Chapter 50 my boyfriend punched a bird

Sarah's POV

I froze, I didn't know what to do. The border was down, I didn't want to think about what that might mean about Annabeth and the others. But now what was I supposed to do? Do I go to the big house and call the other Camp? Or do I go back the way I came and try to help? Then again what good would my help be against those monsters? On the other hand what good would calling the other camp be? It was all the way in California. It would take at least a day or three for them to even get here. My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest, I took a few hesitant steps back towards the cabins then stopped. I knew Malcom would be calling everyone to the central hearth to either make a stand or evacuate which meant I'd be the only one in the Big house except… Luke. He would still be trapped up there in his room and in all the chaos it's possible he had been forgotten about. I spun back to the Big house running as fast as could through the blinding rain which was quickly turning the ground into mud. Behind me the monster's roars were steadily getting louder. My feet pounded on the porch steps, one of my feet slipped on the untreated wood of the rain soaked porch. I fell hard but I pushed myself back up ignoring the pain in my hands and knees. I slammed into the front door and threw it open heedless in the way it banged open on its hinges. I rushed up the stairs, my wet socks nearly making me fall again but made it to Luke's floor without injury. I ran down the hall sliding as I came to a stop then threw the door open, relief flooding over me when I saw Luke standing in the middle of the room. Thunder boomed again, my sense of desperation crashed back. I wanted to yell at him to get moving to explain we had to make it back to the central hearth before it was too late. But like in every nightmare my voice didn't work, I was altogether too tired, out of breath, and scared out of my mind to get any kind of sound out. The moment felt like an eternity, I reached out my hand to Luke, as I felt tears begin to slide down my cheeks. Maybe this was just a bad dream. Maybe I'd wake up and none of this would've happened. Maybe, just maybe this was part of my dream from earlier a nightmare like the ones I've been warned about. Then a roar closer than all the others split the night making the windows shake, and I knew this nightmare was very much real. Quickly, Luke crossed the room and grabbed my hand. Then we were running again, down the stairs, through the living room, out the door, across the porch and into the night. At first Luke led me through the storm, the wind and rain battering us from all directions. Then I remembered that Luke didn't know what the plan was, he didn't know where we needed to go. So took the initiative and led him towards the central hearth. We had just cleared the cabins when we had to stop. Between us and relative safety was the massive body of the monster. A group of about twenty demigods were holding off the monster while the rest of the campers were retreating towards the woods. We watched frozen in place as the battle raged, the small group of warriors lunged in and out. Despite their efforts the warriors only managed to inflict minor injuries to the monster. Any time one or two got close it would spray acid, forcing the demigods back.

"Sarah Look!"

At first I didn't see what Luke was pointing at, then I saw her. Annabeth was the closest to the monster, weaving in and out of its massive coils, and stomping feet. Delivering lightning fast attacks, then evading those jaws of certain death. I looked at Luke.

"What is she trying to do!? Why isn't she working with the others?!"

He shook his head, watching closely as three more campers darted in for an attack. The monster whipped towards them spraying acid forcing them back, then bit at Annabeth who barely got out of the way in time. Luke muttered,

"I don't believe it."

"What?"

"The Drakon isn't interested in the main force, only attacking them when they get close. I almost don't believe it."

"What?"

"It's targeting Annabeth. Drakons aren't supposed to do that; they just strike at the first thing that moves… but this one… It's behaving like someone summoned it to attack her specifically."

Cold washed over me, as a ball of lead seemed to drop into my stomach. Luke's observation reminded me of that voice in my dream."Two puny mortals will not be allowed to defy me. Maeonian Draconian I call you forth from my debts, go to camp, half blood in the world above. Destroy the two demigods that dared to defy me, and all they hold dear!" I tore my eyes away looking at Luke's face. His eyes held a mix of pride and sadness, which terrified me.

"She's doing good right?"

He nodded.

"She's doing very well…"

"She can kill it right?"

He didn't answer, instead asking,

"Where is Perseus he should be with her?"

I glanced at Luke, surprised to hear so much anger in his voice.

"Percy was injured."

Luke scowled.

"So what? Injured or not, he should still be with her right now."

