𐌙/𐌍 Ᏽ𐌵𐌀𐌋𐌄 & 𐌕𐋅𐌄 Ᏽ𐌐𐌄𐌀𐌕 𐌌𐌙𐌕𐋅𐌔 ¹

Chapter 5

5 | Becoming a shadow controlling lord

Having a centaur as a tour guide wasn't as bad as I expected. Though I did make sure not to walk directly behind him. I'd done some of the cleaning duty for a horse that Hive brought to the orphanage, it certainly wasn't an experience I would like to risk living again.

We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the giant tooth I was carrying. Another said, "That's him."

Most of the campers were older than me. With some satyrs friends running around half naked with only bright orange T-shirts with "CAMP HALF-BLOOD" written in large and nice letters. Lots of people stared at me, like they expected me to do something incredible, like a magic trick or something. I wasn't that much fazed by it, but it surely gave me a small chill down my spine to have that many eyes on me.

I caught a glance back at the farmhouse, it was bigger than I noticed-four stories tall, sky-blue with a white trim, seemed like an upscale seaside resort. There was a brass eagle wheater vane on the top of the roof, with something messing a curtain right at the corner of my eyes as I watched it. I felt the hair on the back of my head raise as I felt like I was being watched.

"Chiron," I turned to the horse man. "What's there?"

Chiron's smile fell as he saw where I pointed. "Just the attic."

"Does somebody live there?"

"No," he said with finalty. "Not a single thing."

I knew he was telling the truth, but I was sure something still moved that bloody curtain.

"Come along, (y/n)," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."

We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe.

Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."

He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.

I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Zaak could work that kind of magic with music. I wondered if he was living a nice life wherever he was now.

"Chiron," I said. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real ..."

"Yes, child?"

"Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?"

Chiron's expression darkened.

"Yes, child." He paused, as if choosing his words care-fully. "There is a place where spirits go after death. But ... I would urge you to put that out of your mind."

"What do you mean?"

"Come, (y/n). Let's see the woods."

The moment we got close to the forest, I realized how big it actually was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.

Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."

"Stocked with what?" I asked. "Armed with what?"

"You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?"

"I have a pair of swords?" I shrugged. "Not really mine. But I don't think they're from anyone now."