Well... I know it's been a while since I've updated, but I've discovered something. If I stare at a computer screen for too long, I blank out on my writing. Because of this, I decided to get off my laptop and guess what! I've completed TWO chapters of this story for all of you who are willing to stick to it till the end. Yes. You heard right. TWO CHAPTERS! This is the first of them. Hope you like.

Chapter 19:

What Mud And Leaves Can Do

Jaden woke with a start to a rather loud clap of thunder. It was clear that Zeus was still pretty mad, but he still wasn't sure if it was at him or at something else. Buddy was snoring with one of his bones held tightly in his paws (he had found out two nights after they met that the dog was a snorer). And staring lifelessly at him was the eagle skeleton, shrunk to the size of an average golden eagle.

" What makes a bird?" the boy repeated quietly to himself, lowering his head to the ground.

Another crash of thunder sounded above him as the sure sound of rain hitting the trees and ground came from outside.

" Probably sharp beaks, sharp claws and lots of feathers." Jaden sighed, deciding to ignore what was going on outside. " Now how am I going to do that?"

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Jaden looked up at the eagle skeleton. It was then that he discovered that the skeleton was already equipped with the sharp beak and claws. That left the feathers. Unfortunately, feathers wouldn't stick properly to bone (he had watched Blake Hunter try to stick a bunch of feathers he had collected from the stables onto a dodo skeleton that he had summoned. The result was a very bald looking bird).

The memory of the now nine year old son of Hades sent a major blast of pain streaking through Jaden's head. The last time he had felt something like that was when he had only just been exiled from Camp Half-Blood and he was sitting on the other side of the border, thinking about the people that he was no longer to see. Because of the pain from that night, he had tried not to think about his friends back at camp… but they almost always managed to find a way past his barrier; usually while he slept.

Before he knew it, there was a bright flash of golden light and he was dragged into darkness.

" Hey, Jaden! Open up! Hurry!" The sound of someone pounding on the cabin door entered his dream.

With a grumble, seven year old Jaden turned on his side and tried to fall into a deeper sleep… until he felt the cabin shake underneath him. With eyes wide, he leapt out of his bunk and ran for the nearest doorway. That doorway just so happened to be the front door of the cabin… and he could only get to it after he somehow moved Griffin's bunk out of the way.

" It's about time!" Benjamin growled from the other side of the now open door.

" What's going on?" Jaden asked. " Isn't there an earthquake or something?"

" It's worse." Griffin explained as he and the rest of the cabin clambered inside. " That Hephaestus kid, Hervey or whatever his name is, let loose the mechanical bulls!"

" Those things that breath fire?"

" Those are the ones."

" And this cabin is made out of wood?"

It took Griffin a few minutes to realise what Jaden was getting at. When he finally did realise, " Holy Hermes, this place isn't safe either!"

" Do not tell me that we ran all the way here from the beach for nothing!" A muscular son of Hermes known only as Turbo growled.

Griffin laughed nervously. " Seems like it."

" I am going to murder you Griffin Lowe!"

" Now, now, Turbo. You don't want to do that. Not in front of the youngsters. Turbo. Please?"

Silence fell throughout the cabin as Turbo slunk towards Griffin, cracking his knuckles. It was in that silence that a small boy rushed onto the Hermes patio and tried to climb up the railing. The boy looked to be four and he was wearing a red shirt matched with blue jeans. His hair was a dark brown colour but it had blond streaks running through it like streets on a road map. Looking closely at the boy, Jaden could only just make out that he was holding something in his hand.

" Bad Manny! Come back here! Now!" The kid ordered whatever it was that was wreaking havoc on the camp.

The only reply, aside from the sound of screaming campers and satyrs, was the sound of an elephant's trumpeting call.

" That doesn't sound like a bull." Turbo remarked, his anger evaporating at the sound.

" It's not." Someone responded.

Out of the shadows – and scaring the living daylights out of everyone in the cabin – came Nico di Angelo with his aviator's jacket and a bright red sun burn.

" Where'd you come from?!" Marissa, Ben's twin sister, yelped after jumping into her older brother's back and managing to knock him out of the way.

" Ares Rock, Australia. Do you know how much trouble I had getting down that bloody rock just so I could find some shade?" The son of Hades grumbled.

" That would explain the sun burn."

" Never mind that. Have you see Blake around here anywhere?"

" Who's Blake?" Griffin asked.

" He's about four years old, is wearing a red shirt and has one blue eye and one brown eye." Nico replied.

" Do you mean the kid outside our cabin?"

Jaden, however, had only half heard what was being said back inside the cabin. He had made his way outside and was standing beside the four year old and having a rather interesting conversation with him about mammoths and dinosaurs and the mud ball Blake held in his hand. From what he could gather, Blake had created a mammoth out of mud, sticks and leaves and had somehow brought the real thing back from the dead. Now 'Manny' was terrorising the innocent campers and pegasi in search of food.

" Say, Blake, do you know what mammoths like to eat?" Jaden asked, moving to the bottom of the stairs where large clumps of grass were growing.

" Mammoths and elephants both eat leaves." Blake replied with a sure nod if his head.

" I heard they eat grass as well."

" Really?"

" Really. Do you want to help me catch Manny?"

" Yeah!"

With that, the two boys started picking chunks of grass from the ground to feed the roaming mammoth.

Jaden woke with a sudden intake of air. Beside him, whimpering softly, lay Buddy. His hand shaking from the experience, Jaden managed to move it to the dog's head.

" It's okay, Buddy. I'll… I'll be okay." He sighed. " Just… fetch the bag."

The first thing Buddy brought over was his own small bag. It was a kind and thoughtful gesture, but Jaden still had to tell the dog to get the other bag. Once he was finally in possession of his bag, the boy managed to regain some strength with a sip of water. Unfortunately, the world around him was still out of focus – he was still seeing two of everything – and his head was pounding fiercely. What he needed was godly food or drink… and he needed it now.

Without a word, Buddy gave a short yap and leapt over his master. Half asleep and still fairly week, Jaden was only able to hear the sound of his dog digging in one of the chests in the cabin. The next thing he remembered was a blue brindle and white face in his face, licking at it in the attempt of getting him to look at something that had been found.

Too weak to even talk to the dog, Jaden looked at the thing sitting in front of his face by Buddy's paws. It was an old cloth pouch, browned with age and dirt, but the golden rope tie and the clear warning in Ancient Greek letters definitely said that something of great importance was inside. Slowly and cautiously, Jaden moved the pouch closer to his face and slipped his fingers into its confines. What he pulled out was a cube of yellow tofu like food.

He wasted no time in breaking off a small piece and plopping it into his mouth. Instantly, the taste of a warm roast dinner entered his mouth and warmed his body. And his headache and vision were returning to normal. There was only one explanation; Buddy had found ambrosia… old ambrosia, mind you, but it was a lot better than none.

" Good boy, Buddy. Good boy." He sighed, giving the pit bull a well-deserved pat.

As a thank you to the dog, Jaden managed to get up and, after packing the ambrosia into his bag, began to play with Buddy. At first, the games were small and easy on Jaden, but as the boy got stronger, the games got rougher. It wasn't long, however, before Jaden realised that it had stopped raining. And that wasn't the only thing he realised. His eyes landed on the eagle skeleton.

" Thanks, Blake. You gave me an idea."