I glanced at him. His feachers normally so kind and inviting had morphed to something so different I almost didn't recognize him. Luke's eyebrows were drawn close together emphasizing his hard cold eyes. Luke's jaw set in a hard line, lips pressed tight into a scowl, which distorted that awful scar on his face. Never in all my life had I seen someone look as he did now. I shivered, I didn't know why the fact that Percy wasn't with her made him so angry. Tentatively I tried to explain.

"Luke. He's probably still unconscious, on a stretcher on the way out of here."

He glanced at me in surprise, then muttered about how the Fates had a cruel sense of humor.

"Luke?"

My voice was small. I had no idea if he could hear me or not, but he glanced over.

"She has a chance right?"

He didn't look at me as he replied but I could still hear the pain in his voice.

"No."

At that one word a wave of nausea joined the lead wait in my stomach, but I saw that Luke was right. Annabeth was slowing down and her close calls were getting closer. Somehow I felt that she was just seconds away from disaster. I couldn't do it, I couldn't just stand here and watch, I had to try. Letting go of Luke's hand I raced forwards, hearing him shout after me.

"Sarah NO!"

I didn't listen. I drew my knife, an absolutely insignificant and useless weapon against a monster this big. Pulling back my arm I plunged it deep into a soft spot and the monster. The monster roared, whipping around to stare at me. We looked at each other for a second then the frill around it's head stood out. Turning on my heel I ran faster than I had ever run before. I didn't dare look back but knew it was behind me and closing the distance quickly. I charged for the closest cover available, I'd just made it behind Harrahs ceremonial cabin when there was a massive SLAME! BOOB! Followed immediately by rubble, raining out of the sky, followed by a blinding flash, and a deafening. CRACK! I screamed as I fell to the ground and curled into a ball waiting for the monster to swallow me up. Waiting for my death; but nothing happened. The debri stopped falling, the monster didn't come. Slowly I lifted my head. Instead of a monster, there was a massive male peacock standing over me. I screamed, the massive bird hissed at me and I screamed again. Suddenly Luke appeared out of nowhere and punched the bird, then he was at my side gathering me into his arms. Murmuring quietly to me and lifting me off the ground. It was too much. The bird was the last straw, I buried my face into Luke's chest and cried. Luke held me tight until my body stopped shaking and everything went black. When I opened my eyes again I was laying in a firm but comfortable bed, turning my head I saw a curtain drawn around it. Lifting my hands in front of my face I saw that my arms were covered in band-Aids, and a large gauze pad had been taped to my right forearm. Then I remembered, the woman I'd dreamed about who claimed to be my mom had called down, magic fire, and branded me. But that had been a dream. There was no way she had actually been able to do that right? Carefully I pulled back the gauze, underneath was the brand; SPQR a set of scales and a single stripe. How on earth even on magic infested earth had she been able to do that to me in a dream? Did the tattoo mean I was claimed? Percy and Jason had similar ones, but the rest of the camp didn't, so why did I get picked to get one. I don't have anything in common with those two, besides that had hurt, like a lot! Maybe it had something to do with the other thing the goddess, my mom, weird. had mentioned. Something about the time will come to choose, blank. I couldn't remember, fire coming from nowhere and descending on your arm, apparently makes you forget stuff. Probably because all you can think about is OWE! But someone else had talked about a choice to… I didn't get his name, but it was that two headed guy with the key who said I had to choose, but not what I had to choose. Probably he was another god. Did every half blood get gods invading their dreams? Or am I somehow just more interesting? After all Piper's mother seemed very interested in me. She called me a story and gave me questionable dating advice. That had been a weird conversation to say the least. Aphrodite or Venus, whoever she was, had apparently been stalking my boyfriend's love life. Creepy. She even admitted to trying to set him up with several different girls. Mega weird. Also, she said that she had nothing to do with Luke and I's relationship, and she was curious to see if it would work out. Even though she had basically told me that Luke may relapse into his old character, though I might be able to pull him out of it, which is not usually great dating advice. Yet…. The goddess of love herself said he truly cared for me. What was I supposed to do with that? If I stay with Luke I might be able to help him change for the better. Though I don't have to be a book lover to know how that normally turns out; How to get yourself in a toxic relationship 101. On the other hand if I broke up with him… Aphrodite said he cares a lot about me, he risked his life coming to join me. And Luke has a dark past. He is strong-willed, he can be controlling and manipulative. Who is to say if I broke up with the guy he wouldn't suddenly become a stalker or something. That sort of has happened before. Maybe I should've listened to my dad and not started dating anyone till I was like 80. A small hub-bub distracted me from my thoughts. Carefully I peeked through my curtain to see Annabeth in the doorway, leaning heavily on Brice.

