Heartworm (Book 2)

Chapter 3

Mom was still out at work when I got back. I figured the police would be round soon, looking for Percy. I set my painting down, leaning it against the wall by the front door and headed to my room.

I opened up my school bag and tipped everything out. Books and notebooks fell onto my bed. I reached under my bed and opened a cardboard box. I pulled out my dagger. The handle was baby blue and the blade was made of quartz mixed with celestial bronze. Sea shells decorated the handle and my name was carved into the blade in intricate writing.

Luke had made it for me back when I first started camp, last year.

I realised after he had betrayed me, that this dagger could kill monsters and mortals, just like his sword Backbiter could. Once I figured that out, I shoved the dagger under my bed, tucked away in the corner.

Still... if camp wasn't safe I might need extra hand-power.

I packed it into my school bag for now and covered it with some clothes. I shoved in a small art pad and the few paints I had left. Slipping into Percy's room, I threw in some clothes for him.

Rather hastily, I scribbled out a note to mom and left it on the kitchen table, telling her we'd contact her soon.

Outside, I called for a taxi, giving the driver the generally location of camp. Mortals couldn't see camp and monsters couldn't walk past the magical barrier that surrounded it, so getting there by mortal hand could be a bit of a hassle

I payed the taxi and hopped out in the middle of nowhere. Once the driver was out of sight, I began hiking into the woods. Half-Blood Hill came into view, Thalia's tree overlooking the entire camp.

I had met Thalia when I ran away, years ago. Luke and Annabeth has been travelling with her too. She helped me survive. Eventually, I had to go back home to my mom and I never saw Thalia again.

She had died upon reaching Half-Blood Hill, protecting Luke and Annabeth, who were still kids. As she died her father, Zeus, took pity on her and turned her into a tree. Her life force helped keep the magical barriers up.

As I got closer to Thalia's tree, I froze. Grass had been scorched by fire and a few Greek helmets littered the ground, some dented, some burnt.
I looked down at camp. More scorch marks were scattered about the ground. Monsters weren't supposedly get through to camp. Thalia's tree protected us. How could this have happened?

I was so focused on the damages, I hadn't looked properly at Thalia's pine tree. I glanced at it at first, then gasped. Shocked, I walked up the once green and proud tree.

Now, the needles were a sickly yellow. A huge pile of dead ones littered the base of the tree, surrounding it. In the centre of the of the trunk, a metre from the ground, was a puncture mark the size of a bullet hole. Green sap oozed out.

A sliver of icy fear ran through my chest. Now I understood why the camp was in danger, why Chiron had said it wasn't safe anymore. The magical boarders were failing because Thalia's tree was dying.

Someone had poisoned it.

- - - - -

On the surface, everything looked the same at Camp Half-Blood. The Big House was still there with it's blue gabled roof and it's wraparound porch. The strawberry fields still baked in the sun. The same white-columned Greek buildings were scattered around the valley - the amphitheater, the combat arena, the dining pavilion overlooking Long Island Sound. And nestled between the woods and the creek were the same cabins - a crazy assortment of twelve buildings, each representing a different Olympian god.

But there was an air of danger to it now. Instead of playing volleyball in the sandpit, counsellors and satyrs were stockpiling weapons in the tool shed. Dryads armed with bows and arrows chatted nervously at the edge of the woods. The grass in the meadow was pale-yellow and the fire marks on Half-Blood Hill stood out like ugly scars.

I readjusted my bag, pulling it closer.

"Cassie!" I turned to the Big House. Chiron rode up to me, his own bags packed. Chiron was a centaur. From the waist up he looked like any regular middle-aged guy with curly brown hair a scraggly beard. Below, waist he was a white stallion.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

Chiron sighed and looked around camp. "Walk with me, child."

As we walked, Chiron confirmed that Thalia's tree had been poisoned. Zeus was angry and demanded a punishment. Chiron had taken the fall and Mr D had to fire him.

"But, you can't leave!" I protested. "Camp will be over whelmed by monsters soon enough. We need you, Chiron." Chiron placed a hand on my shoulder as we reached Thalia's tree.

"I will visit my wild kinsmen in the Everglades. It is possible they know of some cure for the poison that I have forgotten." Chiron told me. That didn't make me feel very better. Chiron knew just about everything.

"Is there anything I can do?" I offered, hoping he'd let me go with him, even though that was highly unlikely.

"Stay at camp, train as hard as you can. Your fate will be hard enough as it is." I flinched. Chiron had been sworn to secrecy about mine and Percy's prophecy long ago. We wouldn't find out about what it was until the time was right. But from what I had gathered, the prophecy sucked - big time.

"Will you come back?" I asked Chiron, quietly. I knew the answer already, but I didn't want to believe it.

"Perhaps my name will be cleared and I shall return. Until this matter is resolved, one way or another, I will be exiled." Tears began to well up in my eyes.

"How can I clear your name?" I choked out.

"You can't, child. You must stay at camp. You and your brother are in grave danger. Do not think that the titan lord has forgotten about you."

I threw my arms around Chiron's waist, hugging him tightly. He hugged back, gently. When I pulled away, he brushed away my tears.

"Take care of yourself, Chiron." I whispered as he sent me on my way to the dining pavilion.

He smiled at me, gratefully. "And you too, Cassie." He waited until I was down at the bottom of the hill until turning and galloping away.

The best teacher and mentor I'd ever had was gone. And if no one cleared his name, perhaps for good.