chapter eight
─── i feel like my friend is trying to kill me during a sword fight
𝔏ife at camp wasn't actually as terrible as I feared it would be. It was a bit weird to be getting lessons from satyrs, nymphs and a centaur that I'd almost called dad three days earlier. It was a lot to process.
Each morning I took Ancient Greek from a son of Athena called Malcolm, and he caught me up to date on myths as I read massive tomes of Ancient Greek. Weirdly enough, I actually enjoyed the reading because for the first time, the words weren't unreadable.
The rest of the day, I'd rotate through outdoor activities with the Hermes cabin, looking for something I was above average at. I was decent at archery, but not enough to be a child of Apollo, my thievery skills were non-existent and I did not have a green thumb at all.
They also kept trying to make me footrace an exceptionally fast tree.
I finally got to meet the campers from the Ares one, including the cool looking girl known as Clarisse. It took them a moment to warm up to me (they had to throw me around the arena a couple of times) and then they were very welcoming. They were the ones who most treated me as normal.
The senior campers and counsellors were also watching me, trying to decide who my dad was but they weren't having an easy time. I was slightly decent at everything, but not at one in particular.
"Jack of all trades, master of none is better than a master of one." Luke had told me, leaving me confused for a good few minutes.
But, I did like camp. I liked the morning fog over the beach, the smell of strawberries in the air, and the calls of the monsters in the woods at night. I enjoyed sitting at the large tables, I enjoyed being able to fit in with Eleven.
I just wished that I could feel a connection with my dad, but nothing.
I steered well clear of the topic of my mum, knowing that I fell down into a rabbit hole of grief, turning the scene over and over in my head to see if I could have done something differently.
Thursday afternoon, three days after I'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood, I had my first sword-fighting lesson. Everybody from Eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be our instructor. I'd been told multiple times, by different people, that he was the best so some part of me was excited.
We started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in Greek armour. Luke patrolled through us, watching and correcting form, but other than that he didn't say much.
The problem was, I couldn't find a blade that felt right in my hands. Either they were too heavy, or too light, or too long. Luke tried his best, but he agreed that none of the practice blades seemed to work for me.
"You're just special," He grinned, placing a sword into my hand as I scowled at him. "That's all."
"From you, that sounded like an insult."
"It's not." He grinned in a less than reassuring way, before looking back at the remainder of the cabin. "We're going to start duelling. Pair up. Andromeda, you're with me."
"Good luck." Puck was behind me, already paired with another girl. They had the same dark hair and eyes, though she looked slightly older. "Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years."
"Brilliant." She laughed, as Puck grinned and shook his head.
"I'm Brooke." She extended a hand to me. "Brooke Evans."
"Are you and Puck...?"
"Half-siblings. Same goddess, different dad." I nodded in agreement, as the rest of the Hermes cabin seemed to get into a fight about something. Luke was sighing at the sidelines of it all, shaking his head in amusement.
"Ah. I see the resemblance." She laughed, before Puck urged her onwards.
"Good luck. Don't die." He called, the first words I'd really heard him speak. He was a quiet man.
"Thanks." The siblings both waved at me, before I turned back to face Luke. "Do I have to?"
Luke said nothing, just started to show me different manoeuvres. With every swipe, I got a little more battered and bruised, which I wasn't pleased about.
"Keep your guard up, Andi," he'd say, then hit me in the ribs with the flat of his blade, which I think he was doing on purpose. "No, not that far up!"
Slap!
"Lunge!"
Hit!
"Now, back!"
By the time he called a break, I was soaked in sweat and in a lot of pain. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler and Luke helped me up from the floor.
"You alright?"
"I hate you," He laughed, pulling me up from the ground, as Puck appeared with two things of water. "You're a lifesaver, Puck."
"I try." Puck sent Luke a half grin, before hurrying off to his sister's side. I spat phlegm out of my mouth (which wasn't exactly graceful), before dumping the ice cold water over my head. It was bliss.
Strength surged back into my arms. The sword didn't feel so awkward.
"Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered, as I turned to look back at him. "If Andi doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."
"I do mind. I really mind." Luke nudged me and I scowled. He was enjoying this and I was wondering if I could get away with murder.
Eleven gathered around. They were suppressing smiles. I figured they'd been in my shoes before and couldn't wait to see how Luke used me for a punching bag. He told everybody he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon.
"This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Andi, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique."
He demonstrated the move on me in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of my hand.
"Now in real time," he said, after I'd retrieved my weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Andi?"
I shook my head, and Luke came after me. Somehow, I kept him from getting a shot at the hilt of my sword. My senses opened up. I saw his attacks coming. I countered. I stepped forward and tried a thrust of my own. Luke deflected it easily, but I saw a change in his face. His eyes narrowed, and he started to press me with more force.
