Jason smelled smoking meat, kind of like barbecuing steak before dinner. He had taken a nap after swordfighting at Camp with his girlfriend Piper and it had been long and peaceful, but he did have a dream about glowing lights all over him, running down his skin like cracks on a dry lake. Other than that, it had been so perfect. Now he was feeling tired, lazy, and relaxed as he listened to a fire crackle smelled smoking meat, kind of like barbecuing steak before dinner. The smell of meat filled the air and his nose felt incredibly warm for some reason. The sensation grew warmer and warmer until it was almost unbearable, but Jason didn't want to lose the lazy feeling throughout his body.
He could make out a groan of someone and something sliding against his shoulders. "Ooh ugh. Wha… Holy Hephaestus your nose is on fire", said a voice that sounded a whole lot like Leo's. Jason opened his eyes to see an orange blaze fluttered in front of him. Jason yelped and began patting at the flame on his nose, trying to put it out.
Finally after trying for a little while, the flame was out, leaving Jason with a horrible zinging pain on his nose, or where his nose should've been. When he crossed his eyes, he could see a really yellowish orange snout in front him, the tip blackened and steaming.
It was now night and standing in front of him was a really freaked out looking, greasy, red dragon with massive wings spread out in fear and a belt around its neck with lots of pockets. "What", Jason asked. "Jason"? Asked the dragon who sounded so much like Leo, or maybe… "Wait Leo is that you"? The dragon nodded, still looking freaked out. "Jason why are you a dragon"? Leo asked shifting from one side to the other.
Jason looked down at himself, orangish yellow scales with, talons, wings, a long tail with his gladius in its sheath bound to his tail by leather straps.
"Ok, I'm a dragon. That's cool, I'm cool with it", Jason said calmly and leaned back to find a warm lump under his back. A moan came from the thing behind him and he felt the muscles of the creature under him move. "What the"? The creature yelped in Thalia's voice and the next thing Jason knew was him falling over on his scaly rump and a dark crimson dragon zipped out from under him and crouched on its back talons with a silver bow and two arrows knocked into it, arrows both pointed at Leo and Jason.
Jason lifted his front talons in the air in surrender and Leo did the same, but also giving the dragon a smug smile. "Hey, hey, take it easy dude. We aren't going to hurt you. I am Leo and this is Jason", Leo said slowly sounding out each word like the dragon was an alien.
"Leo? Jason? Is that really you? Why are you two dragons", said the dragon in Thalia's voice. "Yes, we are dragons Thalia, you are too", Thalia looked down at herself and screamed, tripping over her tail, falling flat on her back and repeating herself over and over again, "This can't be happening. This can't be happening". "Calm down now, being a dragon isn't that bad I mean you can fly, breath fire, and trample smaller worthless creatures that don't matter. Sounds like a good deal". Jason gave Leo a surprised look, "Why would you want to trample things. You make things Leo, not trample them". "Festus does. He loves to trample things, but not Calypso's flowers, he has already done that and it didn't end well for the both of us", Leo answered Jason, but stared of in the distance as he spoke. "What happened, we haven't seen you since the incident".
"Well first what happened is…" He couldn't finish his sentence because a crimson dragon burst out of the bushes and landed on Leo with a thud and a very girlish yelp out of Leo. They rolled around for a while, setting dead branches ablaze and yelling at each other. When they were done, the victor was the mysterious dragon who pinned Leo to blackened dirt. "You-You didn't burn up. Why"? The new dragon asked breathless and amazed at the fact that Leo wasn't a lump of coal. "Hey I'm the son of Hephaestus. I don't burn up, but I do occasionally burst into flames. Why do you ask"? The dragon looked a little nervous, but spoke, "Somehow my scales are always hot and no one can touch me other than Clay. Now if you don't mind I really have to go". She got off of Leo, but before she could leave, Leo grabbed her arm and pulled her back toward camp. "Come, on. First you crash into me while I was telling a heroic story about myself and then you just leave like that. We might want to go with you. Introduce yourself before you leave please, hold on, I'll go first. I am the almighty, all powerful, all mastered, Leo Valdez and that is Jason and Thalia". Thalia snorted a laugh and went back to being serious. "Oh almighty Leo Valdez. I am Peril".
"Peril is a very unusual name", said Thalia looking a little startled at the name. "No its not for a skywing, now Leo Valdez, Jason, and Thalia are unusual names for skywings". A voice yelled from the woods saying, "She's this way. Quickly. OH come on, why are you eating that, spit it out".
