8 - It Could Be Worse - Oh, Wait, Now It Is
As I approached, my brain raced through hundreds of worst-case scenarios.We killed one of them, and they're going to kill us for it. They killed one of us, as part of their plan to drive us away. They were going to kill us, but Artemis intervened and killed them. Artemis intervened, and they found a way to kill her too.
When I realised Sierra, not Artemis, was lying on the ground, and that she was still alive, I felt some small relief, but that quickly evaporated when I saw the gashes on her head and stomach. Even though she was covering the one on her stomach with her hand, I could see it was deep. Avery was examining it, while Sierra's two best friends, Eliana and Jamie, were on the verge of tears as they tried to soothe her.
I walked forwards into the inner ring, which consisted only of Hunters - most of the campers hung a few meters back. 'What... happened?'
Rowena glared at a girl of around fifteen, who had dyed pink hair and scars all over her body. 'Ask her.'
The girl backed away. 'I'm sorry, please don't hurt me. Three of us attacked her while she was setting this trap thing, and then this wolf came out... I thought the girl had sent it, you know, to kill me... so I tried to knock her out to get it to go away...'
Jamie gritted her teeth. 'And apparently she doesn't know when to stop.'
'Actually, it's not that simple.' Nerita stepped forwards, trembling. 'Mia thinks Eris is messing with us, playing up our hatred for each other until we murder each other. I almost killed a boy when he attacked us... We need to stop the game. It's just going to keep happening. There's going to be more casualties, like...' She didn't finish her sentence.
Sierra muttered something.
'What is it, dearheart? Eliana leaned closer to her friend, who raised her voice.
'Flag... get the flag.'
'SERIOUSLY? That's where your priorities are right now?' Rowena's voice started to crack. 'You are way, way too competitive. Just let Avery heal you.'
'Haven't you stopped to think that maybe she can't?' Everyone was silent now, hanging onto Sierra's every word. 'If the last moments of my life consist of me and my best friends winning something, then I would go to even the Fields of Punishment happily.'
'Don't be stupid,' whispered Jamie. 'Think of all the monsters you've killed, all the lives you've saved. You're bound for Elysium.'
'Thank you...'
'I don't think you're dying, because... never mind. We'll get your stupid flag. Monique?'
Jamie glanced at Monique, who nodded and set off towards the other team's half. No camper tried to stop her. Eliana and Nerita, the strongest, picked up Sierra and carried her a few meters away from the others, the same way they had carried me when that vision made me collapse. It felt like an eternity ago - and that's saying a lot, given I could theoretically survive for an eternity.
Avery offered me a cup of moonwater, then knelt next to me and examined my ankle.
'You should be helping Sierra.'
'I should be helping people that I can still save.' Avery's voice was barely above a whisper. 'They don't know it, but she's badly hurt. I can heal mostly of the damage - plants, skin, it's all growing really - but I have limits. Sierra knows. People know, they can usually feel it when they're dying.'
The pain in my ankle got worse, then went away altogether. Avery had healed it. But I felt sick, knowing what she thought would happen, what Sierra thought would happen.
Eliana screamed. 'No, no, no no no! Sierra! Avery, help, her pulse is gone!'
Nerita closed her eyes and lowered Sierra to the ground. The daughter of Hephaestus looked paler and small.
'No.' Nerita stiffened. 'She's gone.'
'It wasn't meant to go this way.' Isla spoke for the first time since I'd arrived. Her almond-shaped eyes were filled with tears. 'I didn't think to give her a partner. Usually Hunters manage okay on their own... I didn't think about what would happen if she fought a group of them.'
Claire raced over to Sierra. 'I can help her. I know how to resuscitate people. Pulses can stop before someone...'
'She. Is. Gone.'
Nerita drew her incineration arrow and fired it towards Sierra, whose hair immediately caught alight. For a split second, it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, but gradually the fire spread across her and it evolved into something grotesque. But I couldn't look away.
'Wh... what have you DONE?' Eliana wailed.
'She's dead,' Nerita said simply. I thought of what she'd said to me earlier: 'The best thing to do when you're scared is to just block it out, woman up and do what needs to be done.' Nerita was just putting on a brave face. She was hurting inside.
So was I. I was regretting that I didn't talk to Sierra, that I barely knew her beyond The Girl Who Builds Stuff.
Paige sprinted towards us with the opposition's flag, pursued by a boy in a Camp Half-Blood shirt, and planted it into the ground, turning it silver. We'd won, but Sierra never got to see it.
'A cremation is fitting,' croaked Isla. 'Hephaestus is the god of fire, after all.'
Nerita nodded, then walked away from us and didn't look back.
Lina began to speak, her voice shaky. 'For the rest of our time here, no camper may speak to us. No camper may come within a meter of us. Any who so much as touch the walls of the cabin will be... disposed of. Is that perfectly clear?'
The campers nodded. Jamie grabbed my hand so tightly, I wondered if she'd ever let go.
Surprisingly, almost everyone slept well. Grief is exhausting, in a way.
Naomi and I were the last ones awake. She was sitting upright, her brown eyes fixed on the door.
'Are you waiting for something? Or someone?'
She turned to me. 'You're awake too?'
'I tend to stay up far too late.'
Naomi swallowed. 'I'm waiting for Artemis. She'd know, if something happened to one of us. She can help with whatever Eris did to us and the campers.'
'Do you think so?'
'Yes. Maybe. I don't... I don't know. Maybe she can't... but what are we going to do without her?'
'She left less than twenty-four hours ago. Even if she's busy, she'll be back tomorrow, or maybe the next day.'
'I know.' She sighed. 'I just don't feel complete without her.'
My jaw dropped. Naomi immediately started to backtrack.
'Um, that sounds weird... um, it's because I'm more of a follower than a leader, you know? And since she's usually in charge, I'm not really used to...'
'Naomi, it's okay,' I said, interrupting her. 'I won't tell anyone.'
My friend seemed to shrink before me. 'Okay.'
Naomi was playing a dangerous game. Falling in love with an immortal almost never ends well, especially as a Hunter of Artemis... but I guess people can't help who they love. Not that I'd know - I've never loved anyone. Not in that way. I figured I'd miss the freedom to be with whoever I wanted, but I don't.
The more I thought about it, the more I thought that Naomi might just be alright. Artemis has no real way of knowing that Naomi has a crush on her. The gods know a lot, but they can't read minds.
But crush or no crush, none of us can cope without Artemis. Especially not me.
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