The Demigod Trials 9

CHAPTER NINE

An odd moment of complete silence hung over the clearing. No one spoke, no one did anything. Jason finally cleared his throat and took the paper from Percy's hand, glanced around as if unsure what to do, then folded it up and stuffed it into his pocket.

Percy waited for people to begin accusing him again, yell at him, anything seemed likely. Still, the silence settled over them, you could hear a leaf blow through the wind. All eyes were glued to the blonde haired girl, now lying on the ground as if asleep, her chest rising and falling with shallow even breaths.

Luke took in his stunned group and finally spoke up, cupping his hand over his mouth. "Med-jacks!" Everyone jumped at the sudden noise, clearly surprised.

Two older boys pushed their way to the front. One was big and had a military buzz cut and the other was the exact opposite. He was petite and had blonde hair that fell into his face.

The bigger med-jack spoke first. (Percy assumed a med-jack was something like a doctor.) "What do we do with her?" He glanced down at the girl.

Luke scoweled and waved Backbiter for emphasis. "How do you know? Your the shucking doctor Frank! Get your butt off the ground and do something!" He turned on the blonde boy. "And Micheal if you don't run your cry baby self to Leo to get a bowl of soup for this girl," He poked the girl with his foot. "Or I will throw you off the edge of The Cliff!"

A random voice came from the back. "Who said Frank gets first shot at her? I'd have a better chance!" A round of laughter followed that comment, along with a couple playful punches to one anothers guts.

''Why are they laughing about this? She could be hurt- or worse she could be dying! ''Percy's insides churned, he felt sick. He wanted to protect this girl, these other demigods...how could they joke about that?

Luke spun around, his eyes narrowing. "If anybody touches this girl," he said. "You're going to spend the night sleeping with the hellhounds in the Maze. If I see so much as a finger even poke one hair on her skinny little head I'm going to kill you." There was no humor in his voice, he was serious. And for that, Percy was grateful.

Frank had bent down beside the girl and felt her forehead. "Well, she seems alright. Breathing is steady, normal heart rate. I'd say she's in a coma, no saying how long."

Jason stepped forward. "Thank you Frank and Micheal." He cast a wary glance at Luke who was now stalking down the path, obviously annoyed. "Put her next to Dakota's room. Maybe his screaming will wake her up." He tried for a smile, but it faded too quickly.

The two boys bit their lips and then slowly heaved the girl up by her arms and legs. The crowd watched them go, struggling and cursing. Percy felt like he should be carrying her. He hated that those other boys were touching her, but at least it wasn't the ones in the crowd. She did seem familiar; he felta connection to her, thought it was impossible to grasp in his mind. The idea made him nerveous, he had a sudden instinct to just tell someone. There were many things he didn't remember, but Percy knew he hated to lie, and he hated keeping secrets.

A murmur went through the crowd and they began to disperse. At first, Percy wondered where everyone was going, until he realized they were going on with their day as usual. This seemed strange to him, they just went back to their jobs like nothing had ever happened.

Percy found himself heading in the direction of the Deadheads, as Luke had called them. The forest didn't look that big, maybe a couple of acres yet the trees made it look much bigger. Tall sturdy trunks, pakced tightly together, the canopy above thick with dry leaves. The air around him had a greenish, muted hue, as if only several minutes of twilight remained in the day.

He hadn't really gotten a chance to explore, on the Tour Luke had him stick by like glue. Now he could do whatever he wanted, he was free! Or at least, as free as it got in a couple hundred acres with a forty demigods trapped in a dark maze. Percy found himself wandering aimlessly, just walking, slapping tree branches as he went.

Everything that had happened since yesterday came crashing down on him. He knew that he'd done some pretty hard stuff in the past, Percy didn't really know what, but he just knew. He also knew...he'd done some dumb stuff, gotten in bad situations. Usually, someone was there to pull him out. But here, he was alone. He didn't know what he was going to do. Percy knew he couldn't cry, not here but still the weight of everything bore down on him until his head slumped into his hands and he'd crouched down by the tree. Branches and bark stabbed at his back, leaving small cuts and scratches but he didn't care. Percy sucked in a breath, pushed out, slammed his knuckles into a tree until they were bloody.

That's when he heard it. A twig snapped, somewhere in the distance. Percy jerked his head up, looked aroun, stilled his breathing. Another snap, this time closer and louder, almost like someone had broken a stick over their knee.

Percy fought down the urge to yell, ask who was out there. His fingers inched to his pocket, Riptide crept into his hand. Just uncapping the pen, calmed him down. The writing utensil expanded until it was a perfectly balanced sword shining with Celestial Bronze light. Percy steadied it in his hands, and dispite the fact that someone- something evil- was out here, his heart rate had slowed.

