"Leo? Theo?" I yell up, looking up at the pair sitting atop the giant bronze dragon. Even before they landed, the camp alarm went up. Satyrs were screaming, and half the camp ran out in a mixture of pajamas and armor.
They set the dragon down right in the middle of the green.
"It's okay! Don't shoot!" Theo yells, waving from the top.
Hesitantly, archers lower their bows, and warriors back away. They make a loose ring around the dragon while other demigods peek out of windews and doors.
I can't blame them. The dragon is enormous. It's made of copper and bronze, sixty feet long, with steel talons and glowing ruby eyes. It's drill-bit teeth whir in it's mouth as if it's smiling.
"It's beautiful." I find myself muttering, earning some looks from the campers around me.
Theo slides off the dragon gracefully, and Leo tumbles down behind her. She leans against the dragon. Is she petting the side of it's head?
Leo steps forwards, his arms raised. "People of Earth, we come in peace!"
They both look like they've been rolling arouund in a campfire. Their clothes and faces are smeared in grease and soot. Leo's curly hair sticks out wildly and he smells strangely of Tabasco sauce. Theo does too. Her hair is in a messy bun, but greasy bits stick out here and there, like she tried to get it out. She's got a pair of goggles on her head still. Their clothes are stained black from oil, and their eyes are bloodshot.
"Festus is just saying hello." She tells everyone calmly. They seem to respond better to her. Well, almost everyone.
"That thing is dangerous!" An Ares girl shouts, brandishing her spear. "Kill it now!"
Theo narrows her eyes at the girl, as if they have a problem with each other. "Clarisse I swear to god if you even try-"
"Stand down!" I hear a voice command behind me. To my surprise, I turn and see it was Jason. He's pushing through the crowd with Annabeth and that girl from the Hephaestus cabin, Nyssa.
Jason looks up at the dragon, shaking his head in amazement. "Guys, what have you done?"
"Found a ride!" Leo beams. He looks back at Theo and they share an excited smile. Leo turns back to Jason. "You said I could go on the quest if I got you a ride. Well, we got you a class-A metallic flying bad buy! Festus can take us anywhere!"
"It- it has wings." Nyssa stammers. Her jaw looks like it might drop off her face.
"Yeah!" Leo says. "We found them and reattached them!"
"But it never had wings. Where did you find them?"
Leo hesitates and looks to Theo. They're definitely hiding something.
"In...the woods." Theo decides. "We repaired his circits too, mostly. So no more problems with him going haywire."
"Mostly?" Nyssa asks.
As if on cue, the dragon's head twitches. It tilts to one side and a stream of black oil pours out of it's ear, all over Leo and Theo.
"Just a few kinks to work out." Theo grins as if nothing happened.
Leo pats her back supportively.
"But how did you survive?" Nyssa is still staring at the creature in awe. "I mean, the fire breath..."
"Theo is fireproof. And I'm quick. And we're lucky. Now, am I on this quest or what?" Leo wiiggles his eyebrows.
Jason scratches his head. "You named him Festus?"
"Theo did!" Leo turns proudly to Theo, who blushes.
"You know that in Latin, 'festus' means happy?" Jason asks. "You want us to ride off to save the world on Happy the Dragon?"
The dragon twitches and shudders and flaps his wings.
"That's a yes bro!" Leo exclaims.
"Uh, guys," Theo pipes up. "I'd really suggest we get going. I already picked up some supplies, um, in the woods. And all these people are making Festus nervos."
Jason frowns. "But we haven't planned anything yet. We can't just-"
"Go." Annabeth interrupts. She's the only one who doesn't look nervous at all. She looks more sad and wistful, like she's remembering better times. "Jason, you've only got three days until the solstice now, and you should never keep a nervous dragon waiting. This is certainly a good omen. Go!"
Jason nods and smiles at me. "You ready partner?"
"You bet." I smile back.
~
Flying is the most amazing experience ever. Up high, the air is freezing cold, but the dragon's metal hide generates so much heat, it's like our own personal heat bubble. Leo and Theo showed us how to hook our feet in the chicks of the armor, like stirrups, and use the leather safety harnesses cleverly concealed under the exterior plating. We sit single file, Leo, then Theo, then me, then Jason. I wish he would hold me the way Theo is holding Leo, but sadly he doesn't.
Leo uses the reins to steer the dragon into the sky like he'd been doing it all his life. The metal wings work perfectly, and soon the coast of Long Island is just a hazy little line behind us. Theo watches it disappear. She looks nervous.
Leo grins back at us. "Cool right?"
"What if we get spotted?" I ask, the thought suddenly crossing my mind.
"The Mist." Theo replies. "It keeps mortals from seeing magic things. If they spot us, they'll probably mistake us for a small plane or something.
"You sure about that?" I ask her.
"Yeah." She definitely doesn't sound sure.
I glance over my shoulder to ask Jason what he thinks, and see he's holding a picture of a girl with dark hair. I give him a quizzical look, but he blushes and puts the photo in his pocket. If he's not volunteering the information, it's not a good sign. Was that a photo of his girlfriend?
"Where are we heading?" I ask, trying to distract myself.
"To find the god of the North Wind." Jason says. "And chase some storm spirits."
Theo perks up at the word 'god.' "Why's that?"
"He knows how to find the storm spirits, apparently he's the most helpful wind god." Jason shrugs. "And if we find the storm spirits, we can find who sent the storm spirits, and that should lead to whoever captured Hera."
"Oooookay." Theo sucks her teeth. "That feels like a lot to do in three days. But hey, go team."
After a while, I notice Theo and Leo are whispering to each other and laughing. I wonder what happened in the woods? I have to admit, I'm a little jealous. They seem so close already. I don't know Theo very well but she seems very smart, and the campers seem to respect her. And Annabeth seems to absolutely adore her. Actually, everyone except Drew and that Ares girl Clarisse seem to absolutely love her. And she's absolutely gorgeous. Not in the Aphrodite cabin way where they seem to try incredibly hard, but in a natural way, the way sunshine glitters over water, or the way a flower garden is beautiful. Leo could do a lot worse.
