Sarah's POV
"Don't just sit there! We're under attack!"
A blue plumed war helm was shoved on my head as I was pushed out the door. Once outside I stopped dead in my tracks. The entire valley was encased by a green glowing dome which was protecting us from the massive boulders falling out of the sky. All around me kids of all ages were running around,with armor thrown over their pajamas, as they rushed to obey, the orders being yelled at them. They respond really quickly, especially since they'd been asleep just minutes ago. Annabeth stood in the center of the commons area, the only armor she wore was a breastplate, but her two weapons hung at her side as her voice carried above the chaos. As soon as I saw her, I remembered my dream about it was too terrible to think about but I had to tell her I had to warn her. I charged across the common dodging kids on their way to battle stations. When I reached Annabeth, I was out of breath, but I managed to gasp out.
"Annabeth I had a dream you have to listen to me."
She turned to me, her eyes dark as thunder clouds yet they gleamed with determination. I don't know what I said to make her listen, but she gave me her undivided attention as I rambled out what I heard.
"Tartarus I heard him!"
As I said the name, the temperature plummeted. Our breath hung in the air and the dew crystallized as it turned into frost creeping across the grass.
"He told me that he's coming. He's sending a monster of some kind. I think he called it a Maeonian Draconian and he wants to end the world or something!"
Her face drained of color. I'd never seen anyone pailer then she was at that moment. She looked up at the dome above us, watching as fire rushed over it. Then two monstrous roars split the air, seeming to make the earth itself shake. The sound seemed to snap Annabeth's back to reality. She put a hand on my shoulder.
"I need you to find Percy, tell him to meet me on the far side of the camp, for those sounds are coming from. Then tell Malcolm that if he doesn't hear from me and Llewellyn says the borders are coming down, then use plan Omega. Can you do that?"
"I can, but what are you gonna do?"
Another monstrous roar pierced the air.
"I am going to deal with that."
I'm pretty sure my jaw hit the grass.
"Are you serious?! That sounds, it sounds huge!"
"Which is why I said if Malcolm doesn't hear from me and Llewellyn gives the signal, then he needs to follow the plan."
"What about you?!"
She gave me a grim smile.
"This is what heroes do, besides, if that thing breaches the border…"
She trailed off, but I got the idea. The monsters roared. The dome pulsated green again, this time it looked weaker. Annabeth gave me a push.
"Go find Percy. I'm gonna need all the help I can get."
Then she turned and began running towards the monstrous noises yelling as she went.
"Jason, Leo, Piper, Clarice, and anyone else willing to fight a Drakon I need back up!"
I watched as they ran off, in total a group of about fifteen brave individuals. I wondered if that would be enough. I don't know what a Drakon is exactly but I've heard some stories.
That sudden drop in temperature was helping to clear the brain fog that's always present right after waking up. Looking around I felt like I was seeing the camp again for the very first time. Only in a different light. Over the past several weeks I'd done lots of different kinds of training with the campers, but I hadn't done anything like this. The training had felt more like they were trying to make me a pro athlete. What I was seeing now had obviously been borne from experience. Kids and teenagers poured out of the cabins. Any piece of armor that could be put on while moving was being dawned and adjusted as they ran to form groups. The largest cabins splitting in two, each group running together in a loose formation, to a designated place. In a matter of minutes the cabin counselors, who were all teenagers, had woken up from a dead sleep, armed themselves and mobilized their entire cabin. Which was largely made up of middle schoolers and elementary school kids. But as I looked around me all I saw were tight lips, and set jaws. Fully awake eyes which shone with either fear or determination, or both. Razor sharp weapons were gripped in every hand as they ran past me. A young girl, no more than twelve, ran to catch up with a group that was heading towards the woods. Slung over her shoulder was a bag with a symbol of a red cross. All of a sudden I released these… demigods aren't exactly kids. They are young shore, but they are all so highly trained, experienced and capable. Realizing I was just standing here rubbernecking, I shook my head to clear it glancing around. I could see someone raising a flag outside the Athena cabin. Running in that direction I saw who appeared to be Malcolm, (though all those siblings looked alike.) giving directions to the youngest of the campers. Seeing me coming he stepped away from the cabin calling as he did.
"What's the news?"
Before I could answer, the youngest member of my cabin nearly ran into us.
"Malcolm! A small pack of wild Hellhounds, prowling the border just inside the tree line."
