Heart Pierced - Kayla Knowles (1)

XV. b. Secret Entrances To Safe Places Should Be Banned

Continuing from the end of Part One..
- — - — - — - — - — -

I open the door. It's Clarisse.

"Quintus has got a new game he wants to let us play.." she said. "He was looking for you."

"Clarisse.. you know full well that I'm not a fan of using swords unless it's.." I started, but she interrupted me.

"He said you can use the Whitworth, bullet for brains. Only normal rounds, none of Beckendorf's specials" she added, then left.

I thought she was done, but then she hollered, "YOU GOT TEN MINUTES, DORK!"

Dork. She called me a dork. Well, not the worst name I've been called here. So I grabbed the Whitworth, traded out my special rounds for the normal ones from the closet nearby, fitted my armor on - normally it's just the chest-plate and chain mail leggings (don't ask me how I managed to get those) - and then walked out of the cabin.

- — - — - — - — -

By the time I got there, almost everyone was ready for the game, and I will admit, pretty much everyone was surprised when they saw me walk up, carrying the Whitworth in one hand and my sword in the other hand.

Quintus smiled. "Ah, Colton.. glad that you could join us.. I see that Clarisse was successful in getting my message to you.." he said to me.

"Indeed she was.." I replied back. "I'm here now. So what are we in for?"

Quintus chuckled, and that's when I noticed the boxes behind him. Interesting.

"Well, I'm glad that you asked, Colton.." he said. "I was just about to tell everyone else when you showed up. So without further ado, I will explain things now."

Everyone was listening attentively, and as my head swerved to check out the crowd, I could see Kayla a good 25 yards away, standing with her siblings plus Belle from Cabin Four.

"Now.. as for what we are about to do.. you will be in teams of two for this, with one exception.." he said, trailing off for a second. I simply rolled my eyes. He's already chosen them.

Everyone got their hopes up. "Which have already been chosen!" he yelled, much to everyone else's disappointment. I couldn't help but let out a cackle.

"AWWWW!" everyone shouted, except me.

"Saw that coming.." I said, laughing a few moments longer.

Quintus simply looked amused. "Pretty observant for a son of Ares.. no wonder Clarisse spoke so favorably of you.." he said, to which I had to blush a bit. Of course my sister would speak about me that favorably. I mean, I'm the one who helped her get that quest for the Golden Fleece last summer.

"Teacher's pet.." I heard Percy mutter from the crowd. My head whipped around in his direction.

"You wanna go, sea boy?" I taunted, making Percy back off. Everyone knew that I would be definitely coming for a fight with Percy, so he did everything he could to avoid that fight.

"Anyway.." Quintus explained. "Your goal is simple. "Collect the gold laurels without dying. The wreath is wrapped in a silk package, tied to the back of one of the monsters. There are ten monsters. Each has a silk package. Only one holds the laurels. You must find the wrath before the other teams. And, of course, you will have to slay the monster to get it, and stay alive."

Guess that's why he allowed me to bring the Whitworth, I thought as I looked down at my gun. Sure enough, when I looked back up at the crowd of my fellow campers, every head was looking in my direction, even Percy was too.