Heir of a Titan - Book 2 PJO

Chapter 32: War Council

Grover was having a snack in the living room. He was dressed for battle in an armored shirt made from tree bark and twist ties, with his wooden cudgel and his reed pipes hanging from his belt.

The Demeter cabin had whipped up a whole buffet in the hotel kitchens- everything from pizza to pineapple ice cream. Unfortunately, Grover was eating the furniture. He'd already chewed the stuffing off a fancy chair and was now gnawing the armrest.

I smacked his shoulder, making him turn around. "Dude!" I signed.

"We're only borrowing this place." Percy scolded.

"Blah-ha-ha!" I could just imagine his bleat. He looked very uneasy. He had stuffing all over his face.

"Sorry, guys." His hands were shaking so it was hard to actually understand what he was saying. I had to look to Percy, pleading in my exhausted eyes. He nodded and started to translate for me.

"He says: Louis the Sixteenth furniture. Delicious. Plus he always eat furniture when he's-"

"Nervous," I signed. "Yeah, I know."

Percy looked back at Grover. He waved Grover over to a table, where Katie, Connor and Teaves, Jake, Malcolm, and a few other head councilors were. Thalia and two of her
lieutenants walked in. She nodded to me and Percy and came and sat down, snagging a big piece of pepperoni pizza as she sat.

"Okay, so what's up? Reports." Percy signed for me and spoke to the room. He pointed to Grover.

He clopped on his hooves. "I heard about Annabeth. Is she . . .?"

"She's going to be fine. She's resting, Will and Nora worked their Apollo magic."

Grover took a deep breath. "That's good."

"Is everyone here?" Percy asked.

I double checked.

"Uhh...Will, will be head councilor...but he's busy with injured. I'll fill him in. Selina went to try rally Ares cabin. But yeah, everyone else is here." I signed for Percy.

He nodded and then looked back at Grover.

"All right man. Shoot."

Grover launched into his report, I did my best but Percy started to slow down and I was have a hard time following. I glanced around the table. Pollux caught my eye and picked up the interpreter job. He was the best other than any of the Hermes cabin, or Athena. Mr D's kids were the best ASL signers. He was so fluid in his sign, he was talking as if he were Grover:

"I've mobilized most of the nature spirits in the city- well, the ones that will listen to me, anyway. I had no idea acorns could hurt so much. Anyway, we're helping out as much as we can."

Grover told us, (Pollux told me) about the skirmishes they'd seen. Mostly they'd been covering uptown, where we didn't have enough demigods. Hellhounds had appeared in all sorts of places, shadow-traveling inside our lines, and the dryads and satyrs had been fighting them off. A young dragon had appeared in Harlem, and a dozen wood nymphs died before the monster was finally defeated. I cursed. Pollux nodded in agreement.

The reports got worse and worse.

"We lost twenty satyrs against some giants at Fort Washington," he continued. I watched Pollux's face twist in agony. "Almost half my kinsmen. River spirits drowned the giants in the end, but..." Grover trailed off.

Thalia finally leaned forward, sucking the sauce off her finger first. "Kronos's forces are still gathering at every bridge and tunnel." Her sign was fluid and second nature now. I thanked Pollux for signing for me. But I now turned my eyes onto Thalia.  "And Kronos isn't the only Titan. One of my Hunters spotted a huge man in golden armor mustering an army on the Jersey shore."