Daughter of Magic

Chapter 5 ~ I Perform Magic Tricks

Chase and I search, trying to find the sheath for the dagger, although I suppose some and/or most would call it a knife. I honestly don't know the difference. They're both sharp, they're both short, so... Yeah, who cares?

I pull out a sheath that seems like it will fit. It's a deep brown and has a slight shimmer at the top, as if it's on fire. I try putting the dagger in and it fits perfectly.

"Found it," I tell Chase, showing it to him.

He looks at it and nods. "Looks good," he says. "Now we just need to get you trained with it. Your cabin should be able to do that, since you should be claimed soon."

The movie said that 'claiming' is when your godly parent shows that you're their child. It also said that there's no dating cabin mates, for whatever reason.

I just hope none of my cabin mates fit me perfectly.

~~~~~~

For the next three hours, Chase decides to be nice and pulls his head counselor, Annabeth, to help me learn how to use my new dagger. She looks a little annoyed at this request, but agrees anyway.

Annabeth, whose last name is apparently Chase (coincidence? I think not!), is seventeen with blonde hair and grey eyes, like Chase. Her hair is up in a ponytail, which seems practical.

She shows me a few moves with her own dagger on the training dummy, doing them in slow motion so I can repeat them.

"You always want to get close with a dagger," she explains, "because if you're up against someone with a sword, you have the shorter blade. It allows you to do more damage, but if you're not careful, it could wind up with more damage being done to you."

I nod and take an offensive stance, facing the dummy. I slash at it with my dagger, duck as if it takes a swing at me, then shove the dagger up into its chest.

"Get just a little closer," Annabeth advises. "You should train more, but for now, it's almost dinner time." She looks over at Chase. "Tell the Stolls they're getting a temporary new addition," she says.

He nods and she walks out.

I follow Chase to cabin eleven, the top of the door crowned with a caduceus in a circle, what I recognize as the symbol for Hermes.

Chase knocks on the door. A sort of tall boy opens it. "Connor," Chase greets him. "This is Lyla Frost. She's joining your cabin for now."

He nods and lets me in the cabin. "There's a spare mattress over there," he says, pointing to a corner.

Heads peek over railings, apparently looking at me. I try to remember what Hermes is the god of. 'Messengers,' I remember. That's what his caduceus represents, I think. 'Travelers...'

I look around at the faces looking at me. They all kind of have a cocky look, like they know something I don't.

'Thieves,' I remember as the last thing he is. 'So... Basically anyone who uses roads. Which is pretty much everyone.'

I decide to keep my dagger on me, just in case.

A horn blows, and the whispering that's broken out stops.

"Cabin eleven, fall in!" twin voices chime. Everyone hops down from their beds and stands in line.

"Lyla, as you're the newest, you're the last in line," Conner calls over the heads of everyone.

I nod and take my place at the back of the line.

We all march out and head for a covered pavilion, all the other cabins, except for the second one and number eight which has, oddly enough, starting to glow, doing the same. Everyone has a seat at one table, each respective cabin doing the same at different tables.