I wake in what appears to be an infirmary. A blond guy, Will Solace I believe, stands over me.
"Here, drink this," he says.
I look upon a glass of golden liquid. It looks like apple cider but spiked with gold powder. A single ice cube sits in the middle of the glass. Despite its unnatural metallic gleam, with my thirst getting the best of me, I reach over and take a sip.
I expected something along the lines of apple juice. Instead, I am hit with a medley of flavors. One moment, it tastes like mint chocolate chip ice cream. The next, it tastes like my popo'sradish cakes. Then, it tastes like a nice ribeye steak in a disturbing liquid form. It is warm despite the ice cube in the latter two flavors. It's cycling through the flavors of all of my favorite foods, I realize.
Instantly, I felt my strength come back to me. I gulp down the rest of the glass as Will Solace suddenly tries to grab it.
"Woah, slow down there, buddy," he yelps. "Too much will burn you up."
"I have no clue what you're talking about," I say. "I can still use another glass."
I reach out for the pitcher and pour another glass of this magic liquid. I gulp it all down in another quick swig.
"How?" Will asks, absolutely bewildered. "That much should have given you a fever."
I shrug off his question.
"Anyway, you're lucky it's only Thursday morning," he continues. "Tomorrow night, we play Capture the Flag. Those Hermes campers will be all over you."
A camp tradition I can really get down with is Capture the Flag. They usually play every Friday during the summer, but during the winter, they still hold a session every once in a while. There are more campers here than usual for this time of the year, according to Chiron, but two teams of eleven hardly seem like a game. I spend most of the day training.
Tonight, it is the Hermes cabin versus everyone else. I've heard stories from the other campers, including the legendary one from last year, where the red team led by the Ares cabin simply hid in the creek at the boundary line. When the opposing blue team led by Athena campers approached, they were drawn in by blunted scythes. Such a tactic seemed simple, but the Ares cabin hasn't had a history of wit.
The other team tried desperately to bribe me to join their side. The Aphrodite campers tried some flirting, the Ares campers tried to intimidate me, the Apollo campers simply tried drachmas and more of that magic liquid, and a medley of other single campers try whatever they have to offer. Their price was pretty crap for what I had to offer, but whatever.
Just before the game, I overhear Will and Chiron talking.
"I couldn't believe my eyes!" Will begins. "Arthur can drink nectar like a god, without a care in the world. The boy had two tall glasses of the stuff and did not appear the least bit feverish."
I should have guessed. That stuff was nectar, as in nectar and ambrosia. Godly food is delicious and unusual.
"Well, I think we'll need to offer Hermes a pay raise for all the extra deliveries we'll need from him to feed Arthur," Chiron muses.
That night, at 6:00 PM, the game begins.
"Arthur, how hard would it be for you to do more of that illusion magic?" asks Conner.
"Not too hard," I answer. "What do I need to do?"
"Take this stick," he answer. I grab what appears to be a large tree branch. "Turn this into the flag and the flag into this."
I take a good look at the Hermes flag. It has a staff encircled by snakes, a caduceus, I believe. Underneath that is a pair of winged sneakers.
Slowly, the two items trade places. What was the stick became a flag to everyone's eyes. Everyone's except for Chiron and Dionysus, this time being careful to not cheat.
With the items secure, we head off into the forest.
The playing field is absolutely massive for a team of eleven to defend. The forest seemed to continue for millions of miles. No matter what we did, we will be hopelessly overextended, but thankfully, the other team is no better off.
I take a defensive position near the creek. At this point, the channel deepens enough for me to fully stand up as the creek meanders into the sea nearby. Choosing to use an automatic crossbow I built as part of my heritage test tonight, I nock an arrow and wait.
After about fifteen seconds, I hear loud footsteps. An Ares camper is approaching the creek, presumably trying to do what I am already doing. Taking a good look at his head, I aim and let the bow loose.
The bow let the ammunition go with a satisfying spring. The golden blunted arrowhead flies at a flatter trajectory than I would like, but it was still enough to catch the target by surprise. It hit hard into his thigh, interrupting his next step. He falls down against a tree.
Quickly working my illusion, I make it appear as though I am running up to him. Magic-me charges at the camper, who has stood up and blown his horn, presumably to call for reinforcements. The real me steps backward towards a tree. I had previously spotted what appeared to be a ladder of some kind. I climb up the ladder to find a nice hidden base. The eta carved into the doorway indicated it was built by Hephaestus campers. A few glances into the small edifice reveals several arrow loops cut out of the walls.
I send a signal to Horatio, who I spot being about 100 feet away from the position. He is being pursued by Will Solace, his bow and arrow and combat ukelele (something Apollo did in his mortal exploits, I believe) gleaming from afar. I reach into my pack, take out the telescope, and mount it on my crossbow. I zero in on Will's figure, prime the arrow the crossbow reloaded, and let it fly.
The blunt arrow flew for about six seconds before hitting Will in his back. The sudden hit causes him to lose the aim of his bow and allows Horatio to disarm him completely. Having seen my signal, Horatio approaches the ladder. I meet him at the bottom.
Horatio and I regroup at the boundary creek. He tells me Conner had already breached the enemy territory.
"Well, we win!" yells an Aphrodite camper. She holds the flag I had hid earlier, appearing to me as a stick still. Remembering my trick from yesterday, her arrogant smile falters. "Wait, is this really the flag?"
As soon as I see Conner approach the creek with the real Ares flag, I snap my fingers. Instantly, the flag reverts to a stick. I look behind me to see Whitney, a fellow Hermes camper, holding the real flag in her hand. She had used the actual flag as a weapon.
"NO FAIR!" bellows the Ares camper from before, who I now know is named Gordon. "You can't hold the flag during the match!"
"All is fair in love and war," I respond. "And we were guarding a flag, just not the one you saw."
"There have been no rules about this before," Chiron suddenly starts, clopping his way down from his outpost. "We don't see many children, or in this case, legacies, of Dolos, for they can survive in the mortal world quite well. From now on, trickery and illusions of the magical kind are fair game as long as both teams have a child of Dolos. As long as the flag appears correctly to Mr. D or me, I will allow it to be held."
The Hermes campers hold me up like mosh pit jumpers. However, the celebration did not last long. Out the corner of my eye, I see the faintest hairs of lion mane.