(Earlier that same night)

Henry

The woods were not a place to fool around. I learned that when something the size of a bear leaped out from behind a collection bushes and growled at me.

It was a large, agitated animal with black, matted fur. It's eyes were glowing red, like in those horror books I used to read. Studying the creature - from a distance - it resembled a dog more than anything. Another image popped into my head, of a much bigger version of this same species. Without thinking, words slipped from my mouth.

"Hellhound," I breathed, knowing that the creature was from the Underworld. A vicious monster that could tear me limb from limb with little to no effort. Teeth sharper than daggers.

Naturally, I was caught off guard when it's eyes flashed from blood red to olive green, and his growl became a smile. He playfully barked at me, his tail wagging in the air. He took mood swings to a whole new level.

He jumped behind the bushes, rustled the leaves for a moment, then hopped back out again. This time, he held an object in his mouth. A string of chains with a piece of metal dangling from a link. He bobbed his head up and down, motioning for me to take it.

Hesitant, and afraid the Hellhound would bite my hand off, I reached for the object. I gently grasped it, and he let go once he knew I had it. Upon further inspection, I discovered that the object was an old dog collar. The dangling metal shape was a tag with a name engraving.

Roofus

I smiled, and figured the collar belonged to the Hellhound, and someone was either adorable enough or dumb enough to give a Hellhound a collar with a name.

I glanced at the ends of the collar, and saw the links were broken. The most likely reason for the collar not being on the Hellhound. But the fact that this Hellhound had a collar made me wonder who could possibly be his owner.

Plus, why had this Hellhound decided not to make me into his personal chew toy? I'd ready about these hounds in my book - the one I kept in my backpack at all times. They were vicious, bloodthirsty monsters that only listened to those they were fiercely loyal to. Mostly people like Hades and other gods of death.

Why a Hellhound was being nice to me was beyond me. Then again, the weirdest things were happening to me today. I'd been brought to this camp, nuzzled by a fire-breathing, metal dragon, and introduced to a variety of candy that resembled pills. Anything could happen today.

"You're Roofus?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

The Hellhound yipped with excitement, like a puppy almost. I laughed. I never thought a deadly monster could appear cute and cuddly.

Roofus barked to his left, and threw his head the same way. He began trotting down an invisible path. When he looked back and saw that I was not following him, he barked and darted back to me. He bit the hem of my shirt, though not enough to rip it. (I wouldn't have minded. Orange wasn't exactly the best color for being discrete.)

He tugged on the shirt, and did not seize to until I took a step forward. He then released my shirt and bounced behind me, bucking me in the back of my knees.

"Okay!" I exclaimed. "I get it. I'll go forward!"

Satisfied, Roofus jumped in front of me and went back to walking down his path to nowhere I knew. I stayed close behind, not sure if I could trust a Hellhound. Roofus hadn't eaten me yet, which was a good sign. Still, I wondered if this could be a trap.

Either way, I knew I wasn't going back to Hermes cabin anytime soon.

........................

I followed Roofus for over an hour before I saw the end of his path. He'd led me through the woods to a large door. He beckoned me to open it, as I suppose he couldn't. After all, he only had paws, and I had hands. I pushed on the door, and to my astonishment, it opened. Revealing a place that closely resembled the workshop of Hephaestus - I think.

There were took everywhere. In a flame layed tools for shaping metal. A workbench was covered with tools and blueprints. In the back was a large banner, saying "BUNKER 9" in bold letters. Prompting me to make the educated guess that this place was called Bunker 9.

The name filled me with feelings of fatigue for overworking, perspiration, and worst of all, fear. The idea of a bunker reminded me of wars, and hiding from the enemy. I wondered if this place was ever used to take refuge from wars, or at the very least, invaders in the camp.

I spotted one workbench that was a carbon copy to all the others. For some reason, it stood out to me, as if calling out to me.

Roofus found the same workbench and barked happily. He bolted over and under tables and hanging objects to pounce on top of the bench. He placed his two front paws on the workbench and barked at me.

Not wanting the hound to slobber on my shirt more, I went to him without waiting to be coaxed further. As I walked, I scanned the rest of the bunker. I noticed the dust lying about. The place hadn't been used that well in years. Somehow, that seemed wrong to me. As if this place should be bustling with life at all times, not collecting particles of dust for decades.

I made it to the bench, and saw some of the blueprints on it myself. Some of them were vaguely familiar to me. A design for a box that was small, but could hold items so much larger than itself. A set of golf clubs that could turn into swords.

And blueprints for a metal dragon.

Studying them closer, I saw just how much the blueprints resembled the design of the dragon I met today. Festus, I think. There were notes scribbled on the side. The automaton would respond to Morse Code, breathe fire, and fly. But this dragon had a few key differences.

The dragon in the design was supposedly made out of Stygian Iron. Which would have made it black as night. Also, this dragon had large horns with tips sharper than spears. All in all, this dragon made Festus seem like a ray of sunshine.

Shuffling through more of the blueprints, I found one for an enchanted dog collar. Which I found oddly specific.

