This chapter comes a bit ahead of schedule, at only six reviews. Don't expect it to happen again. I warn you now, this chapter ends in a cliffie. I miss cliffies, so I wanted to apply one. This chapter skips to the CTF game, and what happens afterward. I thank all reviewers for their reviews, and here is the next chapter! (Max's POV)
"Arm yourselves!" Chiron said. With a wave of his hands, the tables before us filled with armor and weapons. "Remember, no intentional maiming!"
"We're supposed to use these?" I asked incredulously. That armor looked heavy. I wouldn't be able to fly. And fight with swords? I had no idea how.
"Unless you want to be utterly destroyed." Annabeth pointed out. Being utterly destroyed wasn't high up on my list, so...everybody was getting armor. I decided to go with a long sword, and picked up a dagger just in case. Angel, Iggy, and Gazzy were unarmed. Fang had a sword, like me, and Nudge had a spear. None of us had armor, or even a shield. I felt foolish.
"The teams are Athena, Hermes, Poseidon, Zeus, and the..." he paused, not knowing what to call us.
"Avian Americans." I supplied. A few cheers rose from the crowd.
"And the Avian Americans, against all the other cabins." At first, everybody wanted to pick us. A welcome change, to actually be wanted. But I refused to be separated from the flock. We ended up going with the smaller team.
"The whole forest is fair game! And above it as well!" Chiron said. He was actually making an effort to include us. This place just felt...right. We weren't treated as freaks, but like real people. I could live here all my life. Even the Voice had stopped nagging about saving the world.
We ran back to our base, a small knoll labeled by the campers as "Zeus' Fist". The flag had been decorated in honor of us, with an emblem of a pair of wings with a sword across them. "Okay," Annabeth began. She was always one for plans. All Athena's kids were.
"Max and Fang can fly above the forest, scouting for enemy movements we're unaware of. And if you see a scout, disable them. Am I right in saying you have raptor vision?"
I nodded. That had come in useful enough times.
"Angel and Nudge can guard the flag."
Angel nodded. Her mind powers might come in useful. And she wasn't afraid at all. Nudge was maybe a little.
"Iggy and Gazzy can lead the pincer movement on either side." At those words, many of the demigods nodded or whistled. Apparently, it was a tricky maneuver. Gazzy looked determined. Iggy looked...well..mischievous.
"We'll split the offensive movement into two parts, which will circle around their base and come from the back." It did sound tricky, considering we had no idea what the enemy would be doing.
I sprinted for a second, then rocketed into the air. I saw Fang do the same beside me. We scanned the trees.
There! There was a girl, all dressed in camouflage, over to our left. I focused a bit more. Clarisse. This would be fun.
"I'll be right back." I said to Fang. He gave me a thumbs-up, most unlike him. I swooped down on Clarisse.
I landed right in front of her in a treeless area. She pulled out a spear with a bloodred tip, faintly sparking with energy. I lunged with the sword. Or tried to, at least. Clarisse hit my hilt with her spear tip, and my arm numbed. The sword dropped.
"Ha." she said, drawing her spear point to my throat. "I told you that you were a wimp."
But what she didn't know was that I was trained to fight. All my life, I've been fighting. I knew where to hit to make it hurt. I fell backward, rolled behind Clarisse, jumped into the air, and jabbed my thumb against the base of her neck. Clarisse fell unconscious. Time to get away. I picked up the sword with my already-feeling-better arm, and snapped Clarisse's spear in half, just for good measure. And, of course, to tick her off. I took a short sprint, then spread my wings and shot into the air.
Fang greeted me. "I was watching the whole time," he said. "I think you really need some practice."
I scowled at him. Just then, a huge cheer erupted from the forest. We followed the noise, to see that we had won the game. The flag that was once decorated with a bloodstained spear now held the wing emblem. Our teammates had Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, and Iggy on their shoulders, cheering them on.
I stole a glance at Fang. He just shrugged, in a why not? attitude. He dove, and dug his heels into the ground after a quick midair flip. He got picked up, too.
I could do without being carried on their shoulders, so I just flew above them.
All of a sudden, the cheering stopped. There was a sudden intake of breath among the campers. There was a tall figure before them, maybe in his late teens. He had sandy blonde hair. But he was mangled. He was limping on one leg, he had blood streaming from several debilitating cuts, and one of his arms appeared to be broken. His clothes were ripped, and his face was gaunt and haggard. He looked like he had been knocked off a cliff and landed on sharp rocks, but still managed to survive.
"Luke," Thalia stepped forward, her voice shaking. "Why are you here?"
He staggered. Thalia caught him, almost crying. Angel gave a start on the shoulders of a few of our teammates, and flew up to me. "He's a traitor to the camp," she informed me. Hot rage enveloped me. There was nothing more I hated than a traitor. Actually, there were a few things, but those weren't important. Who would want to betray this camp, anyway? There was nothing to betray...was there?
He made eye contact with Thalia. "I'm sorry." he said, before collapsing.
All eyes turned to Angel. All eyes of the flock anyway. She looked pained. It wasn't every day you saw a pained six-year-old.
"He's telling the truth." she said quietly.
A cliffie! I miss those so much...well, I'll want at least five reviews this time, before the next chapter. Remember that. It will be very important, as in explaining why Luke is here, and something even more surprising. For Max at least. Remember, the flock are SUPPOSED to be OOC. And 5 reviews. Hopefully you remember.
