Owl and Snake (EXTREMELY SLOW UPDATES)

Chapter eight

CONNOR'S POV:
I dart around base, knocking out campers left and right. Goodness, they're closing in! I think we're going to make it, though.

A camper with a silver feather and an odd mask that only has eyeholes dances through the trees ahead, much faster than any camper I can think of. It's like the camper has wings; (s)he moves around so quickly that I'm sure it's magic. Maybe she has magic shoes like the ones that Luke gave Percy, but not cursed? I don't know. I have to take the camper down.

I try to cut through the trees to catch the masked person, but somehow (s)he moves much too fast for me, evading my every attempt to catch her off guard. From here, it's easy to tell it's a female from the form. How does she do that?

I cut in as fast as I can, and I tackle her to the ground, yanking off the helmet. "Vi?" I ask incredulously, my eyes wide and my eyebrows down. "How did you get in here?"

"Alyssa let me in. She wanted me to be on her team," Vi says, a little too quickly. I tilt my head one way. She's definitely hiding something. But what would she have to hide?

I was too lost in my thoughts to realize that she's getting closer and closer to my face. I freeze uncharacteristically.

"Vi?"

CHIRON'S POV:
The game is over, but we're missing one. Connor, from Hermes. Where could he be? We've combed the woods for an hour, and nothing has come up. Alyssa is, of course, extremely worried, but I can tell she's hiding something else. She knows something else. I just don't know what it is, and she refuses to let anything slip. She's quite a trickster, so much so that I could almost call her a Hermes camper. This is more serious than her little pranks, however; this is worrying, and I know Connor would be the only one she would talk to. Maybe Piper, but Piper is here, looking into her knife. Alyssa is out in the woods searching, and I'm worried that she'll do something too quickly, make a rash decision that would endanger us.

"HELP!" The scream rips through the air, quite sudden, pulling at my heartstrings. It's Alyssa, no doubt, but she isn't the type to scream. It must have gone horribly wrong.

"Everyone in! Stay behind me, but keep weapons ready!" I cry, flying into the woods at a gallop. The 'stay behind me' was probably unnecessary, since no camper has a horse for a body.

I weave through the trees as fast as I can go, my muscles straining for faster speeds, faster speeds. I need to get there before she dies or we die.

Not even trying for stealth, my hooves pound on the ground in a sound not unlike constant thunder. Faster, faster, faster! I need to get there in time.

Suddenly, I dig my hooves in, sliding to a faster stop than I expected. Looking up, I see a girl, dark haired and tall. "Not so fast," she laughs. "The party's only just started, hasn't it?" Slowly, ever so slowly, her skin shifts to blue.

"It's been a long time, Chiron, hasn't it?" She asks, laughing at me.

"Eris?"