I messed up. He was taking this seriously now!
The sword grew heavy in my hand. The balance wasn't right. I knew it was only a matter of seconds before Luke took me down, so I figured, What the heck? Let's at least try before Luke kills me.
I tried the disarming manoeuvre.
My blade hit the base of Luke's and I twisted, putting my whole weight into a downward thrust.
Clang.
Luke's sword rattled against the stones. The tip of my blade was an inch from his undefended chest. Everything fell silent, as Luke watched me with wide eyes. He was too stunned to speak.
"Sorry?"
"Sorry?" His scarred face broke into a grin. "By the gods, Andi, why are you sorry? Show me that again!"
"Can I say no?"
"Nope."
This time, there was no contest. The moment our swords connected, Luke hit my hilt and sent my weapon skidding across the floor.
After a long pause, Brooke said, "Beginner's luck?"
Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. He appraised me with an entirely new interest. "Maybe," he said. "But I wonder what Andi could do with a balanced sword..."
"Let's not answer that question," I got out of the circle as fast as I could, Luke following as he set the others back to work. I didn't give him a chance to drag me back, hurrying away from the arena.
Friday afternoon, I was sitting with Grover at the lake, resting from a near-death experience on the climbing wall. Grover had scampered to the top like a mountain goat, but the lava had almost gotten me.
My shirt had smoking holes in it. The hairs had been singed off my forearms and I could only hope that I still had eyebrows.
We sat on the pier, watching the naiads do underwater basket-weaving, until I got up the nerve to ask Grover how his conversation had gone with Mr. D.
His face turned a sickly shade of yellow.
"Fine," he said. "Just great."
"So your career's still on track?"
He glanced at me nervously. "Chiron t-told you I want a searcher's licence?"
"Well...not exactly," I had no idea what a searcher's licence was, but it didn't seem like the right time to ask. "He just said you had big plans, you know...and that you needed credit for completing a keeper's assignment. So did you get it?"
Grover looked down at the naiads. "Mr. D suspended judgement. He said I hadn't failed or succeeded with you yet, so our fates were still tied together. If you got a quest and I went along to protect you, and we both came back alive, then maybe he'd consider the job complete."
My spirits lifted. "Well, could be worse then?"
Grover let out a peal of laughter.
"He might as well have transferred me to stable-cleaning duty. The chances of you getting a quest...and even if you did, why would you want me along?"
"Of course I'd want you along...!" I almost called him 'kid', but remembered that technically he was older than me. "You're my best friend."
Grover stared glumly into the water. "Basket-weaving...Must be nice to have a useful skill."
I tried to reassure him that he had lots of talents, but that just made him look more miserable. We talked about canoeing and swordplay for a while, then debated the pros and cons of the different gods. Finally, I asked him about the four empty cabins.
"Eight, the silver one, belongs to Artemis," he said. "She vowed to be a maiden forever. So of course, no kids. The cabin is, you know, honorary. If she didn't have one, she'd be mad."
"Yeah, okay. But the other three, the ones at the end. Are those the Big Three?"
Grover tensed. We were getting close to a touchy subject. "No. One of them, Two, is Hera's," he said. "That's another honorary thing. She's the goddess of marriage, so...you know. That's her husband's job. When we say the Big Three, we mean the three powerful brothers, the sons of Kronos."
"Zeus, Poseidon, Hades."
"Right. You know. After the great battle with the Titans, they took over the world from their dad and drew lots to decide who got what."
"Yeah, I remember. But Hades doesn't seem to have a cabin here."
"No. He sort of does his own thing down in the Underworld. If he did have a cabin here..." Grover shuddered. "Well, it wouldn't be pleasant. Let's leave it at that."
"But Zeus and Poseidon—they both had, like, a bazillion kids in the myths. Why are their cabins empty?"
Grover shifted his hooves uncomfortably. "There were so many powerful children of the big three, that caused some truly terrible decisions. It led to a lot of pain, so the gods made a decision to have no more children. They swore it on the River Styx."
Thunder boomed.
I said, "That's the most serious oath you can make?"
Grover nodded.
"And they kept their word—no kids?"
"Well, seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon. He had a little girl, named Thalia." Grover sighed. "Zeus got punished, despite him being immortal, and he brought a terrible fate on his daughter."
"That sounds terrible."
Grover hesitated. "Romy, Big Three children are more powerful than other demigods. They've got a strong aura, and even stronger powers that are hard to control. The Fates found out, and they weren't happy. A satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do. He tried to escort her here, along with a couple of others. They almost made it. They got all the way to the top of that hill."
He pointed across the valley at the pine tree that had haunted my dreams.
"Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill. As she died and the only thing Zeus could do was turn her into that pine tree. Her spirit still helps protect the borders of the valley. That's why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill."
