Percy Jackson: Flames of War

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Nico

Two weeks had passed since the day that they had all decided to split up and go their separate ways. The group Nico and Percy were in charge of held up against the few monster attacks quite well, sustaining no casualties and a few injuries.

Nico sat by a campfire with his Stygian Iron sword propped up next to him and the bronze radio sitting next to his feet, trying to make some sense of the scroll that his father had given him. Technically, he was on guard duty but he couldn't help but be curious. Speaking of which, he wondered where Hades was now. Nico turned his attention back to the scroll. Strange symbols covered the entirety of the aged paper. And it didn't even seem like paper! More like a rough fiber. He stopped rubbing the edges of the scroll and looked back at the symbols. Some of them were in hoop looking things while some of them resembled birds and other animals. He couldn't make sense of anything. He threw the scroll back into his backpack and zipped it shut. He shoved the backpack under his legs and stuck out his hands, letting the warmth of the fire stop the shaking in his fingers. Maybe Hades made a mistake and gave him a dud.

After a while, he felt Percy come and sit next to him by the campfire, casually sticking his hands out for warmth.

Not looking away from the flickering flames, Percy spoke up.

"So did you make any sense of that scroll yet?"

Nico looked at Percy incredulously. "Are you kidding me? It's gibberish. All of it is pictures and stuff."

Percy just shrugged and threw another log into the fire, sending a flurry of sparks up into the night sky.

"Did you try to use the names of the pictures to make a sentence? Like those puzzles that were in children's coloring books?"

Nico nodded. "Yeah. They don't make much sense like that either."

A scowl formed on Percy's face. "If your dad is right, we've got to figure out that scroll. And fast. We can't do much with it even if we did figure out what it said."

Percy poked at the flames again, his knees jumping restlessly.

"I still haven't been able to reach my parents after that earthquake. I just hope they're okay."

Nico rested a hand on Percy's shoulder and gave it a reassuring pat. "I'm sure they're fine. If the earthquake was as bad as the other groups said it was, it probably knocked out the cell phone towers."

Percy nodded and pulled out Riptide and laid it across his lap, his face uncharacteristically grim. The sun slowly peeked out from behind the mountains, casting the valley we were in into a red and orange haze. Campers were beginning to poke their heads out from their tents, each beginning to pack things up.

"Dude. You should" Percy began.

All of a sudden the bronze radio crackled to life, and an urgent shout rang out, drawing many worried looks from the rest of the campers.

Then the cacophony that was coming over gave way to a single voice, speaking over the din.

"This is Ryan Wei from the scouts! We've been overrun! They know we're here!"

Percy quickly grabbed the radio. "Ryan! What's going on?!"

More shouts came over the radio before Ryan came back. "My half of the squad is nearly dead! I don't know how they found us but they did!"

Percy clutched the radio closer to his mouth. "YOUR half? Where's Thalia?!"

"Thalia took the other half to scout the area a few miles away! She hasn't come back!"