The good news:
the left tunnel was straight with no side exits, twists, or turns. The bad news; it was adead end. After sprinting a hundred yards, we ran into an enormous boulder that completely blocked ourpath. Behind us, the sounds of dragging footsteps and heavy breathing echoed down the corridor.
Something—definitely not human—was on our tail. “Tyson, †I said, “can you—†“Yes!†He slammed his shoulder against the rock so hard the whole tunnel shook. Dust trickled from thestone ceiling. “Hurry!†Grover said. “Don’t bring the roof down, but hurry!†The boulder finally gave way with a horrible grinding noise. Tyson pushed it into a small room and wedashed through behind it. “Close the entrance!†Annabeth said. We all got on the other side of the boulder and pushed. Whatever was chasing us wailed in frustration aswe heaved the rock back into placed and sealed the corridor. “We trapped it, †I said. “Or trapped ourselves, †Grover said. I turned. We were in a twenty-foot-square cement room and the opposite wall was covered with metalbars. We’d tunneled straight into a cell.
... “What in Hades?†Annabeth tugged on the bars. They didn’t budge. Through the bars we could seerows of cells in a ring around a dark courtyard—at least three stories of metal doors and metal catwalks. “A prison, †I said. “Maybe Tyson can break—†“ Shh, †said Grover. “Listen.
†Somewhere above us, deep sobbing echoed through the building. There was another sound, too—araspy voice muttering something that I couldn’t make out. The words were strange, like rocks in atumbler. “ what’sthat language?†I whispered. Tyson’s eye widened. “Can’t be.
†“What?†I asked. He grabbed two bars on our cell door and bent them wide enough for even a Cyclops to slip through. “Wait!†Grover called. But Tyson wasn’t about to wait. We ran after him. The prison was dark, only a few dim fluorescentlights flickering above. “I know this place, †Annabeth told me. “This is Alcatraz.
†“You mean that island is near San Francisco?†She nodded. “My school took a field trip here. It’s like a museum.
†It didn’t seem possible that we could’ve popped out of the Labyrinth on the other side of the country, but Annabeth had been living in San Francisco all year, keeping an eye on MountTamalpais just acrossthe bay. She probably knew what she was talking about. “Freeze, †Grover warned. But Tyson kept going. Grover grabbed his arm and pulled him back with all his strength. “Stop, Tyson!â€he whispered. “Can’t you see it?†I looked where he was pointing, and my stomach did a somersault. On the second-floor balcony, acrossthe courtyard, was a monster more horrible than anything I’d ever seen before. It was sort of like a centaur, with a woman’s body from the waist up. But instead of a horse’s lowerbody, it had the body of a dragon—at least twenty feet long, black and scaly with enormous claws and abarbed tail. Her legs looked like they were tangled in vines, but then I realized they were sproutingsnakes, hundreds of vipers darting around, constantly looking for something to bite. The woman’s hairwas also made of snakes, like Medusa’s. weirdest of all, around her waist, where the woman part metthe dragon part, her skin bubbled and morphed, occasionally producing the heads of animals—a viciouswolf, a bear, a lion, as if she were wearing a belt of ever-changing creatures. I got the feeling I waslooking at something half formed, a monster so old it was from the beginning of time, before shapes hadbeen fully defined. “It’s her, †Tyson whimpered. “Get down!†Grover said. We crouched in the shadows, but the monster wasn’t paying us any attention. It seemed to be talking tosomeone inside a cell on the second floor. That’s where the sobbing was coming from. The dragonwoman said something in her weird rumbling language. “What’s she saying?†I muttered. “What’s that language?†“The tongue of the old times.
†Tyson shivered. “What Mother Earth spoke to Titans and…her otherchildren.
Before the gods.
†“You understand it?†I asked. “Can you translate?†Tyson closed his eyes and began to speak in a horrible, raspy woman’s voice. “You will work for themaster or suffer.
†Annabeth shuddered. “I hate it when he does that.
†Like all Cyclopes, Tyson had superhuman hearing and an uncanny ability to mimic voices. It was almostlike he entered a trance when he spoke in other voices. “I will not serve, †Tyson said in a deep, wounded voice. He switched to the monster’s voice:
“Then I shall enjoy your pain, Briares.
