Rick Riordan The Battle of the Labyrinth - 04
idea where we ’ ll end up . How can you walk from New York to California in a day ?” “ Space isn ’ t the same in the maze .” “ I know , I know . It ’ s just …” She looked at me hesitantly . “ Percy , I was kidding myself . All that planning and reading , I don ’ t have a clue where we ’ re going .” “ You ’ re doing great . Besides , we never know what we ’ re doing . It always works out .
Remember Circe ’ s island ?” She snorted . “ You made a cute guinea pig .” “ And Waterland , how you got us thrown off that ride ?” “ I got us thrown off ? That was totally your fault !” “ See ? It ’ ll be fine .” She smiled , which I was glad to see , but the smile faded quickly . “ Percy , what did Hera mean when she said you knew the way to get through the maze ?” “ I don ’ t know ,” I admitted . “ Honestly .” “ You ’ d tell me if you did ?” “ Sure . Maybe …” “ Maybe what ?” “ Maybe if you told me the last line of the prophecy , it would help .” Annabeth shivered . “ Not here . Not in the dark .” “ What about the choice Janus mentioned ? Hera said —” “ Stop ,” Annabeth snapped . Then she took a shaky breath . “ I ’ m sorry , Percy . I ’ m just stressed .
But I don ’ t … I ’ ve got to think about it .”
We sat in silence , listening to strange creaks and groans in the maze , the echo of stones grinding together as tunnels changed , grew , and expanded . The dark made me think about the visions I ’ d seen of Nico di Angelo , and suddenly I realized something .
“ Nico is down here somewhere ,” I said . “ That ’ s how he disappeared from camp . He found the Labyrinth . Then he found a path that led down even farther — to the Underworld . But now he ’ s back in the maze . He ’ s coming after me .”
Annabeth was quiet for a long time . “ Percy , I hope you ’ re wrong . But if you ’ re right …” she stared at the flashlight beam , casting a dim circle on the stone wall . I had a feeling she was thinking about her prophecy . I ’ d never seen her look more tired . “ How about I take first watch ?” I said . “ I ’ ll wake you if anything happens .” Annabeth looked like she wanted to protest , but she just nodded , slumped into her bedroll , and closed her eyes . *** When it was my turn to sleep , I dreamed I was back in the old man ’ s Labyrinth prison . It looked more like a workshop now . Tables were littered with measuring instruments . A forge burned red hot in the corner . The boy I ’ d seen in the last dream was stoking the bellows , except he was taller now , almost my age . A weird funnel device was attached to the forge ’ s chimney , trapping the smoke and heat and channeling it through a pipe into the floor , next to a big bronze manhole cover .
It was daytime . The sky above was blue , but the walls of the maze cast deep shadows across the workshop . After being in tunnels so long , i found it weird that part of the Labyrinth could be open to the sky . Somehow that made the maze seem like even a crueler place .
The old man looked sickly . He was terribly thin , his hands raw and red from working . White hair covered his eyes , and his tunic was smudged with grease . He was bent over a table , working on some kind of long metal patchwork — like a swath of chain mail . He picked up a delicate curl of bronze and fitted it into place . “ Done ,” he announced . “ It ’ s done .” He picked up his project . It was so beautiful , my heart leaped — metal wings constructed from thousands of interlocking bronze feathers . There were two sets . One still lay on the table . Daedalus stretched the frame , and the wings expanded twenty feet . Part of me knew it could never fly . It was too heavy , and there ’ d be no way to get off the ground . But the craftsmanship was amazing . Metal feathers caught the light and flashed thirty different shades of gold .
The boy left the bellows and ran over to see . He grinned , despite the fact that he was grimy and sweaty . “ Father , you ’ re a genius !”
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