John
That day at lunch, everyone was dressed for war.
John was wearing his combats, his bracer and his his sword, in rod form, was in his pocket,and his black ball cap was on his head
William was dressed similarly, wearing a pair of black jeans, a blue Jacket and his Reeboks. He also was wearing his bracer and had his rod in his pocket as well.
The dining pavilion was a sea of bronze helms, and Greek battle armor. Nearby each table was that cabins battle standard. Each standard was a different color and had the sign of a different god stitched into the cloth, the Athena standard was a silver owl on a dark grey background. John glanced over at the Zeus table, where Zoey sat alone, eating her meal. John felt sorry for Zoey, sleeping in a cabin by yourself had to be creepy sometimes.
John pushed some of his food into the offering brazier,and said a silent prayer to Athena, that they would do ok during capture the flag. John sat down to eat. The Athena cabin ate in silence, they were going to go over there plan after lunch when the other cabins weren't listening, John and William still hadn't heard the plan.
After lunch, John and William had decided to go to the sword arena, hopefully they would be able to fight well enough for capture the flag. John and William saw the arena, and several pairs of half-bloods dueling each-other. In the stands, around the arena, several half-bloods watched the dueling pairs, one of them was Zoey.
As John and William entered the arena, two of the boys in the stands came down and approached the two brothers. John recognized one as Devon from the ares cabin.
"Hi John." said Devon.
"Hi Devon, how've you been?" asked John.
"Fine." said Devon."Bill and I want to challenge you and William to a duel."
"Like, you and Bill versus me and Will?" said John.
"Exactly," said Devon. Don't worry we'll go easy on you."
Soon John and William were standing in the arena across from Devon and Bill. John glanced into the stands toward where Zoey was. Zoey was watching them, she was probably excited to see them get there Butts kicked.
Another Ares camper was serving as referee, and John found himself thinking about how rigged this duel was.
John pulled the bronze rod out of his pocket, and willed it to become a sword, and it did. He saw William beside him with his spear and shield now in hand. Across from them Devon drew his sword and the referee handed Bill a long bronze spear.
"Take your positions!" called the referee.
John raised his sword and widened his stance.
"Begin!" called the referee, and John watched as Devon rushed toward him sword raised above his head.
The two blades met, and John was able to block and counter Devon's first few swings, Devon was going easy.
Soon Devon's strikes became more aggressive, with one strike nearly slicing John in the stomach. John watched as Devon's eyes narrowed, intent on beating this new demigod. John parried his next strike and managed to hit Devon with the pommel of his sword. Devon took a step back, and John pressed the attack. Devon knocked Johns sword out of his hands and he swung toward johns exposed chest. John slammed the owl on his braced with his right hand, and Devon's blade bounced off of John's shield. John rammed Devon with his shield, sending Devon sprawling on the ground. John slammed his braced again, and the shield disappeared as John dove for his sword.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Devon rushing toward him. John was just barely able to grab his sword and roll onto his back before Devon swung down at him.
John blocked the blow and pushed Devon off of him, so that he could get up. John could tell that Devon was tired, as his strokes were slow and sloppy. Soon John had knocked his sword too the ground and now he stood panting with sweat running down his face, with his sword point under Devon's throat. John could see William had also been victorious, with the tip of his spear resting on Bill's chest. Devon stared at him in disbelief, his expression soon turned to one of rage, he'd been beaten. He picked up his sword and stormed out of the arena followed by Bill. John looked up into the stands, Zoey was grinning as a bunch of ares kids dropped golden drachmas into her open palm, after they had paid, they stormed out in disgust. Zoey had been betting on them. John wiped the sweat from his brow, and approached Zoey.
"Where's my cut?" he asked with a smile.
"I don't know what you're talking about." said Zoey, grinning. "I knew you would win."
"Thanks." said John.
John and William left the arena, and headed back to their cabin. Inside were Malcolm and the other members of the athena cabin, studying battle plans and discussing there plan. Malcolm looked up at the two brothers.
"Nice Job at the arena," he said. "Devon and Bill are some of the best warriors in the ares cabin, the fact that you two beat them your first time means that Mom gave you quite a talent."
