Silence Them (Luke Castellan)

02

Chiron looked at the girl, more scared than he had been in millennia. There was no remorse, no sorrow, nothing marking her face. She was stone cold. Her eyes were dead. Pain bore from her irises and make him shiver. He could feel the years of hardship that this girl had endured just from looking into her eyes. Her tired, aged eyes.

"Follow me." a command that came out more like a question. An offering. Peace. Quiet.

A nod. Subtle but there. A prayer lost on her lips. Gratitude escaped in a movement. A smile was offered but not taken. She just nodded.

He turned away, ducking under the doorframe once more. Through a hallway, soft clips of hooves and patters of soft flesh. Right and then left. Repetitive decor. Cream walls, wooden laminate, cold on her nerves.

Fresh air. Heated by the sun, cooled by the wind. Crisp and loving. Real and natural.

Greenery. Soft on her eyes, luscious and healing. Earthly and beautiful.

Home.

She felt at home.

Alanna took in a deep breath and let the sun melt into her bones. Euphoria bloomed in her veins and they quieted. As if they could sense the reality too. Like they could feel the wood beneath her feet as she glided onto the porch. She felt light and airy, calm. Soft, soft calm. Serenity.

Breathe in.
Breathe out.

Grass on her feet, pollen in her nose and twittering in her ears. A sanctuary. Chiron's gentle voice faded into background noise, she took in the beauty she missed in her injured haze of last night.

Lush green forestry, fields that stretched past the imagination, a beautiful lake of crystallised blue. Trees stretching to the heavens and little life crawling in the mud.

"Alanna?" his voice cut through her haze.

"How do you know my name?" she mumbled, still in awe of the beauty enshrouding her.

"I know every demigod that passes through Camp." demigod? "Would you like some shoes?"

She nodded and he found a pair of leather sandals. She took them and slipped them on over her cold feet. Brown leather, soft and squishy and perfectly balanced. His white legs clopped away, her silent footfalls following.

"The Camp is a safe house for half-bloods like you." her puzzled look encouraged him. "Children of the gods. Zeus, Athena, Hermes. The Greek Gods."

"They do not exist. They were myths from thousands of years ago." her voice was shaky, trying to convince herself more than Chiron.

"Ah yes. But I have a stallion as my lower half, don't I? The gods follow the Westernised world, and they move to wherever its heart is; Rome, Europe, and now the United States." his voice was pointed, as if there was no discussion about his words. And there wasn't. She couldn't help but feel the tug of truth in her heart and the murmurs in her head agreed.

"The Camp Director is Mr. D. Dionysus. He is forbidden from drinking alcohol and growing wine grapes, so instead he helps to grow crops to create the income to sustain the camp. Strawberries are our specialty. Not a single rotten fruit passes our barrier." as he walked, she saw the crop fields, vines of plants and bushels of fruits, all lavish and luxurious. Half people half goat were walking about, minding the field and whistling tunes on wood pipes and lips.

As the music trickled, she watched all birds and insects that were headed for the plants turned and made themselves scarce, swooned by the magical sounds. 

He nodded at the humanoid farm animals. "Satyrs. They practice Woodland magic, that's the music. We send some out as Protectors, to find lone half-bloods and bring them to a Camp like this. You are the first single child to pass boundary lines without a Protector for years." Chiron's tone was soothing but curious, he was determined to find out what was so special about her.