Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
73
73
“We’re going to have company!” I explained quickly about the monster orientation class. Her
eyes widened.
“So that’s what they are,” she said. “Telekhines. I should’ve known. And they’re
making…Well, look.”
We peeked over the cauldron. In the center of the platform stood four sea demons, but these
were fully grown, at least eight feet tall. Their black skin glistened in the firelight as they worked,
sparks flying as they took turns hammering on a long piece of glowing hot metal.
“The blade is almost complete,” one said. “It needs another cooling in blood to fuse the
metals.”
“Aye,” a second said. “It shall be even sharper than before.”
“What is that?” I whispered.
Annabeth shook her head. “They keep talking about fusing metals. I wonder—”
“They were talking about the greatest Titan weapon,” I said. “And they…they said they made
my father’s trident.”
“The telekhines betrayed the gods,” Annabeth said. “They were practicing dark magic. I don’t
know what, exactly, but Zeus banished them to Tartarus.”
“With Kronos.”
She nodded. “We have to get out—”
No sooner had she said that than the door to the classroom exploded and young telekhines
came pouring out. They stumbled over each other, trying to figure out which way to charge.
“Put your cap back on,” I said. “Get out!”
“What?” Annabeth shrieked. “No! I’m not leaving you.”
“I’ve got a plan. I’ll distract them. You can use the metal spider—maybe it’ll lead you back to
Hephaestus. You have to tell him what’s going on.”
“But you’ll be killed!”
“I’ll be fine. Besides, we’ve got no choice.”
Annabeth glared at me like she was going to punch me. And then she did something that
surprised me even more. She kissed me.
“Be careful, Seaweed Brain.” She put on her hat and vanished.
I probably would’ve sat there for the rest of the day, staring at the lava and trying to
remember what my name was, but the sea demons jarred me back to reality.
“There!” one yelled. The entire class of telekhines charged across the bridge toward me. I
ran for the middle of the platform, surprising the four elder sea demons so much they dropped the
red-hot blade. It was about six feet long and curved like a crescent moon. I’d seen a lot of terrifying
things, but this unfinished whatever-it-was scared me worse.
The elder demons got over their surprise quickly. There were four ramps leading off the
platform, and before I could dash in any direction, each of them had covered an exit.
The tallest one snarled. “What do we have here? A son of Poseidon?”
“Yes,” another growled. “I can smell the sea in his blood.”
I raised Riptide. My heart was pounding.
“Strike down one of us, demigod,” the third demon said, “and the rest of us shall tear you to
shreds. Your father betrayed us. He took our gift and said nothing as we were cast into the pit. We
will see him sliced to pieces. He and all the other Olympians.”
I wished I had a plan. I wished I hadn’t been lying to Annabeth. I’d wanted her to get out
safely, and I hoped she’d been sensible enough to do it. But now it was dawning on me that this
might be the place I would die. No prophecies for me. I would get overrun in the heart of a volcano
by a pack of dog-faced sea-lion people. The young telekhines were at the platform now, too,
snarling and waiting to see how their four elders would deal with me.
I felt something burning against the side of my leg. The ice whistle in my pocket was getting
colder. If I ever needed help, now was the time. But I hesitated. I didn’t trust Quintus’s gift.
Before I could make up my mind, the tallest telekhine said, “Let us see how strong he is. Let
us see how long it takes him to burn!”
He scooped some lava out of the nearest furnace. It set his fingers ablaze, but this didn’t
seem to bother him at all. The other elder telekhines did the same. The first one threw a glop of
molten rock at me and set my pants on fire. Two more splattered across my chest. I dropped my