Heart Pierced - Kayla Knowles (1)

I. I Didn't Ask To Pass Out After Gaining An Admirer

So it was that when the summer of 2007 rolled around, Colton Reynolds was at a crossroads. Loyal to his cabin, his father Ares, and the Olympians for now, but unsure of how long that would stay the case. Little did he realize that the Fates had the answer: forever.

- — - — - — - — - — -

It all started with the warning toll of a monster attack one day in early June. The entire camp had been on edge, since it had been discovered someone had poisoned Thalia's tree on the crest of Half Blood Hill. The news that Chiron was being replaced, apparently the fallout of the aforementioned poisoning, did not help matters at all. Colton knew that full well, but also couldn't help but privately swear profanities against the Gods under his breath when he found out.

Even so, at the sound of the warning toll, he had been one of the first of the Ares Cabin to drop whatever he was doing - he had been jotting down notes in his cabin about a book he was planning to write soon, called Experiences Of A Demigod And Lessons Learned, which would be a self-reflection on his own experiences so far and the lessons learnt from them - and dash like hell for the armory and get ready for battle. Unusually, he was the first one to get there this time around, Clarisse and Yang hot on his heels.

A loud roar echoed throughout the camp from the crest of Half Blood Hill, and stomping noises could be heard from there as well. Given that unusually for Ares kids, Colton had spent a great deal of time reading books and listening to stories from other demigods of monsters that they had faced in the past, he had a pretty good idea of what was up there.

"Sounds like Colchis Bulls, siblings and fellow campers.." he shouted over the ruckus of campers in the armory frantically preparing for battle. Clarisse, who had managed to get herself ready quickly, jogged over to her younger brother, who himself was almost ready.

"You sure, Colton?" she asked, knowing full well by now just how useful her younger brother's advanced sense of hearing, even more so than other kids including herself, and his knowledge of monsters was to the Ares Cabin.

Colton nodded. "Most likely two up there, judging by how many footsteps I'm hearing right now.." he said, as Yang ran up to them, now also ready for battle.

"Colchis Bulls, huh? Well, I always wanted to be a bull fighter.." Yang joked, as the three ran out of the armory and up towards Half Blood Hill.

"These things breathe fire, Yang.. and you know what they say about playing with fire.." Colton admonished.

"You get burned, I know how it works.." Yang replied, just as someone's screams filled the air, filling all three with a sense of dread. Colton and Clarisse simply glared at Yang. "Don't look at me.. I didn't jinx that kid.." he said, as the three of them, with the rest of the Ares Cabin, plus mixed groups from the other cabins behind them, reached the scene of the action.

It wasn't pretty. Two campers were already downed, screaming from burns. Colton felt sick as he knew who those two were. It was Alexander, from the Hephaestus Cabin, and Benjamin, who was one of the trio's brothers. Beckendorf was already running over to them, and helping them out of the line of fire, profanities flying out of his mouth.

Colton nudged Clarisse as they were running, and gestured towards Benjamin. His head counselor let out a cry of shock, then growled in anger.

"Fucking bitch.." she hissed. "..those bulls will fucking pay for this. Hang on Beckendorf, we're here!"

Beckendorf looked more than relieved to see the trio charging up to the fray. "Thank the gods.." he said. "Those bulls are a bitch to deal with!"