Rick Riordan Percy Jackson and the Olympians
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21 out about his searcher’ s license.”“ He can’ t go underground!” she protested.“ You can’ t let him.” Annabeth looked uncomfortable.“ It might be the only way to help him; if we just knew where to start.”“ Ah.” Juniper wiped a green tear off her cheek.“ About that …” Another rustle in the woods, and Juniper yelled,“ Hide!” Before I could ask why, she went poof into green mist. Annabeth and I turned. Coming out of the woods was a glistening amber insect, ten feet long, with jagged pincers, an armored tail, and a stinger as long as my sword. A scorpion. Tied to its back was a red silk package.
“ One of us gets behind it,” Annabeth said, as the thing clattered toward us.“ Cuts off its tail while the other distracts it in front.”“ I’ ll take point,” I said.“ You’ ve got the invisibility hat.” She nodded. We’ d fought together so many times we knew each other’ s moves. We could do this, easy. But it all went wrong when the other two scorpions appeared from the woods.“ Three?” Annabeth said.“ That’ s not possible! The whole woods, and half the monsters come at us?” I swallowed. One, we could take. Two, with a little luck. Three? Doubtful. The scorpions scurried toward us, whipping their barbed tails like they’ d come here just to kill us. Annabeth and I put our backs against the nearest boulder.“ Climb?” I said.“ No time,” she said. She was right. The scorpions were already surrounding us. They were so close I could see their hideous mouths foaming, anticipating an ice juicy meal of demigods.
“ Look out!” Annabeth parried away a stinger with the flat of her blade. I stabbed with Riptide, but the scorpion backed out of range. We clambered sideways along the boulders, but the scorpions followed us. I slashed at another one, but going on the offensive was too dangerous. If I went for the body, the tail stabbed downward. If I went for the tail, the thing’ s pincers came from either side and tried to grab me. All we could do was defend, and we wouldn’ t be able to keep that up for very long.
I took another step sideways, and suddenly there was nothing behind me. It was a crack between two of the largest boulders, something I’ d passed by a million times, but …“ In here,” I said. Annabeth sliced at a scorpion then looked at me like I was crazy.“ In there? It’ s too narrow.”“ I’ ll cover you. Go!” She ducked behind me and started squeezing between the two boulders. Then she yelped and grabbed my armor straps, and suddenly I was tumbling into a pit that hadn’ t been there a moment before. I could see the scorpions above us, the purple evening sky and the trees, and then the hole shut like the lens of a camera, and we were in complete darkness.
Our breathing echoed against stone. It was wet and cold. I was sitting on a bumpy floor that seemed to be made of bricks.
I lifted Riptide. The faint glow of the blade was just enough to illuminate Annabeth’ s frightened face and the mossy stone walls on either side of us.“ Wh-where are we?” Annabeth said.“ Safe from the scorpions, anyway,” I tried to sound calm, but I was freaking out. The crack between the boulders couldn’ t have led into a cave. I would’ ve known if there was a cave here; I was sure of it. It was like the ground had opened up and swallowed us. All I could think of was the fissure in the dining room pavilion, where those skeletons had been consumed last summer. I wondered if the same thing had happened to us. I lifted my sword again for light.“ It’ s a long room,” I muttered. Annabeth gripped my arm.“ It’ s not a room. It’ s a corridor.” She was right the darkness felt … emptier in front of us. There was a warm breeze, like in subway tunnels, only it felt older, more dangerous somehow. I started forward, but Annabeth stopped me.“ Don’ t take another step,” she warned.“ We need to find the exit.”