𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐉𝐎𝐑 𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐓 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓. 

Raya knew there was going to be a big attack now that the Camp borders were down. She just didn't know when, and every day that passed without it only made her more anxious.

There was the occasional small monster or two, but the campers managed to hold them off with minimal injuries. Raya felt like her older brother Ricardo because of how often she yelled frantically, trying to get her siblings to restock the infirmary. She missed him.

Raya made her way outside after she finished strapping up her armor. Usually she brought Loki along, but he was sleeping soundly that night, so she let him be. He'd spent the afternoon whining because he couldn't get to Kayse on the other end of the Iris-message, so he was tired now.

"Ready?" she asked Beckendorf and the Stolls.

"Yup," Beckendorf confirmed.

"I'm taking Travis on the outer side of the hill, at the base," Raya told them as they made their way to Half-Blood Hill. "Connor and Charlie are going to be stationed at the top of the hill. You all have your whistles?"

The three of them pulled out their whistles as a response.

Raya rolled her eyes to herself, "It's protocol. We need a quick way to inform the rest of the camp if there's a major attack. And as lead officer, I need to make sure you all have one on you."

"Yes, of course, mother," Connor drawled, earning a snicker from Charlie.

"And that's why I paired myself up with Trevor," Raya muttered.

"Huh, what?" Travis looked up, completely lost.

"... Did you just fall asleep while you were walking?" Raya asked, unable to believe what just happened.

Travis coughed, "... I mean...."

"Forget it," Raya waved a hand. "Let's just get to the hill."

Charlie and Connor placed themselves at the top of the hill, while Raya and Travis continued towards the base of it, completely unguarded by Thalia's Pine. The earlier group of demigods on guard all thanked them as they headed off to the campfire to enjoy the songs and s'mores.

Raya and Travis began their patrols, swords out as they monitored the base of the hill. After twenty minutes passed, and there were still no signs of activity, the two took a seat at the base, waiting for the next checkpoint. Raya placed her helmet next to her on the ground.

"Why're you always on the night shift?" Travis asked her suddenly. "Like you do day shifts too, but every single night, your name is the first one. Do you not sleep?"

Raya laughed, "Nah, I love sleep. I just also love staying up, I guess. The coolness of the night, the stars shining above, it's really peaceful. I just — I guess I like it better than the day because it's calmer."

Travis nodded, "Makes sense. I guess you don't like having to be paired up with me then, hah."

Even though he said it as if it was a joke, Raya was quick to understand his insecurity. He was a 'troublemaker', while Raya was someone that nearly the entire Camp looked up to nowadays.

Raya had known the Stoll boys since they had first arrived at Camp, being the one to give them the tour. They'd grown on her instantly, and they adored her too. She felt bad, not being able to hang out with them that much this summer. She was usually the only 'responsible' camper who ever hung out with them.

"That's not true," she told him. "I like being paired up with you — and Connor. You actually remind me of the Weasleys, two of my best friends. They're crazy and insane, a little like you guys. I've been through a lot these last few weeks, and spending time with you guys, with your dumb jokes and shit pranks is actually a nice distraction. So thank you. For helping me during a tough time by just being yourselves."

Travis grinned, "Don't expect me to get all senti—"

"Shh!" Raya hushed him and quickly put her helmet on. She held her sword out, waiting.

"What's wrong?" Travis asked, quickly putting his own helmet on and holding his sword at the ready.

She held a hand up for silence, listening for the noise.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

"What is that?" Travis whispered, horrified.

"Footsteps," Raya answered.

The ground began to shake, before a giant monster stomped quickly into Raya's vision. Without wasting another moment, she blasted her whistle, causing the Camp alarms to blare.

Connor and Charlie joined Raya and Travis at the bottom of the hill, their swords at the ready.

"Plan?" Charlie asked, eyeing the monster that was rapidly coming closer.

"Don't let it get inside of Camp," Raya said. "Distract it, use your weapons, trinkets, anything you can. I don't know how we're gonna kill it, but maybe we can redirect it."

"What's that even supposed to be?" Connor asked.

"A Draco Aionius," Raya answered.

"Huh?"

"A really big lizard that blows up stuff," she clarified.

"Gotcha."

"Now!" Raya yelled, the four of them going to attack.

The monster was about a hundred feet away from Camp, and gaining quickly. It's lizard body was a dark swampy green, almost black in the nighttime. It's yellow eyes with red slits examined everything, but thankfully weren't paralyzing. Even though it didn't have wings and very stubby legs, it was large and fast. Not a good combination.

Raya cast a quick non-verbal flight spell, causing her to jump about thirty feet in the air and over the monster's head.

