CHAPTER VI ——
DRAGON OF DOOM.

Mare was still reeling from her dream when she left her cabin.

It was more what wasn't revealed to her that left her caught up in it. The she-wolf was so close to telling Mare something, and yet she hadn't been able to. A force, stronger than the daughter of nightmares, had pulled her away from the dream realm. She wanted to say it was her mother, but Mare guessed the Goddess probably wasn't the one pulling the strings. Not from the Underworld, not after what happened with Kronos.

Mare didn't know the extent of it, but she knew her mother was punished for her involvement in Kronos' rising, no matter how small, and foiled, it may have been. The Gods had been angry, perhaps rightfully so, and they'd snapped at anyone they could.

It wasn't for Mare's sake, or even the sake of the other demigods that had died, but it was for the almost deaths the Gods experienced at the Titans' hands. Mare wondered if it made them terrified, knowing dying, knowing mortality, was an option for even the most powerful of the Gods.

Mare left her cabin as soon as she had a shower and finished packing her backpack for the quest. It would be unlikely they'd have running water for as long as they were away, so Mare braided her hair away from her face and hoped it wouldn't get too greasy. Though, considering the possibility of death, perhaps her hair wasn't the most important thing to worry about.

The moment she stepped outside, Mare was greeted with chaos. Jason and Annabeth were storming away from his Cabin and Mare followed them, seemingly moving at the speed of light.

"The hell is happening?" Mare asked, steps behind both of the blondes.

Nyssa was the one who answered her. There was a mixture of excitement and fear in her expression. "The dragon is back."

Mare sighed and frowned, "Of course it's the dragon again, why am I surprised?"

Jason turned to her, amused. "I think that's the most emotion i've seen you express since I got here."

Mare was still sleepy, and therefore let his comment slip without violence. "You've known me for less than twenty four hours."

Annabeth hurried them along.

The dragon was swooping down from the sky, and Mare rubbed her eyes, she had to squint, because of how far back they were, to see who was on it.

"LEO?" Piper yelled, somewhere in front of them, Mare stared and sure enough, it was the son of Hephaestus. Mare tried not to see Charlie but she couldn't stop it, her brain wasn't always helpful.

"People of Earth, I come in peace!" he shouted.

Leo looked like he'd been rolling around in the campfire. His army coat and his face were smeared with soot. His hands were grease-stained, and he wore a new tool belt around his waist. His eyes were bloodshot. His curly hair was so oily it stuck up in porcupine quills. He looked absolutely delighted. "Festus is just saying hello!"

"That thing is dangerous!" Elspeth, the daughter of Ares shouted, brandishing her spear. "Kill it now!"

"Stand down!" Jason ordered.

The four of them pushed through the crowd, Jason was flanked by Mare, Annabeth and Nyssa. Mare had her backup on her shoulder, her leather jacket on, her whistle in her pocket and her sword in her hand. The four of them weren't particularly a team anyone wanted to cross.

Jason gazed up at the dragon and shook his head in amazement. "Leo, what have you done?"

"Found a ride!" Leo beamed. "You said I could go on the quest if I got you a ride. Well, I got you a class-A metallic flying bad boy! Festus can take us anywhere!"

Mare blinked slowly. She'd have to ride on a dragon, they couldn't have gotten a bus, car, or a train? Mare hated flying. She prayed to Hermes that it had handles.

"It— has wings," Nyssa stammered, her eyes blown wide and her jaw hanging open. Mare very helpfully pushed it until it closed, and ignored the side eye Annabeth gave her.

"Yeah!" Leo said, he was like a little kid who'd gotten a Christmas present. "I found them and reattached them."

"But it never had wings. Where did you find them?"

Leo hesitated for far too long, but Mare was tired, so she let it slide.

"In... I got them in the woods," he said. "Repaired his circuits, too, mostly, so no more problems with him going haywire."

"Mostly?" Nyssa asked.

"I'm not riding on a malfunctioning dragon of doom!" Mare said. She was still tired, so she doubted the calmness she wanted to portray, was portrayed.

The dragon's head twitched. It tilted to one side and a stream of black liquid— maybe oil— poured out of its ear, all over Leo.

Mare blinked slowly, and turned her head towards Jason. He looked back at her, and they simply stared at each other for a moment.

"Just a few kinks to work out," Leo said.

"But how did you survive...?" Nyssa's voice snapped both of them out of their staring competition. "I mean, the fire breath..."

"I'm quick," Leo said, too quickly. He wasn't a very good liar, either too quick or too slow. "And lucky. Now, am I on this quest, or what?"

