Frank was right. We ran over to where they were fighting and found that it was not going well. I would guess that about twenty dracaenas were still alive, but only six of our group were still in fighting shape. Nico was fighting with four skeletons against six dracaenas. As I watched, one of the skeletons got a spear in the head and went down. Thalia and Piper were still standing which I was relieved to see, Piper was trying to defend herself against two of the monsters with just her bronze sword. Thalia was running between the monsters, slashing with her two hunting knives which I guess meant she had run out of arrows. Lightning would zap monsters, occasionally turning them to dust, however with that much lightning coming down I guessed that Thalia was getting exhausted. Jason and Malcom were also still standing, but they were surrounded by nine more snake-women. Gusts of wind would deflect any spears that were thrown towards them, I guess that was thanks to Jason, and Malcom was doing an impressive job of keeping them away with his sword but they were getting tired too. Will Solace was with everyone else, trying to keep everyone alive and occasionally picking up a sword and stabbing at monsters if they got too close. With some kind of unspoken command the four of us ran into the fight, to help our outnumbered friends.
In all the battle didn't last very long. The dracaenas were badly equipped with mostly blunt spears and weren't the greatest fighters, the only reason that they had managed to injure so many was that they had outnumbered their opponents five to one, allowing everyone to be completely surrounded. When we finished the last of them off we found that the casualties were not as bad as they could have been. Hazel was doing okay, and managed to get back on Arion with only a little help. Most people had been knocked unconscious by the blunt spears but were up again thanks to a little ambrosia. There were two broken bones which Will Solace fixed and predicted they would make a full recovery in a day. Everyone was in good spirits as they had survived another battle, until they saw Lee Fletcher.
The son of Apollo had been found surrounded by the armour and weapons of the monsters he had taken out before his death, but had clearly been overwhelmed. His body was found with a spear through his chest, his open eyes glassy and unseeing. Will could do nothing but close the eyelids of his half-brother, and burn his body in a golden shroud, surrounded by the weapons and armour of the monsters he had killed before he died. Nico muttered some quiet words to the body, and we watched it go up in flames. As we started our journey, Percy left to scout ahead again, his head bowed and his hands tight.
'He needs some time,' Nico muttered to me as I watched Percy fly into the distance.
'Is this the first time one of his monster hunters has died?'
He shook his head, 'Probably won't be the last either. He takes the death of anyone he knows badly, especially since-'
'Since what?' I asked, but Nico had disappeared back into the group. He had a habit of doing that.
Everyone rode on with bowed heads, not speaking unless absolutely necessary. We had been riding for several hours and Percy still wasn't back, but I was told not to worry. He wouldn't come back unless there was a problem, or if he had found somewhere to camp for the night. We had long since cleared the mountains and so began to go cross country, through fields and over streams. The horse without a rider was always obvious, sticking out as we rode on with shadows lengthening around us.
Percy arrived back, muttering that he had found somewhere to stop the the night, and led us for another mile or so into a secluded clearing in the middle of a forest. Percy nodded at two sons of Hermes, who I think were called Conner and Travis, to keep watch first, while everyone else began to set up camp. Unlike the last two nights where we had slept under the stars to be less obvious, there was enough of us that it now didn't matter to pitch tents to sleep in. Thalia had one of her tents from being a hunter which could just fold out of a tiny packet on command and was big enough to fit four people in, so she offered to share it with me, Piper and Hazel. Because of that we were finished long before anyone else, so built a small campfire and sat around it, beginning to cook some dinner.
'Did you know Lee well?' Piper asked Hazel.
Hazel kept her golden eyes on the fire as she spoke. 'I don't think I ever had a conversation with him without other people around, but I've known him for a while now, so like all the monster hunters he was like a second family to me.'
'Do you have other family?' I asked her.
She still kept her eyes on the fire when she spoke. 'The only family other than Hades and Nico I had was my mother, and she died a long time ago.' The way Hazel said it made me think that there was more to the statement than she was letting on, but I didn't pry.
