ғʀᴏsᴛʙɪᴛᴇ - 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐎𝐋𝐘𝐌𝐏𝐔𝐒

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ғɪᴠᴇ

ʟɪᴢ

The bonfire had always been Liz's least favorite part of Camp Half-Blood. She hated fire, but she also hated social gatherings. Put it together, and it was the bane of Liz's existence.

Not to mention, after that embarrassing moment at the dining pavilion, Liz didn't really want to be around everyone. But it was mandatory, something that Liz couldn't get out of unless she faked being sick and she was never sick.

Most of the kids sat under their own banners. Leo sat with the other Hephaestus kids under a gray banner with a hammer in the center. She scoffed at him, her lip curling just looking at his mischievous features.

The Poseidon banner was empty, the fabric swaying eerily in the breeze. Liz never sat there. She preferred being on the outside, watching instead of taking part. Well, she preferred not being there at all, but this was the best she could get.

The music from the Apollo children was questionable at best, a folk-like tune with the sounds of lyres, panflutes, and a single banjo thrown together to make "village-core" as Liz liked to call it.

When the song ended, it was a relief as time inched Liz ever closer to leaving the stupid bonfire. Chiron stepped up, his hooves making clacking sounds that were deafened by quiet whispers of campers continuing their conversations.

He waited for the conversations to die down, brandishing a spear that would've looked threatening if there hadn't been half-melted marshmallows impaled at the top.

He smiled a friendly grin, looking at the campers. "Very nice! And a special welcome to our new arrivals. I am Chiron, camp activities director, and I’m happy you have all arrived here alive and with most of your limbs attached. In a moment, I promise we’ll get to the s’mores, but first—"

Chiron was interrupted by an Ares camper shouting, "What about capture the flag?"

Chiron halted for a moment, smiling again. "Yes, I know the Ares cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games.”

“And kill people!” another camper called.

“However,” Chiron said, “until the dragon is brought under control, that won’t be possible. Cabin Nine, anything to report on that?”

He turned to Leo’s group. Liz tracked Leo's gaze to the girl with the braids, Piper. Leo winked at her and shot her a finger gun, making Liz curl her lip even more. Liz's brow furrowed as she wondered what Leo meant by that. It could have been friendly or he could have been silently saying he had a plan. Liz's eyes narrowed as she watched him carefully from her place at the top step of the ampitheatre.

Nyssa, who was standing next to Leo, shuffled awkwardly, her eyes darting around. Her crossed arms seemed to tense up and not from the cold of the night air. She donned an army jacket much like Leo's, a garment she wasn't wearing when Liz had been in the forge.

“We’re working on it.” Nyssa replied. Her jaw clenched slightly as campers muttered to one another, not satisfied with the answer.

“How, Nyssa?” An Ares camper demanded, the same one who brought up the games in the first place.

“Really hard,” Nyssa said. She looked as though she might either burst into tears or burst into a fit of rage. Either one didn't seem like a good option. Her answer seemed to illicit more rage and she sat down, holding her breath and pursing her lips.

The fire in the center of the ampitheatre burned brighter, flicking violently in the wind, daring campers to get close. Chiron stamped his hoof against the fire pit stones—bang, bang, bang—and the loud protests and cursing ceased. The fire's brightness dimmed slightly, becoming less erratic than before.