"Thanks Malcolm," said Will."so anyway, what's the plan?"
"The Athena and Hephaestus cabins will attack from the right flank, the Hermes from the left, and the Aphrodite in the center, don't tell them but the Aphrodite cabin will be overwhelmed first and the stronger Athena, Hephaestus, and Hermes cabins will flank Ares and his allies.
"It won't work."said John, all eyes were on him now.
"What?" asked one of the older girls.
"How many times have you tried this?" asked John.
"This will be the second time, we don't know why it didn't work." said Malcolm.
"I do," said John, all eyes were on him. "From what I understand, the winner gets the flag. All the cabins want it for themselves and refuse to work together."
"That's true." said Malcolm.
"Divide our team into squads, on person from each cabin where possible, then you have your troops spread with weaker numbers in the middle much like your previous version squads one, two,and three on the left flank four, and five in the center, and six, seven and eight on the right."
"Aye, it could work." said one in a heavy Scottish accent.
The Athena campers agreed.
"Attach William, Zoey, Keith, and myself to section seven, and a couple Hermes campers."
"Okay," said Malcolm. "we'll tell the other cabins."
John and William spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping, they would need to be well rested for capture the flag. When they awoke they got dressed, and clipped on their canteen belts. John walked over to his dresser, and started rummaging through it.
"What are you doing?" asked William.
John pulled out a military first aid kit, and clipped it to the back of his belt.
"Just in case." he said.
The conch horn sounded dinner time, and the two brothers walked to the dining pavilion. Once again it was a sea of bronze,a bunch of heavily armored kids armed and ready for battle. John and William talked excitedly with their brothers and sisters, and soon dinner was over. Chiron stood, about to explain the rules to the newer demigods.
"Are we all excited for tonight's game?" he asked, he was answered by a loud cheer from the campers.
"Ok so the rules are, the creek is the border, all the woods are fair game, your flag must be easily visible, and absolutely no Killing or seriously wounding." there was mumbling at the ares table, apparently they had had trouble with this rule in the past.
"You will have fifteen minutes to prepare before the game will begin, off you go." he said.
The Athena cabin and their allies Marched toward one end of the forest, and Ares and their allies marched to the other. The forest was kind of spooky at this time of the evening, there were strange shadows that seemed to move on their own.
The Athena cabin stopped at Zeus's fist. Malcolm and John climbed up on the rock, and placed the flag. Malcolm addressed the warriors in front of him.
"Listen up! You've all heard the new plan. You split into squads of six, at least on person from each cabin if possible."
"The Ares cabin is going to kill us." said one of the aphrodite kids.
"Not if we work together!" called John. "In the past, the cabins have been separately trying to win the flag themselves! Only if we work together can we win!" John paused, letting his words sink in. The campers looked at him like they new he was right. He pulled his bronze rod out of his pocket and willed it to become a sword.
The campers gasped as John was suddenly holding a three foot long sword. John raised it above his head and let out a loud battle cry. His cry was joined by the other campers.
"Sections one, two,and three, with Malcolm. Four and five with Ben. Six, seven and eight, on me." he said.
John jumped down from Zeus's fist. And led his team over to the right. Squad seven was made up of William, Zoey, Keith, and John, with two Hermes campers named George, and and Charlie. "Squad six down that side, eight down that way." John said, pointing down a little to the right and a little to the left. "Seven follow me." he led them a little way, before hearing the conch that signified the beginning of the game. Sneaking through the forest brought back memories, memories of playing hide and seek with Dad and uncle Karl. Well, it wasn't really hide and seek, it was something called "escape and evasion".
John was now sneaking along with his squad, William and Charlie were leading the way, followed by John and George, with Keith and Zoey bringing up the rear.
John was suddenly aware of two figures standing in the clearing in front of them, they were archers, and John recognized one of them as Miki, the girl who healed him. John saw them draw their bows, and reacted by slapping his bracer transforming it into the bronze shield.
