Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
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45
how terrible it would be to be so old—thousands and thousands of years old—and totally alone.
“I must go,” Briares said.
“Kronos’s army will invade camp,” Tyson said. “We need help.”
Briares hung his head. “I cannot, Cyclops.”
“You are strong.”
“Not anymore.” Briares rose.
“Hey,” I grabbed one of his arms and pulled him aside, where the roar of the water would
hide our words. “Briares, we need you. In case you haven’t noticed, Tyson believes in you. He
risked his life for you.”
I told him about everything—Luke’s invasion plan, the Labyrinth entrance at camp,
Daedalus’s workshop, Kronos’s golden coffin.
Briares just shook his head. “I cannot, demigod. I do not have a finger gun to win this game.”
To prove his point, he made one hundred finger guns.
“Maybe that’s why monsters fade,” I said. “Maybe it’s not about what the mortals believe.
Maybe it’s because you give up on yourself.”
His pure brown eyes regarded me. His face morphed into an expression I recognized—
shame. Then he turned and trudged off down the corridor until he was lost in the shadows.
Tyson sobbed.
“It’s okay,” Grover hesitantly patted his shoulder, which must’ve taken all his courage.
Tyson sneezed. “It’s not okay, goat boy. He was my hero.”
I wanted to make him feel better, but I wasn’t sure what to say.
Finally Annabeth stood and shouldered her backpack. “Come on, guys. This pit is making me
nervous. Let’s find a better place to camp for the night.”
***
We settled in a corridor made of huge marble blocks. It looked like it could’ve been part of a
Greek tomb, with bronze torch holders fastened to the walls. It had to be an older part of the maze,
and Annabeth decided this was a good sign.
“We must be close to Daedalus’s workshop,” she said. “Get some rest, everybody. We’ll
keep going in the morning.”
“How do we know when it’s morning?” Grover asked.
“Just rest,” she insisted.
Grover didn’t need to be told twice. He pulled a heap of straw out of his pack, ate some of it,
made a pillow out of the rest, and was snoring in no time. Tyson took longer getting to sleep. He
tinkered with some metal scraps from his building kit for a while, but whatever he was making, he
wasn’t happy with it. He kept disassembling the pieces.
“I’m sorry I lost the shield,” I told him. “You worked so hard to repair it.”
Tyson looked up. His eye was bloodshot from crying. “Do not worry, brother. You saved me.
You wouldn’t have had to if Briares had helped.”
“He was just scared,” I said. “I’m sure he’ll get over it.”
“He is not strong,” Tyson said. “He is not important anymore.”
He heaved a big sad sigh, then closed his eye. The metal pieces fell out of his hand, still
unassembled, and Tyson began to snore.
I tried to fall asleep myself, but I couldn’t. something about getting chased by a large dragon
lady with poison swords made it real hard to relax. I picked up my bedroll and dragged it over to
where Annabeth was sitting, keeping watch.
I sat down next to her.
“You should sleep,” she said.
“Can’t. You doing all right?”
“Sure. First day leading the quest. Just great.”
“We’ll get there,” I said. “We’ll find the workshop before Luke does.”
She brushed her hair out of her face. She had a smudge of dirt on her chin, and I imagined
what she must’ve looked like when she was little, wandering around the country with Thalia and
Luke. Once she’d saved them from the mansion of the evil Cyclops when she was only seven. Even
when she looked scared, like now, I knew she had a lot of guts.
“I just wish the quest was logical,” she complained. “I mean, we’re traveling but we have no