A/N: Hello everyone! This is the thirteenth chapter! Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Malcolm's POV

They attacked around three in the morning, although we didn't realize it at first. Most of us had been resting in our base in the woods, a last minute suggestion by some of the nymphs. This would prove to be a decision that saved us all.

It was hidden in the treetops, equidistant from the opening of the woods and from Bunker Nine, where the younger kids were. From here, we had a decent view of the Apollo kids base on the top of the Climbing Wall and a decent view of the rest of the camp. I hadn't even considered a treehouse base thing as an option, but I was glad that we had it.

At the moment, we only had a single sentry watching from the base of the tree, and two outside Bunker Nine. Another three were watching from inside base, supervising. The Apollo kids had worked out their own schedule, and had five kids monitoring the rest of the camp.

The rest of us were trying to grab a couple of hours of sleep before the main fight. We expected an attack at dawn, or an attack during the day. Of course, we knew the possibility existed, and we had prepared for it, but it was still a surprise.

I had been studying a couple of Roman battle tactic records when an iris message opening in front of me.

Will was crouched down beneath a short wall, a quiver and a bow slung over his back. His face was tight with worry.

"Malcolm," He whispered. "The Romans just crossed the border. We're not quite sure what they're doing right now, but I wanted to let you know that we're watching."

"Okay," I said. "Have they activated any of the traps?"

He turned back and shook his head. "They're just slowly moving through the borders. I think they just made it through the plants, nothing else. But I can't really tell what they're planning."

I nodded slowly. "I think I should bring a couple of campers out to scout what's going on. We would have the mobility to sneak around and get a better look if necessary."

Will shook his head. "I don't know if that's a good idea. They might see us and attack. We need every bit of surprise we can get."

"I know," I said. "But that information could be necessary for winning. If we only take a couple campers and stay in the woods, we should just be fine. I think it's a good risk."

Will frowned, but nodded. "We can cover you if they make a move towards you guys, but that would give our position away."

I looked outside. The dim moonlight barely lit up the outside world. The darkness would provide decent cover.

Will peeked back over the wall. "If you're gonna do something, be quick. They might make a move soon."

"We'll be there," I said. "In the woods straight left of your base."

Will nodded. I turned away from the message and headed out of the area.

I stepped down a small staircase of branches to where the rest of the campers were sleeping.

Who to bring with me?

Clarisse for sure, and probably a couple more Ares kids as well. Maybe a Demeter kid, to hide our tracks if we were spotted?

That would be, what, five people? Enough to ensure our safety and get a good glimpse of what was going on out there.

I tapped Clarisse on the shoulder lightly, hoping not to startle her awake. She opened her eyes after a moment, calmly aware of everything as if she hadn't been asleep at all.

"Clarisse," I whispered. "We need to go on a small mission."

She sat up, blinking her eyes a little bit. "What is it?" She asked.

"The Romans have made it through the Camp Border. We're not quite sure what they want, so I wanted to take a small group to the edge of the forest to get a better look. The Apollo kids are also watching over to see what's happening, but they can't risk open viewing or they'll get caught. Can you grab a couple of your siblings to come with us? Someone who can sneak but also put up a fight if needed?"

Clarisse snorted. "All of my siblings would gladly put up a fight. You don't need to ask for that. It's a given."

I smiled lightly. "Good," I whispered. "We'll get going in a few."

Now for the child of Demeter. I glanced around the room and located Katie. Walking over, I placed a hand on her shoulder.

She was up in an instant. "What's going on?" She asked, her voice tired.

"We're going on a small recon mission, and I wanted you to come with," I said. "You okay with that?

She nodded. "Any particular reason for the mission?" She asked.

"A bunch of Romans made it into camp, and I want to get a better look. Couple of Ares kids are coming with us too, just in case," I said.

She looked around the room, where Clarisse was talking with two of her siblings.

"Okay," She said, stretching lightly. "Gimme three minutes or so."

