Nyssa pulled the needles out of his shirt. “Ah, you’re fine. Let’s move on before they rebuild it. ”
Leo rubbed his chest as they walked. “That sort of thing happen a lot?”
“Lately,” Nyssa said, “everything we build turns to junk. ”
“The curse?”
Nyssa frowned. “I don’t believe in curses. But something’s wrong. And if we don’t figure out the dragon problem, it’s gonna get even worse. ”
“The dragon problem?” Leo hoped she was talking about a miniature dragon, maybe one that killed cockroaches, but he got the feeling he wasn’t going to be so lucky.
Nyssa took him over to a big wall map that a couple of girls were studying. The map showed the camp—a semicircle of land with Long Island Sound on the north shore, the woods to the west, the cabins to the east, and a ring of hills to the south.
“It’s got to be in the hills,” the first girl said.
“We looked in the hills,” the second argued. “The woods are a better hiding place. ”
“But we already set traps—”
“Hold up,” Leo said. “You guys lost a dragon? A real full-size dragon?”
“It’s a bronze dragon,” Nyssa said. “But yes, it’s a life-size automaton. Hephaestus cabin built it years ago. Then it was lost in the woods until a few summers back, when Beckendorf found it in pieces and rebuilt it. It’s been helping protect the camp, but, um, it’s a little unpredictable. ”
“Unpredictable,” Leo said.
“It goes haywire and smashes down cabins, sets people on fire, tries to eat the satyrs. ”
“That’s pretty unpredictable. ”
Nyssa nodded. “Beckendorf was the only one who could control it. Then he died, and the dragon just got worse and worse. Finally it went berserk and ran off. Occasionally it shows up, demolishes something, and runs away again. Everyone expects us to find it and destroy it—”
“Destroy it?” L
eo was appalled. “You’ve got a life-size bronze dragon, and you want to destroy it?”
“It breathes fire,” Nyssa explained. “It’s deadly and out of control. ”
“But it’s a dragon! Dude, that’s so awesome. Can’t you try talking to it, controlling it?”
“We tried. Jake Mason tried. You saw how well that worked. ”
Leo thought about Jake, wrapped in a body cast, lying alone on his bunk. “Still—”
“There’s no other option. ” Nyssa turned to the other girls. “Let’s try more traps in the woods—here, here, and here. Bait them with thirty-weight motor oil. ”
“The dragon drinks that?” Leo asked.
“Yeah. ” Nyssa sighed regretfully. “He used to like it with a little Tabasco sauce, right before bed. If he springs a trap, we can come in with acid sprayers—should melt through his hide. Then we get metal cutters and … and finish the job. ”
They all looked sad. Leo realized they didn’t want to kill the dragon any more than he did.
“Guys,” he said. “There has to be another way. ”
Nyssa looked doubtful, but a few other campers stopped what they were working on and drifted over to hear the conversation.
“Like what?” one asked. “The thing breathes fire. We can’t even get close. ”
Fire, Leo thought. Oh, man, the things he could tell them about fire… But he had to be careful, even if these were his brothers and sisters. Especially if he had to live with them.
“Well …” He hesitated. “Hephaestus is the god of fire, right? So don’t any of you have like fire resistance or something?”
Nobody acted as if it was a crazy question, which was a relief, but Nyssa shook her head gravely.
“That’s a Cyclops ability, Leo. Demigod children of Hephaestus … we’re just good with our hands. We’re builders, craftsmen, weaponsmiths—stuff like that. ”
Leo’s shoulders slumped. “Oh. ”
A guy in back said, “Well, a long time ago—”
“Yeah, okay,” Nyssa conceded. “A long time ago some children of Hephaestus were born with power over fire. But that ability was very, very rare. And always dangerous. No demigod like that has been born in centuries. The last one …” She looked at one of the other kids for help.
“Sixteen sixty-six,” the girl offered. “Guy named Thomas Faynor. He started the Great Fire of London, destroyed most of the city. ”
“Right,” Nyssa said. “When a child of Hephaestus like that appears, it usually means something catastrophic is about to happen. And we don’t need any more catastrophes. ”
Leo tried to keep his face clear of emotion, which wasn’t his strong suit. “I guess I see your point. Too bad, though. If you could resist flames, you could get close to the dragon. ”
“Then it would kill you with its claws and fangs,” Nyssa said. “Or simply step on you. No, we’ve got to destroy it. Trust me, if anyone could figure out another answer …”