CHAPTER SIXTEEN
( bull fighting with fake bulls )

     MY DAY BEGAN with a boom. Literally and figuratively.

I thought that these last months while I waited for next summer to arrive would be uneventful, just like every other year, but I was wrong. When you find out that one of your supposed best friends betrayed you and what you believe in, it tends to mess up your life a little. I did my best to ignore the topic and instead planted all my focus on organizing the cabin's activities, which was my job since Lee was gone. Maybe I over exceeded the archery and sword fighting lessons, but those were the only things I could concentrate on without leaving me to my own thoughts. 

I did my best to Iris-message Annabeth, just to make sure she was doing all right back home with her dad, and I was relieved when she said it was going smoothly. I admit, I tried contacting Percy too, since there was a part of me that missed him, but I didn't want to be a distraction. The only reminder I had of him was the newly added trident charm to my bracelet and the strip of photos we took at the photobooth in the Lotus Casino.

I could've spent these long months focusing on missing my friends, but unfortunately there were more serious tasks in hand to place my attention to. Instead of playing volleyball like before, all of the cabins were busy stockpiling weapons in the tool shed. Dryads were armed with bows and arrows and talked nervously at the edge of the woods. The forest, which once painted the entire camp in a beautiful green painting, now looked ill and pale yellow, the fire marks on the hill stood out like ugly scars. Camp Half-Blood, my home for the last six years, was changing for the worse, and it scared me to pieces.

Today, like every day before that, Half-Blood Hill was under attack. I had expected to come across any old monster in the book, but what I saw was the complete opposite. Two bulls. And not just regular bulls, these were bronze, and the size of elephants. Colchis Bulls, Hephaestus's creation. I cursed in Ancient Greek under my breath, since I had volunteered to join this border patrol group yesterday, thinking it would be uneventful.

Clarisse's gruff voice rang in my ears, "Border patrol, to me!"

Ten campers from the Ares cabin, part of this specific border patrol group, were dressed in full battle armor and ready for battle, one that they were losing. The bulls were ranging all over the hill, crossing over the pine tree. Months ago, that wouldn't have been possible, but with everything that's happened, it was. Thalia's tree wasn't able to protect us from the outside world's monsters anymore.

Her fellow warriors were scattering, running in panic as the bulls charged. The grass was burning around the pine tree, expanding with every passing second. One camper was screaming his lungs out as the horsehair plume on his helmet lit up like a fiery Mohawk. I maintained a safe distance to fire at the bulls with my arrows, but I quickly noticed they wouldn't do enough damage and just bounce back from their skin. Still, this annoyed the bulls and one of them flared their nostrils, steam coming out of them and charged toward me. I internally panicked but stood my ground, not wanting to show any weakness. My fingers reached to touch the sun charm on my bracelet and this transformed into a dagger, hopefully useful enough to fight against the bull.

As the bull ran toward me, I grabbed one of the forgotten arrows on the grass and threw it in an attempt to slow it down, but it uselessly stuck itself in the bull's horn. This made the creature even angrier, running even faster than before. I heard Clarisse yelling at her patrol and trying to get them into the phalanx formation, but this didn't work, since she was only able to muster six campers. The bull got closer and I drew my dagger, preparing for the inevitable impact.

The bull used the front of its body and its large horns to push me backward, making me hit the ground with a thud. Luckily, the dagger was still in my hands, and I pushed myself off the ground to counterattack as the bull was bracing itself for a second round. Before the bull or I could move, I heard a familiar voice calling for the monster. My eyes darted through the entire ruckus in search of the voice, but since I couldn't find it, I knew exactly who it was. Annabeth.

Annabeth kept taunting the bull, succeeding in completely confusing it. This gave me enough time to catch enough breath before jumping back into the fight, seeing as the other bull charged Clarisse's line. My bow and arrows were forgotten in a spot too far away from me, so I couldn't do anything. The bull moved deadly fast and its metal hide gleamed in the sun. When it opened its hinged mouth, a column of white-hot flame blasted out.

"Hold the line!" Clarisse ordered her warriors.

Clarisse could be a lot of things, but she was brave. And I respected that. She had cruel eyes, similar to her father's and looked like she was already wearing Greek battle armor when she was born. But she couldn't stand against that bull's charge. Unfortunately, the other bull lost interest in finding Annabeth. It turned around, wheeling behind Clarisse on her unprotected side.

Before I could even say anything, another voice yelled out, "Behind you! Look out!"

I could recognize that voice anywhere.

