The battle was over. It had been over for the past few days; scattered attacks-if you could even call them that, more like skirmishes-had taken place, so we took turns on watch. Many campers dead. Less than a third of the total campers, but still. I had become sort of a acquaintance of death; I no longer feared it. Why should I? It was a pointless fear now. Maybe I was just overthinking things. I turned off my thoughts and tuned in to the real world.
Night time. The stars were out, dotting the azure sky with beacons of light. They gave me hope. Strange, I know. But, for some reason, seeing the stars shine like they always had reminded me of better days. Better days when I had people that aren't here now. Like Percy. I'm not sure how what seemed like a small battle compared to all his other feats had brought down the famous hero. It hurt to think about, so I stopped thinking again. I did that too often, remembered the bad things. I needed to learn to control it. I refocused on my surroundings. It was my watch, and if I messed things up more people would get hurt. The grass below the tree I perched in was dying. It had turned a dull yellow and stuck up with sharp edges in certain areas. The night was almost silent if it weren't for the almost non-existent hum of insects. The sun began to raise it's head, bathing the camp with a pink glow that warmed my heart, even when the dried blood on the grass tainted the image.
"How long have you been on watch?" Looking down, I saw one of the campers staring up at me.
"I'm fine here. Someone else probably needs relieving." He looked a bit discouraged, so I added a thank you. He smiled and nodded, walking leisurely away to another post. I leaned my head back against the tree, breathing in the morning. The birds were awakening, filling the silence with a friendly familiar sound. I wished I was able to share this with my friends, but I knew they needed time. They were all mourning. I had done too much of that, and if I mourned any more I would become apathetic. I had to protect them, the campers; my friends. All of them had done so much for me already, why shouldn't I give back?
"Hey." Mavis.
"Hi." I returned in a small voice. I didn't need to look down to know what state she was in. She lost Max, it was unimaginable what she as going through; they were practically the same person.
"How long have you been out here?"
"A while." This is how everyone's conversations wen lately. There wasn't that much to say.
"How much longer are you going to be up there?"
"A while." She walked away and I didn't blame her. I wasn't very fun. No one really was.
No one came to see me until late afternoon.
Another attack. It was Alexis. She was standing in the middle of the camp speaking to a half-blood I didn't recognize when I spotted the small group of enemies approaching. I jumped from my branch, tucking into myself, so as I rolled onto the ground I would remain uninjured. As soon as I gained my footing I was sprinting, yelling a warning to Alexis and the other camper. She spun around, drawing her sword, which we all kept on us at all times, and the world seemed to slow down as it always did when a circumstance was drastic. How could I make it in time to save them? How could they protect themselves when the enemies were already on them? Had I sealed their fates with my late warning?
Thankfully, they hadn't been hurt. I reached the two just as Alexis dug her sword into one of enemy's chest. Firing an arrow at one while Alexis took down the other with her sword, we had finished off the small pack. She grinned at me and I returned the smile. I started to retreat to my post when I turned around, about to speak. My eyes scanning for Alexis, caught sight of an archer.
"Alexis!" I screamed, running just as an arrow was shot. It didn't hit Alexis. She was unharmed. It hit me.
