Rick Riordan The Last Olympian- 05 rocks. But, Percy, are you sure you want to do this?" " Please, man," I said. " It would mean a lot. For old times ' sake?" He whimpered. " As I recall, in the old times we almost died a lot. But okay, here goes nothing." He put his pipes to his lips and played a shrill, lively tune. The boulders trembled. A few more stanzas, and they cracked open, revealing a triangular crevice.
I peered inside. Steps led down into the darkness. The air smelled of mildew and death. It brought back bad memories of my trip through the Labyrinth last year, but this tunnel felt even more dangerous. It led straight to the land of Hades, and that was almost always a one-way trip. I turned to Grover. " Thanks... I think." " Perrrrcy, is Kronos really going to invade?" " I wish I could tell you better, but yeah. He will."
I thought Grover might chew up his reed pipes in anxiety, but he straightened up and brushed off his T-shirt. I couldn ' t help thinking how different he looked from fat old Leneus. " I ' ve got to rally the nature spirits, then. Maybe we can help. I ' ll see if we can find this Morpheus.'" " Better tell Juniper you ' re okay, too." His eyes widened. " Juniper! Oh, she ' s going to kill me!"
He started to run off, then scrambled back and gave me another hug. " Be careful down there! Come back alive!" Once he was gone, Nico and I roused Mrs. O ' Leary from her nap. When she smelled the tunnel, she got excited and led the way down the steps. It was a pretty tight fit. I hoped she wouldn ' t get stuck. I couldn ' t imagine how much Drano we ' d need to unstick a hellhound wedged halfway down a tunnel to the Underworld. " Ready?" Nico asked me. " It ' ll be fine. Don ' t worry." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself. I glanced up at the stars, wondering if I would ever see them again. Then we plunged into darkness.
40
The stairs went on forever— narrow, steep, and slippery. It was completely dark except for the light of my sword. I tried to go slow, but Mrs. O ' Leary had other ideas. She bounded ahead, barking happily. The sound echoed through the tunnel like cannon shots, and I figured we would not be catching anybody by surprise once we reached the bottom. Nico lagged behind, which I thought was strange. " You okay?" I asked him. " Fine." What was that expression on his face... doubt? " Just keep moving," he said. I didn ' t have much choice. I followed Mrs. O ' Leary into the depths. After another hour, I started to hear the roar of a river.
We emerged at the base of a cliff, on a plain of black volcanic sand. To our right, the River Styx gushed from the rocks and roared off in a cascade of rapids. To our left, far away in the gloom, fires burned on the ramparts of Erebos, the great black walls of Hades ' s kingdom.
I shuddered. I ' d first been here when I was twelve, and only Annabeth and Grover ' s company had given me the courage to keep going. Nico wasn ' t going to be quite as helpful with the " courage " thing. He looked pale and worried himself.
Only Mrs. O ' Leary acted happy. She ran along the beach, picked up a random human leg bone, and romped back toward me. She dropped the bone at my feet and waited for me to throw it.
" Um, maybe later, girl." I stared at the dark waters, trying to get up my nerve. " So, Nico... how do we do this?" " We have to go inside the gates first," he said. " But the river ' s right here." " I have to get something," he said. " It ' s the only way." He marched off without waiting.
I frowned. Nico hadn ' t mentioned anything about going inside the gates. But now that we were here, I didn ' t know what else to do. Reluctantly, I followed him down the beach toward the big black gates.
Lines of the dead stood outside waiting to get in. It must ' ve been a heavy day for funerals,