When I Got There
Camp "Half-Blood"? Surely I heard him wrong over the wind whipping around us. Half Blood? Half human, I presume and half - what? Leo looks back at my astonished face flashes his mischievous smirk, curly hair flying around his face.
"You'll see," he smirks.
I lean back, trying to comprehend what has happened in just the past twelve hours. I squeeze my eyes tight, telling myself when I opened them, I'll wake up from a now completely different nightmare, but no. When I open my eyes, I'm still on the back of a flying horse, holding onto a weird, magical boy on the way to some weird camp after being attacked by giant hairy spiders.
The pegasi (pegasuses? pegasus'? oh whatever) travel fast. Within an hour, our rides begin slowing down and start their slow descent.
From up above, Camp "Half-Blood?" does look like a camp, but a really messed up, Amazon-warrior looking camp. Below me lies a rock wall with what looks like real lava flowing down the side. On the other side of the land, everything is covered with green. Green fields of something growing and a massive forest that takes up a quarter of the land. What I assume are the cabins are arranged in a horseshoe shape and even from above I can hear the sounds of whoops and shouts and metal clanging against metal.
How could anyone miss this place?
As we near the camp I notice immediately that a strange crowd has surrounded below us. Half man, half goat creatures stare at us from the fields where a pleasant strawberry smell is lingering. Young women almost materialize from the trees. Kids of all ages covered in odd coverings of armor gaze up at us as our pegasi (I've decided this as the most correct) softly touch down on the sandy beach.
"Hi! We're hooommme!" Leo jumps down and sticks the landing with a heroic pose in the sand. I'm still in shock. My brain refuses to believe what I'm seeing around me but my eyes refuse to look away.
It takes me a minute before I realize that everyone in the small crowd gathered is staring at me - or rather above me.
"...what-what is going on?" I demand.
Leo looks up at me, "Oh, they're waiting for a magical symbol to materialize above your head." Leo states matter-of-factly.
Arion's steed touches down beside me. I dash off my ride and rush over to Livia, laying on the silver back of the pegasus. "Livia! Is she alright?" I grab her arm, feeling her wrist for a pulse.
Arion jumps down and touches my arm. "She'll be fine. I promise. You're safe here."
"Safe?" I laugh. "I don't even know where here is! What attacked us? What is this place?" I push Arion away.
Leo rushes over, stepping in between us, raising his hands as if I was in any position of being able to harm him in any way.
"Hey, it's okay. I told you we're at Camp Half-Blood. It's a camp for - for kids like us. It keeps us safe."
"Safe? Safe from what? The spider thing-ys?" I have to be going crazy.
"Trust me, gorgeous, spider thing-ys and much, much worse. We're here to help you. I know you have questions," His deep, comforting chestnut eyes bore into mine. "We'll try to answer anything we can."
Before I can start my explosion of questions, however, screams break out.
The small crowd gathered around us acts at once. Arion draws a sword from his collection on his belt and starts barking orders at soon as he could draw the breath. Leo runs toward me, picking up Livia on the back of the horse and even the pegasus immediately flies up and bolts down the beach.
"What's going on!?" I yell at no one in particular.
"Another attack. We'll have to rain check on the tour. Follow me and you'll be less likely to die!" Leo sprints down path opposite the makeshift army advancing toward the screams.
My legs act on their own accord. I take off beside Leo, running past volleyball courts and odd looking cabins. We run past forest lines and the dining hall. Around us, the strangest defense I'd ever seen run past us. Some are decked in full armor, others barely have time to pull a helmet before they run to defense, grabbing swords, bows, whatever they could find.
Leo leads me to a giant, blue, three-story house with a wrap around porch. He sets Livia, whose beginning to groan and twitch, in a rocking chair.
"Stay with her and stay here, okay? I'll be back in a jiffy. If I'm alive." He winks at me and holds his hands open. At first, I think he's trying to offer me a hug, but then his hands themselves come ablaze. Well, I'm glad I didn't hug him.
He takes off down the porch, in the direction the other campers and hurrying to. I jump on the railing and I can vaguely see ahead a pine tree on a tall hill and - something huge. What looks like a collection of huge lions with wings (what is it with animals with wings here?) attacking ruthlessly.
"Wh-what? Where are we?"
Livia! "Hey, Liv, how ya feeling?" I rush over and kneel by the rocking chair beside her.
"Like hell, head hurts. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. I don't quite know where we are but you're never gonna believe-"
My sentence is drowned out by a roar so loud it shook the windows of the giant blue house.
"What was that?!" Livia is fully alert now.
"I wish I could explain everything, but I don't understand any of this."
Another roar shakes the porch and as it recedes, I hear a female voice.
Go inside
"Did you say something, Liv?" I glance around, no one was around us. Everyone seemed to be down in the fight.
"No. Sal-what is going on?"
Trust me, go inside to the left.
Am I crazy? Am I simply hearing voices and imaging flying horses? I must be losing it after too many all-nighters.
Inside, girl!
