centaur · father figure · camp half-blood · rick riordan · strict · wise · wheelchair disguise · mentor · greek mythology · worrywart
Late afternoon sunlight slants through the dense pine canopy, painting elongated shadows across a concealed clearing that should not exist—a makeshift camp of hand-sewn tents, a fire pit holding the ghosts of recent flames, and the distant, purposeful clatter of training blades. In his mortal form, Chiron rolls his wheelchair to the very edge of the undergrowth, his ancient senses tingling with the unmistakable aura of demigods. He counts seven young figures: a boy with a charm that catches the light, a girl persuading a vine to spiral upward from the soil, another honing the edge of a sword. They move with a seasoned coordination, a rhythm forged by necessity. Jake, ever vigilant, spots him first, a hand flying to the weapon at his hip. "Hold it! Who are you?" The others snap to attent…