The Forbidden Daughter | PJO Book One

nineteen

AFTERMATH

There were too many good-byes.

That night was the first time Ariana actually saw camp burial shrouds used on bodies, and it was not something she wanted to see again.

Among the dead, Lee Fletcher from the Apollo cabin had been downed by a giant's club. He was wrapped in a golden shroud without any decoration.

Ariana was upset that he'd never be able to yell at her again for going against medical advice.

The son of Dionysus who'd gone down fighting an enemy half-blood was wrapped in a deep purple shroud embroidered with grapevines.

His name was Castor. He'd been seventeen years old. Ariana knew him.

His twin brother, Pollux, tried to say a few words, but he choked up and just took the torch. He lit the funeral pyre in the middle of the amphitheater, and within seconds the row of shrouds was engulfed in fire, sending smoke and sparks up to the stars.

They spent the next day treating the wounded, which was almost everybody. The satyrs and dryads worked to repair the damage to the woods.

At noon, the Council of Cloven Elders held an emergency meeting in their sacred grove. The three senior satyrs were there, along with Chiron, who was in wheelchair form.

His broken horse leg was still mending, so he would be confined to the chair for a few months, until the leg was strong enough to take his weight.

The grove was filled with satyrs and dryads and naiads up from the water hundreds of them, anxious to hear what would happen.

Juniper, Annabeth, Ariana and Percy stood by Grover's side. Silenus wanted to exile Grover immediately, but Chiron persuaded him to at least hear evidence first, so they told everyone what had happened in the crystal cavern, and what Pan had said.

Then several eyewitnesses from the battle described the weird sound Grover had made, which drove the Titan's army back underground.

"It was panic," insisted Juniper, "Grover summoned the power of the wild god."

"Panic?" Percy asked.

"Percy," Chiron explained, "during the first war of the gods and the Titans, Lord Pan let forth a horrible cry that scared away the enemy armies. It is- was his greatest power a massive wave of fear that helped the gods win the day. The word panic is named after Pan, you see. And Grover used that power, calling it forth from within himself."

"Preposterous!" Silenus bellowed. "Sacrilege! Perhaps the wild god favored us with a blessing. Or perhaps Grover's music was so awful it scared the enemy away!"

"That wasn't it, sir." Grover said.

He sounded a lot calmer than Ariana would have if she'd been insulted like that.

"He let his spirit pass into all of us. We must act. Each of us must work to renew the wild, to protect what's left of it. We must spread the word. Pan is dead. There is no one but us."

"After two thousand years of searching, this is what you would have us believe?" Silenus cried. "Never! We must continue the search! Exile the traitor!"

Some of the older satyrs muttered assent.

"A vote!" Silenus demanded. "Who would
believe this ridiculous young satyr, anyway?"

"I would." said a familiar voice.

Everyone turned. Striding into the grove was Dionysus. He wore a formal black suit, so Ariana almost didn't recognize him, a deep purple tie and violet dress shirt, his curly dark hair carefully combed.