A Prophecy of Two Boys

Chapter 62

Chapter 62

Percy's Point of View

We were saved from Clarisse's angry complaints at how we had 'completely got in the way a messed up her mission' by Beckendorf steering her away.

"Come on Clarisse. We need to get the wounded back to the Big House, and let Tantalus know what's happened." Beckendorf told her. He looked pained as he uttered Tantalus' name and we winced. Tantalus. I knew that name from somewhere... now where had I heard that name from...

"Tantalus? Like... feeding his son to the gods, sent to the fields of punishment, Tantalus?" Annabeth asked, shocked. "Shouldn't you be talking to Chiron? And where's Argus? He's head of security!"

Beckendorf shook his head, his eyes weary and his expression downhearted. Looking around, everyone was exhausted. And no, I don't mean 'I've-just-fought-two-fire-breathing-metallic-bulls' tired, I mean that bone weary, energy sapping, days without proper rest tired. Clearly Camp was in a much worse state than we had first anticipated.

'Chiron really has been fired hasn't he?' Harry sighed.

We turned to look back at Thalia's tree, the tall pine at the top of the hill that we had sped past in the rush to save Clarisse and her patrol. Its needles were a sickly yellow and a huge pile of dead needles littered its base. Halfway up the trunk was a deep puncture mark oozing green sap. Our vision blurred for a moment, and we saw Thalia, her normally pale face flushed as if she was running a fever. We could see the puncture wound on her leg, red and festering and flinched at the sight, horrified beyond words at her sickly image.

'We'll save her.' I swore. I couldn't tell you who I was persuading more – Harry or myself – but I promised all the same. Thalia was special to Annabeth and Luna. We'd never met the girl, but Annabeth and Luna were friends with her and – as the age old saying goes – a friend of a friend is our friend also.

Annabeth and Luna gave us a strange look. "You look at Thalia's pine tree like you see an actual person, not just a tree."

Luna's voice was as dreamy as ever, but the interest in her voice was genuine, standing sharply out in her tone, like nothing else we'd ever heard from her.

"Well, it is her tree isn't it? Surely it can't be alive if she isn't. It stands to reason she's in there somewhere." We replied evasively, turning away from Thalia's tree to follow the others down towards the Big House. The usual activities were going on - the arena was full of the Hermes and Demeter Cabins, practicing swordsmanship. The Hephaestus cabin were in the forges, and Apollo's cabin were at the archery range. All so normal. And yet... not. The same aching tiredness in Clarisse's border patrol was evident everywhere we looked. It was almost as if they knew it was only so long until some terrible unstoppable monster passed the borders and their lives would be ruined. But until then, they had to carry on. The life was missing from their actions. It was... odd.

Looking more closely, however, the danger was clear. Satyrs and counsellors were stock-piling weapons, the Dryads were clutching bows and arrows as they looked warily around them. The basketball and volleyball courts weren't in use. There was no one in the lake swimming or kayaking. Everyone was training or otherwise preparing for the worst scenario: war.

When we reached the Big House we found Chiron in his room, we heard his awful 1960s lounge music echoing down the hallway as we approached. Knocking once, we pushed the door open to reveal our old teacher packing his saddlebags. Annabeth ran up and hugged him.

"You aren't really leaving are you? We'd heard you'd been... replaced but you don't have to go, do you?"

Chiron offered her a warm smile, tinged slightly with sadness. "Hello, child. And Harry and Percy! You've grown so much this past year!"