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{ ☀️ } · the quest begins . ݁ ٬٬ ࣪
MADELINE really didn't really want to be awoken by screams of bloody murder when a mechanical dragon landed near the cabins. The girl woke up with a groan, pressing her face back into the pillow, trying to cancel out the loud yells that echoed from the outside. Some of her siblings rushed out, grabbing their weapons, hastily putting on the armor and running out of the door. Knowing she needed to get ready, Madeline threw away her blanket, grabbing some clothes from her wardrobe she shared with Kayla. Blouse and bell-bottom jeans and her coat over her shoulder, the black-haired girl made sure her earrings were in place ─ she never takes them off, but makes sure they're there just in case. With her choker and other jewelry around her neck and backpack slung over her shoulder, which she had packed last night, the girl yelled a goodbye to her still sleepy siblings and walked out of the cabin. Thankfully, they all hugged last night while talking about the quest ─ they knew about some parts of it from Madeline's dreams and to say that Will, Austin and Kayla were not excited for their sister to go, was an understanding.
And when she looked up to see what had caused the commotion, her jaw dropped.
"Valdez!" she yelled, looking up at the boy.
Sure enough, there he was, sitting atop a giant bronze death machine and grinning like a lunatic. Even before he landed, the camp alarm went up. A conch horn blew. All the satyrs started screaming, "Don't kill me!" Half the camp ran outside in a mixture of pajamas and armor. The dragon set down right in the middle of the green, and Leo yelled, "It's cool! Don't shoot!"
Hesitantly, the archers lowered their bows. The warriors backed away, keeping their spears and swords ready. They made a loose wide ring around the metal monster. Other demigods hid behind their cabin doors or peeped out the windows. Nobody seemed anxious to get close.
The dragon was huge. It glistened in the morning sun like a living penny sculpture ─ different shades of copper and bronze ─ a sixty-foot-long serpent with steel talons and drill-bit teeth and glowing ruby eyes. It had bat-shaped wings twice its length that unfurled like metallic sails, making a sound like coins cascading out of a slot machine every time they flapped.
"It's beautiful," Piper said, standing outside of the Aphrodite cabin. The other demigods stared at her like she was insane. The dragon reared its head and shot a column of fire into the sky. Campers scrambled away and hefted their weapons, but Leo slid calmly off the dragon's back. He held up his hands like he was surrendering, except he still had that crazy grin on his face.