But all the warning did was startle her. The first bull crashed into her shield, and the phalanx broke. Clarisse flew backwards and landed in a padded patch of grass. The bull charged past her, and blasted the other campers with its fiery breath along the way. Their shields melted right off their arms. They had no choice but to drop their destroyed weapons and bolted off the scene as the other closed in on Clarisse for the final blow. Before the bull could run her over, Clarisse was grabbed from the straps of her armor and pulled out of the way.

"Let me go!" Clarisse immediately screamed. "Percy, curse you!"

Percy gave the bull a good swipe with his sword, Riptide, and cut a huge gash in its flank, but the monster just creaked and groaned and kept on going. He dropped Clarisse in a heap next to the pine tree and turned to face the bulls. I admit, I was a little relieved to see him again, especially now.

My eyes darted to the valley below us and a knot formed in my stomach. The cabins, the campers, and the Big House – everything was at risk if these bulls got past us.

Annabeth became visible and shouted orders to the other campers, telling them to spread out and keep the bulls distracted. The first bull ran a wide arc, making its way back. It passed the middle of the hill, where the invisible boundary line should've kept it out. Now, the only thing the border did was slow it down a little, struggling against an invisible force, but then it broke through and kept coming.

The second bull turned to face Percy, fire sputtering from the gash he'd managed to cut on its side. He wouldn't be able to fight both bulls at the time, even if he remembered everything he learned last summer. I kept repeating to myself, Think, Maia, think, but my weapons were useless compared to Percy's – even if I jumped right in front of him, I wouldn't be able to do that much damage.

Percy tried to lung at the second bull, but this one fired at him. He rolled aside just in time, but it seemed like his foot might've caught on a loose tree branch. He managed to slash his sword and lop off part of the monster's snout, making it gallop away, wild and disoriented. He tried to walk, but his left knee gave up underneath him. A sprained ankle, I knew immediately, since he would be crying his eyes out if it was broken, and the ankle would look off.

My eyes found Annabeth's, hoping she'd have a plan in mind, but then she yelled, "Tyson, help him!"

I frowned, questioning who she was calling to. Suddenly, near the crest of the hill, this unknown voice named Tyson cried out, "Can't – get – through!"

"I, Annabeth Chase, give you permission to enter camp!"

Thunder shook the hillside. I halted in my steps, knowing that only happened when. . . I couldn't get a proper look at this Tyson guy and prove my theory, since he was already bolting toward Percy, yelling, "Percy needs help!"

He dived between Percy and the bull just as it unleashed another fire blast.

"Tyson!"

The blast swirled around him like a tornado. The only thing I could see was his silhouette covered in smoke from the blast. When the fire finally died out, he appeared to be completely unharmed. I tensed, since the only beings that would be resistant to fire and also need permission to enter camp were. . .Oh, this was not good. How did he even get to Half-Blood Hill in the first place? And how did Percy, and apparently Annabeth, knew him?

Before the bull could unleash a second blast, Tyson balled his fists and slammed them into the bull's face. "BAD COW!"

Annabeth joined my side, and I turned to her in a panic, "He's a – "

"I know."

His fists made a dent where the bronze bull's snout used to be. Two small columns of flame shot out of its ears. Tyson raised a fist again, and the bronze crumpled under his hands like aluminum foil.

"Down!" Tyson yelled.

The bull staggered and fell on its back. Its legs moved feebly in the air, steam coming out of its ruined head in a creepy way.

Now that I was sure the bulls were taken care of, as a member of the camp's infirmary, I ran toward Percy to check the state of his ankle. Just like I predicted, it was both bruised and swollen, but it wouldn't be a problem to heal it.

"You're not even properly inside the camp's borders and you're already getting hurt," I told him, and this brought me back to the stormy night when he first arrived. "Is this going to become a tradition?"

"Well, you know what they say – if you're not getting injured, you're not really embracing camp life," he retorted.

I shot him a look, resisting a laugh. "Who taught you that? L – " I paused my words when I realized what I was about to say. My cheeks flushed in embarrassment, and my face hardened as if I wasn't threatening to show a smile moments before.

Percy seemed to notice my sudden shift of mood. "Maia?"

I cleared my throat and was desperate to change the subject. "How does your ankle feel? Did you hear it pop? A crack?"

"Maia – "

I paid him no mind and hovered both my palms over his ankle, gesturing that I was going to heal it right then and there. I felt a slight tap in my back, stopping me before I could use my powers, and Annabeth's familiar figure knelt down beside the two of us and shot me a look. I knew immediately what she meant – she'd always been against me using my healing abilities. She held up a canteen filled with what I imagined was nectar and handed it to Percy, which visibly made him feel better as he drank it.

"The other bull?" he asked after removing the canteen from his lips.

