Ethereal

III

The next morning there was a lot of excitement at breakfast.

Around three in the morning, an Aethiopian drakon had been spotted at the borders of camp. Lee had heard it about and had woken the rest of us up. 

 The magical boundaries had kept the monster out, but it prowled the hills, looking for weak spots in our defences, and it didn't seem anxious to go away until Lee and I led a couple of our siblings in pursuit. After a few dozen arrows lodged in the chinks of the drakon's armour, it got the message and withdrew.

"It's still out there," I warned the camp during announcements. "Twenty arrows in its hide, and we just made it mad. The thing was thirty feet long and bright green. Its eyes bright yellow and its breath—" I shuddered reliving the stench.

"You did well, Aelia," Chiron patted me on the shoulder. "Everyone stay alert, but stay calm. This has happened before."

"Aye," Quintus said from the head table. "And it will happen again. More and more frequently."

The campers murmured among themselves.

Everyone knew the rumours: Luke and his army of monsters were planning an invasion of the camp. Most of us expected it to happen this summer, but no one knew how or when. It didn't help that our attendance was down. We only had about eighty campers. Three years ago, when Percy had just started, there had been more than a hundred. Some had died. Some had joined Luke. Some had just disappeared.

"This is a good reason for new war games, "Quintus continued, a glint in his eyes. "We'll see how you all do with that tonight."

"Yes..." Chiron said. "Well, enough announcements. Let us bless this meal and eat." He raised his goblet. "To the gods."

We all raised our glasses and repeated the blessing.

I led my table over to the fire and we took it in turns to scrape a portion of our food into the flames. I hoped the gods liked raisin toast and Froot Loops.

"Apollo," I said. Then I whispered, "Please help me with our labyrinth problem..."

There was so much to worry about I could've stood there all morning, but I headed back to the table.

Once everyone was eating, Chiron and Grover came over and we went to visit Percy. Grover was bleary-eyed. His shirt was inside out. He slid his plate onto the table and slumped next to Percy.

Tyson shifted uncomfortably. "I will go...um...polish my fish ponies."

He lumbered off, leaving his breakfast half-eaten.

Chiron tried for a smile. He probably wanted to look reassuring, but in centaur form he towered over me, casting a shadow across the table. "Well, Percy, how did you sleep?"

"Uh, fine." Percy stuttered. 

I thought about how I had slept and about the weird Iris message I'd gotten as well as being disturbed this morning by the drakon.

"I brought Grover and Aelia over," Chiron said, "because I thought you three might want to, ah, discuss matters. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Iris messages to send. I'll see you later in the day." He gave Grover a meaningful look, then trotted out of the pavilion.

"What's he talking about?" Percy asked Grover.

Grover chewed his eggs. I could tell he was distracted, because he bit the tines of his fork and chewed those down, too. "He wants you to convince me," he mumbled.

"I'll tell you what it's about," I said. 

Somebody else slid next to me on the bench: Annabeth. 

"The Labyrinth," she finished.