The Raven's Call {Percy Jackson based}

Chapter 3- Up in Flames

{Sofie's POV}

   I woke up to smoke in my lungs, and heated flames tickling me. At first I thought that I was having one of my strange dreams again, until my memories came forth. As if on cue, my collarbone wound started stinging. I was being held up the girl and boy from the bathrooms, and they were running down the corridor. Through the smoke, I could make out the silhouette of someone lying on the floor, but I couldn't stop to help. I shook off the teens' arms, alerting them to my wakeful state.

'Thank the gods. We thought we might have lost you.' The girl told me. Gods? I noticed the plural in her word. However, I was accepting of her faith, and ignored it.

'Who.. who are you?' My voice was croaky, and hard to come out while running. The boy gave me a look, as if to say, not right now. As we approached the huge double doors of the museum, we noticed a crowd of people all gathered round. People were screaming, shouting, crying. It was a horrible cacophony of noise, one which I hoped never to hear again.

'The door!'

'The bloody thing isn't opening.'

'Damnit, get out my way Bruce.'

Through hearing slithers of people's conversations, I figured that the doors were jammed shut. I thought we were done for, until the boy pulled a drill out of his belt. How he had fit it in there, I had no idea.

'Everyone! Do not fear, for Leo is here,' Leo, the boy, walked through the crowd, and immediately started drilling through the bolts on the doors.

'I think it's been locked from the outside...' I heard him mutter. I thought I noticed a blur of black flash past the door outside, but no-one else seemed to have seen anything. I passed it down to my imagination, and waited for the door to open.

As soon as Leo had opened the door, a stampede of people ran through, pushing and shoving. It was amazing, yet terrifying, to see the things that people would do to guarantee their own safety. I walked out, once everyone else seemed to have left the building.

'Hazel, I think I heard a baby crying from inside the building. I'm gonna go and-' Leo told the girl.

'I think the fire has stopped, somehow, but are you sure?' Hazel replied, her voice brimming with worry.

'It's fine. Fire's my speciality.' Leo walked on into the building after winking, and disappeared from sight into the smoke. Something about the way Hazel talked to Leo made me wonder whether she had once had a crush on him, but it was long gone.

'We'd better get you back to Camp Half Blood before another one comes,' Hazel stated.

'What's Camp Half Blood? And another what? Wait, what was that... thing earlier?' I suddenly burst out with many questions that I had been holding in, and was surprised to hear Hazel laugh. She turned around, so I followed her view. Leo had just handed a small girl to a man in a business suit, and he now had a content, but mischievous, look on his face.

'Come on, let's get to Festus.' He started moving towards an empty patch of grass, and I cautiously followed. Hazel lifted her hands above her head, as if moving an imaginary fog. Then, without warning, a huge gold dragon appeared in front of us, gently moving its head as if snoring.

'Festus... is a metal dragon. You named your dragon, ''festive'' in Latin? Or, ''happy''.' I asked, quite in shock.

'Yup.' Leo smiled, and then hopped on to its back. Hazel followed, and I was about to, when I suddenly became skeptical.

'Wait, why should I trust you? You could just be one of those creatures in disguise.' As I said this, I could swear I heard a raven calling out to me.

'Well, I did just save your life,' Leo replied, and Hazel sighed at his remark. As I looked back at the burnt building, I realised that riding the metal dragon was probably the best idea.