Malcolm trend yelling over his shoulder.
"Lucas! Get two archers from Apollo, send them to reinforce Travis!"
As Lucas hurried to do so Malcolm looked back to me.
"Sorry, what is it?"
"Annabeth wanted me to tell you, that if you don't hear from her to either fall back to the Hearth or if Llewellyn gives the word then use plan Omega."
"Omega? Why would she?"
"What is the Omega plan?"
"It's a plan of last resort. Annabeth and I made it during the Titan war, when things were going wrong on her quest. Later before she left on the Argo two we adapted the plan. Omega is supposed to be the last resort just in case we get overrun."
My stomach felt like it was trying to tie itself in Knots.
"Overrun?"
My voice came out small and quiet. I had no idea if Malcolm had heard me, if he had, he chose to ignore me. Calling to someone else instead.
"Callie get Llewellyn and bring her here!"
"Malcolm."
He looked at me.
"Annabeth told me to find Percy. Where do you think he will be?"
Malcolm frowned,
"If he's not already on his way to help her then he's probably on Half Blood Hill."
Glancing around, he pointed out a group of his siblings.
"They are on their way up there now, go with them, if he's not up there we'll just have to trust he knows what he's doing. If you do find him, follow Annabeth's directions, then join Travis at the woods."
Running to catch up with the Athena kids I fell in step with them. A boy frowned, glancing at me as we ran.
"Where are you going?"
"Trying to find Percy."
He nodded and we kept running. The thunder and the waves of fire drowning out the sound of our pounding feet on the hard ground. Overhead the green dome that shielded us from the on slot of attacks ripped with green light at every hit. Though it seemed as if the light wasn't quite as bright, a wave of cold washed over me as I had thought. If the light was fading did that mean the border was too? Busy being scared out of my mind I hadn't noticed how far we'd come till a blinding flash of lightning tore open the sky making contact with the dome in at least a dozen places. The campers around me let out a cry of alarm as they froze momentarily before redoubling their efforts and changed up the hill. I fell behind, stagoring up Halfblood hill behind them trying to suck as much oxygen into my burning lungs as was possible. When I finally caught up the site before me sent a wave of fear and nausea coursing through me. The tree that marked the edge of the border was down, lying where it had fallen, all that remained of its garden was a pile of teeth and monster dust. green acidic blood covered the hilltop, and not far from the splintered trunk of the tree…. I claimed my hands of my mouth to cut off the skreem building in my chest. Percy was laying on his back where he'd obviously colaspt with his eyes rolled back so you could only see the whites. One of Annabeth's sisters knelt next to him, two fingers pressed against his neck.
"Is he dead?"
My voice sounded small and far away in my own ears, and there was a persistent ringing sound that was growing louder as the ground seemed to move under my feet. Someone grabbed my shoulder and l released I'd been close to toppling over. The girl at Percy's side looked up.
"He's alive, but he needs a healer. I'll stay with Percy, Sarah, go find a medic, and the rest of you deal with that.
She pounded down the hill at several dark figures. They all nodded, the boy next to me gave me a gentle push in the direction of the camp then I was running again, back the way we'd come. New egency lending speed to my feet. My lungs were on fire as I ran back into the cluster of cabins, now mostly empty. I looked around wildly until I saw a camper with a Red Cross patch on the sleeve of her t-shirt. My legs felt like lead, and my lungs bernd, but I managed to wave and call,
"Medic!"
Before leaning over hands on my knees gasping for breath. The girl ran over but before she could speak I pounded to direction I came from and gasped out,
"Percy, Half Blood hill, need's help."
"Can he walk?"
I shook my head, the healer glanced around, and pounded at two campers.
"You, and you get a stretcher and meet me at Half Blood Hill!"