I nodded, and almost made my way over to the door before pausing. I shouldn't just leave without designating someone in my absence. If something else happened, there would need to be someone in charge. Chiron was here, but I couldn't count on him to make decisions due to the fates' restrictions. It would have to be a demigod.

My gaze landed on Chris Rodriguez. Him. He understood the enemy more than anything, and had the respect of a majority of the people in the room. They would listen to him.

I was about to tap his shoulder when he opened his eyes.

"Don't worry," He said. "Clarisse just told me what's going on. What do you want me to do?" He asked, exhaustion coating his tone.

"Nothing much," I said. "I just wanted you to take temporary lead if something happens while we're out, okay?"

He nodded. "I got you," He whispered back. "Get out on that mission and make sure Clarisse comes back. She's a hothead. Watch her, she'd try and fight the Romans single-handedly."

I exhaled sharply, a light smile on my face. "I understand," I said.

I stood up, and made my way towards the rest of the group. It was time to get moving.

We dropped down from the entrance and onto the forest floor. Pollux, the sentry for the shift, was leaning against the tree and silently watching the surrounding area. He nodded at us and resumed his watch.

Our group of five moved as fast as we dared through the forest. If we went too quickly, then we risked being seen or heard by anyone out there, including monsters. Move too slowly, and we might miss what the Romans were doing.

I led the way, Clarisse right behind me. Behind her, the Ares kids followed with Katie bringing up the rear. Vines and roots reached out and closed the path behind us, making sure that our tracks that led to the base were all covered. Just to be safe, I considered taking another route on our way back.

I doubted it would do much, but one could never be too sure.

Soon, we stumbled upon the creek. I nodded back to Clarisse, and we began to follow it upstream, quietly. I really doubted that any Roman would have actually made it this far into camp without activating any traps, but we couldn't take that chance.

But what if they had? I had to assume that the Roman children also had their own children of Hecate. What was her Roman name? Was she any different than her Greek form? I was pretty sure she was the same, name and all, but I couldn't recall. I cursed quietly under my breath. I should have studied that too.

Eventually, we came out onto the open fields of Camp Half-Blood. I peered at the border, pushing my glasses up my nose to try and get a better glimpse. Maybe if I squinted, I could see the groups of people on the far outskirts of Camp.

"Here," I whispered. "Now we wait to see what they do."

Everyone nodded silently in agreement.

"Hold on a moment," Katie said as crouched on the ground. "I can grow some bushes here to be cover. We'd be less visible that way."

"Do it if you can," I said. "But don't use everything you have. You might need the energy if they come at us."

Katie shook her head lightly. "Don't worry. I'm doing just fine."

She ripped open a package of seeds at her belt and scattered them on the ground. A dark green glow dimly lit up the area as a couple of bushes expanded out of nothing in front of us.

I glanced up at the Roman camp, worried that they might have seen the light. But there was no sudden call to action on their part. Hopefully, it had been too soft of a light for them to see.

We crouched under the bushes, watching.

I looked around at the others. "If any of you want to take a quick nap or something, two of us can watch while the other three get a little rest. For all we know, we could be out here until morning. There's no use in all of us staying awake."

Clarisse glanced over. "I'll stay up with Malcolm," She said. "The rest of you guys can try and sleep."

The Ares kids and Katie nodded, making themselves as comfortable as they could on the ground.

"Clarisse," I said. "Can you keep watch on the woods behind us? To make sure that no one tries to sneak up on us?"

"Already on it," She said, her gaze settled on the trees and plants that surrounded us.

Satisfied, I looked back at the Romans. I unhooked a small pair of binoculars from my belt loops and sunk down into a semi-comfortable spot. I still couldn't quite tell what they were up to, but there was a lot of movement. No light from them, so they were trying to remain undetected. I searched for the glint of moonlight on any weapons and found none.

What were they doing? This attack, if that's what it was, made no sense at all.

They were preparing for something big, and I couldn't tell what it was.

