Book 4 - The Battle of The Labyrinth
"We have to find her."
"And we will Percy, but slow down," Annabeth snapped. "If we all get lost then we won't be able to find her."
"Why don't we follow noise," Grover offered. They each paused and heard the sounds of fighting. "I mean I'm not a genius, but who would be fighting down here."
"Mother-!"
"That's her," Annabeth smirked. They moved around the corner seeing Ayden slash through a dracanae. She turned around with a huff as she pushed her hair out of the way.
"Ayden!" Tyson threw his hands in the air.
"You aren't supposed to be here," She pointed her dagger at them. "Oh sorry." She strapped it to her hip as she stood up straight dusting off her sleeves. "You weren't supposed to be down here."
"You really think I would just let you come down here alone," Percy moved toward her.
"Well no," She smirked as he pulled her into a tight hug. He leaned back and tilted her face side to side.
"Are you okay? Who've you run into?" He turned her and saw a part of her shirt was scorched. "Burned, are you burned?"
"By a dragon." Ayden looked down at her sleeve.
"In the labyrinth?" Annabeth asked. "Not a dracanae right?"
"I regret coming down here." Grover looked around warily.
"I'm like 90 percent sure Hecate is trying to kill me." Ayden offered. "So you really shouldn't have come down here."
"Well we're on a quest," Annabeth sighed.
"I want a hug too," Tyson moved around the others as he picked her up.
"Careful, big guy," Percy warned. Tyson laughed as he squeezed Ayden tightly.
"Glad, you're okay." Tyson patted her shoulders. Percy moved forward pulling Ayden close to him once more.
"I'm fine," She told him. "Seriously." Percy gave her a tight smile but kept his hand on her arm.
"I'm glad you know that, but I'm going to decide for myself."
"Alright, we should keep heading down this way," Annabeth shined her light.
"Oh yeah, I've been hearing some things down here," Ayden added as the group continued to walk together.
"Like?"
"Well it's not that important, but I don't know what's going to come after me especially since we are a bigger group now." Ayden looked back down the tunnel.
"I would prefer if we didn't split up anymore." Grover offered. "I would rather not."
"Ayden, I think you were heading the right way," Annabeth added. "How did you know?"
"Instinct."
"Where is Quintus, he's a traitor," Percy added. Ayden shrugged.
"He was too eager for me to come down here, I just hoped he wasn't Kronos or something. That would have been very unfortunate for me. I gave him a cut before we parted though, but he isn't normal. He doesn't bleed like we do or the gods do and he just walked through the wall." Ayden pulled her hair back into a low ponytail as she looked around a corner.
"What?" Annabeth paused her walking.
"Yeah."
"That's not possible," Grover ran his hands over his horns. "Right? I mean I don't know many things, but I know that's not right."
"I don't know, but I haven't run into him anymore, but about you guys? You met anyone interesting on your way in?" They all shared a look. "Oh."
"Hera," Annabeth mumbled. She shined her light down the tunnel and kept walking.
"That bad?" Ayden asked. "I kind of like her."
"We also broke a hundred-handed one," Grover whispered. ayden gave him a weird look. "His name was Briares."
"He was a coward." Tyson sniffled a little. Ayden put her hand on his arm trying to comfort him.
"We also fought Kampe," Percy added. "She was the one keeping Briares imprisoned." They came to an open room.
"Let's camp here for now. We must be close to Daedelus." Annabeth took off her backpack and looked around. "I'll take the first watch." Grover sat down and gather some moss as his pillow as he hugged himself.
"I shouldn't stay with you all," Ayden watched as Tyson sank to the ground as he played with a pebble from the floor.
"Sit, you aren't leaving," Percy told her. She knew better than to argue with him and she was too tired as well. She'd only been able to shut her eyes for a few minutes before she was dragged away by a dracanae. She leaned against the wall and sat down. Percy sat down beside her.
"What else did you get into?" She leaned her head on his shoulder. Percy smiled down at her as he took her hand in his.