"Get down!" John yelled. He Dived on to the ground, covering his head with his shield. The arrow landed in the middle of the group, than John was thrown to one side as the arrow exploded. His ears rang, he looked up and saw the two Hermes boys lying unconscious near a small crater. He saw William, his mouth was moving, but no sound was coming
was coming out of his mouth. Or I've gone deaf, John thought. John got up and jumped behind a nearby tree. John looked and saw Zoey, William and Keith were still conscious, but the two Hermes boys were still unconscious.
More arrows flew past John's head, these ones however, did not explode. John's hearing was coming back now, he could hear the others shouting.
"What do we do now?" yelled Keith.
"Keith get those two out of here." yelled John. " Zoey, Will, move in with me."
"Okay." they agreed.
"On three." said Will, looking at John. "One," they said in unison. "two," Zoey joined in. "three." John and William ran into the center of the clearing, forming a wall with their shields. Zoey ran up behind the two boys, while Keith dragged one Hermes boy after the other behind a tree. Several arrows impacted the shield wall, these arrows to did not explode on impact, hopefully they only had the one explosive arrow.
"I'll take care of them," said Keith, "Go!"
William, Zoey and John, charged toward the Apollo archers.
"Sunshine, run!" John heard Miki say.
John put up a burst of speed, and he slapped his bracer again, getting rid of the shield that was slowing him down.
John jumped to one side as an arrow wizzed by so close to his head, if he had been an inch farther to the right it would have skewered his head. John caught up with "Sunshine" and knocked his bow out of his hands before he could react. John smacked his foot out from under him with the flat of his blade, and rested his sword point on his chest. Sunshine put his hands up in surrender, and John looked over to see that Zoey and Will had similarly disarmed Miki. John let sunshine up; Sunshine and Miki held there Bows above their head accepting defeat, John didn't notice the shadow as it left the clearing back toward the Ares flag.
The three companions continued on through the forest, John saw that William and Zoey both wore expressions of determination on their faces, and soon they were in another clearing. John was surprised to find an Ares swordsman Duct-taped to a tree, with a strip covering his mouth. John and his companions continued on in silence. William was leading the way, his spear at the ready. As he was passing by a large round tree he was caught by surprise. John watched as a girl jumped on his brother and pulled a roll of duct tape out of a pouch on her belt. She was about to tape his mouth shut when William figured out what was going on.
"Whoa, not cool! We're on the same-"
She covered his mouth before John got over to her.
"Whoa we're on the same side!" said John.
"Oh right." said the girl, as she ripped the duct tape off of Williams face.
"Oww!" said Will.
"Don't be such a Baby." she said to William.
She brushed her black bangs out of her face, revealing her azure blue eyes.
"I'm Harley, daughter of Hermes." she said. She looked down at William, who she was still lying on top of, she looked a Little older than William, and she was wearing a green Celtics jersey which was in perfect condition despite the fact that Harley had been hiding in a thorn bush only moments before.
"Umm," stammered William."I'm William." he said looking up at the girl who was still on top of him.
"Nice to meet you William." she said.
John saw his little brothers cheeks turn pink. Oh William what have you got yourself into, he thought.
Harley got off of William and helped him up.
I'm John." said John.
"And I'm Zoey." said Zoey.
"What happened to the rest of your squad?" asked William.
"They were taken prisoner, I'm the last one from section six." Harley answered.
"We're a bit under strength too," John said. "Welcome to section seven."
John heard rustling in the underbrush, as if someone was coming into the clearing, he was right. The girl that entered the clearing looked about Williams age, but she was unnaturally tall, about Johns height. Her hair was pure white, with golden streaks. She glared at the four companions with menacing dark red eyes. She wore a long black trench coat, over top of a red sleeveless t-shirt and black skinny jeans. She had an old medical bag slung over her shoulder, and in her hands were two short swords, one black, and one silver. Walking in front of her were four shadows. The shadows were shaped like giant wolves with sharp looking transparent teeth. Despite the fact that the beasts were made of shadow, John had no doubt that they could do som serious harm to the companions.
Zoey raised her sword, and William his spear. Harley pulled a bronze dagger out of her boot, and she stood ready, dagger in one hand, role of duct tape in the other.
