ex murmure blanditiae obumbratio

"Run!"

Tessa shoved the red soldier back with the momentum of her sword, watching in satisfaction as he scrambled to join his teammates in fleeing for the hills. She huffed a laugh, putting her hands to her lips as she called, "Way to go, guys, but I think the flag is the other way!"

The soldiers, if they could hear her from how fast they ran, didn't seem to listen, but that was alright with Tessa. The more opponents she fended off against, the better her team was probably doing, and that's all that mattered to her right now. Fend off the red soldiers and find the flag. Find the flag.

Pure adrenaline coursed through her veins as she surveyed the thicket of trees surrounding her. Twilight was beginning to fall, and the last rays of summer sun began weaving through the canopy of leaves overhead. So many times, had the balmy breeze off Long Island Sound turned the entire valley into some eternal paradise of sunsets and peace. Of course, camp was always a sunny paradise, but it was these moments that made Tessa feel like the borders weren't enchanted, and things might have been magical in the way she hadn't been used to for the past three years.

It was easy to forget, if only for a moment. Tessa took a deep breath of the warm summer air and allowed herself to linger in the melancholy for just a moment more.

"Going somewhere?" a voice said from behind her.

Tessa jumped, nearly fumbling her sword spun around, ready to strike, but before she could raise her sword arm, she froze, staring cross-eyed at the tip of the gold-bladed sword centimeters from her neck. She scowled, following the blade to the smirking face of the person holding it.

"Well, are you?" Kaden Gray asked with the quirk of a playful eyebrow. The son of Aphrodite's smile only grew as the seconds ticked by. His emerald eyes, flicking Tessa up and down as if savoring her entrapment, glinted into the fading light. While his bronze breastplate matched Tessa's, the red horsehair plume of his helmet atop his tousled brown hair made him an enemy.

Tessa narrowed her eyes. "Yes, actually," she mused, "I was about to win the game. Wasn't it obvious?"

Kaden chuckled. "Oh, it was obvious, all right. I've been following you for about the past twenty minutes."

Tessa blinked in stupor. Had she really been that dense to leave herself open to ambush? She cursed herself mentally, frowning at Kaden. "No, you weren't. I would have heard you."

Kaden winked. "You underestimate my stealth."

"You underestimate my strength."

"What?"

While he was caught off guard, his sword dipped away from Tessa. She seized the opportunity to kick him square in the chest, recovering her own weapon. "That's what I meant," she said proudly. "Now, Kaden, it's been great, but I've got a game to win."

Before he could regain his composure, Tessa bolted off. She darted in between trees and soon found herself in the clearing near Zeus's Fist. The imposing cluster of boulders normally would have intimidated her, if it hadn't been for the billowing red flag at the top sending bolts of adrenaline through her veins. Behind her, the sound of snapping twigs and leaves underfoot shook her from her reverie and she scrambled back towards the rocks. She'd just gotten her footing when a sudden blow like a burning gust of air hit her in the small of her back and she lost her balance, collapsing to the foot of the mound.

Tessa huffed a breath as the sensation faded. She shot a look over her shoulder and met the horrified visage of Amelie Winters, daughter of Hecate, hurrying towards her. Tessa sighed. "Amelie, I'm on your team!"

Amelie's freckled cheeks turned red. "Sorry, Tessa! I thought you were someone else."

Tessa frowned at that and glanced back towards the woods. Surely, Kaden would have followed her to the clearing by now if he had been intent on stopping her. So where was he?

Peering at the tree line suspiciously, Tessa got to her feet. "Amelie, were you on patrol?"

Amelie frowned. "Patrol? No, I was looking for Flynn. Why would you think...?" She trailed off as Tessa pointed to the flag at the top of the rocks, green eyes widening. "Oh, the flag. I had no idea that was there!"

Tessa blinked between Amelie and the red team's flag in confusion. Why had it been so undefended, and why were she and Amelie the only ones out here? Something wasn't right, and before she could give Amelie a chance to share the sentiment, Tessa heard a distant roar—like cheering.

Her heart fell to her stomach. No. No way in hell.

"Amelie," Tessa said, her voice low. "Where was our flag hidden?"

The daughter of Hecate opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a crowd of campers bursting through the tree line, carrying two boys on their shoulders. Helmets in one hand and the blue team's flag in the other, the boys hollered in victory. Tessa, fed up, simply made a face, stuck her sword into its scabbard at her waist, and plopped down onto the nearest boulder, watching the victory group pass by. Only it seemed they had come to gloat.

Kaden grinned cheekily from atop the shoulders of his team-mates. He glanced to his right, where Reese, the son of Apollo and his co-caption, sat proudly. Reese caught Tessa's eye and smirked. "Oh, hey there, Tessa. Enjoying the view?"

Tessa turned to face him, a tired expression on her face. "I was until a pompous archer blocked it."

To Tessa's relief, the group erupted into hisses of 'oohs' and Reese's eyes hardened. He slid down from his team's shoulders, Kaden following suit. "You're just bitter because you didn't win this time around," he taunted, folding his arms across his chest.

