" 'Dear Grover,"' I read aloud. " 'Woods outside Toronto attacked by giant evil

badger. Tried to do as you suggested and summon power of Pan. No effect. Many

naiads' trees destroyed. Retreating to Ottawa.

 

Please advise. Where are you? — Gleeson Hedge, protector.'"

 

Annabeth grimaced. "You haven't heard anything from him? Even with your empathy

li nk ?"

 

I shook my head dejectedly.

 

Ever since last summer when the god Pan had died, our friend Grover had been

drifting farther and farther away. The Council of Cloven Elders treated him like

an outcast, but Grover still traveled all over the East Coast, trying to spread

the word about Pan and convince nature spirits to protect their own little bits

of the wild. He'd only come back to camp a few times to see his girlfriend,

Juniper.

 

Last I'd heard he was in Central Park organizing the dryads, but nobody had seen

or heard from him in two months. We'd tried to send Iris-messages. They never

got through. I had an empathy link with Grover, so I hoped I would know if

anything bad happened to him. Grover had told me one time that if he died, the

empathy link might kill me too. But I wasn't sure if that was still true or not.