Demigods and Dimensional Warps

Finally, Some Ambrosia

Isabel had expected flying on a dragon would be similar to riding a Pegasus. It wasn't. It was somehow even more exhilarating. Had Isabel's life not been at stake, it would have been one of the best experiences in her life... scratch that; the best.

Abby had insisted on being shown the training arena so she could train. By Katie's watch, she had been watching the other girl fight and hack up dummies for at least a half-hour.

Something gleamed in the sky above the forest. Katie shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked at the object. Narrowing her eyes, she was able to make out beating wings and a long tail. Festus? She wondered. Was Leo finally back? If he was, then she was going to slap him silly. Wait a minute. Festus isn't silver!

"Abby, stay here." Katie called as she ran towards the center of camp, after the dragon. She could only hope it was just another peaceful other-worlder and not a monster that surpassed the boundaries.

Ariana aimed for the center of camp. Hopefully someone would be there that could help Isabel. She could sense the progress the healing fire was making on Isabel's wound and it wasn't good. The venom was slowed, but still making its way through her system. What kind of venom had that snake possessed?

Landing in the middle of camp definitely attracted notice. Someone yelled for help as many drew weapons. Ariana had seen those weapons in action and had no desire to be on the receiving end of them.

———

Isabel watched in horror as her friends drew their weapons to attack Ariana. They couldn't have known who it was-- she had never shown her true dragon form before. "Wait, stop!" Isabel called out, "Don't hurt her!"

Katie arrived at the center of camp, right as Isabel called out to stop all the campers from attacking.

"Isabel, what's going on?" She asked as the dragon lowered its wing to allow better access to its back. "Why are you...?" Then she saw her friend's leg was on fire. "Why is your leg on fire?!"

Isabel looked down in surprise to see peach flames engulfing her calf... right. She had forgotten about that. "Oh... don't worry. It's healing fire," she said nonchalantly. "Ambrosia would probably work better though. Do you have any?"  Isabel asked Katie. "I wasn't expecting to go into the forest today."

Katie dug in her purse for some ambrosia. She always had some on her. "What exactly happened?" Katie asked as she helped Isabel down. "Why were you in the forest?"

Isabel took the ambrosia from Katie and bit into it. "I was looking for Darravalgareovean. He was asleep in the forest, which is apparently stocked with amphisbaenae. Luckily, Ariana was nearby," she gestured to the dragon beside her, "if she wasn't..." Isabel trailed off. Part of being a demigod was the short life expectancy, and they all knew that, but it didn't make it any easier to think about.

"I swear..." Katie cut off. One way or another, she was going to find out who stocked the woods with such a dangerous monster. "Well, good thing I had ambrosia. I think we should mark the woods as off limits until they're all cleared up. Don't want anyone else nearly dying." Katie said.

"I think that would be a good idea." Ariana chimed in. The silver dragon was gone and in its place stood Ariana. However, she looked slightly different than she previously had. Now she had wings that matched the dragon.
"Where did you come from?" Katie exclaimed, though she had her suspicions.

"Umm, I was the dragon. If you could please let people know that if they see a silver dragon they shouldn't attack it, that would be nice." Ariana answered. "What do you mean, clear up the amphisbaenae? Isn't that dangerous? I mean Isabel almost died."

"Well," Isabel started, "being a demigod in general is dangerous. Better to get the amphisbaenae out sooner rather than later, so no one else gets hurt."

"And don't worry, we occasionally have to go on monster hunts in the woods to kill off the more dangerous creatures. The hunting parties are usually better prepared than Isabel was today." Katie explained. Ariana looked like she understood. "As for your message, I'll spread the word not to shoot first and ask questions later."

"Thanks." Ariana said. Whatever Isabel had eaten had worked as the healing fire started to fade. Katie started to coordinate with the other campers about hunting down the two-headed snakes. Ariana took the opportunity to quietly head back to Cabin 11.