"Well when we were running from Kampe we exited the labyrinth and then came back in, that was just before we found you." She hummed in response as her eyes closed.
"I just had to deal with the dracanae and dragons so far." She whispered. "At first I thought it was Nimbus, but it wasn't. Nim likes me."
"Who's Nimbus?"
"Esmeray's dragon familiar," Her voice was getting quieter and quieter.
"Who's Esmeray. Is she one of the condiuts that you went after?" She hummed again. "I'm glad she was nice at least." Ayden didn't respond to anything else as she drifted off to sleep curled up next to Percy.
***
The next morning everyone woke up and ate breakfast. Annabeth had packed them granola bars and juice. Ayden still had her sticks of dried jerky which she traded Tyson for. He really wanted the meat. They started walking once more as the tunnel changed to earth. They had wood beams around the structure like in old mines.
"Why is this making me more claustrophobic than the tunnels?" Ayden looked around at the old cracked wood.
"It smells like underworld," Grover sniffed the air.
"It's Nico. He was summoning the dead," Percy touched the wall and rubbed the dirt in his fingers.
"Love a good ghost story." Ayden pulled her dagger free.
"Ghosts? I don't like ghosts," Tyson moved closer to Ayden almost knocking her over. She walked through another tunnel and saw a grate overhead.
"What is this?" She poked it with her dagger.
"It's a cattle grate," Grover tilted his head. There was blue sky on the otherside of it.
"So we're on a ranch?"
"What'a cattle grate?" Percy asked as he looked upa the sky as well.
"Cattle ranchers put them around the ranch so the cattle won't walk on them," Percy gave him a confused expression. "If you had hooves you'd understand as well."
"I kind of want to go up there," Ayden followed after Annabeth as she looked around for a door.
"Hera said something about a ranch, we're going up there. Help me look for a way out." There was a loud clank as Tyson punched the cattle grate.
"I mean I could just-." She teleported up to the ranch. The grate was tossed the side almost hitting a cow. It mooed as Tyson shimied his way through the hole.
"Sorry!" He held his giant hand up apologizing to him. Ayden looked around seeing the red cows. she turned back to help the others up.
"Red cattle. The cattle of the sun." Annabeth adjusted the strap of her backpack.
"Huh?" Percy looked around at the scenery as his eyes adjusted to the light.
"They're Apollo's creation. Sacred cows."
"What are they-." Grover put a hand on Ayden's shoulder.
"Wait, listen," Everyone froze, there was a sound echoing in the distance. It didn't register until the hound was coming through the bushes charging at them. A hound with two heads. It was barking and snapping as it started to circle them.
"Its not a nice herding dog," Ayden watched it circle them. Grover tried to bart at it to communicate. She saw a giant man come from the same woods the dog did. "Oh crap." The others turned as well seeing the giant man.He had white hair, a white braided beard, and a straw hat.
"Heel, Orthus!" The man demanded. The dog let out a low growl but returned to his master. The man had a giant club over his shoulder. "What've we got here?"
"Traveler," Annabeth stepped forward. Ayden stayed behind her incase the man decided to try and swing the giant club. "We're on a quest."
"Mm, so Halfbloods."
"Yes, my name is Annabeth daughter of Athena, this is Percy son of Poseidon, Grover the satyre, Ayden daughter of Ares, and Tyson the-."
"Cyclops, I can tell," The man looked at Tyson.
"How did you know we were halfbloods?" Percy asked. The man laughed a little.
"Becuase I too am a halfblood, I am Eurytion, son of Ares. I'm the cow herder for this ranch," He gestured to the rolling hills behind them. "You must have come through the Labyrinth like the other one."
"Other one?"
"Nico Di Angelo?" Percy asked. The man shrugged.
"We get a lot of visitors from the labyrinth. Not many leave though."
"I fell very welcome." Percy looked at Ayden as she stepped forward to greet her half siblings.