Should we send the pegasi to check over? That would give away our position and put them at risk. We knew what weapons they had, and they could shoot down our fliers easily. Did the Romans know that we had moved out into the woods? Perhaps they thought that we were all in our cabins, sleeping. But surely they would have realized that we wouldn't leave camp so empty with an enemy right outside? They had to know, to some extent, that we were either hidden or gone.

Another group of Romans appeared on the crest of the hill of Thalia's Pine. They were all looking down into our empty camp.

A third group appeared on the far side? Were they trying to block us in? Surround us? Were they already in the woods?

"Clarisse," I whispered. "There's more of them."

She frowned and turned back to the camp. "Let me see," she said.

I handed her the binoculars. "Look," I said. "They're all lining up on the insides of the border, but they're not entering camp."

Clarisse kept staring. "They're going to do something tonight," she said. "At first, I would say that they were setting up some sort of temporary base for battle, but that doesn't seem right. Why would they move their camp a mile towards us?"

"Maybe to get a better glimpse at what we're doing? The traps effectively block us from a base over there, we would have to create a lot of movement to get past them," I suggested.

"No," Clarisse said. "I don't think they know the extent of the traps. Some of them set a couple traps off, I think. Likely, that's as close as they're risking for now, because they don't have enough info. But that's not going to hold them for long. They'll realize the traps don't kill, and they'll come swarming."

I frowned, squinting at the camp. From here, without aid, they looked almost invisible.

"Hold on," Clarisse added. "I think their leader just walked up. A lot of movement around him."

"Him?" I asked. "Then that can't be their leader. Annabeth told me that their leader was a girl. I think her name was Reyna?"

"Nah, that's a dude," Clarisse said. "He's got the body shape of a dude, walks like one too. But he's the one with the purple cloak and medals. If he's not the leader, then he's somebody important."

"No, purple cloak means praetor. But then what happened to Reyna?" I whispered back. "Annabeth said it was possible to negotiate with Reyna, but that it wouldn't work now. And that she would be honorable and not kill others on the battlefield."

Clarisse was silent for a moment. "They're moving again," She whispered. "They're coming into Camp."

"Gimme the binoculars," I said, grabbing them. Behind me, Clarisse started to wake the others.

I stared out. Clarisse was right. The kid wearing the purple cloak was clearly a guy, and most definitely not Reyna.

We didn't know who we would be up against.

Slowly, the Romans snuck out over the Camp. They blended in with the darkness. All I could see was the movement of the man with the medals. But since he was working as leader, I knew there would be several people around him.

Behind us, an iris message appeared. Will, no doubt.

Clarisse answered it. "What's up, Solace," She said.

"Oh!" He said. "I didn't realize you guys were already watching. Then you already know that they're on the move."

"Yeah," I said. "We're watching. How's it going on your side?"

Will glanced over the rest of his base before returning. "We're doing alright. Nothing has gone wrong yet, although we suspect that something is going to go down before dawn. I have a couple of the archers up and watching, but most of them are still trying to get a little rest for the day," He said.

I nodded. "That sounds good," I said. "Wake up a few more if you think you need to."

I couldn't see, but I hope he nodded.

I kept my gaze straight on the Romans. The others were right next to me, trying to see what they were up to.

We only noticed when the first cabin lit on fire.

I gasped. Behind me, Clarisse growled in frustration. More cabins lit on fire, illuminating the groups of Romans. In the space of a minute, they were all burning.

"I understand now," I whispered quietly. "I don't think they knew we evacuated. They thought that we were unaware, that we were all sleeping. They didn't think we prepared for war."

Katie inhaled sharply. "So then…"

"Yeah," I said. "They were trying to kill us all in our sleep with that fire. Or at the very least, drive us out to be captured, or destroy our fighting force."

"We need to do something about this," Clarisse whispered angrily. She stood up suddenly, staring at the fires. The faint light of the distant fires lit up her angry expression.

"No!" I said. "We can't give away our position. They outnumber us by a huge amount. We cannot, by any change, engage with them on their terms. We have to fight on our terms only, or we will lose this war."

