There was a pause, in which one satyr consulted the other. Finally, the curly-haired one spoke. "What are your names?"
Andrew stepped forward slowly, careful not to squash the leaves. "Eirene and Andrew of Camp Half-blood,"
"I am Roan, commander of The Panes. This is Orion, commander of the bow and arrows," He gestured to his blonde friend who had still not calmed his weapon. "As you can see, he enjoys shooting them." Roan smiled. "It would be wise not to anger me or him." He straightened his sash and stroked his beard. "But onto the matter at hand: We will give Elon to you, for any matter about a charge is of importance to us. Satyrs grow to care for them; they are like family. But we warn you:" He lowered his head, giving them a deadly gaze. "If we sense any disturbance to our forest, we swear to strike."
Eirene nodded with upmost sincerity. "Yes, of course. We swear no harm will come to your forest."
"Your mortal swears mean nothing to us," Orion spat. "They are as fleeting as the wind. If you do not swear to us on something that matters, Elon will never see you."
"Then we swear that you may kill us, if we harm your forest." Andrew stepped up, and Eirene gave him a look of utter horror. "If the cause of any harm to your forest is our fault, then we'll take full responsibility."
Eirene shot him a look, but didn't say anything. How could Andrew be so sure no harm would come to the forest? Even Eirene wasn't sure that nothing would accidentally happen. He wasn't known as the type to make hasty decisions; Eirene could only put it down to him wanting to find Elon and get this quest over with.
The satyrs paused; Roan's hand still paused in the air. The corners of his lips curled, and he turned and whispered something to Orion. Finally, the satyr lowered his bow.
"Very well, to find Elon, you must follow us."
Eirene nodded, and then looked up, searching for Connor. He was still perched up on a tree branch, swinging his legs happily.
"Connor," Andrew called. "Come down."
"Why?" He sighed happily, revealing a cluster of nymphs who flew out from behind him. "I'm making a dozen new friends."
Andrew placed his thumb and index finger against his brow, sighing exasperatedly. He turned to Roan and Orion. "Isn't there something you can do to…fix him? Make him less…loopy?"
Roan smiled. Eirene noticed that his smile was that of someone hiding a secret. She immediately didn't trust him, and mentally smacked Andrew for making such a stupid promise. Roan gestured to Connor lazily.
"He will be fine here; the forest only harms those who harm it. But to make sure he does not wonder, Orion." The blonde satyr sharpened his posture. "Watch the boy. Threaten to shoot him if he moves." Come," He turned around. "Follow me."
Eirene and Andrew followed Roan through the forest, careful to make their steps light as to not crush the plants. They had to maneuver through throngs of vines and bushes before they finally stopped. Eirene saw that there was a group of satyrs, and even some centaurs that were huddle together, laughing and chatting. Some were playing cards, others we playing board games. Eirene watched as a satyr rolled a dice, then slump down in defeat as another laughed and yelled "Go to jail!" Eirene noticed only one satyr was off to the side, tending to some flowers.
Andrew leaned in to whisper: "So this is what the great Pane tribe does in their free time."
Roan was watching their expressions, a smile always plastered on his face. "Something you'd like to say, demigod?"
Andrew shook his head, stepping away from her.
Roan turned back to his tribe. "Friends, I wish to disturb you all for only a moment: Will Elon step forward, please?"
The satyr who'd been gardening looked up. He dusted off his legs then came forward. "Yes, Commander Roan?"
"These demigods hope to speak to you. Will you allow them?"
Eirene thought it was strange that he was asking for permission when he was the tribe leader, especially to someone who looked as young as Elon did. He had curly red hair and random tuffs of facial hair on his chin. He stood worriedly, as if Roan intimidated him.
His voice had a hint of Scottish to it. "What business do they have with me?"
"They speak of your former charge, Matthew."
A whisper went throughout the tribe, and Elon looked even more worried. "Yes, Commander, I'll allow them."
He stepped towards the two demigods, and started guiding them to the side, a secluded area where they could speak privately.
"Is something wrong with Matthew?" He sounded genuinely bothered by the possibility that something could have happened to his charge. Eirene wondered if it was normal for satyrs to develop bonds with their charge, as the case was with Grover and Percy.
Andrew spoke. "We aren't sure. All we know is that he ran away from camp."
The alarm in his force rose. "Ran away? Why?"