"Siblings to sibling I'm only going to tell you this once," He leaned forward. "Get back in the maze."
"Thank you," She nodded. "But unfortunately we never take the smart way out. We have to see the other demigod on your ranch."
"Fine, but that means I've gotta take you to meet my boss." He turned on his heel and started walking. Orthus followed after him, he had two heads, but he looked just like a regular dog. Slobber hanging from his mouth and his tongue flapping as he panted. Eurytion led them through the ranch, they passed several types of animal as they went. They weren't hostages, at least not yet. They followed him willingly up to a large farmhouse. he stopped before they got to the steps.
"Don't break the rules. No fighting, no drawing weapons, and don't make comments on his appearance," Eurytion spoke directly to Ayden as she put her dagger back on her hip.
"What's wrong with his appearance?" Percy asked.
"Welcome to Triple G Ranch!" A man raised his hands. They climbed the steps of the big white house. The boss had a normal dark skinned head, slick black hair, and a thin moustache. Ayden understood now why there was a rule about appearance. He had two chest with a small space between an an arm growing out of each. Ayden averted her eyes so she didn't stare at him for too long.
"Say hi to Mr. Geryon." Eurytion nudged Ayden forward.
"You have a wonderful ranch, not at all what I would have expected to be connected to the labyrinth."
"Geryon, I can't wait all day-." Nico came out two double doors from the house. He paused when he saw Ayden, then his eyes landed on Percy. He pulled his sword free. It was a short black sort.
"Mr. Di Angelo, put that away. I won't have my guests killing each other." Geryon snarled. Nico looked from the group to Geryon.
"But that's-."
"Yes, yes, you all know one another. Annabeth, Percy, Ayden, monster friends. Fabulous." Geryon stared at Nico's sword.
"That man is wearing three shirts," Tyson whispered to Ayden. She looked over her shoulder pressing a finger to her lips as she nodded.
"They let my sister die!" Nico yelled. His hand shook. "They are here to kill me."
"Why would we try to kill you?" Ayden asked. "You are the least of our problems right now."
"What happened to Bianca was-." Percy stepped forward with his hands raised.
"Don't speak her name!" Nico pointed the tip of the sword at him.
"Wait how do you know our names?" Annabeth asked. The group realized they never introduced themselves to Geryon when they stepped onto the porch.
"It's my business to stay informed," Geryon winked at her. "Now Mr. Di Angelo put that ugly sword away before I have Eurytion take it away from you." Eurytion sighed, but stepped forward. Even Orthus started to growled. Nico hesitated, but sheathed the sword.
"I swear Percyu Jackson if you even come close to me, I swear I will summon my helpers and trust me you don't want to meet them." Nico pointed his finger at him. Ayden could barely remember the short kid she saw that snowy night last year. Him and his sister. She'd saved them.
"I believe you," Percy nodded. Ayden took a slow step closer to him.
"I'm kind of intrigued about who can raise, is it anyone? Or like dead warriors like Ares?" She spoke quietly to him. Nico didn't know what kind of trick she was trying to play, but he just turned away from her.
"Well now that we're all friends again, I want to give a tour of the ranch."
Geryon had gathered the others in his trolly. He was sitting int he first section with Orthus, while the rest filled into he second and thrid carts. Nico sat in the back so he could keep an eye on the group, he didn't trust anyone that was close with Percy Jackson. Geryon was happy to show them around, he showed them the most exotic an rare breeds that he had. He sold most of them for slaughter or their eggs for gold. He admitted to doing anything for gold. Ayden didn't know why they were staying here so long. They didn't have time for this.
"Geryon, none of this is what we had discussed. We have things to do," Nico announced from the back of the carts. Ayden understood his urgency, but she really wanted to know what his plan was if it wasn't attacking or defending camp.
"All In good time Mr. Di Angelo!" He called back to him. He showed them what Tyson loved to call Rooster ponies. Ayden didn't care. She plugged her nose and tried to lower her body so she didn't have to breath in their stink. "My prize stables!"