"So you'd willingly let them destroy our home?" Clarisse growled. "Don't be such a coward. This is our home. This is our last refuge. We can't let them destroy it. I won't let you stop me."

"You have to," I whispered urgently. "Clarisse, I hate this as much as you do, but we can't risk it. This is my home too. It's all of our homes. But our lives are more important than those buildings, and if we go out there trying to defend the honor of Camp Half-Blood, we will die."

She breathed heavily, watching the flames. She swallowed heavily. Katie placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah," She said. "Okay. I know, I know. I just…" She trailed off.

I nodded. "I get it," I said. "It's tough."

We all glanced back over at our burning camp. Any minute now, they'd realize that we weren't in the cabins, and they would rampage the territory, trying to find us. They wouldn't let their mission be unsuccessful. Romans were like that. Determined to never fail. Usually a trait I admired, but now….

Sure enough, the Romans slowly dispersed throughout the camp, burning and destroying everything. The Mess Hall, the Amphitheater, the Stables.

Surprisingly, they left the Big House standing. I focused my binoculars, peering through them. There were a couple of Romans standing on the front porch.

The leader was also on the front porch, the group of guards still standing around him. He looked furious, waving his arms around and appearing to be shouting at a couple of people searching the grounds below.

My own blood started to boil. Did he really think that the Greeks were that dumb? To sleep at night with an enemy right outside our borders? To not take any precautions? Did he honestly believe that it would have been that easy to capture us all in one fell swoop?

I took a deep breath and continued to watch. It didn't matter. If he was underestimating us, then we had a better chance at victory. Let them think that we were weak, that we were dumb.

"Okay," I said. "They've wrecked most of the buildings, but they've left the Big House standing. I think that they're setting up base there."

Clarisse nodded. "Taking over enemy headquarters," She said. "Always weakens enemy moral."

I glanced over. "They expected to flush us out of our cabins, where they would either kill us or capture us. But we aren't as dumb as they think we are."

Katie grit her teeth. "How do we kick them out? We can't just keep capturing them. Where would we leave them?"

I frowned. "That's a fair point. Any ideas?" I asked.

No one said anything. "Okay," I said. "Then we won't focus on that right now. We have our information. Let's get going."

Katie paused. "Wait a second," She said, glancing back. "They're moving again."

I turned around. She was right. The Romans were all spreading down the hill, headed towards the forest.

They brought torches.

"Oh no," I whispered. "They've realized that we're hiding in the forest. They're going to burn it!"

"We have to fight them!" Clarisse whispered. "I know it's reckless, but what else can we do? If they get here, they'll burn the forest. If I go out there now, I can convince them that the rest of you guys fled. They might leave!"

"No!" I said. "They won't fall for something like that. They've surrounded us all day, and even if you tell them we went by water, they won't follow. Romans don't trust the sea, they'll end up sitting here and waiting for us to return. We'll be stuck."

"Then what do you propose we do?" She asked.

I frowned. "We get back to base as soon as possible, warn the others, and get to Bunker Nine. Maybe we can do something to prevent the burning, but right now, we need to escape. We need to go right now-"

"Look!" one of the Ares kids said, drawing our attention.

Streaks of fire were falling down on the Romans. I followed their trail back to the Apollo kids base.

"No!" I said. "Why? I told them not to fire yet! Oh no, they're going to be overwhelmed once the Romans realize where they are…"

I trailed off. The Romans were running, like I knew they would. But they weren't heading towards the base. They were scattering for cover. Already, a couple wounded were scattered across the ground.

And several of the fleeing Romans, because all of the buildings had been smashed and burned, and because fire was coming from above, were running towards the woods.

They were running straight for us. With torches and weapons. Almost their entire army, straight towards the five of us.

"Guys, we need to go right now," I said, already standing. I grabbed Katie's hand and pulled. Clarisse was right behind us.