The shadows charged toward the companions, and John prepared to fight a beast that he didn't know if he could hit. That doubt was gone as soon as Zoey slashed at one of them and it vanished. John stabbed a shadow as it tried to disembowel him, and it disappeared also.
The air around the girl shimmered and two more shadows came into existence.
"Oh, no." said John to Zoey.
The two friends charged in unison toward the new shadows. They struck down these too, bit soon two more were summoned, John guessed that this was happening to William and Harley as well.
" We have to take her out." said Zoey.
John nodded as he cut down another shadow beast. They fought there way toward the girl, and soon the were engaged in combat with her. She blocked John's first attack with one sword, while taking a swipe at Zoey with the other. John swung at her again, and this time she parried and took a swung at him. John felt the tip of her black blade cut deep into his left arm as he tried to take the blow to his bracer, which he had not put in shield form.
Blood gushed from his wound staining his new combats a dark shade of brown. John gasped as the pain took him, he felt almost sick for a moment, but then his instincts took over, and he swung madly at the girl. This time he swung with such force, he knocked the blade clean out of her hand before he stumbled and almost fell. Zoey was able to finish the girl off and gave her a small cut on her brow. The girl surrendered to them and she left the forest Muttering about "unfair", "two on one.".
"Are you ok?" asked Zoey looking at John's arm. She looked concerned, and John saw that his arm was soaked in blood.
"I'm ok," he lied. " Let's keep moving."
So they did, and soon they could hear the clanging of metal on metal as other groups of campers fought near by. We're close, thought John. Soon they could see a red banner with six warriors guarding it. The banner had a spear and boar stitched onto it, the Mark of Ares.
The Warriors noticed them immediately and four of them ran to attack John and his friends leaving the other two to guard the flag. John charged and found that he recognized his attacker, Devon yelled as he ran toward John, raising his sword to strike. They exchanged a flurry of blows and after a short while, it seemed as if John would win.
"Adam get over here and help me!" said Devon.
Adam charged into battle alongside Devon, forcing John to defend against not just one but two enemies at once. It was al John could do to stop either of his opponents from landing a blow.
"Not so tough now, eh!" said Devon.
John swung his sword in a wide arc, smacking Devon in the helm, the boy fell unconscious, but John new he wasn't dead. John bashed Adam with the pommel of his sword and Adam fell back on top of Devon. John looked around and saw William, with his spear point at one boys throat, Zoey standing over another, and a girl squirming as Harley finished taping her to a tree.
"All done." said Harley with a smile.
The last guard ran off toward the other members of the ares cabin, no doubt he would tell them that the four of them had captured the flag.
"William grab the flag and run!" yelled Zoey.
William grabbed the long pole holding the Ares banner and the companions ran toward their side of the forest, with John, Zoey and Harley knocking down anyone in their way. Zoey tripped and fell as an ares camper swung his sword at her. Her upper thigh was torn open, and blood soaked her black jeans.
John stopped running, "You to keep running! I'm going back for Zoey." John yelled, as he ran toward the ares camper. John threw himself at the Ares boy, and they exchanged a few blows before the conch sounded. Signifying the end of the game. Did we win? He heard Zoey groan, and John offered his hand to her to help her up. She gladly accepted it and the two friends stood together trying to catch their breath.
"Did we win?" asked Zoey.
"I don't know," said John. "let's go find out."
Zoey took one step before her leg gave way, forcing her to grab John's arm for support. John put her arm around his shoulders, so that she could lean on him as they walked. They heard cheering from their end of the forest and soon they saw a crowd of Athena, Hermes, Hephaestus and Aphrodite campers cheering and lifting two figures above their heads. It was Will and Harley.
At the edge of the crowd, John and Zoey were standing, both contemplating on joining the party or not.
"We need to get you to the infirmary." said John.
"have you looked at your own arm yet." said Zoey.
Johns sleeve was absolutely soaked, and the wound was still bleeding. It was really deep, John could almost swear he saw bone. Suddenly John felt weak, but he managed to keep himself and Zoey from Tumbling to the ground. They set off, away from the cheering campers, toward the infirmary.