Taking a closer look, the model shown was an exact replica of Roofus's collar. Again, I had a wonderful revelation.

I turned to Roofus and said, "This was your owner's workbench. That's why you brought me here."

Roofus didn't yip with glee this time. He pouted and cocked his head to the side. His eyes blinked, slightly sad. He rested his head on the workbench, his nose pointing to the collar's design.

After hanging onto the collar for over an hour, I placed it on the table and read the directions listed for fixing the collar. By the way, did I mention there was a column on the blueprints titled, "What to do if Roofus breaks his collar:"

I got the tools listed in the directions. A hammer, a chisel, and an anvil. Well, I brought what I needed to the anvil. I wasn't going to test my strength today. I'd have to leave that for another time.

The directions said to break the ends of the breaks in any part of the collar using the hammer and chisel, which I did. Then, to throw the broken pieces in the fire, Finally, to hold the collar over the flames in the small fire and wait. I didn't see what that would do, but found a pair of jawed tongs and did it anyway. For a moment, nothing happened. The flames heated the metal components in the collar and gave the metal a red-orange glow.

Then, I could barely believe my eyes. It was like watching metal melting in reverse.

Liquid metal rose out of the flames and clinged to the collar. The broken pieces from before rebond themselves to the collar and made the links one again.

Once the collar was in one piece, I pulled it out of the fire and placed it on the anvil. Unlike most metal, it lost its glow as soon as it left the fire. The collar cooled with alarming speed. Yet, I still thought to wait a minute or two before touching it.

Roofus had no such thought. He leaped over the anvil and swiped the collar off the anvil in his mouth. He eagerly held it out to me, with not signs of burns on his mouth.

I placed the tongs back where I found them and took the collar out of Roofus's mouth. I clicked the links behind his neck and nodded in approval of my own work. I believed I'd done well for someone who'd never used blacksmith tools before.

A second after the collar was secured around his neck, Roofus jumped up and tackled me to the ground with amazing strength. His eyes had an undertone of red again, and I saw what little I remembered of my life flash before my eyes.

His teeth were bared, and I thought Roofus was on the verge of mauling me to death. I felt deceived, betrayed even. I guessed he lured me here to fix his collar, then kill me. I wondered if this was a cautionary tale they told to new campers.

I could imagine Percy Jackson saying to new arrivals "And by the way kids, don't go into the forest late at night. There's a Hellhound out there that likes to lure demigods into the forest to kill them. If you find him, and he gets you to fix his collar, you're doomed. But hey, that's what you get when you leave your cabin after hours to explore the forest!"

Roofus's snout touched my nose, and his eyes lost their red hue. His slobbery tongue licked my face, several times over.

I held my hands up in protests. Between scrubs from Roofus's tongue, I called out, "Cut it out!" and "Stop!" and "You suck!". Yeah, I was a total badass when it came to swears.

Eventually, Roofus let me up and I used an old rag to wipe the slobber off my face. Though he seemed nice, Roofus's breath stank of dead critters and old meat.

Satisfied with his repaired collar and face-licking, he bolted over to the door and barked to me. I sighed and followed him. We left Bunker 9 together, and I saw that the sky had barely moved since I'd gone inside.

After walking back with Roofus for a few minutes, a blip of black soared over the trees and circled over my head. Roofus growled at the creature, his eyes glowing red again. Jeez, he must have had a hair trigger for things he wanted to maul.

As it drew - or flew - closer, I recognized it at the crow that followed me everywhere I went. The one that had spoken to me in my dreams. The crow that still freaked me out.

Rather than attempt to peck out my eyes, she landed gracefully on my right shoulder. Opposed to Roofus, who held his snout in a snarl at the bird from my left.

The crow did little to regard Roofus. She glanced at him once, rather unimpressed I'd say. She did not so much as caw. She stayed on my shoulder, and I saw her eyes were a tad tired. (I'm guessing the crow is a she since in my dream, its voice sounded like that of a woman's. And I'm too scared to ask.)

I gently placed my hand on the back of Roofus's head, which calmed him slightly. Still, I saw that Roofus did not trust the crow. And I couldn't blame him for his suspicions.

Putting that aside, Roofus walked by my side through the forest. Together, we marvelled at the stars and the silence of the usually bustling camp. As always, the crow was indifferent to what I found delight in.

It felt like forever, but after trekking through the forest, we found the camp once more. As soon as we broke the treeline, the crow left the pirch it'd held on my shoulder and flew for the skyline.

I took a few steps forward, abandoning the forest. When I looked over my shoulder and saw Roofus was not behind me, I was disappointed. I told him to come, but he shook his head, saddened. Then, I understood. He couldn't follow me, because if he was seen, any other demigod would send him back to Tartarus.

I pondered for a minute, and retreated back to my new friend. I knelt down and ruffled his fur, telling him, "I'll come back, Roofus. I promise. I just need to get back before people notice I'm gone. But I'll be back soon."

Pleased with my words, Roofus licked my face once more. He bound off into the forest, leaving light footprints as evidence of his appearance. I wiped his slobber from my face and grinned. It was so rare for me to make such close friends in such short time.

I guess that's all changing now.