The Battle of The Labyrinth [Book Four]

Day One.

     If Reagan thought that Kampê was terrifying from afar, she was downright hideous up close. She snarled and began to step up the stairs towards them.

"Other way," Percy said quickly.

     No one argued, especially not Briares. In fact, the One-Hundred Handed One was racing down the corridor, all one hundred of his arms flailing in the air as he took the lead. Reagan, now that she was no longer in the cramped tunnels of the Labyrinth, wasn't as scared as usual. In fact, she felt even confident. It was just those tunnels that seemed to...change her. The never ending darkness, the creaking echoes of gods knows what, and the walls that seemed to close in around her, it all terrified Reagan to no end.

"This way. I remember it from a tour my school had," Annabeth suggested.

     They dashed across a small courtyard to another cell block, Kampê's gravelly voice in the strange language close behind them. They forced a set of wooden doors open and was suddenly outside in the main courtyard, where a majority of the tourists congregated in. To the south, San Francisco seemed like paradise, but to the north dark storm clouds swirled over Mount Tamalpais. It was basically the jailhouse where Atlas was imprisoned in, and where Mount Othrys was rising anew.

"The clouds are getting worse," Annabeth panted.

Reagan nodded in agreement, using this moment to catch her breath. "Last time I was here, I tried-"

"Keep moving!" Briares wailed. "Kampê is behind us!"

     They ran to the other side of the courtyard, careful not to attract too much attention from the tourists. Reagan wondered how they saw Briares through the Mist.

"She can't fit through the door," Percy said hopefully.

Then the wall exploded.

"She doesn't need to," Reagan guessed.

     As the dust settled, Kampê stomped over the rubble and into the courtyard, her wings unfolding and taking up the entirety of the courtyard. Tourists burst into chaos, running and screaming wildly to get away from whatever the Mist showed them. She held twin scimitars in each hand, this green liquid dropping off the tips.

"Poison," the Satyr whimpered. "Don't let it touch you!"

     The group turned and began to run in the opposite direction, with Reagan and Tyson in the lead pushing people out of the way. They all ran to the dock right as a boat with new tourists pulled in.

"The boat?" Grover inquired.

"Too slow," Tyson countered. "Need to go back into Labyrinth."

     Reagan found herself cursing under her breath and turned on her heels to go back the way the came, except Kampê was barreling towards them angrily.

"I will slow her down."

She looked up to see the person who had said that, and realized it was Tyson.

"Don't do it," Percy argued quickly.

But Tyson shook his head. "I will meet you in the tunnel. Poison will hurt Cyclopses, but not kill them."

Before anyone could argue, Tyson ripped a light post straight out of the ground and aimed it at Kampê's chest like a javelin.

"Tyson, no!"

     But it was too late. The young Cyclops charged towards the monster, the end of his light post slamming into her chest and forcing her back against a wall. Her wings knocked down a Dip-n-Dots stand along with another vender's stand that contained Alcatraz merchandise like shirts and hats. While she was distracted, they ran under her wing through the opening in the wall. Reagan went through last, except the wing flexed as Kampê struggled, smacking her and sending her flying back, separating her from the rest.