I jump. Whoever is talking is starting to get pissed. "Wait here, Liv." I run to the front door and throw it open.
"Like hell, I will," Livia mutters after me, jumping up and dashing after me.
I walk into an entrance hallway. To the left lies what looks like a living area. On the wall, just above the fireplace, though, stands out a beautiful, gleaming, golden sword. The blade is long and double sided and just above the hilt in perfect etched letters reads Anaklusmos. It stands proudly behind a sheet of glass.
Take it
Take it? I've never touched a gun, let alone a sword. I take a step closer. It feels almost like it's pulling me closer to it. Below the glass is a short, hand-written note in nice, neat handwriting. 'In honor of Percy Jackson, thank you'.
"Sali, what are you doing" Livia is standing in the open doorway.
Grab the sword and run towards the fight, you're family depends on you
I don't know how I explain what I do next. I still refuse to believe it was my own free will that led me to do what I do next.
I take the glass case from the mantle and throw it on the ground and grab the hilt of the sword on the floor and for some reason, it feels right. Just like riding the pegasus, just like something about this place feels like a long-last homecoming. Like I belong. I grab Anaklusmos and rush past Livia out the door and out of the house. I race down the stairs, the sword in my hand.
What am I doing? I don't know how to use a sword! I'm probably running straight toward my death. I slow down.
What are you doing? Go! I will direct you, child. Listen to me.
My strange burst of confidence rushes back and I charge on, right towards the roars of the golden, poisonous manticores atop the hill.
Don't rush in head first, put on the hat.
I stop in my tracts. The hat? The hat! I grab the old Yankee cap that I grabbed on the way out of my door which feels like ages ago now and put it on my head.
And I wait.
And wait.
...I don't feel heroic yet.
But then, I look down - and I can't see my feet!
I throw the hat off of my head and push down a scream. I'd put that hat on before and I doubt that had ever happened? Did I really just never notice that handy little magic trick in that torn hat I loathed?
Put it on, and attack from behind. The tail is filled with poison and you could die the minute it touches you
I almost ask the voice if I really have to, before it yells at me again
GO!
I throw the hat back on and, as quietly as I can, run up the hill.
As soon as I reach the top I immediately want to run back down. The mysterious voice was right. In front of me, charging into as many campers as it can, stands a giant lion-like creature I had only read about in my Greek Mythology book or Harry Potter. It had the face and body of a great lion on steroids, giant wings that knocked down the first few lines of the campers defense when the creature flapped them, and at the back, a skinny, long tail that looked like it belonged on the bottom side of a scorpion. It had pinchers that were always flowing with an acidic green looking poison.
I see Leo shooting fireball and fireball, but to no avail, this things skin seems to be as tough as armor. Arion has used over a quarter of his weapon arrangement around him and is down to what seems to be his last arrow.
First rule of combat - Look for a weakness. Where's his weakness, Salacia?
I frantically look around and notice a small cut the size of maybe a bookmark, but already gushing a strange golden substance, on the creature's back paw.
Good. Approach carefully. Its senses are diverted because of the other campers. It shouldn't notice. You have one shot. After that, its tail will sink into your back and you will die. Sneak behind, below, and attack. Brains before brawn. Always. Remember that. Good luck.
And just like that, the voice is gone. The only guidance I had and suddenly, I know I have a minimum of twenty seconds before my surge of confidence is gone and I'm running for the hill. Literally.
Making sure the hat with the magical invisibility is secure, I grasp the sword tighter until my knuckles are white, if I could see them. I slowly circle the beast, still staying about twenty feet away. It still hasn't sensed me. I duck when a fireball flies over me and steer clear of the other swords and arrows shooting throughout the field. I creep closer, approaching its backside now, taking care of the fatal tail and try my hardest to avoid getting stepped on.
I sink to the ground, slowly crawling towards the manticore's hind legs until I get so close I can make out each individual hair on its back. I take a deep breath, squeeze the hilt then raise the sword and let instincts take over as the blade comes swinging down onto its paw.
An ear deafening roar pierces the air as I roll as far as I can away from the beast. Too bad I forgot lions had claws.
As I roll away from the beast, its front claw catches my arm and slashes my left arm from the shoulder to my elbow. I let out a scream as the lion itself falls down, off- balance from the abuse to its back paw.
I struggle to pick myself back up, using my good right arm to push myself up and find my sword lying a foot away from the monster. I must have dropped it in my roll of escape.
I stagger over, grabbing the sword hilt from the ground and plunge it into the lion's exposed underbelly, where no armored skin covered.
The beast roared its last roar as it quickly evaporated into dust, leaving behind a single talon from its claw.
I barely have the strength to turn towards the rest of the little army gathered. Leo stares, mouth agape, fire still blazing from his fingers. Arion studies me intently, bow lowered. My hat lays on the ground beside my feet and every eye is staring straight at me - or rather above me.
I look up and vaguely register a gleaming, green trident with a beautiful shimmering owl flying around it before I collapse and everything goes black.