She held her sword downwards, slashing it against the Draco Aionius' head as she fell. The monster roared, rearing back as it dropped Raya. 

She fell to the ground, barely rolling away in time to save herself from being smashed to death by its spiked tail.

Her sword hadn't done much damage to the monster — in fact, it'd barely slowed the monster down. It was covered in thick scales, nearly impossible to penetrate.

The monster blew a fireball against the invisible barrier once — twice — before breaking through.

"Fuck," she muttered.

"Plan failed!" Travis yelled, running and trying to slice the monster's body.

"New plan: Keep the damage to a minimum!" she called.

Raya ran up the hill, slashing and jabbing the monster wherever she could, but she only succeeded in making it more angry. Dozens of campers arrived in armor and weapons, thanks to Raya's warning.

"LAYER ATTACK!" Raya called out to the campers, using her wand to amplify her voice. "TURTLE FORMATION: ARCHERS SHOOT AT THE CHINKS IN THE SCALES!"

The sword fighters fought using the layer attack method taught at Camp: waves of five to ten fighters slashing and jabbing, before going back to the end of the line, and waiting for their group's turn to attack again.

Raya herself began incorporating magic into her attacks, trying to Stun the monster, or at least make her attacks more powerful. She managed to hack six giant scales off the monster, causing it to howl in pain.

The archers shot at the chinks in the monster's scales and any fallen ones, protected from the monster's attacks by the shield bearers. It blew fire periodically, attacking, but the shields were doing their job at protecting the campers well enough. 

The lizard made it all the way to the recreation area before surrendering. It swung its tail in a deadly arc, destroying the arts and crafts cabin and even injuring a few unlucky campers, before stomping away.

Raya and a few of the Campers watched it leave, skittering underground somewhere to lick its wounds. She returned to Camp, seeing a number of Campers injured and wounded, being tended to by her siblings.

Burns, cuts, broken bones, and even internal bleeding: the Draco Aionius had really done a number on the Camp.

The following week was the most hectic week of Raya's life.

She continued her nightly border patrol, now stocked with more weapons and defenses. She'd gotten the Hephaestus Cabin to make special land mines that would burst only if a monster activated it, and planted them under Half-Blood Hill.

On top of that, she ran around during the day, muttering healing hymns to Apollo, bandaging the wounded, feeding them nectar and ambrosia, and tending to her own broken ribs. 

The nectar and ambrosia had healed her pretty quickly, but there wasn't enough to heal everyone and Tantalus was too much of a brat to order more. Raya spent a lot of time arguing with him too.

The good thing about being so busy was that she didn't have time to think of anything else. 

If she was free — which was about five minutes a day — she practiced her Quidditch skills or wrote a letter to Kayse or Remus or Tonks or one of her other friends.

She didn't have time to think of Sirius and their family problems, or how much she missed her dad, or how scared she was that her mom was getting more sick, or how she was dreaming of Regulus more and more often.

Raya quickly shoved a granola in her mouth at breakfast, when she was stopped by Tantalus.

"I forget, is it Raya Newbrooke or Raya Black?" he asked her suddenly, smiling coldly.

"Newbrooke," Raya answered unflinchingly, finishing her granola bar. "It's Raya Newbrooke."

She wasn't sure where he learned of her heritage from, but she wasn't going to let him hold it over her.

"Really?" he tone insinuated that the two were gossip buddies who regularly met up to share news and stories. Raya suppressed a gag at the thought. Tantalus continued, "That's a shame. I couldn't give you a single Newbrooke down in the Fields of Punishment. Blacks however — I can give you names and stories of hundreds."

Raya pretended not to be intrigued, "I don't see how that affects me."

"Of course not, of course not," Tantalus nodded. "You are a Newbrooke, not a Black. But still, the sheer number of Blacks down there, it seemed like they made up half the population. To this day, there's only a few who haven't been there with them."

Raya stared at him, keeping her expression deadpan. She knew he was trying to bait her, and the second she seemed interested, he'd use it to his advantage.

"Alphard Black, Phineas Black Jr, Regulus Black, Iola Black," Tantalus sighed. "The family was facing too harsh of a punishment to even care what happened to them — but I learnt. Wouldn't you like to know?"

"I couldn't care less," Raya answered, despite how fast her heart was beating.

She wanted to know, she wanted to know where Regulus Black was if he wasn't in the Fields of Punishment. What he'd done to get out there. A part of her wondered if Tantalus was lying just to bother her.

Tantalus smiled cruelly, as if he could sense her eagerness. "That's a story for another day now."

He got up and left, leaving Raya with her frantic thoughts and wondering the truth behind her father's life.

REY WRITES!

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