†Tyson faltered when he saidthat name. I’d never heard him break character when he was mimicking somebody, but he let out astrangled gulp. Then he continued in the monster’s voice. “If you thought your first imprisonment wasunbearable, you have yet to feel true torment. Think on this until I return.
†The dragon lady tromped toward the stairwell, vipers hissing around her legs like grass skirts. Shespread wings that I hadn’t noticed before—huge bad wings she kept folded against her dragon back.
She leaped off the catwalk and soared across the courtyard. We crouched lower in the shadows. A hotsulfurous wind blasted my face as the monster flew over. Then she disappeared around the corner. “H-h-horrible, †Grover said. “I’ve never smelled any monster that strong.
†“Cyclopes’ worst nightmare, †Tyson murmured. “Kampê .
†“Who?†I asked. Tyson swallowed. “Every Cyclops knows about her. Stories about her scare us when we’re babies. Shewas our jailer in the bad years.
†Annabeth nodded. “I remember now. When the Titans ruled, they imprisoned Gaea andOuranos’searlier children—the Cyclopes and the Hekatonkheires .
†“TheHeka -what?†I asked. “The Hundred-Handed Ones, †she said. “They called them that because…well, they had a hundredhands. They were elder brothers of the Cyclopes.
†“Very powerful, †Tyson said. “Wonderful!As tall as the sky. So strong they could break mountains!†“Cool, †I said. “Unless you’re a mountain.
†“ Kampê was the jailer, †he said. “She worked for Kronos. She kept our brothers locked up inTartarus , tortured them always, until Zeus came. He killedKampê and freed Cyclopes and Hundred-Handed Onesto help fight against the Titans in the big war.
†“And nowKampê is back, †I said. “Bad, †Tyson summed up. “So who’s in that cell?†I asked. “You said a name—†“Briares!â€Tyson perked up. “He is a Hundred-Handed One. They are as tall as the sky and—†“Yeah, †I said. “They break mountains.
†I looked up at the cells above us, wondering how something as tall as the sky could fit in a tiny cell, andwhy he was crying. “I guess we should check it out, †Annabeth said, “before Kampê comes back.
†...As we approached the cell, the weeping got louder. When I first saw the creature inside, I wasn’t surewhat I was looking at. He was human-size and his skin was very pale, the color of milk. He wore aloincloth like a big diaper. His feet seemed too big for his body, with cracked dirty toenails, eight toes oneach foot. But the top half of his body was the weird part. He madeJanus look downright normal. Hischest sprouted more arms than I could count, in rows, all around his body. The arms looked like normalarms, but there were so many ofthem, all tangled together, that his chest looked kind of like a forkful ofspaghetti somebody had twirled together. Several of his hands were covering his face as he sobbed. “Either the sky isn’t as tall as it used to be, †I muttered, “or he’s short.
†Tyson didn’t pay any attention. He fell to his knees. “Briares!†he called. The sobbing stopped. “Great Hundred-Handed One!†Tyson said. “Help us!†Briars looked up. His face was long and sad, with a crooked nose and bad teeth. He had deep browneyes—I mean completely brown with no whites or black pupils, like eyes formed out of clay. “Run while you can, Cyclops, †Briares said miserably. “I cannot even help myself.
†“You are a Hundred-Handed One!†Tyson insisted. “You can do anything!†Briars wiped his nose with five or six hands. Several others were fidgeting with little pieces of metal andwood from a broken bed, the way Tyson always played with spare parts. It was amazing to watch. Thehands seemed to have a mind of their own. They built a toy boat out of wood, then disassembled it just asfast. Other hands were scratching at the cement floor for no apparent reason. Others were playing rock, paper, scissors . A few others were making ducky and doggie shadow puppets against the wall. “I cannot, †Briares moaned. “ Kampê is back! The Titans will rise and throw us back intoTartarus .
†“Put on your brave face!†Tyson said. Immediately Briares’s face morphed into something else.
Same brown eyes, but otherwise totally differentfeatures. He had an upturned nose, arched eyebrows, and a weird smile, like he was trying to act brave.
But then his face turned back to what it had been before. “No good, †he said. “My scared face keeps coming back.
†“How did you do that?†I asked. Annabeth elbowed me. “Don’t be rude. The Hundred-Handed Ones all have fifty different faces.