Tessa pushed herself up, stalking forward a few paces. She shot a quick look at Kaden, who was watching the situation ahead of him like a tennis match, before meeting Reese's calculating gaze. "Actually, I'm always bitter so I'm afraid you're not as special as you may think you are, Hale."

Reese narrowed his eyes at Tessa, but the expression faded as smiles began to slowly stretch across both their faces. Fierce fighters were they both, but even fiercer friends, and when the occasional day came that they fought for different teams, the earth seemed to stand still. Neither of them could stay mad for long, even jokingly.

Tessa rolled her eyes, laughing. "You win this round, Hale."

"Damn right, I do!" Reese pointed at her.

A camper came running through the clearing, red in the face with two sets of golden laurel wreaths in his hands. He dashed up to Reese and Kaden, placing the symbol of victory on their heads before darting away.

Reese sighed, the familiar amiable glint in his eyes having returned. "See you later, Tessa." He said with a laugh in his voice. He glanced at Amelie at her side and smiled knowingly. "My brother's looking for you."

Amelie squeaked at Tessa's side and either out of her magic or her adrenaline was suddenly gone.

Tessa chuckled, taking off her helmet and running a hand through her dark hair. Reese clambered back atop his team's shoulders and the group rumbled off back towards camp. Just like that, Kaden and Tessa were the only ones left, and with the exit of the son of Apollo, the sky seemed to darken a lot quicker.

"Good game?" Kaden tried.

Tessa arched an eyebrow. She shook her head, a mischievous look in her eyes. "Nope," she laughed, reaching forward to flick one of the laurels. "Not unless that wreath is on my head."

Kaden swatted her hand away. "Don't, you'll ruin it!"

Tessa made a face at him. "You really are an Aphrodite kid, aren't you?"

Kaden sighed in mock exasperation. "Tessa, Tessa, Tessa." He shook his head. "You just don't get it, do you?"

"What, the rules of maintaining a laurel wreath?" She folded her arms, leaning against a tree. "No point, Mr. D is just going to want it back for his next game of pinochle anyway."

Kaden's eyes widened in horror. As if it were on fire, he snatched the wreath off his head and held it gingerly in his hands. "Mr. D wore this?" Tessa nodded solemnly. Kaden stared into Tessa's eyes, mortified, until she burst into a fit of laughter. He glared at her, placing the wreath back onto his head. "Not cool, Brennan, seriously not cool."

Tessa took a breath, still grinning. "Three years and you fall for it every time." She pushed herself off the tree, hearing the familiar sounds of camp grow quieter. Curfew would be kicking in shortly, now that the last activity of the day was done. "We should head back."

Kaden was silent for a moment, enough for Tessa to glance back to make sure he was still standing there. He was practically a silhouette with the darkening sky, even his bright green eyes dimming.

"Kaden? You alright?" Tessa asked softly.

Kaden jolted. "Hey, yeah, sorry." He stretched, yawning a yawn that looked a bit too fake to Tessa. "Just so tired, y'know? Winning Capture the Flag takes a lot out of you."

Tessa rolled her eyes. "Oh, shut it."

"Barreling down row after row of blue soldiers," Kaden taunted as they headed down the path through the forest.

"Gray, you have five seconds to shut your trap."

"Leading you here to where you you'd be overwhelmed by confusion."

"Are you asking to be skewered with your own sword?"

The trail ended, spitting them back out into camp. Beneath the darkening sky, the last few campers were returning their weapons to the racks and filing back into their cabins.

Kaden chuckled, running a hand through his hair. "Good night, Tessa."

Tessa shook her head, laughing herself. "Night, Kaden."

The two half-bloods parted paths, heading their own way to their respective cabins. Night fell officially, and Tessa looked up at the sky as she headed to the central green, keeping an eye out for her favorite constellations, wondering how many times she'd stared up at that sky in the past three years.

Tessa stepped through the door of Cabin Three, stars and melancholy on her mind, when she was hit with the feeling that she wasn't alone. Fear began to trickle in through its familiar routes in her mind and she drew her sword, the soft glow of the bronze giving her light in the permeating darkness.

Not again, Tessa thought. Not now. She surveyed the room until her eyes, trained from the past, centered on one corner of her room where the shadows always seemed to coalesce into something darker. Even now, they seemed to whip this way and that until Tessa wasn't sure if her mind was playing tricks or she truly could see the figure of what appeared to be a man.

Tessa's breath died in her throat as her muscles went stiff. Tempest clattered from her hands, now clammy with panic and fear. A thrumming pulse seemed to emanate from the shadows, a haunting drumbeat that sounded too much like her frantic heartbeat.

"Get out," Tessa managed from behind clenched teeth. "Get out! Go away!"

The shadow remained, growing, taunting her. Whispers echoed into her mind, whispers that didn't belong to her but the low, rasping voice of whatever had materialized from the shadows.

For what felt like eons, Tessa could see only darkness but in the blink of an eye, the shadows disappeared and whatever curse of fear it had inflicted released her. Tessa collapsed to the stone floor of the cabin, shuddering from cold in the middle of summer. How much longer would this go on? How many times would she see the shroud, waiting in the shadows of her room? And most chilling of all, how much longer until she knew what it meant by the only words it ever spoke?

"I await you."