"Run!" She said. "I'll cover you guys. Katie! Cover tracks where you can! Let's go!"

We ran deep into the woods, as far away from the Romans as possible. The stitch in my side was nearly unbearable, but we had no choice but to keep going. The Romans had already tried to kill us. I didn't want first-hand knowledge of what they would do if they captured us.

Katie extended her hands out as she ran, glowing slightly. Our path in front of us magically became clear, and a series of roots and plants sprouted up from behind us. The Ares kids kept their shields up to the back, defending against any possible attack.

"Let's take the long route around," I panted to Katie. "We can't risk someone following us."

"Yeah," She said. "You lead."

I stepped ahead, veering off into the woods.

The forest passed us by quickly, and I brought us in a full circle around the base. Maybe, if any Romans had been pursuing, they had gotten lost and fallen off course.

Soon, we appeared at the base. This time, it was Butch standing guard outside the base.

We burst out of the shrubbery, startling him. But we had no time to explain.

"Get inside!" I said, ushering him into the tree. I swung myself up immediately after, helping the others in.

For a moment, we all sat on the floor, trying to catch our breath. Running at a jog for a couple of miles was easy. Holding out a full sprint throughout the entire woods was a completely different skill. One that I didn't have.

I hauled myself back onto my legs after a moment and went in search of Drew. She was up and talking to Lou Ellen.

"Drew," I said, "Sorry to interrupt but I needed to talk to you about something."

She looked at Lou Ellen for a moment before turning to me. "What's going on?"

"Would you be able to do evacuations on the Pegasus?" I asked.

"Yeah," She said, a little hesitantly. "Right now?"

"No," I said, still trying to calm my heart down. "At least, not yet. The Romans came into the forest. They were originally attempting to burn it down, but the Apollo cabin fired on them and they scattered in the woods. If they burn it down, we'll need to evacuate to Bunker Nine to keep fighting."

"Hold on," Lou Ellen said. "If you're concerned about fire, I might have a solution."

She paused for a moment and looked over at her cabinmates. "A while ago, I devised this potion that can prevent any type of burning. I haven't tested it though, so I don't know if it works and what the side effects will be."

"Any idea on what kind of effects? Just for an idea," I asked.

"Well," She started. "It might coat the trees so strongly they can't get sunlight. They'd start dying. And it might not work on some trees at all. It's really unpredictable at the moment."

I nodded and turned to Drew. "Could you take a couple pegasi and drop the potion on the trees on the outskirts of the forest bordering camp? Just enough to prevent fire if they try and burn it from the outside?" I said.

Drew nodded. "That's no problem for us," She said.

Lou Ellen nodded as well. "I'm not sure how effective it'll be, cause it's not being painted onto the trees and there'll be some gaps in the layering, but we can try."

"Oh!" I said as they turned away. "And fair warning, the Romans have already destroyed a big part of camp. They're sitting at the Big House, so try and get back before dawn. I bet you guys have at most an hour or two before the sun starts to rise."

"Got it," Lou Ellen said. "Drew, let's get your guys and the pegasi ready to go."

They both disappeared further into the base.

Clarisse came up to me. "Hey," She said. "You should probably try to get some sleep."

I shook my head. "It's already a bit too late," I protested. "The day's here. I can't sleep now."

"You can, and you will," Clarisse said. "No one can fight when they're exhausted, and you've been up for the past two nights. Get to sleep. I'll take charge for a little bit."

I nodded.

I wandered up to a corner in the quieter part of the base. Most of the demigods were just starting to wake up for the day, but I could barely keep my eyes open.

Ugh. Clarisse was right.

But at the same time, I couldn't help but want to stay awake. What if something happened while I was asleep? What if there was an attack, and I wasn't there to help?

All those worries disappeared the minute my head touched the ground. I was tired. I couldn't make good decisions if I couldn't stay awake. I could almost see Annabeth yelling at me for being stupid.

Idly, I wondered where she was. Was she okay? We had no news of their quest. We could only pray it turned out alright on their side.