Down the hill, Clarisse had taken care of the second bull. She'd impaled it through the back leg with a celestial bronze spear. Its snout was half gone and there was a huge gash in its side, but the poor animal tried to run in slow motion, going in circles. Clarisse pulled off her helmet and marched towards us. A strand of her stringy brown hair was smoldering, but she either didn't care or notice.

"You – ruin – everything!" she yelled directly at Percy. "I had it under control!"

He seemed too stunned to speak.

Annabeth grumbled, "Good to see you too, Clarisse."

"Argh!" Clarisse screamed. "Don't ever, EVER try saving me again!"

"Clarisse," Annabeth said, "you've got wounded campers."

That sobered her up. Despite being rude to almost everyone, she cared about her campers. "I'll be back," she growled, then marched off to assess the damage. Hopefully there were enough of my own campers in the infirmary to help her out, and if not, I'd go help later on.

Percy stared up at Tyson, who had joined our side at some point. "You didn't die."

Tyson looked down like he was embarrassed. "I am sorry. Came to help. Disobeyed you."

"My fault," Annabeth said. "I had no choice. I had to let Tyson cross the boundary line to save you. Otherwise, you would've died."

"Let him cross the boundary line?" Percy asked. "But – "

"Percy," she shot him a look, "have you ever looked at Tyson closely? I mean. . . in the face. Ignore the Mist, and really look at him."

The Mist made humans see only what their brains can process, but there were times when it could fool demigods too, like in this case. If you lifted your eyes up his big nose, then a little higher where his eyes should be, you'd notice he only had one eye. A large, calf-brown eye, and even though it didn't have that classic, menacing look every other monster of his kind had, it was still difficult having to look up at him. I swallowed and averted my eyes to the floor, trying to blank my head from any memory.

"Tyson," he stammered. "You're a. . ."

"Cyclops," Annabeth cut him off. "A baby, by the looks of him. Probably why he couldn't get past the boundary line as easily as the bulls. Tyson's one of the homeless orphans."

"One of the what?"

"They're in almost all the big cities," Annabeth spoke with a hint of distastefulness. "They're. . .mistakes, Percy. Children of nature spirits and gods. . .Well, one god in particular, usually. . .and they don't always come out right. No one wants them. They get tossed aside. They grow up wild on the streets. I don't know how this one found you, but he obviously likes you. We should take him to Chiron, let him decide what to do."

I elbowed her at her bluntness, now that I knew Percy probably held some affection for him. Still, I couldn't find myself to be angry at her, since we both shared that same memory.

"But the fire. How – "

"Cyclops work in the forges for the gods, Percy," I cleared my throat before speaking so the shakiness in my tone wouldn't be noticeable. "They're immune to fire."

I had so many questions to ask, obviously having missed out on a lot on their journey here, but there were more important tasks in hand. The whole side of the hill was covered in flames. There were wounded campers that needed attention. Not to mention the half-destroyed bronze bulls laid on the grass, letting off steam.

Clarisse came back over and wiped the soot off her forehead. "Jackson, if you can stand, get up. We need to carry the wounded back to the Big House, let Tantalus know what's happened."

"Tantalus?" he asked.

"The activities director," Clarisse gave me an impatient look as if to scold me for not filling them in before responding.

"Chiron is the activities director. And where's Argus? He's head of security. He should be here."

Clarisse and I exchanged a sour glance. I sighed and took the lead. "Argus got fired. You both missed out on a lot. Things are changing here."

"But Chiron. . . He's trained kids to fight monsters for over three thousand years. He can't just be gone. What happened?"

"That happened," Clarisse snapped.

She pointed to Thalia's tree.

There was no camper here that didn't know the story behind the tree. Six years ago, Grover, Annabeth, two older demigods Thalia and Luke and I were chased by an army of monsters on our way to Camp Half-Blood. We got cornered on the top of the hill, and Thalia offered to buy the rest of us some time and gave her life so we could reach camp safely. When she was on the verge of dying, Zeus, her father, transformed her into a pine tree. Her bravery became a symbol of bravery to all of us, and her spirit continued to live on to protect the entrance to every other demigod that crossed the hill, so they shouldn't have to suffer the same fate as her. The pine had been here ever since, strong and healthy.

But now, its needles were yellow. A huge pile of dead ones littered the base of the tree. In the middle of the trunk stood a puncture mark the size of a bullet hole, oozing green sap. It pained me to see the only memory left of my friend being diminished into this state, and there was nothing I could do.

That was the entire reason we started doing the border patrols. The magical borders were failing because Thalia's tree was dying.

Someone had poisoned it.

author's note !

first chapter of the second act !! i'm excited because here you'll learn a lot more about maia and the way she feels about the whole luke situation. i'm really excited for you to discover and read that <33

-see you soon, bex <3