†“Must make it hard to get a yearbook picture, †I said. Tyson was still entranced. “It will be okay, Briares! We will help you! Can I have your autograph?†Briares sniffled. “Do you have one hundred pens?†“Guys, †Grover interrupted. “We have to get out of here. Kampê will be back. She’ll sense us sooner orlater.
†“Break the bars, †Annabeth said. “Yes!†Tyson said, smiling proudly. “Briares can do it. He is very strong. Stronger than Cyclopes, even!Watch!†Briares whimpered. A dozen of his hands started playing patty-cake, but none of them made anyattempt to break the bars. “If he’s so strong, †I said, “why is he stuck in jail?†Annabeth ribbed me again. “He’s terrified, †she whispered. “Kampê had imprisoned him inTartarus forthousands of years. How would you feel?†The Hundred-Handed One covered his face again. “Briares?â€Tyson asked. “What…what is wrong? Show us your great strength!†“Tyson, †Annabeth said, “I think you’d better break the bars.
†Tyson’s smile melted slowly. “I will break the bars, †he repeated. He grabbed the cell door and ripped it off its hinges like it wasmade of wet clay. “Come on, Briares, †Annabeth said. “Let’s get you out of here.
†She held out her hand. For a second, Briares’s face morphed to a hopeful expression. Several of hisarms reached out, but twice as many slapped them away. “I cannot, †he said. “She will punish me.
†“It’s all right, †Annabeth promised. “You fought the Titans before, and you won, remember?†“I remember the war.
†Briares’s face morphed again—furrowed brow and a pouting mouth. Hisbrooding face, I guess. “Lightning shook the world. We threw many rocks. The Titans and the monstersalmost won. Now they are getting strong again. Kampê said so.
†“Don’t listen to her, †I said. “Come on!†He didn’t move. I knew Grover was right. We didn’t have much time before Kampê returned. But Icouldn’t just leave him here. Tyson would cry for weeks. “One game of rock, paper, scissors, †I blurted out. “If I win, you come with us. If I lose, we’ll leave youin jail.
†Annabeth looked at me like I was crazy. Briares’s face morphed to doubtful. “I always win rock, paper, scissors .
†“Then let’s do it!†I pounded my fist in my palm three times. Briares did the same with all one hundred hands, which sounded like an army marching three stepsforward. He came up with a whole avalanche of rocks, a classroom set of scissors, and enough paper tomake a fleet of airplanes. “I told you, †he said sadly. “I always—†His face morphed to confusion. “What is that you made?†“A gun, †I told him, showing him my finger gun. It was a trick Paul Blofis had pulled on me, but I wasn’tgoing to tell him that. “A gun beats anything.
†“That’s not fair.
†“I didn’t say anything about fair. Kampê’s not going to be fair if we hang around. She’s going to blameyou for ripping off the bars. Now come on!†Briares sniffled. “Demigods are cheaters.
†But he slowly rose to his feet and followed us out of the cell. I started to feel hopeful. All we had to do was get downstairs and find the Labyrinth entrance. But thenTyson froze. On the ground floor right below, Kampê was snarling at us.
... “The other way, †I said. We bolted down the catwalk. This time Briares was happy to follow us. In fact he sprinted out front, ahundred arms waving in panic. Behind us, I heard the sound of giant wings as Kampê took to the air. She hissed and growled in herancient language, but I didn’t need a translation to know she was planning to kill us. We scrambled down the stairs, through a corridor, and past a guard’s station—out into another block ofprison cells. “Left, †Annabeth said. “I remember this from the tour.
†We burst outside and found ourselves in the prison yard, ringed by security towers and barbed wire.
After being inside for so long, the daylight almost blinded me. Tourists were milling around, takingpictures. The wind whipped cold off the bay. In the south, San Francisco gleamed all white and beautiful, but in the north, over Mount Tamalpais , huge storm clouds swirled. The whole sky seemed like a blacktop spinning from the mountain where Atlas was imprisoned, and where the Titan palace of Mount Othryswas rising anew. It was hard to believe the tourists couldn’t see the supernatural storm brewing, but theydidn’t give any hint that anything was wrong. “It’s even worse, †Annabeth said, gazing to the north. “The storms have been bad all year, but that—†“Keep moving, †Briares wailed. “She is behind us!†We ran to the far end of the yard, as far from the cellblock as possible. “ Kampê’stoo big to get through the doors, †I said hopefully. Then the wall exploded. Tourists screamed asKampê appeared from the dust and rubble, her wings spread out as wide as theyard. She was holding two swords—long bronze scimitars that glowed with a weird greenish aura, boiling wisps of vapor that smelled sour and hot even across the yard. “Poison!†Grover yelped. “Don’t let those things touch you or…†“Or we’ll die?†I guessed. “Well…after you shrivel slowly to dust, yes.
