War Mantle (Dancing with Death part 3)

Council of War

"We already tried being civil." Clarisse slammed her fist on the table. "Look how that turned out! We're surrounded."

Chiron sighed. "We're dealing with things we can't control. Let's review our defensive line. Where do we stand?"

Clarisse stood. "Our defensive line is mostly solid. The campers are as ready to fight as they'll ever be." She shot Ali an angry look. "We control the beach. Our triremes are unchallenged on the Long Island Sound, but those stupid giant eagles dominate our airspace. Inland, in all three directions, the barbarians have us completely cut off."

Rachel looked up from the doodle she'd been sketching on the knee of her pants. "They're romans, not barbarians."

Clarisse raised an eye brow. "And what about their reinforcements? Two-headed men and glowing red dog-headed guys seem pretty barbaric to me." She glared at the oracle. "Would've been nice if you had foreseen that, but your ability just had to break down when we most need it."

Rachel's face flushed as red as her hair. "That's not my fault. There's something wrong with Apollo's gift of prophecy. I can't fix that..."

"She's right." Will placed a hand on Clarisse's arm. "All the Apollo kids have been affected, not just Rachel." He ran his hand through his messy blonde hair. "We don't know what's happening in Delphi. My dad hasn't answered any prayers or appeared in any dreams. Yeah, the gods have been silent lately, but this isn't like Apollo. Something's wrong."

Jake Mason growled. "It's probably that dirt-wipe of a descendant of his - Octavian what's-his-name. If I was related to a guy like that, I'd go into hiding too."

Will sighed. "I wish I was a better archer. I'd love to shoot my Roman relative off his high horse. Honestly, I wish I could use any of my father's gifts to stop this, but I'm just a healer."

"You're talents are essential to our cause." Chiron tried to comfort the son of Apollo. "I fear we'll need them soon enough. As for seeing the future... has Ella revealed anything from the Sibylline Books?"

"No," Rachel shook her head sympathetically. "The poor thing is terrified. Harpies hate to be imprisoned and, with the Romans surrounding us, she feels trapped." She sighed. "It's all Tyson can do to keep her from flying away."

"Which would be suicide with those eagles in the air." Butch Walker - Son of Iris - spoke up. "I've already lost two Pegasi." The guy was surprisingly gentle for his bulky build.

"At least Tyson was able to call in the cavalry and get his cyclopses friends here." Rachel tried to brighten the mood.

Connor paused over by the snack table where he was about to spray a can of easy cheese straight into his mouth. "12 full-grown cyclopses? Yeah, that's a little good news. Not to mention the Hecate kids are setting up a bunch of magical defenses and the traps the Hermes cabin set up in the hills."

"Yeah," Jake Mason rolled his eyes. "Traps you stole from the Hephaestus cabin."

"And the mines you stole from around the Ares cabin." Clarisse complained. "How do you even steal a live mine?"

Connor smirked. "Trade secret. Don't be mad. We're just lending to the war effort."

Chiron cleared his throat and turned to Grover. "What of the nymphs?"

Grover picked at the fur on his legs awkwardly. "It's never easy to organize nymphs, but, with Gaea rousing, their almost as disoriented as the gods." He sighed. "If the Earth Mother truly rises, I can't guarantee that the woods will be safe... or the beach... or the strawberry fields."

"Great." Jake nudged Clovis - the head councilor of the Hypnos cabin, who was dozing off. "What do we do?"

Clarisse stabbed her dagger into the table. "We have to attack." She stood. "The Romans are planning to siege us on August 1 anyway, why should we let them determine the timetable? We need to take them down before they have the chance to attack."

Malcolm rose to his feet. "Their temporary base is better defended than our entire camp. We would get slaughtered if we tried."

"So what?" Clarisse asked. "We just wait?" She glared at the other councilors. "I have Hedge's pregnant wife under my protection. The campers morale is already low. Do you really think we'll last another 9 days?"

Connor put down his easy cheese. "We should stick to Annabeth's plan."

Clarisse scoffed. "So you all just want to wait for a Roman praetor to bring us a statue and hope that'll make the Roman army stand down?"

Rachel stood. "Annabeth knows what she's doing. We need to unite the camps to heal the gods, we need the gods to kill the giants, and if we don't kill the giants..."

"Gaea rises." Connor finished. "Annabeth sent us a message from Tartarus. If someone does that, I'm gonna listen to them."

Ali stood, pushing back her chair with a loud scrape. "That's enough."

The other councilors sat down and looked at her.

She moved her gaze across the councilors gathered around the table. "Our top priority is to avoid a war," She glared at Clarisse. "not start one.
"We stick with Annabeth's plan. Reyna will be here with the Athena Parthenos.
"No, that doesn't mean the Romans will just drop their weapons, but it's our chance to mend old wounds and heal a rift thousands of years in the making. That is our goal. Not to prove that we're superior, not to spill innocent blood, but to heal a bond that was torn long ago.
"So yes, Clarisse, we wait. We prepare for the worst, but we will not force the Romans' hand with a foolhardy attack." She met Chiron's gaze. "I promised Percy I'd protect this camp. That's what I'm going to do."