Jason scratched his head. "You named him Festus? You know that in Latin, 'festus' means 'happy'? You want us to ride off to save the world on Happy the Dragon?"

Mare turned to him, slowly nodding her head, "I agree with Jason, we should find something else to travel on."

Jason titled his head, the lost puppy dog look coming back. "That's not what I was saying."

The dragon twitched and shuddered and flapped his wings.

"That's a yes to the name, guys!" Leo said. "Now, um, I'd really suggest we get going. I already picked up some supplies in the— um, in the woods." He was a really bad liar. "Mare has her backpack ready as well! And all these people with weapons are making Festus nervous."

Jason frowned. "But we haven't planned anything yet. We can't just—"

"Go," Annabeth said. She, like Mare, didn't look nervous at all. Her expression was sad and wistful, like this reminded her of better times whilst Mare's was apathetic and bored, like she couldn't wait to get this over with. "Mare, Jason, you've only got three days until the solstice now, and you should never keep a nervous dragon waiting. This is certainly a good omen. Go!"

Mare wasn't sure how a dragon could be a good omen, especially after she called him doom.

Jason nodded, then smiled at Mare and Piper. "You ready, partners?"

Piper looked at the bronze dragon wings shining against the sky, her expression became determined "You bet," she said.

Mare stared at the dragon, with talons that could shred her to pieces. "Let's get this over with."

Before she could mount it, after Piper and Jason already had, Annabeth grabbed the sleeve of her jacket. "Be safe." She said.

Mare looked at her for a few seconds, aware of her quest mates eyes on them. "You too," Annabeth moved to walk away. "I hope you find him."

Annabeth stopped completely. "Yeah. I do too."
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Flying on the dragon was not an enjoyable experience, but it wasn't as bad as Mare had thought it was going to be.

She was at the end, right behind Jason, behind and Piper and Leo. It was a bit daunting, knowing that if she tipped backwards, she'd be falling out of the sky.

The dragon's metal hide was generating enough heat that it made Mare uncomfortable, for the normal person it might have been nice, to not have to brave the cold temperature of the air, but Mare simply didn't feel it. There were grooves in the dragon's back that were designed like high-tech saddles, so at least sitting down wasn't uncomfortable. Leo had showed them how to hook their feet into the armour, like in stirrups, and use the leather safety harnesses cleverly concealed under the exterior plating.

Mare had never gotten to see the dragon face to face when Charlie was still his caretaker but she wished she had. It would have been nice, if he had been the one explaining it to her, instead of Leo. Her brain had been traitorous far too many times for her to handle at the beginning of the day. At least she was no longer tired, now she could be secure in her mask.

Leo used the reins to steer the dragon into the sky like he'd been doing it all his life. Mare couldn't see his hands from where she was sitting, but Piper's commentary was enough to tell her that Leo seemed to be confident. The metal wings worked perfectly, and soon the coast of Long Island, of her home was just a hazy line behind them. Mare stared at it until it blurred, suddenly realising she hadn't said goodbye to Nico. They shot over Connecticut and claimed into the grey winter clouds.

Mare heard Leo shuffle and he turned back to them, grinning. "Cool, right?"

"What if we get spotted?" Piper asked.

"The mist," Jason said. "It keeps mortals from seeing magical things. If they spot us, they'll probably mistake us for a small plane— or something."

Piper glanced over her shoulder, "you sure about that?"

"No," Jason admitted. He was holding a picture in his hand, gazing at it as if he could burn a hole in it with just his eyes. Mare furrowed her brows, wondering why he had a picture of Thalia.

"The genius is right," The tops of Jason's ears flushed, but Mare made eye contact with Piper. "You'll learn how the mist works soon enough."

Piper nodded her head, a little sheepish at asking Jason the question, instead of the actual knowing demigod. "Where are we headed?" She asked, looking at Mare this time.

Mare shrugged, looking to Jason. She wasn't the leader.

"To find the god of the North Wind," Jason answered. "And chase some storm spirits."

"Wonderful," Mare grumbled, once Piper had turned back around. "More flying things. I hate things that can fly."

Jason frowned, whispering, "I can fly."

"Well then, fuck you too." Mare deadpanned, and Jason made a surprised sound that had both Piper and Leo turning around.

Mare slipped her mask back on, acting as if nothing had been said at all. Jason having with the ability to fly, whilst being a child of the big three. It was like the Gods wanted her to hate his existence, and yet she was intrigued.