There is no standard procedure for evacuation of a charred Pegasus. The three of us spun around engulfing ourselves in more flames as we went along. I reached in my pocket again, this time to fetch a handful of soil and my stash of emergency seeds.
I chose a couple of ivy seeds and made them grow to their full length, intertwining each other into a sturdy double vine.
Willing one extreme to wrap around Lysander's stomach, I waited until we were level with the tallest buildings to launch the other end like a lasso to one. The subsequent pendulum we formed saw us shoot back into the air, no longer at terminal velocity. That was when I clicked boéthos again and let us fly through the city of Riverview like Spiderman.
I had set our falling course in accordance to the Alafia River, and managed an angled landing that splashed us all, quenching the flames in a puff of smoke.
I later learnt that "Alafia" means "River of Fire." Such irony was not appreciated.
Of course, I yanked Afro Boy out of the water first, but then immediately turned to Lysander's body. It only took a second to truly assess the monumental damage to what was left of him. His formerly white fur had been completely singed off and part of him were exposed to the bone. As he sank, his corpse burst into dust and was gently carried off by the river current.
The sound that erupted from my being was some sort of scream and strain hybrid. I couldn't allow myself to let go at that moment. Not after last time.
Looking back, this may have been a well-intentioned gesture on behalf of someone who saw me with my arms grasping my T-shirt, arched over and shaking violently, but Afro Boy came over to me and delivered the least comforting two words I'd ever heard in my life.
'He's dead.'
Now it was my turn to spin over and eye him down. We could both feel the ground rumbling beneath us as roots shifted about around me. Afro Boy backed away, but tripped on one of them. From the looks of things, even the grass began to sting for him.
'OH, REALLY?!' I bellowed. 'GEE, THANKS! DON'T KNOW WHAT I'D DO WITHOUT YOU TO POINT THINGS OUT! YOU'RE A REGULAR HERCULE POIROT, AREN'T YOU?'
It was one of only two times that year that Afro Boy admitted to been afraid of me.
'N-no1 what I meant was… I'm sorry, I – I don't know why I said that!'
The ground and roots calmed down. I released the grip on my fists.
'Unfortunately, I think I do. If I'm right, it's the reason we were just struck down. The question is, how? That clearly wasn't Zeus' bolt. How did we-?'
In response to this, a cackle was heard in the stormy sky. Both of us looked up to where it had come from just in time to see a humanoid figure emerge from a nearby cumulonimbus, seemingly made out of the cloud itself.
'An Anemos Thuellas…' I muttered. 'I should have guessed.'
Boéthos became a sword again. The storm spirit cackled from a distance and simply sent another bolt in my direction.
I'm not going to say something outlandish like "I dodged lightning," but I did drop my sword before anything could be conducted through my body. Consequely, I decided to use more dirt and seeds to coat my hands in insulating moss. From that point on, the blasts didn't affect me anymore.
The anemos thuellas turned its attention on the unarmed Afro Boy, launching itself in a blast of wind to the cry of 'Give back what you stole!'
That was when I truly had the creature right where I needed it. I tossed an acorn into the gust, which bounced off Afro Boy's head. He must have known instinctively to plant it after seeing what my powers were.
With one shaking outstretched hand and a good chunk of my remaining energy, I willed the acorn to germinate and expand into, as cliché as it may be to say, a mighty oak. The storm spirit crashed into it without so much as a sound, never to emerge again.
What is the enemy of a creature made out of wind? Photosynthesis.
My knees buckled and I fell onto all fours, hyperventilating. Afro Boy rushed over to me with an expression that implied both 'That was so cool!' and 'Thanks, bro.'
I managed to put one hand up to calm his worries. In truth, this used to happen to me a lot. I would get carried away a couple of years ago when I first got to Camp Half-Blood. I was twelve myself back then, and not over the novelty of my powers. The realisation dawned on me that if my theory was correct about Afro Boy, this phase would be far more dangerous in him than it ever would be in anyone else, let alone me.
As luck would have it (and because the Fates can be cruel beyond belief), when he propped me against the oak I'd just germinated, he just had to enquire about precisely that.
'How did you do that?'
'Chlorokinesis…' I muttered. 'It's one of my demigod powers.'
'So you're a demigod too? Not one of those… whatever Jeffrey was?'
'A satyr? No, I'm a demigod too.'
'Amazing! So I can learn to do that plant growing trick, then?'
'That depends on your divine parentage. I highly doubt we have the same one. In fact, your mother's mortal, isn't she? So, it's impossible anyway,' I deduced.
'Why, who's your mother, then?' he asked while cracking a wider smile.
'Demeter! Goddess of the harvest and nature!' I announced proudly.
Aaaand gone was the smile.
'What?' I demanded.
'We're not going to get along, are we?'
'Why not? Not manly enough for you?'
Okay seriously, I was sick and tired of hearing this from people. When it came to the gods of Olympus. Demeter was overshadowed by literally everyone else! All over the place you'd hear about the might of Zeus! The wrath of Poseidon! The wisdom of Athena! The Trials of Apollo! Demeter's most famous stories were about a Prince who almost cut down a tree and when her arguably more famous daughter became Queen of the Underworld.
Degrading as it was, Afro Boy knew none of that. Clearly he was not versed in Greek Mythology beyond a possible casual viewing of Clash of the Titans, so I let the comment wash over me.
'Regardless, I need a second.'
Producing a golden drachma from my wallet, I headed down to the river and splashed about like a four year old on a rainy day until a rainbow was produced.
Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering.
Show me Chiron at Camp Half-Blood.
An image formed in the rainbow of a bearded man figure; seemingly middle aged in a neat suit. The image made him momentarily flinch, as happens with all Iris messages.
'Basil! Is something the matter!'
'Yes! Storm spirit blast us down. I've lost Lysander. I have the kid with me,' I explained.
'I have a name, you know,' protested Afro Boy.
'Yes, but you never told me.'
'Well, it's Carlos. Carlos Buenafuente.'
'Fine.' I turned back to Chiron. ' I've got… Carlos Buenafuente with me. We're stuck in Riverview. We were barely in the air for a few seconds.'
'Is the storm still there?'
'Yes.'
'Then we shall get you another means of transportation. Should arrive in a few minutes.'
We sat around for some time, not know what to say to one another. Both of us had our reasons to stay quiet and embrace the awkward ness of our company. I almost wanted something to emerge and try to eat us. Almost.
What did arrive was a speeding taxi that looked like it was woven out of smoke, inside were three screaming old ladies, with tightly shut eyelids except for one of them and also a singular tooth to share around.
'You boys are in luck,' piped one of them. 'We don't normally serve outside of the New York area. You're in for a memorable ride!'