"They're disgusting." Annabeth griamced. Everyone seemed to gag as they got closer and closer to the hot stink.
"My stables! Well technically they belong to Aegeas, but we watch over them for a small monthly fee." Geryon smiled happily as he looked back for he others reactions.
"That's a lot of poop," Grover pinched his nose.
"They reek!" Nico called.
"This is vile," Ayden pulled her shirt over her nose trying to find some kind of filter.
"Fine! Fine! yes they are challenging to clean, it's a lot messier than it should be," He huffed. "They are flesh eating horses, they like it dirtier."
"That or your too cheap to get them cleaned," Eurytion muttered as he looked farther down the ranch.
"Lots of people love these babies! They're great garbage disposals, their great to eat up your enemies or even birthday parties." Geryon stopped the moo-mobile and looked at the others. "I want you to know, ya'll are getting on my nerves."
"You're a monster."
"What gave it away," He smiled. "The three bodies."
"Wow, really couldn't tell?" Ayden snapped as she waved the air in front of her face trying not to chock on the air.
"Your clients, they work for Kronos don't they. You are supplying them with whatever they need." Annabeth glared at him.
"I will sell anything to anyone for the right price, it's called business." Geryon got out of the trailer and walked toward the stables. Ayden fought the urge to heave.
"It's like he enjoys being closer to the ick," Annabeth covered her mouth and nose.
"I think it's in my mouth," Tyson groaned. Nico hopped out of the back of the cart and walked toward the man with three bodies. Eurytion followed after him, the club still in his hand incase he wanted to do something. Geryon put one of his arms around Nico's shoulder. The gesture made Ayden's body shiver.
"Luke Castellan and Malaki Yalden are offering a lot for powerful halfbloods." Geryon looked at the cart. Nico shoved away from him and drews his sword, but Eurytion knocked it out of his hand. Ayden telepored in front of the young demigo glaring at both of them.
"I'll kill you if I have to," She threatened Eurytion.
"Never seen a child of Ares do that before," Geryon chuckled. Ayden turned her gaze on him and he closed his mouth. "Don't worry, my dear." He tried to reach for Nico. "Once I deliver Nico to them, you will be able to leave. You have no fight here. I've been paid well for their safe passage," Geryon looked around Ayden and Nico to the others in the cart. Percy had Orthus in his face snarling with both heads. eurytion moved forward but Ayden pulled her sleeves up exposing the markings.
"What are those?" Eurytion asked.
"You can't have him," Ayden argued as she stepped back. She felt Nico take the back of her jacket. There were small moments when Ayden realized that he was just a boy. They were all still kids.
"What If I made you a deal!?" Percy called. Geryon turned his attention to the cart. Ayden guided Nico back as Eurytion watched the two of them.
"You've mangaled yourself?"
"What do you have to offer me, Mr. Jackson?" Geryon asked as he got closer. Eurytion whistled and Orthus moved off his chest giving him room to speak.
"He can clean the stables," Eurytion spoke up. Ayden stared at him, but the old man shrugged.
"I'll do it! If I fail you'll get to hand me and my friends over to Luke for gold, but if I succeed you will let us go including Nico." Percy stared down the man. Geryon looked at each of the demigods trying to get a total about his gold.
"Don't do me any favors Jackson," Nico scoffed. "I don't want or need your help."
"That's to say if the hoses don't eat you first."
"You'll still get my friends," Percy offered as he got out of the cart. "What do you say?"
"Deal." He smiled. "I'm taking your friends back to the lodge, we will wait for you there." Percy nodded as he looked back at the others in the carts. He walked toward the stables and grabbed Ayden's hand.
"You got this horse master," She told him. He gave her a tight smile.
"I hope so." She gave him a quick hug.
"I'll keep the others safe, while we wait." She left him there as the others went back to the lodge. She didn't know what they were going to do when they got back, but she knew Geryon was annoyed with his company.