"Any word from our little questers?" Dante asked curiously, walking through the flap of the command tent. It had been several days since the game of Capture the Flag and, even though not a single one of the Hunters of Orion would admit it, things had vastly improved as far as their relationship with the camps. Two of the Hunters of Orion had even opted to join their siblings in their cabin. Granted, they were both sons of Nike and had lost a bet hence their new situation. But, to everyone around them, that didn't matter and the fact that they were staying there was all that mattered. Reyna glanced up from where she stood hunched over a map of the surrounding areas. Her dogs looked up at Dante's arrival and then put their heads back down. "Or any word of anything really?"

"Nothing so far," she said, returning her focus to the map before her. "I don't understand it. Tartarus knows we are weak, especially with that lot off on quests."

"Maybe that's the thing?" Dante offered, rubbing a finger fondly across the metal of his chakram. "Maybe he learned from the others' mistakes. Every time that a prophecy is made the big bad of the day tries to stop it. Maybe he learned and is letting the prophecy take its course."

Reyna considered this and then nodded slowly. "That is… very possible," she admitted. "Is that what you would do?"

"I would slaughter the camps, wait for the questers to get back, and then slaughter them too." Dante said simply. "Simply, ruthless, and effective."

"I am glad the Red Hunt is on our side," Reyna muttered, using the name for Orion's hunt that had grown commonplace among the camps. It still annoyed the Silver Hunt that Orion's chosen had been allowed to exist, but the tensions between the two had drastically reduced. That is not to say there were not complications… "However I am glad you are here right now. A little problem has been brought to my attention."

"Did my guys do anything?" Dante asked, slightly curious. The Red Hunt generally told one another everything that they were planning to do in the event that they needed backup or plausible deniability. They hadn't done anything recently that would warrant some as high up as Reyna's attention.

"No, not yet at least," Reyna said, straightening and stretching her back. "That aside, my problem was the fact that the Red Hunt is still very much an unknown entity on the battlefield."

"We proved we could hold our own against the silver starlings," Dante said.

"You did," Reyna agreed unhesitatingly. "That is without question. However, that is also the problem. The Hunters of Artemis all act as one cohesive unit. Your brothers, however, fight as individuals. They are, admittedly, far above average fighters to a man and that skill is what allowed you to hold your own against a well-trained force. But in the coming fight, we will need to all fight under one central command."

"You want me to bring the Red Hunt under control?" Dante asked incredulously, uncertain whether to laugh or sigh. "Impossible. At least, not without more time than we have. It would take years for you to break them of their instinct to prioritize their own survival above others'."

"That leaves us in something of a bind then," Reyna rested her weight on one hip and sighed. "Romans are built on the foundation of disciplined military movement. The Greeks, while they are unorganized in comparison, do have at least some order. They look after one another in a fight."

"True," Dante admitted fairly. "Whereas we don't look after one another unless the flow of battle puts us there. That means you don't know where to distribute us on the battlefield, right?"

"Precisely," Reyna nodded. "Everything that Tartarus has led us to believe makes us think that the final battle against him will be two armies meeting each other over the open battlefield in the fields he created in the south. The Romans, who are all versed in this sort of combat, will make up the center of the demigod army. The Greeks will take the right side and the Hunters of Artemis, as they have a great deal more numbers than you, will take the left."

"Send us out as the advance force then. Soften them up before they get to you." Dante said dismissively, scratching absentmindedly at the back of his neck.

Reyna, and Thalia who had just strode into the tent, froze in their spots as they realized what Dante had said. But, more than the fact that he had said it, was the way he had said it. There was no hesitation, no waver in his voice to betray uncertainty. "That's suicide," Reyna said flatly.

"I don't even like you and I agree with her," Thalia put in.

Dante sighed. "Look, chances are none of us make it out of here alive anyways," he stated. "Tartarus has a massive army of monsters at his disposal, and those Corrupted demigods of his are no joke either. One on one there are probably only a handful of demigods who can effectively take them and come out alive. My Hunt included. If we are going to have a shot, we have to be willing to do whatever it takes to win. The Hunters of Orion understand that better than anyone. That's why we should do this. Our instinct for self-preservation is strong enough for us to have a good enough chance for us to make it back to you guys."

"Even if we agreed to this, what good would it do to waste your forces against them?" Thalia asked. "Cohesive with our other forces or not, there are better uses for your Hunt than to just die in a blaze of glory."

"Well, if you think of something let me know." Dante spread his arms wide. "Don't get us wrong. We have no intention of dying against Tartarus. Not a single one of us wants to 'die in a blaze of glory' as you so eloquently put it. But harassing them as a preemptive force gives us a much better chance. Tartarus is no longer in his domain. Orion thinks that, since he is here now, he can't bring more monsters with him. That means the forces he has now are the ones he has to take us with."

"That doesn't make things much better," Thalia muttered. "I sent a few scouts out to survey his army yesterday. They outnumber us twelve to one at best. Fifteen to one at worst."

Reyna paled while Dante whistled low. A smile quirked at the corner of his lips and he glanced to Reyna and Thalia. "Well, that puts things in perspective." He said, turning on his heel and heading out of the tent. "I'll be back tomorrow. I want to check something."

Reyna and Thalia watched him go and exchanged wary glances. "Do you ever get the feeling that someone is about to do something really stupid?" Thalia asked.

Running a hand down her face, Reyna nodded slowly. "I'm getting it right now. But stopping him would probably be even worse."

Dante moved through the camp with methodical quickness until he had found his way to the cabins owned by the Red Hunt. Outside, several members of the Hunt were outside amusing themselves with a deck of cards and each trying to out cheat the others. They looked up at Dante's approach and gave mock salutes to their de facto leader. "What did the praetor want?" Lucas, a massively built Hispanic demigod asked. At his side were two massive broadswords that he typically wore strapped across his back. They were absurdly heavy but, in Lucas's hands, they moved with liquid grace.

"Nothing major," Dante said, a sly grin spreading across his face. "But the leader of the silver starlings told me something very interesting."

"And what's that?" Sebastian asked disinterestedly. Unlike Lucas his weapons were much easier to hide. Hidden in the bracers that were constantly on his wrist were two crossbows that seemingly never ran out of bolts.

"The fact that Tartarus's camp is around here somewhere," Dante said casually, his eyes betraying his eagerness. The focus on the game immediately diminished and the Hunters met Dante's eyes, matching smiles appearing on all of their faces. "I thought that would get your attention."