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25: You Named A Hellhound?!

I had fallen asleep on the taxi ride to camp. I was kinda tired, trying to find Nico DiAngelo was kind of hard.

I had woken up when the taxi exited on Route 25A. We headed through the trees along the North Shore until a low ridge of hills appeared on our left. Annabeth told the driver to pull over on Farm Road 3.141, at the base of Half-Blood Hill.

The driver frowned. "There ain't nothing here, miss. You sure you want out?"

"Yes, please," Annabeth handed him a roll of mortal cash, and the driver decided not to argue. I wouldn't from the look of how much she got.

Annabeth, Percy, and I hiked to the crest of the hill. The young guardian dragon was dozing, coiled around the pine tree, but he lifted his coppery head as we approached and let Annabeth scratch under his chin. Steam hissed out his nostrils like from a teakettle, and he went cross-eyed with pleasure.

"Hey, Peleus," Annabeth said. "Keeping everything safe?"

The last time I'd seen the dragon he'd been six feet long. Now he was at least twice that, and as thick around as the tree itself. Above his head, on the lowest branch of the pine tree, the Golden Fleece shimmered, its magic protecting the camp's borders from invasion. The dragon seemed relaxed, like everything was okay. Below us, Camp Half-Blood looked peaceful- green fields, forest, shiny white Greek buildings. I breathed in deep and sighed. Home. I'm back home.

The four-story Big House sat proudly in the midst of the strawberry fields. To the north, past the beach, the Long Island Sound glittered in the sunlight.

But...something felt wrong.

There was tension in the air, as if the hill itself were holding its breath, waiting for something bad to happen.

We walked down into the valley and found the summer session in full swing. Most of the campers had arrived last Friday, so I already felt out of it. Yay. The satyrs were playing their pipes in the strawberry fields, making the plants grow with woodland magic.

Campers were having flying horseback lessons, swooping over the woods on their pegasi. Smoke rose from the forges, and hammers rang as kids made their own weapons for Arts & Crafts. The Athena and Demeter teams were having a chariot race around the track, and over at the canoe lake some kids in a Greek trireme were fighting a large orange sea serpent. You know, a typical camp day.

"I need to talk to Clarisse," Annabeth told us.

I looked over at Percy who stared at her as if she'd just said I need to eat a big, smelly boot. "What for?"

Clarisse from the Ares cabin was one of Percy's least favorite people. She never really messed with me unless she was insulting Percy by doing so. She once tried to beat me to a pulp, but Percy interfered (this was right after my kidnapping, I was still really weak). Percy then got pummelled.

"We've been working on something," Annabeth said. "I'll see you later."

"Working on what?" Percy asked unconvinced. I squinted at her, trying to figure out this project.

Annabeth glanced toward the forest.

"I'll tell Chiron you're both here," she said. "He'll want to talk to you two before the hearing."

"What hearing?" I asked.

But she jogged down the path toward the archery field without looking
back.

"Yeah," Percy muttered. "Great talking with you, too."

--page break--

As we made my way through camp, Percy and I (more him then me) said hi to some of our friends. In the Big House's driveway, Connor and Travis Stoll from the Hermes cabin were hot-wiring the camps SUV. Silena Beauregard, the head counselor for Aphrodite, waved at Percy and I from her Pegasus as she flew past. I looked for Grover, but I didn't see him. Finally we wandered into the sword arena, where both of us usually go when we're in a bad mood. Practicing always calms me down.