†“Let’s avoid the swords, †I decided. “Briares, fight!†Tyson urged. “Grow to full size!†Instead, Briares looked like he was trying to shrink even smaller. He appeared to be wearing hisabsolutely terrified face. Kampêthundered toward us on her dragon legs, hundreds of snakes slithering around her body. For a second I thought about drawing Riptide and facing her, but my heart crawled into my throat. ThenAnnabeth said what I was thinking:
“Run.
†That was the end of the debate. There was no fighting this thing. We ran through the jail yard and out thegates of the prison, the monster right behind us. Mortals screamed and ran. Emergency sirens began toblare. We hit the wharf just as a tour boat was unloading. The new group of visitors froze as they saw uscharging toward them, followed by a mob of frightened tourists, followed by…I don’t know what theysaw through the Mist, but it could not have been good. “The boat?†Grover asked. “Too slow, †Tyson said. “Back into the maze. Only chance.
†“We need a diversion, †Annabeth said. Tyson ripped a metal lamppost out of the ground. “I will distract Kampê . You run ahead.
†“I’ll help you, †I said. “No, †Tyson said. “You go. Poison will hurt Cyclopes. A lot of pain. But it won’t kill.
†“Are you sure?†“Go, brother. I will meet you inside.
†I hated the idea. I’d almost lost Tyson once before, and I didn’t want to ever risk that again. But therewas no time to argue, and I had no better idea. Annabeth, Grover, and I each took one ofBriares’shands and dragged him toward the concession stands while Tyson bellowed, lowered his pole, andchargedKampê like a jousting knight. She’d been glaring at Briares, but Tyson got her attention as soon as he nailed her in the chest with thepole, pushing her back into the wall. She shrieked and slashed with her swords, slicing the pole to shreds.
poison dripped in pools all around her, sizzling into the cement. Tyson jumped back as Kampê’s hair lashed and hissed, and the vipers around her legs darted theirtongues in every direction. A lion popped out of the weird half-formed faces around her waist androared. As we sprinted for the cellblocks, the last thing I saw was Tyson picking up aDippin ’ Dots stand andthrowing it at Kampê . Ice cream and poison exploded everywhere, all the little snakes in Kampê’s hairdotted withtuttifrutti . We dashed back into the jail yard. “Can’t make it, †Briares huffed. “Tyson is risking his life to help you!†I yelled at him. “Youwill make it.
†As we reached the door of the cellblock, I heard an angry roar. I glanced back and saw Tyson runningtoward us at full speed, Kampê right behind him. She was plastered in ice cream and T-shirts. One of thebear heads on her waist was now wearing a pair of crooked plastic Alcatraz sunglasses. “Hurry!†Annabeth said, like I needed to be told that. We finally found the cell where we’d come in, but the back wall was completely smooth—no sign of aboulder or anything. “Look for the mark!†Annabeth said. “There!†Grover touched a tiny scratch, and it became a Greek ?. The mark of Daedalus glowed blue, and the stone wall grinded open. Too slowly. Tyson was coming through the cellblock, Kampê’s swords lashing out behind him, slicingindiscriminately through cell bars and stone walls. I pushed Briares inside the maze, then Annabeth and Grover. “You can do it!†I told Tyson. But immediately I knew he couldn’tKampê was gaining. She raised herswords. I need a distraction—something big. I slapped my wristwatch and it spiraled into a bronzeshield. Desperately, I threw it at the monster’s face. SMACK!The shield hit her in the face and she faltered just long enough for Tyson to dive past me intothe maze. I was right behind him. Kampêcharged, but she was too late. The stone door closed and its magic sealed us in. I could feel thewhole tunnel shake asKampê pounded against it, roaring furiously. We didn’t stick around to play knock, knock with her, though. We raced into the darkness, and for the first time (and the last) I was glad to beback in the Labyrinth.
to be continued....
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