"Uh oh, its the skywing guards. I've got to go, wait are you coming", Peril asked Jason and his friends before she went bounding into the night. "Sure are you coming Thalia", Jason looked his crimson sister who had nocked an arrow in her bow. "Yes, lets move. Those 'skywings' don't look very friendly to me", and with that they all raced through to woods.
They had ran in the woods for hours with the skywings on their tails. Jason was even more tired than he was after running around with giants and fighting Geeha. His burnt nose hurt now and he panted for breath.
Soon the voices had stopped and Peril flew up to a tree which turned to ashes as she flapped near it. "What is it? Is everything alright", yelled Thalia gripping her bow as if to take it off and shoot something. "We are entering the kingdom of mud. We are safe now".
With that Leo collapsed in the mud and it steamed at his scales. "Thank Zeus its done", he panted and rolled over on his back, covering himself in mud. "Leo that is gross", complained Thalia, moving her tail out of the way of the blob of mud and dragon. "Oh is this too gross for you", asked Leo and he reached out with his muddy talons toward Thalia. She backed out of reach, but too fast and she splashed mud all over herself and Jason. "Sorry", she winced while Jason wiped the mud off of his face and grabbed a big ball of mud. He hefted it and threw it at Thalia's wings, but she dodged with surprising speed and threw a mud ball of her own. It hit Jason square in the chest and it blew up all over his his neck and face like a water ballon. Leo got up and chucked a whole volley of warm mud balls, one accidentally hit Peril in the face. "Sorry", yelled Leo putting down a big mud ball that was supposed to be for Thalia. Peril flew down and landed on the ground, crushing balls of mud between her talons. Peril picked up a huge ball of mud and threw it at Leo's face. The throw was too low and it hit Leo's shoulder, but you could tell it was for his face. "Oh now you are going to get it", and Leo picked up a big clump of mud and threw it at Peril.
They were laughing and throwing mud at each other, it was so much fun. Jason was glad to get to spend time with Thalia because they didn't get to have fun together very often. You see, he was taken from Thalia when he was very young because he was Roman and she was Greek. Those two together at that time was dangerous so their mother left Jason in the wolf house and took Thalia back home, thinking that Jason was dead. Just that summer, Jason was thrown right smack in the middle of Camp Half Blood and was to go on a quest back to the wolf house to free a the god Hera. He had met Thalia on the way there and she also helped with freeing the god, no matter how annoying Hera was. Thalia is also a hunter of Artemis and has sworn to not hang out with boys in exchange for immortality. Another reason is because of her duties, she isn't around Camp Half Blood that often, but when she is, she would talk to Jason. Unfortunately she never had the time for a sword fight, goofing off, or the time to throw mud balls at each other. So this mud fight was a family reunion for Jason, even though he only had one family member in the reunion.
They threw mud at each other till the sun came up and set the swamp valley ablaze with golden sunlight, pink clouds, and golden fog. The chilly air of the night turned warm wherever the sun's rays were. With sunlight he could see the dragons better.
Thalia still had dark crimson scales that glittered ruby red underneath each one. She was built like a panther with strong bones built for jumping around from rock to rock. A lightning bolt was seared in ruby scales on her shoulder and her eyes were the same blue that Jason remembered.
Leo on the other hand was different. He was scrawny as usual with big wings and flame orange scales with yellow under scales so it did look like he was on fire. The only odd part about him was the fact that he had black on his snout, tip of his tail, and talons fading in like burn marks. Instead of a lightning bolt he had a black hammer surrounded by tendrils of different colors of orange and yellow. His eyes were the same color as always and he still had that mischievous look on his face like he knew you were standing on a clever trap he made.
Peril's scales were copper colored with smoke that occasionally billowed from them and fog moving as fast as it can away from her. Her eyes were fire blue with slit pupils like a regular dragon's, but somehow they were unsettling for Jason as if those eyes are hiding a lot of death and murder behind the blue flames. Who knew, they were dragons, she might have killed a few once or twice or maybe it is just coincidental her eyes were like that.
While they were washing off the mud on their scales, Jason saw something moving in the muck, something big. "Guys, I think I saw something", said Jason nervously grabbing the hilt of his gladius. "It is probably just a crocodile Jason, they don't go for dragons so don't you fret", Peril said while getting some mud out from between her talons in another pool of water which was now boiling.
Jason considered that for a second, but if that thing was a crocodile, than it was a whopper.
Suddenly, the river burst in a spray of muck and water and a big, brown dragon sitting there in the muck, looking at them quizzically. "Hello", said Frank the dragon.