Sorcery & Shadows (Based on the Heroes of Olympus series)

IV

I opened my mouth to ask the first question, but that's when we heard Pegasus whinny. 

"What's wrong?" I asked Pegasus, placing a hand on his flank.

 'I will have to rest.'

My eyes widened. "Of course, old friend."

He circled down on a flat plain, and set us down. I patted his back. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, right?"

Pegasus neighed at me in reply and took off again into the night sky.

"So, what do we do?" Nico asked, his eyebrow raised.

I looked around, but I couldn't recognize where we were, which was slightly odd. 

"We should find somewhere to rest, I guess," I said slowly. 

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked, sensing my hesitation. "Are the visions coming back?"

I looked down at the soft grass below our feet, glistening with dew. I felt utterly hopeless. We were heading to a ship whose odds were not in their favour while an island I had grown to love was going to be completely destroyed and left to rot. And, I was going to have to step into the spotlight once again, something which I didn't particularly mind, but now, I would have been way better off alone and on the move. Instead, we were heading to our own personal minefield, and the person I should be as far away from as possible was standing right next to me. It wasn't his fault at all, but that just made it worse, for the both of us.

"I... I just don't know what to do," I whispered finally, downcast. "I didn't tell you guys earlier, but in my vision, Argo II wasn't just... attacked."

Nico looked at me. "What do you mean?"

"Someone is going to die. Someone from the ship," I said softly, my voice barely above a whisper now.

"Who? Who is it?" Nico was standing right in front of me, shaking my shoulders. "Is it Percy?!"

Almost immediately, he stopped and his grip on me loosened.

"Angela, I'm sorry."

He looked horrified at what he did.

I was honestly more confused than hurt. I thought he was over Percy Jackson, and why would be be apologizing? It wasn't like we were anything other than... acquaintances.

The hurt feelings were sure to come soon enough.

But before they did, I still had a duty to do, and that was to get to the ship and warn them, as well as the inhabitant of the soon-to-be destroyed island. And now, we had to find - or make - shelter.

"It's fine, you don't have to apologize, Nico."

My voice came out colder than usual, more formal-like.

"We can just camp here, if you like," I continued in the same tone. "I can put a protective barrier around our circumference, but it'll take quite a bit of energy from me."

He looked pained, but then his expressionless mask came back up, as if he didn't care about what happened. 

"I guess we could just camp here," he replied in an equally even voice. 

"Alright. You can set up the food, I'll place the barriers."

"Angela, can I ask you something?"

I turned back at him, my arm raised, ready to cast the first protective layer. "Yes?"

"Do you recognize this place?"

I paused. "No, and that's the strange part."

He didn't reply to that, and I didn't bother to continue with it. I turned back and concentrated on armour, helmets, shields. Protection.