But I cleared my mind from them. I could barely keep our side together. I couldn't let them return to a camp still at war. And to win our fight, I had to get some rest first.

Slowly, I let myself drift away.

A dream swirled into existence, and I found myself standing on the porch of the Big House. The boy in the purple cloak was sitting on the steps, listening to a couple of people speak.

" - majority of our army is lost somewhere in those woods. If we burn it down, then they'll die!" He was saying.

The praetor looked out over the camp. "The Greeks are in there. There's no way they aren't. That's their only hiding place. We burn it down, we win."

"But our armies! We can't just make that sacrifice without proof."

"We're going to have to," The new praetor ordered. "When the sun rises, we will see how many soldiers we can get out of there. We will try and burn the woods again at night. "

The other kids below him nodded and dispersed, although they didn't look happy about it. I wouldn't have been happy about it either, nor would I have ever made that call. This leader was vicious. We were all kids. We shouldn't have been fighting against each other when there was an entire world of monsters.

But it wasn't my call on whether we were fighting. The decision had been made for us. And we had to come out on top.

The new praetor was speaking again. "I do not like being here," He was saying. "This is the Greek's territory, and they know where everything is. We all saw that raining fire last night and the tricks they put out in the fields. Who knows what else there is. We have to defeat them as soon as we can," The new praetor said.

He looked back over the camp again. "Look at this place! It has no order whatsoever. Where do they train their armies? Everything is a giant mess. They're so barbaric. The sooner we defeat them, the sooner we can leave, and the happier I'll be.

I frowned and looked out with him. All that was left of the camp was a giant pile of rubble.

A pang of pain hit my heart. This was my home and now it had been destroyed. The Romans hadn't left anything behind. Nothing was here anymore.

This is what our friends would have to return to, if they returned at all. A destroyed wasteland. And that was only if we won. If we were all defeated, I had no doubt that they would completely destroy our last refuge, or set up another camp here in their image.

All the history of what the Romans had done to their enemies suddenly flooded my mind. Surely they wouldn't keep slaves anymore? They had tried to kill us. I wouldn't be surprised if they did. No, even if they didn't, I couldn't let them win.

I watched the sun rise over the still burning fires. Hopefully Drew had managed to drop the potion. We couldn't afford to be spotted right now. Maybe they would think we had fled. Then we could strike when they least expected it.

"Sir!" A roman came running up the hill. "We found something!"

A heart sunk. Oh no.

The leader stood up. "What is it?" He asked. "Did you find the Greeks?"

The kid nodded. "There's some sort of structure on top of the wall thing over there. We don't know exactly what it is, but it's hard to spot unless you stand at a certain angle. We believe that is where the fire came from yesterday. Archers."

The leader smiled. "So they are here. Take me there. We shall destroy them."

I woke with a start, still thinking that I was on the other side of camp. I'd never had a dream so close to my actual location before. In the dream, I could have walked to where I was actually sleeping. Idly, I wondered if I would have been able to see myself.

Then the memories of the dream suddenly returned to me and I flung myself off the floor. They knew where the Apollo kids were. They knew the location of their base. They were going to attack it.

The Apollo Cabin was a long-range fighting group. They wouldn't be able to defend well if the Romans made it up there.

We had to do something about it, and we had to do something now.

I stood and headed as fast as I could towards the observatory near the top of the base. On the way, I bumped into Clarisse.

"Oh, you're awake," she said. "I was just trying to find you."

I kept walking and motioned for her to walk with me. She did.

"Clarisse," I said. "I had a dream, and I'm pretty sure that it's real."

She nodded. "What was it?"

"The Romans found out where the Apollo Cabin is, and they're planning to attack. I want to try and verify it before anything, but we need to prepare for a final battle. This is going to be it."

Clarisse held out her hands, trying to calm me. "Hold on a second. As much as I would love to fight them, what are you thinking? Why would we expose ourselves like that?" She asked.

