Missing

Faded

Reyna's POV

"My butt hurts," Becca noted. I couldn't help but laugh because mine did too. We'd been flying for some time now though it was still dark outside. Blackjack's breathing was starting to pick up and I could tell he was tired. The only reason we'd made it this far was because I continued to feed them some of my strength. Sam was sitting awkwardly, her rear end probably as sore as the rest of ours. Zuri didn't seem to mind. In fact she and Drachma had been leading most of the way. Though I wasn't going to say anything for Blackjack's sake, besides he was carrying two people. Speaking of which, Thalia had fallen asleep a long time ago and was still out cold as far as I knew.

"We should land. We still want them to be able to fly tomorrow," Zuri called back.

"Agreed." Our altitude began to drop causing my ears to pop. In seconds Blackjack's hooves connected with the ground and we eased into a slow trot before stopping. I wasn't exactly sure where we were but that didn't matter so much. Black jack snorted in thanks folding up his wings and bending down to munch on small tufts of grass. I slipped off his back glad to stretch my legs though I'd forgotten Thalia had been leaning on me heavily. She toppled off of Blackjack's back startling awake only to find herself dangling upside down by her belt.

"At least we know the tether works," Sam replied cockily and Thalia looked utterly confused.

With a quick swipe of my sword the cord broke and Thalia landed on the ground with an oof . There was enough extra length left that she'd be safely tethered again tomorrow. Thalia groaned getting to her feet and yawning. "Well look at that. Beautiful solid ground."

"You can appreciate it later. We have to set up camp," Becca explained detaching her packs from Twix's saddle. 

"There's not much to set up we've got one tent." Zuri joked. Becca didn't seem to care as she pulled out a small silver square before mumbling an incoherent phrase. The square expanded unfolding itself until a good sized tent rested in its place.

"Impressive," I noted, slightly amused. I wasn't expecting that which was surprising to say the least because I was hard to impress. With a sigh, I began stripping the saddle off of Blackjack which he seemed to enjoy seeing as how as soon as it was off he whinnied excitedly before bolting off with the other Pegasi to go play.

"You're good with horses. What gives? Do you have to be good at everything?" Thalia asked watching Drachma disappear into the woods.

"I used to have a Pegasus," I explained and I watched as Thalia's expression became devilish.

"Wow, you were a horse girl weren't you? You don't seem like that type of person so color me surprised. Is your Pegasus back at camp?" She asked. I glanced at the ground and I could feel a small weight seeming to creep up in my chest.

"Um...no. She uh...died," I mumbled kicking at a loose rock on the ground.

"Oh," Thalia said awkwardly. " I'm sorry I didn't know."

"Bet she was super pretty," Zuri smiled.

"Yeah. She was good. I didn't really deserve her to be honest. Her name was Scipio. Best horse anyone could ask for." I smiled fondly at the memory. I had met her when I was young. I had been put on probation for arguing with a commander during the war games. I was forced to clean out the stables. After a week of the chore we had grown close, so much so, she wouldn't let anyone else try to train her. They figured out I was the only one she listened to.

"How'd she die?" Becca asked in a polite but curious tone.

"Well, it was during the Giant War. I had gotten a message from Jason. I'd realized that what Octavian was doing was wrong and Jason said he needed my help. So I cut my ties with the Roman's which meant if I got captured I would've been killed. Thankfully Scipio and I managed to catch up to the Argo. But she was only one horse and I was only one person. When we got there she was so badly injured it was pointless to see her suffer. I...put her down."  A sad silence gripped the group.