6 Capturing a Flag

"Hey Nel, Cabin 11 is about to have their sword fighting lessons. Wanna join in and be my partner?"

Nel let go of his bowstring and the arrow struck the target, missing the bullseye by an inch. Nel clicked his tongue before replying to Luke. "Sure, why not. I need a change of pace anyways."

The bow morphed back into a cross and Nel placed it around his neck before making his way towards Luke and his cabin mates.

Nel watched as Luke demonstrated basic stabbing and slashing on straw stuffed dummies in Greek armor and guided the others to do the same.

After Luke decided that they had enough practice on dummies, they moved on to dueling in pairs. Luke called out to Nel.

"I'll practice with you later Percy, however, let me first show a demonstration with Nel."

Nel picked out a random sword from the sword rack and started to swing it around to check its balance.

"Why are you fighting with Nel? Isn't he an Archer?" Asked Percy with a confused look.

"Shhh, don't say anything and just watch. Both Luke and Nel are considered to be the best swordsmen in the last 500 years. If Nel wasn't adamant about mastering the bow, then he would be better than even Luke."

"Good luck," said Luke with a smile.

"You too," answered Nel with a lazy smile. "You'll need it."

"With your rusty skills? I think not."

The two of them stared at each other for a moment before dashing towards each other.

There was a mighty clang, as their two swords clashed with force. The blades immediately separated and clashed together again in a flurry of shadows creating a sense of balance between them.

"Holy Hera, Nel. How are you still so strong?" Luke asked with a wry smile.

"What do you think drawing the bow requires?"

"That doesn't explain a thing. The bow requires different muscles than the sword."

"It still helps somewhat."

Nel was the first to break the balance between the two as he gave a horizontal sweep. Luke managed to step backwards fast enough to dodge his blade and countered with a quick thrust. Nel brought his sword in close to his body and angled the side of his blade so the thrust would be deflected effortlessly. Now that Luke was wide open and unable to defend, Nel swung his sword around his and towards Luke's exposed neck.

Just as Nel was sure he was going to win, Luke kicked him in the chest causing his attack to miss and forced the two of them to separate.

Luke and Nel glared at each other with ferocious looks before breaking out into a grin.

"Well played Nel, I swear to Zeus that your deflections are the scariest things I've ever seen."

"Your desire to live is admirable. In a life and death situation, you would come out on top."

Nel and Luke shook hands and the crowd watching them let out a cheer. Nel shrugged and went back to observe from the sidelines as Luke once again started to teach.

"Lesson number one. Any attack is fair in a life and death situation. Fighting dirty will save your life more times than you think. Just because you have a sword doesn't mean it's you only form of attack. Understood?"

"Yep."

"We know Luke."

"I want to see another match. Fight again Luke!"

"Percy, come over here. Let me demonstrate how to perform some neat techniques."

"...."

After another day had gone by, it was finally time for the long awaited event. That night after dinner, there was a lot more excitement than usual. When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and everyone stood at their tables.

Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.

After the flags were presented, the teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. And Nel knew for a fact that Annabeth had bribed them with sweet promises of warm showers and first picks.

On the other hand, Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Artemis.

It was going to be a tough match. Athena had the smartest people and would definitely have a plan to win. Apollo was generally athletic and dealing with their archery would be problematic. Hermes was tricker to deal with, they weren't the children of the god of thieves for nothing. Even if they didn't have these traits, the could still overwhelm his side with sheer numbers for Apollo and Hermes cabin were the two largest cabins at camp.

On Nel's side was two athletic grape boys, four blacksmiths, gentle vine makers, and him. The only good thing about their side was that Ares cabin had some of the strongest warriors when it came to combat. Aphrodite was basically useless except as distractions.

Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.

"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged."

No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal, bows, daggers, mild explosives, mild poisonous gas, and arrows.

Nel picked up a random sword and dagger and sheathed them onto his right and left sides respectively.

While he was making sure that the arrows provided by Apollo cabin weren't rigged, an angry looking girl came up to Nel and punched him in the arm.

"Nel, I want you to be on your best behavior. If we do our best, we can beat those book lovers down to the ground."

Nel replied with a good natured smile. "Roger that leader Clarisse. Do you want me to be on guard duty or to scout and harass?"

"Scout and harass, but leave the new kid to me?"

Nel raised an eyebrow. "You want Percy? Are you still mad about what he did to you in the bathroom?"

"Shut it Nel, just you know that I'm going to pulverize him during the game today."

"Sure, just don't go overboard. And focus on winning too."

"Worry about yourself more Nel."

"Thanks for caring about me."

Nel waited for Clarisse to leave before tying a red bandana on one of his arms. It was time to terrorize some campers.