"Because they're going to attack, and we need to defend. Like I said earlier, if we're going to fight them, we have to do it on our terms. And we need the Apollo Cabin, so we can't leave them on their own. I suggest that we force a battle at the mouth of the creek, where it opens up into the valley. You know the area, near the edge of the woods? That way we have more cover and can fight in larger numbers. And we can also get cover from the Apollo kids and the Demeter kids can do things as well. If we launch our battle, it needs to be there," I said.

"That was a lot of information," Clarisse said. "But I understand. Let's go."

We made it to the top of the tree. I looked out over at Bunker Nine, and then back towards the Climbing Wall. Then I glanced down at my feet and imagined all of the demigods below me.

I unhooked the binoculars, peering out through the branches. As far as I could tell, there was no sign of an army yet, but there was some activity.

I turned back to Clarisse. "We have to draw them out. First, we'll wait in the woods until they start marching on the climbing wall, and then draw their attention somehow. I'm thinking that we let them think that we just failed to camouflage. Their leader thinks that we're all idiots. We won't have much trouble with that."

Clarisse frowned. She grabbed my binoculars and stared out at the Climbing Wall.

"It could work…" She said. "But it's incredibly risky."

We both looked at the rising sun in the east, over the water.

The morning light is always brightest," I said. "I would prefer to attack now when the Apollo Cabin has the best advantage, but we should wait until their armies are about to attack first. Still, we need to move quickly to get everything ready."

She nodded. "I'll get word out to the Pegasi riders and campers. You call Will and let him know what's going on. Also, let Bunker Nine know and make sure they know to hold their position, no matter what."

"Okay," I said. "Let's go."

I IM'd Will, after searching my pockets for an extra drachma.

He had been speaking in hushed tones with a couple other campers when he noticed my message.

"Malcolm!" He said. "What's going on?"

"Bad things," I said. "We're going to have to make a change of plans. The Romans are onto us."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"We have reason to believe that they've figured out where you guys are and are about to launch an attack. In response to that, we want to attack first, so that we pick the battlefield. We're going to draw their attention to the mouth of the creek, since that's the best location for us," I said.

Will frowned. "I don't know," He said. "That's an unpredictable decision, coming from you. Something could go terribly wrong, and we could lose everyone."

"I know, and I hate to do this," I said. "But I think it's the best option we have right now."

Will peeked over the wall again, frowning at whatever he saw below.

"Does Clarisse support this?" He asked.

"She doesn't like it," I said. "But she's supporting it. She agrees that it's our best opportunity."

"Okay," Will said. "We'll help as much as we can during the battle. What are you thinking? Just plain support? The mouth of the creek is an easy area for us to shoot at."

I nodded. "It's one of the reasons that I chose it. You're not too far away to be unable to help, but not so close that you're an immediate threat. And they'd still have to find a way to climb the wall to get to you."

Will exhaled quickly, glancing up at the sky. "This is absolutely insane," He murmured. "But we can do it. Let's go. When is it happening?"

"Right now," I said. "We have a couple of things to get ready, but as soon as possible, or as soon as we see them marching on you guys. We won't expose you unless we have to."

"Got it," Will said. "Although I don't think the exposing is going to be an issue. They're already assembling the troops down there for something. I was going to call you once we knew what they were up to, but I guess this is fair warning. Come soon. We'll be ready."

I nodded, and swiped my hand through the message, dispersing the mist.

A/N: Thanks for reading, and please review!

Quick notes:

a) This story might take longer than expected. I had hoped to have it done by 2018, because this year will be very hectic for me and I didn't want to make you guys wait, but a couple things came up during break and put a stop to that plan.

b) That being said, I will not be writing much for this story over this spring semester. There might be a few posts in the summer, but I don't know for sure.

c) Find me on tumblr! The username is dreamingcerulean! I probably won't be posting that much, but when I pick up again there will be posts about updates and such.

Thank you for being patient, and supporting my writing! It really means the world to me!

~DreamingCerulean

Published: January 5th, 2019