Narrowing his eyes, the Probatio crept through the woods in the direction he'd heard the noise. Percy knew he'd been taught how to hunt, how to be stealthy. He had a blurry flash of creeping through similar woods and then running with a flag in his hands. He didn't know what it meant, but at the moment he had bigger problems.

Finally, after five minutes of nothing he gave into calling out. "Anybody there?" The noise still hadn't repeated, maybe it had been just an animal. Pherhaps one of those Beetle Pegs, Grover had talked about. Just in case, he called out, "It's me, Percy. The new dude. Well, second-newest."

He winced and shook his head, hoping now was out there. He sounded like a complete idiot, and that really wasn't a surprise. He got the feeling that he said those kind of things a lot.

Still, no one answered.

He stepped around a large oak and pulled up short. An icy shiver ran around his back, goose bumps popped up on his arms. He'd reached the graveyard.

The clearing was small, maybe thirty square feet, and covered with a thick layer of leafy spiky weeds. Percy could see several impressive looking bronze crosses poking through this growth, their horizontal pieces lashed to the upright one with a splintery twine. Names had been carved in a fancy script into the stone.

Percy glanced around then stepped forward and knelt to get a close look. The light was fading, the mist swirled around him. Even the birds that had chirped earlier were quiet, as if they'd gone back to their nests to sleep. For the first time, Percy realized how humid it was in the woods, the damp air already beading sweat on his forehead, the backs of his hands.

He leaned closer to the first cross. It looked fresh and bore the words: ''Son of Zeus, third cohort. Theseus. ''Percy's forehead wrinkled as he read the words. He was sure Theseus had been a son of Poseidon  at least the original Theseus had.

Percy stood and walked over to another cross, this one almost completely overgrown with weeds. Percy frowned and used Riptide to hack away the undergrowth, slashing until you could actually see the cross. Whoever it was, he must've been the first to die, his grave looked the oldest. His name was hard to make out but according to the bronze cross he'd been a son of Ares. Percy noted that no girls were among the graves.

Percy kept looking, and saw there were a dozen or so other graves. A couple of them appeared to be just as fresh as the first one he'd examined. A sharp glint came out of no where and caught his eye. Rubbing his lids, Pecy made his way to a grave covered with a sheet of glass. The edges with tinted with dirt and filth. Doing his best, Percy rubbed his elbow against it, trying to clear it off. It was a window into another grave, one that had the dusty remnants of a rotting body.

Completely creeped out, Percy leaned clower to get a better look anyway, curious but also feeling sympathy for the other boy. He hadn't died in a pleasant way. He recalled the story about the boy who'd tried to rappel down the dark hole after the Box, only to be cut in two by an invisible something. Words were etched into the glass; Percy had to squint to read them. It was bad enough with his dyslexia. Then another snap. Then another. Coming closer. And the darkness was thick, cloudy even. Percy lifted his head, alarmed. He could barely see anything.

 Let this poor demigod be a warning to all:You can’t escape through the Box Hole.   Then another snap. Then another. Coming closer. And the darkness was thick, cloudy even. Percy lifted his head, alarmed. He could barely see anything. "Who's out there?" he called, lifting Riptide, the glow of the sword casting eery shadows in the graveyard. He fingered the hilt of his sword, eyes darting left and right, waiting for someone to charge out.

 Instead of answering, the person gave up all pretense of stealth and started running, crashing through the forest line around the clearing of the graveyard, circling toward the spot where Percy stood. Percy surprised lifted his sword, tried to get ready into a battle stance but was quickly thrown to the ground.

 A flash of pale skin and enourmous eyes and then he was tackled, thrown to the earth kicking up dust and leaves. The figure slammed him to the ground, gripping his shoulders. Percy had dropped Riptide in the process, he couldn't reach it. He knew it would return to his pocket in a minute but he didn't have a minute, much less a second.

 Percy winced as a gravemarker pushed up into his back, drawing blood. He grunted and rolled over, shoving off his attacker. The boy snarled at him and then leaped back at Percy, opening his mouth and clamping it down on his arm. Percy would have screamed if he hadn't been so shocked. He'd never fought like this before, biting and clawing at one another. If he could get to his sword...Pain like a burst of adrenaline flooded through his arm, blood clotting. He planted the palms of his arms against his attacker's chest and shoved for all he was worth. He had to get this other boy off of him. The other guy didn't attack again, he just squated, watching Percy for the next move.

 Percy's hands went to his pocket, Riptide was back.Then he looked up, met the other boys eyes and got his first good look at the crazed attacker.

 It was the sick boy.

 It was Dakota.



&lt;--- Previous Chapter Next Chapter &gt;