I shivered at the feeling, looking at the pine. I shook my head, before looking out across the sea once more.
"Grover," I said, thinking of my own mother, "have heroes really gone on quests to the Underworld?"
"Sometimes," he said. "Orpheus. Hercules. Houdini."
"And have they ever returned somebody from the dead?" Houdini had been to the Underworld? Perhaps that was a question for another time.
"No. Never. Orpheus came close...Romy, you're not seriously thinking—"
"No," I lied. "I was just wondering. So...a satyr is always assigned to guard a demigod?"
Grover studied me warily. I hadn't persuaded him that I'd really dropped the Underworld idea. "Not always. We go undercover to a lot of schools to try and find them.. If we find one with a very strong aura or an older demigod, we alert Chiron. He tries to keep an eye on them, since they could cause really huge problems."
"And you found me. Chiron said you thought I might be something special."
Grover looked as if I'd just led him into a trap. "I didn't...Oh, listen, don't think like that. If you were —you know—you'd never ever be allowed a quest, and I'd never get my licence. You're probably a child of Hermes. Or maybe even one of the minor gods, like Nemesis, the god of revenge. Don't worry, okay?"
I didn't particularly want to be a child of Hermes because that made me and Luke's flirting turn weird real quick.
That night after dinner, there was a lot more excitement than usual. At last, it was time for Capture the Flag.
When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables. Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.
I turned to Luke and yelled over the noise, "Those are the flags?"
"Yeah."
"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"
"Not always," he said. "But often."
"So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do— repaint the flag?"
He grinned. "You'll see. First we have to get one."
"Whose side are we on?"
He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn't. The scar on his face made him look almost evil in the torchlight. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you are going to help."
"I don't like that grin," He winked. "I really don't like that grin."
The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Apparently, privileges had been traded—shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities—in order to win support. Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus.
Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.
"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"
He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal.
"What does he mean 'maiming'?" I scurried after Luke. "Am I supposed to wear all this?"
Luke looked at me as if I were crazy. "Unless you want to get skewered by Five. Here—Chiron thought these would fit. I think that you're on border patrol."
My shield was the size of an NBA backboard, with a big caduceus in the middle. It weighed way too much for someone who doesn't workout. My helmet, like all the helmets on Athena's side, had a blue horsehair plume on top. Ares and their allies had red plumes.
Athena's leader, a tall man with piercing grey eyes who looked a little younger than Luke, "Blue team, forward!"
We cheered and shook our swords and followed him down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off toward the north. Brooke and Puck appeared on either side of me, grinning widely.
"Where are you two?"
"With Eleven." Brooke grinned, nodding at a group that Luke was leading. "They need our area of expertise."
"What does that mean?"
"You'll just have to find out," Puck joked, as he and Brooke high fived behind my back. "Where are you?"
"Border patrol, I think?"
"Oh, that's easy." Puck waved it away. "Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. The Athena cabin will do the rest."
"Good luck."
"Have fun," They waved, before disappearing after Eleven, leaving me next to a little creek. The remainder of the team scattered into the trees, and I was left watching.
Far away, the conch horn blew. I heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past me like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory.
Then I heard a sound that sent a chill up my spine, a low canine growl, somewhere close by. I raised my shield instinctively; trying to find what was watching me. I'd been alive long enough to know when I was being watched.
Then the growling stopped. I felt the presence retreating. On the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark.
Clarisse caught sight of me, gave me a somewhat (read: not at all) apologetic grin, brandishing a five-foot-long spear which was flickering with red light.
"This shouldn't hurt too bad."
That did not fill me with confidence.
They charged across the stream. There was no help in sight. I could run. Or I could defend myself against half the Ares cabin.
I managed to sidestep the first man's swing, but these guys were not as stupid the Minotaur. They surrounded me, and Clarisse thrust at me with her spear. My shield deflected the point, but I felt a painful tingling all over my body. My hair stood on end. My shield arm went numb, and the air burned. Electricity.
Mint.
Another Ares guy slammed me in the chest with the butt of his sword and I hit the dirt with a thump, bursting into laughter.
I managed to get to my feet. I raised my sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear as sparks flew. Now both my arms felt numb.
"Oh, wow," Clarisse said. "You are getting better, not."
"Thanks, Clarisse," She grinned, still laughing as I shot her a look. I did want to be angry with her, but I think that if I was on their side, I'd also be laughing cause it was kind of funny. "The flag's over there ish. Knock yourself out."
"We don't care about that," I shrugged. What did they want then?
Two of them came at me. I backed up toward the creek, tried to raise my shield, but Clarisse was too fast. Her spear stuck me straight in the ribs. If I hadn't been wearing an armoured breastplate, I would've been shish-kebabbed. As it was, the electric point just about shocked my teeth out of my mouth.