"Annabth, what happened?! I thought all the fighting was done hours ago."

"Will, I'm fine (lie.) nothing happened. Everything is quiet."

"Then what?"

"It happened while I was fighting the Drakon, right before Sarah got its attention."

"But that was four hours ago, why didn't you come to me sooner?"

"I knew it wasn't broken, and you and the other healers had bigger problems."

"Still, you shouldn't have waited so long."

"Well there were more important things than my ankle."

Will gave her a stern look.

"Will you know I'm right."

He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Brice, would you help Annabeth over to that bed."

"Sher. Uh Will?"

"Yea."

"How is Savanna?"

I couldn't see Will's face, but his shoulders sagged as he answered.

"Not good, I've done everything I can. It's just with wounds like that…"

"Where is she?"

Will pointed to one of the beds with a curtain pulled around it. Brice nodded his thanks then walked over to it. Will turned back to Annabeth, who now had her extremely swollen ankle propped up on a pillow. He began to examine it as he asked questions.

"Were you able to contact Reina?"

"Yes, she's going to send a few forward troops. They'll be here in about four days. The rest of the Legion will be roughly a week behind them."

"That's great news, do you know what happened to the tree yet?"

"Not exactly, OW."

"Sorry, so what did you find out about the tree?"

"Well the fleece is gone and the tree was cut down. All that's left of pore Peleus is a pile of teeth. With no sign of a fight. I don't think we'll be able to lernen anything more until Percy wakes up. How is he doing?"

"He's fine, you know I would have sent for you otherwise. Though I don't think he's going to be waking up any time soon, whatever happened took a toll on him."

"What happened to him?"

I saw Will shrug as he stood up.

"I don't really know, he had a minor head wound, but other than that there was no fiscal harm done. Nothing that should have made his heart rate or temper to drop the way it did. Hay Jeremy bring over a wrap and some nectar. I want you to try and wrap Annabeth's ankle."

somewhere I couldn't see Jeremy called back.

"Sure thing, wait what?"

"Don't worry, it's not broken, you don't have to set anything. A ligament is torn, but I don't have the strength to fix it. You just need to emobilize her ankle."

"But,"

"You'll be fine, Annabeth is the perfect person for you to practice on. She's tough and probably won't hit you."

Silence greated that statement. Will disappeared for a moment then returned into my view with two steaming mugs that smelled like wonderful coffee. Smiling, he handed one to Annabeth.

"Jeremy is one of my new trainees, he needs the practice and I'm exhausted. Though he's not exactly soft handed yet."

"I'm honored."

Her voice dripped sarcasm, but she accepted the coffee gratefully. Then as Jeremy got to work she flinched her face tight with pain. Will sat on the edge of her bed, he spoke so quietly I could barely hear him even though I was only a few feet away.

"What's the situation out there? I've been kept busy. I have no idea what's going on."

"It's bad, really bad. Since the border went down there have been seven attacks."

"Seven? That's more than one an hour since the border went down."

"But it makes sense, remember how many attacks we were fending off for years ago."

"Yea but still."

"We have more than double the number of campers as we did that year, we also have the Athena Parthenos. That thing attracts monsters like nothing else, it radiates power and the strength of Olympus, which monsters hate."

"Ok, I get it. How about damage?"

"The fleece is gone. Three fields of strobes have been crushed, but only one cabin was harmed."

"Well that's some good news."

Annabeth winced as she nodded.

"When Sarah comes to I'll have to ask her if she planned that, and of course thank her for saving my life."

I blinked, had I really. Slowly I remembered but it felt fuzzy like it wasn't actually my memory but someone else's. I had run up to the monster and stabbed it with my dagger. It chased me, I had hid behind a cabin. Letting go of the curtain, I looked at my arms again. Band-Aids, the monster had gone straight through the cabin, demolishing it. How was I alive? I should have been eaten or crushed by debris.