"It's a long story," Andrew sighed. "Do you happen to know who Dennis Walker is?"
The satyr nodded. "He was a close friend of Matthew, at camp."
"Yeah, well, Dennis…" And Andrew told Elon what Eirene had told him, about how there was suspicion that Dennis had stolen a sacred item from a Kobalos, and what Andrew believed what he'd use it for. He told him of how they'd received word earlier that Matthew had ran from camp to go warn Dennis of the Kobalos threat. By the time they were finished with the story, Elon's face had turned a pasty white colour.
"And so," Eirene clued in, "We need your help to locate Matthew, so we can find Dennis before he does anymore damage."
Elon swallowed, nodding understandingly." I…I comprehend what you want me to do."
"Will you help us? There isn't much time left." She prompted.
He looked at her, his eyes two different colours: one green and the other brown, filled with sorrow. "Yes—of course. I'll do anything I can to help." He swallowed again, rubbing his neck. "Seeing as how this is primarily my fault,"
-slight timeskip-
Elon had alerted Roan that he was aiding the demigods on their quest and leaving right away. To that, Roan just smiled and nodded, letting them go on their way. Eirene was still slightly suspicious of him, and that smile of his.
When they reached where Orion was, they couldn't find Connor swinging among the trees, so they asked him where he was. Orion simply grunted, shifted to the side and revealed Connor, tied up from his feet to his mouth with rope. He was screaming and writhing, his eyes pleading for help when he spotted Andrew and Eirene.
"What did you do to him?" Eirene rushed to his side, trying to undo the multiple knots he'd secured Connor with. She looked to Andrew for help, but he was holding his mouth: trying not to laugh.
"He wouldn't keep still."
"Did you have to tie his mouth too?" She finally wrenched one of the knots free.
"He started singing 'Colors of the wind'"
Andrew burst out laughing.
"Andrew," Eirene whined, snapping another knot. "Can you get his shoes?"
A few minutes later, Connor was freed, wearing shoes, and completely pissed at Eirene and Andrew.
"I can't believe you two left me here with this nut job," He mumbled, brushing the leaves off his hair. He coughed. "Ugh, and why is their dirty and bark in my mouth?"
"You ate some." Orion said simply, polishing his weapon.
Connor didn't even want to ask. He turned to their newly joined companion. "Who's this?"
"This is Elon," Eirene introduced. "He's agreed to help us find Matt."
"Fantastic," Connor grumbled, still annoyed. "Let's just get out of here."
Eirene felt it then: A chill-like whisper that went through the forest. It was there for only a moment, and then it was gone.
Eirene grabbed Andrew, ready to get out of here. "Connor's right, let's go." She tried to pull him, but he wouldn't budge: He was hard as stone. "Andrew…?"
His eyes had glazed over, and his pupils disappeared. When he looked over at Eirene, it was with an air of no familiarity. She slowly backed away, bumping into Connor. When she turned to look at him, his eyes had also glazed over. His pupils slowly vanished.
"Something is very wrong here," Elon said.
As if on cue, both demigods reached for their swords.
"You guys, you can't…"She glanced at Orion, who was squinting at them. "Not here…" but she knew it was useless. They were possessed with something, and they couldn't hear her.
Their raised their swords, and charged at the nearest tree, Connor stabbing it, and Andrew trying to hack it in half.
"What are you doing? STOP!" Elon lunged at the boys, yanking at Connor's arm, but was shoved back so hard he landed tail-first on the grass. Orion raised his arrow and shot at Andrew, who sensed it coming and deflected it with his sword.
Connor moved onto a shrub, hacking it to pieces in seconds. The tree Andrew had been working on started to tip, falling over and crashing into other plants.
Eirene stared in horror. They were destroying the forest, exactly what they swore not to do.
If they didn't leave now, Roan and his tribe would come after them and try to kill them.
Another arrow flew by, aimed at Andrew's chest, and Eirene had to jump in front of him to save him. It deflected right off her chest and buried itself in the dirt.
"'Your mortal swears are as fleeting as the wind'." Roan appeared a regretful smile on his lips. "We should not have trusted you. But no matter," He raised as bow on his own. "You shall fulfill your other end of the bargain." Behind him, an army of satyrs, centaurs and nymphs were gazing at the three demigods with hatred. Some were gazing at the fallen tree with teary eyes.
A cacophony of arrows were shot in their direction, all aimed to kill.