The centaurs ran straight across the state. When they finally stopped, we were in a forest. The forest looked like it'd been invaded by German soldiers from World War II or something. Branches and leaves littered the floor. Many of the trees were knocked over. The centaurs carefully moved through the wreckage, towards the center of the forest.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Hellhounds." One of them answer, distaste in his voice. "At least half of us were killed defending our camp. There isn't much left now."

We entered a small clearing. There were giant huts-the kind you'd see in museums, just bigger. About three-quarters of them were destroyed, their contents littering the forest floor. The New York centaurs were treating wounds and rebuilding. Jafin let me down, as did the other two centaurs for Percy and Annabeth.

"Did you destroy all of the hellhounds?" Jafin asked a white stallion bodied centaur.

The centaur shook his head. "No, Jafin. We did not. There were still seven left when they ran away. So many losses…"

Jafin lowered his head sadly. "Our brothers. Gone."

"Jafin." Another centaur looked up from his destroyed hut. "Good to see that you made it back."

"Thank you…" The centaur replied quietly. Then he looked thoughtful. "There were so many hellhounds. There couldn't have been that many wild ones, could there?"

"Are you saying that Lord Hades set them loose on us?" Another centaur demanded.

"Maybe." Jafin shrugged. "It is hard to be certain."

"Hang on." Percy spoke up. "Why would Hades set loose a whole pack of hellhounds to kill you?"

"Demigod," The white stallion cleared his throat. "You may have saved Olympus two years ago, but you do not know Lord Hades very well. He is a tricky one to figure."

"Even we do not know this, Percy." Jafin answered the question. "That's what we need to know."

"Do you think they'll come back?" Annabeth suggested.

"I hope not." A black mustang whinnied. "It would mean the end of the New York chapter."

"And we can't have that." Jafin agreed. "That is why I went to Camp Half-Blood. You three demigods need to help us."

"What can we do?" I asked.

"Anything." The centaur Annabeth had rode told him desperately. " We need all the help we can get."

"I'll help you in any way that I can." I vowed. "I promise."