Austin Cooper 1: Son of Athena

Capture the Flag

We had a great battle field.

  The side we are stationed on has rocks and caves perfect for sneak attacks and Bella was really excited to discover that we had a river close so she can use her newly gained powers.

  We hid our flag over a rocky hill. It was high up and we stationed Hermes campers in the trees for a sneak attack.

   If you looked closely towards the hill, you could see the small smudge of blue from the flag. We have a good advantage with the lucky battle field, but I am still cautious with the Ares cabin.

You never know what they will do.

  Interrupting my thoughts, Sam blows a horn from somewhere in the forest.

The game has begun.

  I lead my brothers and sisters around the forest, Bella crept a little ways ahead of us trying to see were the other team has set up their flag.

  The Apollo and Hephaestus campers are defense.

I see Bella coming back through the bushes and trees. "It's a flat area with no trees or rocks or anything," she said, pushing a tree branch out of her face.

  "The flag is in the middle of the campers. They are looking for a good fight and they are going to get one!" Bella says excitedly, a mischievous grin forming on her face as she kneeled down to double knot her combat boots.

"We need to split up," I say, turning to my siblings. "Bella, Peter, and I will go over to the far side by the lake," I see Bella smile and tighten her ponytail from the corner of my eye.

  I turn to my other four siblings. "Kat, Sara, Matt, and Tommy will stay here. When I give the signal we will attack."

"Sounds good," Kat agreed with a determined nod.

She is the Councilor for the Athena cabin, so I knew she would be okay with leading a group.

Once Kat leads my other siblings silently to the other side of the trees, I begin to lead my group closer to the battle field.

Once the trees start to thin, I hold up my hand as a signal to stop.

I understood what Bella was saying now, the red team had put their flag in plain view.

The clearing was about the size of a basketball court and had a group of demigods ready for battle.

In the middle of their huddle was the red flag.

We were outnumbered by three or four demigods, but I know there are more of them.

Maybe hiding for a sneak attack or setting up booby traps? Probably trying to steal our flag.

The demigods guarding the flag will have some action.

That's when I spot the girl and boy who must be in charge of protecting the flag.

They stood at the front, weapons drawn and ready and feet apart showing they were prepared to spring into action.

The girl must be a daughter of Iris because she had stunningly bright pink, frizzy curls of hair. (Iris children sometimes have the gift to change the color of their eyes or hair.)

  She was tall and limber looking and had freckles covering her arms and cheeks. She had a goofy grin on her face, like she can care less about what was going on, but the tight grip of her sword showed that she was ready for a fight.