Havoc - Piper McLean

21: Warming up

| warming up |

—Piper woke up cold and shivering.

She'd had the worst dream about an old guy with donkey ears chasing her around and shouting, You're it!

"Oh, god." Her teeth chattered. "He turned me to gold!"

"You're okay now." Jason leaned over and tucked a warm blanket around her, but she still felt as cold as a Boread.

She blinked, trying to figure out where they were. Next to her, a campfire blazed, turning the air sharp with smoke. Firelight flickered against rock walls. They were in a shallow cave, but it didn't offer much protection. Outside, the wind howled. Snow blew sideways. It might've been day or night. The storm made it too dark to tell.

"L-L-Leo?" Piper managed.

"Present and un-gold-ified." Leo was also wrapped in blankets. He didn't look great, but better than Piper felt. "I got the precious metal treatment too,"

"Always appreciate being remembered" Camilla's voice was hoarse. Piper had to do a double take when she managed to look at her. She looked mostly the same, but her eyes looked sadder than Piper had ever seen her and she sported a nasty deep cut on her cheek that travelled from just below her right eye to her jaw. "How bad is it? Don't lie"

Piper sucked in a small breath. The cut looked really bad, it was red raw and must have hurt from the way Camilla winced everytime she spoke. Piper knew it was deep enough to scar.

"You look badass" Piper said instead, "Like one of those zombie apocalypse survivors that are actually huge softies"

"You calling me a softie?" Camilla raised her eyebrow but there was a ghost of a smirk on her features. 

Piper resisted the urge to ask if the wound hurt. Instead she asked, "Did Midas turn you into a statue too?"

Camilla shivered but it didn't have anything to do with the cold. "Yeah, just after you guys. That Lityerses creep cut up my face and then I accidentally fell near Midas"

"This is why I always say, don't trust hot guys" Leo chimed in. 

"I make it a point to stay away from guys in general" 

Piper shivered a bit more violently. The chill, it seemed to shock her to her bones. Her and Camilla's hair was still wet and though the fire was warm, it didn't do much to help. 

Jason frowned like a mother hen taking care of its chicks. "Leo and Camilla came out of the gold pretty easy, we don't know why. We had to dunk you in the river to get you back completely. Tried to dry you off, but... it's really, really cold."

"You've got hypothermia," Camilla said. "We risked as much nectar as we could. Coach Hedge did a little nature magic—"

"Sports medicine." The coach's ugly face loomed over her. "Kind of a hobby of mine. Your breath might smell like wild mushrooms and Gatorade for a few days, but it'll pass. You probably won't die. Probably."

"Thanks," Piper said weakly. "How did you beat Midas?"

Jason told her the story, putting most of it down to luck.

The coach snorted. "Kid's being modest. You should've seen him. Hi-yah! Slice! Boom with the lightning!"

"Coach, you didn't even see it," Jason said. "You were outside eating the lawn."

But the satyr was just warming up. "Then I came in with my club, and we dominated that room. Afterward, I told him, 'Kid, I'm proud of you! If you could just work on your upper body strength—'"