"OW! go easy would you?"

"Sorry! I'm sorry! It's the tape, it…"

The voice trailed off. Peaking around the curtain again I saw that the trainee had fumbled the tape and gotten it tangled. Annabeth's face was tight with pain as Will slowly stood with a grown, steadying himself with her bed. Will moved to assist his young helper. I watched as Will quickly and easily removed the tangled tape and swiftly re-wrapped her ankle. How many times had he performed that task? He had to be dead on his feet, but his fingers moved with such praktest ease he had to have done it for years. Annabeth's face had relaxed slightly as Will slowly returned to his seat but no sooner had he leaned back with a sigh of relief there was an urgent cry from Brice.

"No! No NO WILL! Someone HELP!"

Instantly Will was on his feet again, rushing out of sight. I could hear a curtain being yanked back and a girl's labored breathing

as Will called for supplies then he lifted his voice in that singing chant which was some hymn of healing. My heart seemed to have frozen in my chest as Brice called Savanna's name, I looked at Annabeth, the only face I could see. Her eyes were closed as mouth moved, forming a silent prayer. "Please please please, let her live please."

I waited, hardly able to breathe as the next verse of Will's song fallterd and died on his lips only to be replaced by a single sentence.

"I'm so sorry Brice, but there's nothing else I can do for her now."

A cold weight seemed to be squeezing my chest making it hard to breathe. I could hear the voices but they sounded so far away.

"Please, Will there has to be a way Please."

"I'm sorry Brice, I can't do anything. She's a hero. I'm sure she will make it into Elysium."

"But… there has to be something you…"

Will's voice was incredibly gentle but firm, as he cut off Brice.

"I wish I could do more but she's moving on to where none of this can hurt her anymore. Savanna was a hero. She was brave and probably saved more than just your life last night. I'm confident that she will be in Elysium."

I couldn't see them from where I was, but Brice must have made a movement or responded so quietly I couldn't hear him, because Will's voice came again.

"All we can do now is make sure that Savanna didn't die in vain. We will protect our home and each other, and we will drive back the enemies from our borders."

There was silence again then I heard Brice speak again, his voice straining to stay level.

"Can I stay with her for a while?"

"Of course I'll send someone to tell Leo and Piper."

My whole body felt numb and my eyes burned but for some reason I couldn't cry. I was just numb. Will shuffled back into sight then dropped back into his chair at Annabeth's bedside. His head in his hands. Annabeth's head rested against the wall, her eyes red as she stared at the ceiling as if looking for something. I watched them sitting silently in their greaf. Never had two young people looked older than they did at this moment. After a long silence Will asked without raising his head.

"How many have we lost?"

I saw Annabeth close her eyes and take a deep breath before answering.

"Seven."

Will's head snapped up.

"Seven. How did..? So many."

"Two fell while fighting the Drakons with me."

I flinched as that memory came back to me. Quickly I tried to stuff it to the back of my mind, that was not something I wanted to think about.

"Four of my siblings died trying to stop alabaster and his men. Savanna was the seventh."

"I had no idea. Why wasn't I called?"

"Because you couldn't have done anything for them."

"Still, maybe I could have.."

Annabth shook her head.

"Will, there's nothing you could have done. Nila, my sister that stayed with Percy until the medic got there. She told me that she saw everything the other four of our siblings went down the hill, but at the bottom, there was a swordsman whose skill rivals that of Luke's. Apparently they never stood a chance."

Will didn't say anything, the two just exchanged a look of understanding, before he changed the topic.

"Now what?"

"Now we try to get some rest. Then I'll try to contact Chiron and organize the funeral pires."

I layed back down on the firm bed and hid my face with my hands. It's not fair that this world is messed up. These young people should have a chance for a childhood. They shouldn't have to risk their lives. I've known for a long time that the world wasn't perfect. People lie, they get sick, wars happen and people die. But what is so wrong with the world that 14 year olds have to lay down their lives, 17-year-olds shouldn't have to heal the injured and 18-year-olds shouldn't have to carry the safety so many on their shoulders. I can understand why Luke wanted things to change.