Rick Riordan Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Chapter Fifteen
Nobody Gets The Fleece
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" I got Nobody !" Polyphemus gloated .
We crept to the cave entrance and saw the Cyclops , grinning wickedly , holding up empty air . The monster shook his fist , and a baseball cap fluttered to the ground . There was Annabeth , hanging upside down by her legs .
" Hah !" the Cyclops said . " Nasty invisible girl ! Already got feisty one for wife . Means you gotta be grilled with mango chutney !"
Annabeth struggled , but she looked dazed . She had a nasty cut on her forehead . Her eyes were glassy .
" I ' ll rush him ," I whispered to Clarisse . " Our ship is around the back of the island . You and Grover —"
" No way ," they said at the same time . Clarisse had armed herself with a highly collectible rams-horn spear from the Cyclops ' s cave . Grover had found a sheep ' s thigh bone , which he didn ' t look too happy about , but he was gripping it like a club , ready to attack . " We ' ll take him together ," Clarisse growled . " Yeah ," Grover said . Then he blinked , like he couldn ' t believe he ' d just agreed with Clarisse about something . " All right ," I said . " Attack plan Macedonia ." They nodded . We ' d all taken the same training courses at Camp Half-Blood . They knew what I was talking about . They would sneak around either side and attack the Cyclops from the flanks while I held his attention in the front . Probably what this meant was that we ' d all die instead of just me , but I was grateful for the help . I hefted my sword and shouted , " Hey , Ugly !" The giant whirled toward me . " Another one ? Who are you ?" " Put down my friend . I ' m the one who insulted you ." " You are Nobody ?" " That ' s right , you smelly bucket of nose drool !" It didn ' t sound quite as good as Annabeth ' s insults , but it was all I could think of . " I ' m Nobody and I ' m proud of it ! Now , put her down and get over here . I want to stab your eye out again ." " RAAAR !" he bellowed . The good news : he dropped Annabeth . The bad news : he dropped her headfirst onto the rocks , where she lay motionless as a rag doll . The other bad news : Polyphemus barreled toward me , a thousand smelly pounds of Cyclops that I would have to fight with a very small sword .
" For Pan !" Grover rushed in from the right . He threw his sheep bone , which bounced harmlessly off the monster ' s forehead . Clarisse ran in from the left and set her spear against the ground just in time for the Cyclops to step on it . He wailed in pain , and Clarisse dove out of the way to avoid getting trampled . But the Cyclops just plucked out the shaft like a large splinter and kept advancing on me . I moved in with Riptide . The monster made a grab for me . I rolled aside and stabbed him in the thigh . I was hoping to see him disintegrate , but this monster was much too big and powerful . " Get Annabeth !" I yelled at Grover . He rushed over , grabbed her invisibility cap , and picked her up while Clarisse and I tried to keep Polyphemus distracted .
I have to admit , Clarisse was brave . She charged the Cyclops again and again . He pounded the ground , stomped at her , grabbed at her , but she was too quick . And as soon as she made an attack , I followed up by stabbing the monster in the toe or the ankle or the hand .
But we couldn ' t keep this up forever . Eventually we would tire or the monster would get in a lucky shot . It would only take one hit to kill us .