One of her cabinmates slashed his sword across my arm, leaving a good-size cut. Seeing my own blood made me dizzy—warm and cold at the same time.
"No maiming," I managed to say.
"Oops," the guy said. "Guess I lost my dessert privilege."
"Get fucked," I probably shouldn't have been swearing in front of Clarisse, but I'd put a filter on my mouth for the past few days so I deserved this one.
He pushed me into the creek and I landed with a splash. They all laughed hysterically. But then something happened. The water seemed to wake up my senses, as if I'd just drank two cans of energy drinks and then had a shot of caffeine.
Clarisse and her cabin mates came into the creek to get me, but I stood to meet them. I knew what to do. I swung the flat of my sword against the first guy's head and knocked his helmet clean off. That was satisfying.
I slammed the next one in the face with my shield and used my sword to shear off the other guy's horsehair plume. Both of them backed up quickly. Number Four didn't look really anxious to attack, but Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear crackling with energy. As soon as she thrust, I caught the shaft between the edge of my shield and my sword, and I snapped it like a twig.
"Sorry!" She glared at me, before I whacked her in the head with the sword and sent her back out the creek.
Then I heard yelling, elated screams, and I saw Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos behind them with Brooke and Puck, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares folks got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse.
"A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick."
They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. Our side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of Eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn.
The game was over. We'd won.
Luke glanced over at me, as I saluted him with my middle finger. Dead man walking. That's what he was.
"Not bad, hero," I turned at the sound of Annabeth's voice, watching as she shimmered into view, still with a sour look on her face. "Where the f–heck did you learn to fight like that?"
I caught the fact that she almost swore, shaking my head as my anger at her died. She'd done what she thought was best (and probably also acted on jealousy) but I couldn't blame her. All of us had been twelve once.
Then she noticed my wounded arm. "How did you do that?"
"Sword cut," I said. "What do you think?"
"No. It was a sword cut. Look at it."
The blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading. As I watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared.
"Well, that's new," I said, wondering where I'd learnt to do that.
Annabeth was thinking hard. I could almost see the gears turning. She looked down at my feet, then at Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Step out of the water, Andromeda."
"Okay then," I came out of the creek and immediately felt bone tired. My arms started to go numb again. My adrenaline rush left me. I almost fell over, but Annabeth steadied me.
"Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want...I assumed it would be Zeus..."
Before I could ask what she meant, I heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest.
The campers' cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek, which sounded suspiciously like a call to arms.
Annabeth drew her sword, as I hefted mine up.
There on the rocks just above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers.
It was looking straight at me.
Nobody moved except Luke, whose face had turned panicked, "Andi, move!"
He tried to run to me, but the hound was too fast. It leapt over everyone, and I just about managed to shove Annabeth out of the way before it slammed into me.
Razor-sharp claws ripped my armour, there was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after the other. From the hounds neck sprouted a cluster of arrows. The monster fell dead at my feet.
By some miracle, I was still alive. My chest felt warm and wet, and I knew I was badly shredded. Another second, and the monster would've turned me into a hundred pounds of delicatessen meat.
Chiron trotted up next to us, a bow in his hand, his face grim.
"Di immortales!" Annabeth said, holding onto Luke, who had caught her. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't...they're not supposed to..."
"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."
Luke hushed Annabeth, before leading her over to me as I stumbled and hissed in pain. The moment of victory was forgotten.
We watched the body of the hellhound melt into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared.
"You're wounded," Luke told me. I shot him a scathing look. Did he think I was dumb?
"Quick, Andromeda, get in the water."
"I'm okay," I swayed in a non-convincing way as Puck and Brooke appeared, looking worried.
"No, you're not," she said. "Chiron, watch this."
I was too tired to argue. I stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around me. Instantly, I felt better. I could feel the cuts on my chest closing up. Some of the campers gasped.
"Look, I have absolutely no clue," I said, trying to apologise. "I'm sorry...."
But they weren't watching my wounds heal. They were staring at something above my head.
"Andi" Luke had paled, pointing above my head. "Um ..."
By the time I looked up, the sign was already fading, but I could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.
"Your father," Annabeth murmured.
"This is really not good." Brooke hissed, as she stepped back, sharing a look with Luke.
"It is determined," Chiron announced. All around me, campers started kneeling, most pale beyond belief and I cursed myself.
"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Andromeda Jackson, Daughter of the Sea God."
∘☽༓☾∘
Hiya,
This was a long one but Luke is a lot of fun, and he and Andi are hilarious. Brooke (who's -newtscvmander 's brainchild from her book in this universe) has made an appearance and she's Puck's half-sister. Annabeth and Andi have a slightly better relationship and I just love her to death!
Let me know what you think,
Love Li xx