Thalia surprised me by speaking. 'Nico had a sister, didn't he? Bianca di Angelo?'
Hazel nodded slowly.
'How did you know that?' Piper asked.
'I was trying to remember why I had heard the name di Angelo before. A girl joined the hunters around the same time I did, called Bianca di Angelo. She died shortly after, probably went to Elysium. She was Nico's sister, wasn't she?'
'Your right.' Hazel tucked a stray curl of hair behind her ear. 'Nico wanted to bring Bianca back from the underworld, but she had decided to be reborn into a new life before Nico had the chance. So he found me and decided to bring me to join the monster hunters, a sort of consolation prize I guess.'
Looking around the camp I saw most people had set up their tents by now. Most of them were small, one or two man tents which would be easier to carry. The exception I noticed (other that Thalia's) was one I guessed belonged to Leo and Beckendorf, the sons of Hephaestus. It was easily three times as big as any of the other ones, and had several cogs and wires around the joints, suggesting it went up and down mechanically. By the way the two brothers were relaxing, I guessed that it was almost as quick as Thalia's to set up. What surprised me was that I saw Percy, Jason, Frank and Nico talking to Malcom at the far end of the clearing. I wondered what they were talking about.
'Percy and Jason want Malcom to do something, but he is unsure about it,' Piper said.
'What are talking about?' I asked.
'You were looking like you wanted to know what they were talking about.' She replied with a shrug.
I had to remind myself that Piper was a daughter of Aphrodite and could read faces and body-language better than anyone else I knew (excluding gods, they didn't count).
Hazel looked surprised. 'So Percy and Jason are trying to force Malcom to do something he doesn't want to?'
'No, force is too strong.' Piper glanced at her. 'They are trying to convince him to do it, and anyway, he wants to do it, but for some reason he is unsure about agreeing to it.'
'It is a shame that your amazing skills doesn't cover what they want him to do,' Thalia scowled.
'If you want to know so badly, go ask them. This is as much as I can work out without getting closer.'
'That won't be needed.'
'How do you know?'
'Because Malcom is coming over right now.'
I looked over and saw Thalia was right, Malcom was walking straight over to us. I stood up as he came near.
'Annabeth, can I talk to you?' He looked slightly nervous, which surprised me. Children of Athena always try to look confident.
'Sure.' I led him behind a tree, so that Piper couldn't read our expressions.
'What did Percy and Jason ask you to do?'
'How did you- oh, right, Piper.' Now that we were alone Malcom had got some of his confidence back.
'So what was it?'
'They invited me to join the monster hunters.'
I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't that, however it made sense. Percy was down a fighter, and Malcom was the obvious choice. He had proved himself as a strong fighter this morning, being one of the best fighters in Athens, and had the brains that all children of Athena possess.
'It's a great idea, you should definitely say yes.'
'But I promised to protect you. How am I supposed to do that if I'm busy with the monster hunters?'
'You promised to protect me on the way to Olympus, as did the monster hunters, so that's not a problem. What's the real reason you're nervous about accepting?'
Malcom snorted. 'Can't hide anything from children of Athena.'
'So...' I prompted.
'How do you think our mother would react if she found out that one of her children had run off to join a group led be a son of Poseidon?'
'Ahh.'
Poseidon and Athena are enemies. They have argued with each other ever since their debate on who got to be the patron god of Athens, and that was before the whole thing with Medusa. I was sure Athena would be furious if she found her children and Poseidon's mixing. 'I wouldn't worry. It's not like it's her choice what you do with your life. I doubt she would get too mad.'
'You sure about that?'
'No.'
Malcom sighed, closing his grey eyes. 'Look, I'll have to see how things turn out. I think that the monster hunters need some time after Lee Fletcher's death, and I want to get to know this new team before I commit to anything. If I still want to accept the offer when we reach Olympus, I will do it then.'
I smiled at him, and together we walked back towards the camp where dinner was being served.
So, there is chapter 9. I may not be publishing for a while, thanks to school and everything, but I will try and do what I can. But, for now,
-Salty
