THE HEALER| Heroes of Olympus

5

When I woke up from my slumber, it was an understatement to say that I was pissed. Annabeth had put me to sleep just to so I could see another vision of the future! I was really annoyed, and I meant really. 

I got up and stormed out of cabin 15. I looked around to see if I could spot Annabeth but no campers were around. I looked at the dining hall and saw campers leaving. 

Great, I had missed dinner. Somewhere in the distance, a conch horn blew. It was time for the campfire. I gave a frustrated sigh and headed down to the campfire.

The amphitheater steps were carved into the side of a hill, facing a stone-lined fire pit.Fifty or sixty kids filled the rows, clustered into groups under various banners. I spotted Jason in the front next to Annabeth. Leo was nearby, sitting with a bunch of burly-looking campers under a steel gray banner emblazoned with a hammer. Standing in front of the fire, were my siblings. The Apollo cabin was always the one to lead the camp sing along. 

I spotted Austin with his Saxophone and Jerry with a lyre. I grabbed the guitar and began to play with my siblings. I was the lead singer at the camp as Will had deemed me with the best voice. 

We were jumping around  leading a song about pieces of armor, something about how our grandma got dressed for war. Everybody was singing with us and making gestures for the pieces of armor and joking around. It was one of our weirder songs but it was one of those campfire songs that would be completely embarrassing in daylight; but in the dark, with everybody participating, it was kind of corny and fun. As the energy level got higher, the flames did too, turning from red to orange to gold.

Finally the song ended with a lot of rowdy applause. Chiron trotted up. He brandished a spear impaled with toasted marshmallows. "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—"

"What about capture the flag?" somebody yelled. Grumbling broke out among some kids in armor, sitting under a red banner with the emblem of a boar's head.

"Yes," the centaur said. "I know the Ares cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games."

"And kill people!" one of them shouted.

"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. Leo winked at Piper and shot her with a finger gun. The girl next to him stood uncomfortably. She wore an army jacket a lot like Leo's, with her hair covered in a red bandanna. "We're working on it."

More grumbling.

"How, Nyssa?" an Ares kid demanded.

"Really hard," the girl said. 

Nyssa sat down to a lot of yelling and complaining, which caused the fire to sputter chaotically. Chiron stamped his hoof against the fire pit stones —bang, bang, bang—and the campers fell silent. 

I looked at Will confused. Dragon? What else had I missed while Annabeth had put me to sleep? Will informed me about Hephaestus cabin's little dragon issue. 

"We will have to be patient," Chiron said. "In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss."

"Percy?" someone asked. The fire dimmed even further, but I didn't need the mood flames to sense the crowd's anxiety.

Chiron gestured to Annabeth. She took a deep breath and stood.

"I didn't find Percy," she announced. Her voice caught a little when she said his name. "He wasn't at the Grand Canyon like I thought. But we're not giving up. We've got teams everywhere. Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters of Artemis —everyone's out looking. We will find him. Chiron's talking about something different. A new quest."