Then she ran off leaving me to own devices, as the two other campers scrambled to obey her orders. After a few minutes I straightened, looking around the scene of barley organized chaos, hoping to find some way I could help. Then a monstrous roar split the night. The blood chilling sound nearly made me jump out of my socks at the same time two realizations hit me. One; when I'd been shoved out my cabin door I'd been given minimal armor, but no shoes. Two; Annbeth was expecting Percy to come and help her which definitely wasn't going to happen. I hesitated, someone had to tell her but if I went I might just get in the way, but then again I had nothing else to do and every demigod who remotely knew what they were doing had something to keep them busy, and there was no way I was about to tell some kid who also didn't know what to do to deliver the news. So took the slightly more sane approach and ran towards the angry monster sounds. My socket feet made a muffled drumming sound on the grass as I blundered through the dark camp. As I ran I wondered why I wanted Luke to get me into this in the first place. Of course at the time I had no way of knowing this would happen. Also it was because the voice kept saying he was lying. I wanted answers and of course I just really wanted to see this place, because it would be really cool. But now I've found those answers. I know the truth but I don't know what to do with it. Now thanks to my own curiosity I'm running around in my socks at some ungodly hour of the night delivering messages for teenage warriors as they battle the forces of evil.
I stop, trying to get more oxygen into my lungs. None of this felt real. The big dome flickered pale green as more fire washed over it. monsters were roaring, seaming to shake the earth. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed. Another wave of fire rolled over the top of the border, making the rain hiss as it made contact with the flames. It was like this was the climax of the book; this is when the heroes were supposed to come up with a plan, and save the day. They would kill the monsters, capture the evil doers, and everything would go back to normal. Everything would be fine. Except this wasn't a story, this wasn't a book or a scripted movie. This was very real, and who was to know if the heroes would come up with a brilliant plan. In books, the good guys always win, but in real life…. I had gone to the telling, I heard the stories about the heroes of camp half blood they are the best of the age. But not all of them had won. In the real world, no one was protected by plot armor. As that last thought demanded my attention I wondered if I should be more scared than I felt at the moment. Then again the border was strong and the best heroes of the century were defending it. Surely talk about using plan Omega, was just precautionary before Annabeth charged off to battle… right? Shaking off my doubts, I kept running. Until I stumbled to the top of the first big hill near the border and froze. Only 300 feet away at the edge of the border were the living breathing definitions of the word monsters. One looked to be about two-hundred feet long, its hide was bright green and yellow with a frill of skin that stood out around its head. The 'small' one looked to be as long as a football field, with bright green scales and lamp-like eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness. Both of their mouths were filled with rows of razor sharp teeth which were easily bigger than me. Both had scaly legs with three toed feet that ended in tallinn like claws. My knees threatened to give way, slowly I sank down and sat on the damp icy grass and watched as the small dark forms in between the monsters harassing them, but doing little to harm them. The smaller monster suddenly lunged to the side, it snapped at the figure who'd been defining it, then just as quickly turned back. I waited for the person to reappear and try again but they didn't. My ears buzzed and my vision went fuzzy for a second as I realized that the camper would never reappear.. never try again… he or she had lost… and.. and… I'd just seen… My stomach heaved just as the bigger monster rammed its head into the border which flickered and bowed inward somehow managing to hold under the impact. Before I knew what I was doing I was up on my feet and running to join the brave souls below. As I got closer I saw that part of the ground was sizzling and melting. There was also a shield that had been discarded, which was nearly completely eaten through by acid. Stopping just inside the border I yelled.
"Annabeth!"
My first attempt to get her attention was drowned out by the storm outside. Taking a deep breath, I stepped through the border getting closer to the ranging conflict, and was instantly hit with hurricane force, winds and rain. The storm was so intense. It took my breath away, the winds threatened to take me with them, and the rain. It was impossible to see through. I had no idea Annabeth and the others were managing to fight these things in this weather. Then I realized I had no choice if these things broke through the border… I took a deep breath, fear added volume to my voice as I cried.
"ANNABETH!"
She glanced up, then rolled under a pair of giant teeth that nearly chomped her in half. Sprinting, she tackled me back through the safety of the border as the bright yellow and green monster spat acid at us.
"Are you out of your mind? What are you doing here?!"
"Percy's hurt he wouldn't be coming."
Her eyes went wide as she muttered a curse that would've made a sailor blush.
"Thanks for telling me. Now go tell Malcolm to send either Grover or a child of Demeter. Tell him we'll hold off the two Drakons as long as we can, but he needs to have everyone fall back to the hearth, or begin evacuation procedures. After that, I want you to go to the big house, take a drachma and make an Iris message to Frank Zhang or Reyna Ramirez. Tell them that our borders are under attack and are about to fall. Now go!"
She pulled me to my feet and I started running again. I delivered my message and was halfway to the Big house when the border fell and the storm swept the camp.