with a blow to the chest that, even from this distance, I knew spelled bad news.
"Thalia!" I cried. "Luke, she's hurt! Go back! Thalia!" Our friend lay motionless at the top of the hill, the monsters who'd defeated her now eying us hungrily.
Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning lit up the sky, vaporizing the remaining demons in a blast of gold so bright we were momentarily blinded. When the smoke cleared, Thalia was gone, the spot where her body had just been now occupied by a magnificent pine. In that instant, I knew she was gone.
"No," I whispered, the tears starting to flow. "No! Thaliaaaaaaa!" The last syllable of my fallen comrade's name morphed into a wail as I broke down completely, sobbing into Luke's shoulder as he tried to comfort me.
I should have been impressed by the Big House's splendor, its sky blue façade sparkling in the early morning sunlight. I should have been shocked to discover that Chiron, the activities director, was not only a bona fide centaur, but the same Chiron who'd trained such mighty heroes as Hercules. I should have been thirsting for more as Chiron and Grover explained all about the gods, Camp Half-Blood, and our status as demigods, and I should have been in awe when a gigantic owl hologram made an appearance at my first campfire, claiming me as a daughter of Athena. But I wasn't. How could I be, how could I possibly feel any of those things when my best friend was dead? I was even mad at Luke – he'd promised to keep us together, to keep us safe. He'd promised.
Finally, though, as I sat under Thalia's pine tree one morning, I realized something. Thalia wouldn't have wanted me to be like this. It hurt to think of her in the past tense, but I knew in my heart it was true. I could almost hear her voice scolding me: "Annabeth Chase, is this really how you're repaying me?" She died to give us a chance, and here I was, wasting that chance. In that instant, I resolved to do better. I would train harder, learn more, and give my all every day, and when my time came to fight, it would be the monsters who ran screaming in fear.