The Demigod Files(23)

As soon as we turned, Sisyphus took off. ‘I’m free! I’m free! I’m – ACK!’ Three metres from the hill, he hit the end of his invisible leash and fell on his back. Nico and I grabbed his arms and hauled him up the hill.

‘Curse you!’ He let loose with bad words in Ancient Greek, Latin, English, French and several other languages I didn’t recognize. ‘I’ll never help you! Go to Hades!’

‘Already there,’ Nico muttered.

‘Incoming!’ Thalia shouted.

I looked up and might have used a few swear words myself. The boulder was bouncing straight towards us. Nico jumped one way. I jumped the other. Sisyphus yelled, ‘NOOOOOOO!’ as the thing ploughed into him. Somehow he braced himself and stopped it before it could run him over. I guess he’d had a lot of practice.

‘Take it again!’ he wailed. ‘Please. I can’t hold it.’

‘Not again,’ Thalia gasped. ‘You’re on your own.’

He treated us to a lot more colourful language. It was clear he wasn’t going to help us any further, so we left him to his punishment.

‘Melinoe’s cave is this way,’ Nico said.

‘If this thief guy really has one eye,’ I said, ‘that could be Ethan Nakamura, son of Nemesis. He’s the one who freed Kronos.’

‘I remember,’ Nico said darkly. ‘But if we’re dealing with Melinoe, we’ve got bigger problems. Come on.’

As we walked away, Sisyphus was yelling, ‘All right, but this is the last time. Do you hear me? The last time!’

Thalia shuddered.

‘You okay?’ I asked her.

‘I guess…’ She hesitated. ‘Percy, the scary thing is, when I got to the top, I thought I had it. I thought, This isn’t so hard. I can get the rock to stay. And as it rolled down, I was almost tempted to try it again. I figured I could get it the second time.’

She looked back wistfully.

‘Come on,’ I told her. ‘The sooner we’re out of here the better.’

We walked for what seemed like eternity. Three more petals withered from the carnation, which meant it was now officially half dead. The flower pointed towards a range of jagged grey hills that looked like teeth, so we trudged in that direction over a plain of volcanic rock.

‘Nice day for a stroll,’ Thalia muttered. ‘The Hunters are probably feasting in some forest glade right about now.’

I wondered what my family was doing. My mom and stepdad, Paul, would be worried when I didn’t come home from school, but it wasn’t the first time this had happened. They’d figure out pretty quickly that I was on some quest. My mom would be pacing back and forth in the living room, wondering if I was going to make it back to unwrap my presents.

‘So who is this Melinoe?’ I asked, trying to take my mind off home.

‘Long story,’ Nico said. ‘Long, very scary story.’

I was about to ask what he meant when Thalia dropped to a crouch. ‘Weapons!’

I drew Riptide. I’m sure I looked terrifying with a potted carnation in the other hand, so I put it down. Nico drew his sword.

We stood back to back. Thalia notched an arrow.

‘What is it?’ I whispered.

She seemed to be listening. Then her eyes widened. A ring of a dozen daemons materialized around us.

They were part humanoid female, part bat. Their faces were pug-nosed and furry, with fangs and bulging eyes. Matted grey fur and piecemeal armour covered their bodies. They had shrivelled arms with claws for hands, leathery wings that sprouted from their backs and stubby bowed legs. They would’ve looked funny except for the murderous glow in their eyes.

‘Keres,’ Nico said.

‘What?’ I asked.

‘Battlefield spirits. They feed on violent death.’

‘Oh, wonderful,’ Thalia said.

‘Get back!’ Nico ordered the daemons. ‘The son of Hades commands you!’

The Keres hissed. Their mouths foamed. They glanced apprehensively at our weapons, but I got the feeling the Keres weren’t impressed by Nico’s command.

‘Soon Hades will be defeated,’ one of them snarled. ‘Our new master shall give us free rein!’

Nico blinked. ‘New master?’

The lead daemon lunged. Nico was so surprised it might have slashed him to bits, but Thalia shot an arrow point-blank into its ugly bat face, and the creature disintegrated.

The rest of them charged. Thalia dropped her bow and drew her knives. I ducked as Nico’s sword whistled over my head, cutting a daemon in half. I sliced and jabbed and three or four Keres exploded around me, but more just kept coming.

‘Iapetus shall crush you!’ one shouted.

‘Who?’ I asked. Then I ran her through with my sword. Note to self: if you vapourize monsters, they can’t answer your questions.

Nico was also cutting an arc through the Keres. His black sword absorbed their essence like a vacuum cleaner, and the more he destroyed, the colder the air became around him. Thalia flipped a daemon on its back, stabbed it, and impaled another one with her second knife without even turning around.

‘Die in pain, mortal!’ Before I could raise my sword in defence, another daemon’s claws raked my shoulder. If I’d been wearing armour, no problem, but I was still in my school uniform. The thing’s talons sliced my shirt open and tore into my skin. My whole left side seemed to explode in pain.