Daughter of Wine

Leo

I pass by Piper's cabin leaving the arena. She and I have both been getting used to our duties as head counselors. Piper is rubbing her shoulders when she sees me. 

She gives me a knowing grin. "Good luck at axe-throwing, Valdez."

"Why?" I ask nervously. "What is it?"

She gives me a wink. "You'll see." 

That doesn't make me feel better. When I walk into the arena, I expect something horrible, but instead, I hear a song from Panic! At the Disco playing. I lead my cabin into the range, and see Calli, laying peacefully on a cart, her legs crossed. She's reading a book with a picture of a boat on it. Her phone is blasting music. 

"Champagne, cocaine, gasoline," Calli sings under her breath. She glances over and sees us, and jumps up quickly. "Welcome to axe-throwing, kids!" 

No one says anything. I've noticed that my brothers and sisters aren't exactly the emotional type. 

It doesn't seem to faze Calli. She claps her hands together. "So, Festies, who's ready to throw some deadly weapons!" 

I clap enthusiastically, mostly for her benefit. A few campers join in with me. 

"What a day!" She exclaims. "Aphrodite cabin left their mirrors to come, and now the Hephaestus cabin has left the forges too! How lucky am I!" She pats the nearest Hephaestus kid on the back. She grabs an axe from inside her cart and tosses it in the air, flipping it and catching it again with no fear of getting her hand sliced open by a sharp blade. With incredible speed, she launches it at the nearest target, nailing the bullseye with so much force that wood splinters fly onto the ground. She casually recomposes herself and grins. "Axe throwing is all about form and technique." 

Calli takes us all and places us in front of targets, pulling the cart along with her, giving us each an axe. Upon closer inspection, the axe is pretty well balanced, and deadly sharp. Once again, I'm reminded that this isn't your regular summer camp. 

"Alright. Two-handed throwing first." Calli stands in front of us all fearlessly. "For those of you who haven't done this before, feet shoulder width apart." She places her feet as she instructs. "Back straight, grip the axe like this-" She puts her right hand over her left, her pinky below the handle. "-Bring the axe back behind your head, keeping your arms straight, your back straight. Everything should be straight." She walks down the line, her axe over her shoulder. She corrects our posture, our grip, our feet, then returns to the front of the group. "Now, when you throw, big step, and keep your arms straight. The power comes from the shoulders, not the biceps." She throws her axe quickly. It whizzes between me and Nyssa and lodges itself in the doorframe behind us. 

"Okay." I flinch. "That was pretty cool. Just next time, maybe just a little warning before you throw stuff at me?"

"Then what would be the point?" Calli asks, patting me on the back before she walks by. "Alright, release the axes!" 

She walks down the line, correcting posture, grip, distance from the target. 

She's correcting Harley, a few campers down from me, when Nyssa throws her axe. 

Calli turns, her ear pointed towards us. "Nyssa, your arm was bent."

Nyssa gives her a look of disbelief. "What? You weren't even looking!" 

Calli gives her a look as if she's stupid. "Okay, that sound was the sound of the axe blade hitting the board from the side. Which means the axe turned in the air. Let's picture that in reverse. The only way the axe turns in midair is if the force on the handle was uneven. Which means one of your arms was bent."