#9 -A Percy Jackson fanfic-

Chapter 10

"Okay, it's settled then." Chiron pauses and looks every person in the room in the eyes before saying:

"Let's prepare for war."

-                    

It's silent, nobody dares to make a sound.

It's night, the half-full moon providing little light to us. I'm standing on a smaller hill inside the camp, near the medic tents, so I can oversee the whole field. All the demigods stand ready for the battle that is to come. Next to me is Chiron, an arrow ready on his bow. I've uncapped Riptide and nervously look at the forest, where the Army can emerge from any second now.

Because of my night vision, I can easily make out everyone below me. To the right stands Nico, in the shadows of a tree. I can't see Jason, but I know he's behind me with the pegasi-riders. Piper and Annabeth are at the very front with most of the Ares cabin and other skilled warriors. I get a queasy feeling in the pit of my stomach as I look at Annabeth. I don't know why, but I have a feeling as if I haven't said enough to her, like I miss something.

I shake my head and look at the forest opposite of us and the strawberry fields in between. The last two days, the Demeter cabin had tried to pluck as many strawberries as possible so they could save them from the battle.

I see Chiron looking at the sky with a small frown. We haven't heard anything of the Romans yet, not even an Iris-Message.

I feel a growing darkness and snap my gaze to the forest. The shadows there seem to growing longer and darker...

They're coming.

The first to emerge from the darkness is the Commander. His gaze flies over all of us, but it seems to linger on me a little longer. I swallow nervously and roll my shoulders a few times as my grip on Riptide becomes somewhat stronger.

Next are the other Soldiers, their black armour makes them almost invisible, except for the gleaming swords they hold in their hands.

And then the Army. Hundreds and hundreds of monsters emerge from the darkness. Hellhounds, gryphons, empousae, basilisks, laistrygonian giants, demigods even.

They all stop and we stare at each other for a moment, the monsters screaming, howling at us, wanting to rip our throats out. I cast a fleeting glance at the sky, still nothing. Everyone's waiting for the other side the make the first move. Finally, the Commander rises his sword and roars: "ATTACK!"

The monsters run past him and charge at us. Immediately the traps go off. Greek fire explodes around the monsters and many are lost to the fire, but not enough. I look at the spectacle of monsters falling into pits and never coming out again. I look at the Commander and he seems to panic for a moment, but he settles again as the many monsters still standing rush over their fallen comrades and charge us. I watch it with a frown on my face. There're still too many.

 The front takes several steps back, but then wakes up and you can hear the battle-shouts of the Ares cabin as they also run forward to meet the enemies with a loud symphony of swords clashing against swords, claws scraping shields and screams of injuries. Chiron is furiously shooting arrows at the biggest monsters. The ground cracks open and skeletons crawl out of the depths to fight for us. The first injured are already coming towards the medic tents of the Apollo cabin. I'm mesmerized by it all. For a moment, I don't know what to do, which side I'm supposed to be on. A small whisper in my head keeps saying: you're on the wrong side, fight against this pathetic camp now you still can, but I shake it off and push it away. I look at the Commander, who still stands on the hill, smirking as the gryphons launch skywards. I feel wind rush behind me, what means that the pegasi are also up. Big thunderclouds cover the night-sky and every few minutes a lightning bolt shoots from the sky to roast monsters. I look back at the hills and see the Commander has vanished. Then, I see silver flash through the trees and volley after volley of arrows fly to the unprotected backs of the Army. For a moment, the monsters don't know what to do and it seems like we're on the winning side, but they easily slide back into war-mode and around hundred go to the forest to find the source of the arrows, the hunters. I remember how I and the other Soldiers have trained the Army and it makes me sick to know that, because of the training we gave them, they can kill easier. I try to shake the images of a dead Annabeth, Piper or Nico out of my head, knowing it would be my fault.