The First Goddess Alexis - Heroes of Old and New

Chapter 3.

"You did that yourself, Your Majesty," the old man, Daedalus, croaked.

A guard planted a kick in the old man's ribs and he groaned in agony. The young boy cried, "Stop!".

"You love your maze so much," the king began, "That I have decided to let you stay here. This will be your workshop. Make me new wonders. Amuse me. Every maze needs a monster. You will be mine!".

"I don't fear you," the old man murmured.

The king smiled coldly. He locked his eyes on the boy. "But a man cares about his son, eh? Displease me, old man, and the next time my guards inflict punishment, it will be on him!".
The king swept out of the room with his guards, and the doors slammed shut, leaving the boy and his father alone in the darkness.

"What shall we do, Father?" The boy cried. "They will kill you!".

The old man swallowed before responding. "Keep heart son, I'll... I'll think of something,".

 A bar lowered across the doors with a fatal BOOM, and I woke in a cold sweat.

~~~

I was still feeling shaky the next morning when Chiron called a war council. We met in the sword arena, which I thought was pretty strange - trying to discuss the fate of the camp while Mrs. O'Leary chewed on a life-size squeaky pink rubber yak. 

Chiron and Quintus stood at the front by the weapon racks. Clarisse and Annabeth sat next to each other and led the briefing. Tyson and Grover both sat on either side of Percy.

Also present around the table: Juniper the tree nymph, Silena Beauregard, Travis, and Connor Stoll, Beckendorf, Lee Fletcher, even Argus, our hundred-eyed security chief. That's how I knew it was serious. Argus hardly ever shows up unless something really major is going on. The whole time Annabeth spoke, he kept his hundred blue eyes trained on her so hard his whole body turned bloodshot.

"Luke must have known about the Labyrinth entrance," Annabeth said. "He knew everything about camp,". I thought I heard a little pride in her voice like she still respected the guy, evil as he was. 

Juniper cleared her throat. "That's what I was trying to tell you last night. The cave entrance has been there a long time. Luke used to use it.".

Silena Beauregard frowned. "You knew about the Labyrinth entrance, and you didn't say anything?".

Juniper's face turned green. "I didn't know it was important. Just a cave. I don't like yucky old caves."

"She has good taste," Grover said.

"I wouldn't have paid any attention except...well, it was Luke." She blushed a little greener.

Grover huffed. "Forget what I said about good taste."

"Interesting," Quintus polished his sword as he spoke. "And you believe this young man, Luke, would dare use the Labyrinth as an invasion route?".

"Definitely," Clarisse said. "If he could get an army of monsters inside Camp Half-Blood, just pop up in the middle of the woods without having to worry about our magical boundaries, we wouldn't stand a chance. He could wipe us out easily. He must've been planning this for months.".

"He's been sending scouts into the maze," Annabeth said. "We know because...because we found one.".

"Chris Rodriguez," Chiron said. He gave Quintus a meaningful look.

"Ah," Quintus said. "The one in the...Yes, I understand."

"The one in the what?" Percy asked.

Clarisse glared at him. "The point is, Luke has been looking for a way to navigate the maze. He's
searching for Daedalus's workshop."