THE HEALER| Heroes of Olympus

2

We lurched the chariot into the sky.

The storm clouds were getting heavier and I had no intention of getting stuck in them. 

"This is so cool!" The Latino boy named Leo said as he spit a pegasus feather out of his mouth. "Where are we going?"

"A safe place," Annabeth said. "The only safe place for kids like us. Camp Half-Blood." 

"Half-Blood?" The girl, Piper, sounded offended like she was ready to try and push us off the chariot. "Is that some kind of bad joke?"

"She means we're demigods," Jason said. "Half god, half mortal."

Annabeth looked back. "You seem to know a lot, Jason. But, yes, demigods. My mom is Athena, goddess of wisdom. Eliana here is the daughter of Apollo, the god of the sun, archery, poetry..you get the idea.    

Leo choked. "Your dad is the sun god?" 

"Got a problem with that?" I said. 

"No, no," Leo said. "I love his poetry. Very macho."

"Eliana, is our strongest member of cabin 7. She's the head healer at camp and her father even gifted her one of his special golden bows." 

"Healing magic, flying ponies." Leo muttered. 

Was he always this weird? 

"Demigods," Piper said. "You mean you think you're ... you think we're—"

Lightning flashed. The chariot shuddered, and Jason yelled, "Left wheel's on fire!"

I glanced back, sure enough, the wheel was burning, white flames lapping up the side of the chariot.

I groaned, "Will's going to kill me!" 

"Why are they—" Piper started to say. 

"Anemoi come in different shapes," Annabeth said. "Sometimes human, sometimes stallions, depending on how chaotic they are. Hold on. This is going to get rough."

I flicked the reins. The pegasi put on a burst of speed, and the chariot blurred. 

I looked over my shoulder to make sure they hadn't fallen out the open back. Piper had fainted and was being held up by Jason. 

"Just make sure she stays in the chariot!" I shouted over the wind. Jason nodded and steadied himself and the brunette.

If you've never been in a chariot on fire blazing through the sky. Consider yourself lucky.Luckily the pegasus move quick when they want to. 

I could make out the cluster of cabins, the Big House, and the climbing wall.  Our wheels came off and we were plummeting out of the sky.

Annabeth and I tried to maintain control. The pegasi labored to hold the chariot in a flight pattern, but they seemed exhausted from their burst of speed, and bearing the chariot and the weight of five people was just too much. 

"The lake!" Annabeth yelled. "Aim for the lake!"

BOOM.The biggest shock was the cold. I was underwater, so disoriented that I didn't know which way was up.

I felt a hand grab me and pulled me out of the water. It was Annabeth. Leo and Jason had already gotten out of the water and arrived on the beach surrounded by kids giving them blankets and asking questions.

"I'm done for." I said frowning as I looked at our wrecked chariot. 

"It's not that bad.." Annabeth tried to say but not even a second later the wreckage of the chariot was tossed from the lake and landed nearby with a wet crunch. "Nope. Definitely dead."