"Where are you?" I heard a thud. "That tree was not there two seconds ago, I swear..."
"Grover!" I shouted, trying to keep from laughing. "Are you...all right?"
A curly head with two little stubby horns poked up from behind a bush. Grover was covered in leaves and dirt, and had the beginnings of a black eye. "There you are, thank the gods!" He trotted over to Zeus's Fist, not even bothering to shake off the twigs stuck to his fur. "There's....at the camp....he's trying to....bla-ha-ha! I'm overexcited!"
I rolled my eyes. Grover, overexcited? What a surprise. "Slow down, I can barely understand what you're saying." I slid off the Fist and hurried over to him. "What's wrong?"
Grover took a deep breath to collect himself. "A new demigod, trying to come up the hill. Something's wrong. Ladon won't let him in, and there's a monster after the kid! We need you, Ladon will listen to you!"
I nodded. Ladon was the dragon that guarded Half-Blood Hill, and I was kind of the unofficial caretaker of him. If he wouldn't listen to anyone else, he would almost definitely listen to me. As we ran through the hill, I frowned as I thought about the situation. A half-blood that Ladon wouldn't let enter? That had never happened before, even when Ivan showed up and almost fried Ladon with a lightning bolt.
We burst out of the woods and streaked across the campgrounds. The Big House was still lit up for the party. But instead of people dancing and eating, they were milling around outside, looking confused and scared. Some of the experienced campers were grabbing their weapons and running towards Ladon's post, where Thalia's tree had been a long time ago. When I got closer, I picked out Percy and Thalia running at the front of the pack. Percy uncapped Riptide and it grew into a three-foot Celestial bronze sword. Thalia strung an arrow, and both continued towards Ladon. All of a sudden, the dragon swung around and let loose a blast of fire! I gasped as my two friends narrowly avoided being burnt to a crisp.
Fear lent wings to my feet, and I sped past Grover. "Ladon!" I shrieked at the top of my voice. "Stop!" He raised his great head in confusion, giving Thalia and Percy time to slip past him. I could see the small figure of the half-blood, being relentlessly pursued by a hellhound the size of a bus.
I finally reached the hill. "Here, boy," I called. "Listen to me. It's me, Annabeth. What's wrong?" I stroked him, calming him down. "The hellhound is the enemy here. Help out Percy and Thalia." Ladon blinked at me, then reared back and spit out a ball of flame. It struck the hellhound, who yelped as it was vaporized.
"Yeah! Good boy," I cheered. The dragon snorted smoke out of his nostrils, looking displeased. I didn't pay attention and ran to help Percy and Thalia, who were kneeling by the unconscious demigod. "How is he?" I blurted. "Let me see. I have some ambrosia and nectar..."
"Annabeth, wait," cautioned Thalia, and Percy put a hand on my arm. I frowned at them and pulled the ambrosia out of my pack.
"Here you..." I stopped when I saw the kid. My breath came hard and fast, and my heart started beating wildly. There, on the ground, was the unconscious face of a 12-year-old Luke.
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
