Percy Jackson (4): The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan

Author:Rick Riordan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3
Published: 2008-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

The Battle of the Labyrinth

The voices quieted down, and I could hear the film. As a young sea demon matures, the narrator said, changes happen in the monster’s body. You may notice your fangs getting longer and you may have a sudden desire to devour human beings. These changes are perfectly normal and happen to all young monsters. Excited snarling filled the room. The teacher—I guess it must have been a teacher—told the younglings to be quiet, and the film continued. I didn’t understand most of it, and I didn’t dare look. The film kept talking about growth spurts and acne problems caused by working in the forges, and proper flipper hygiene, and finally it was over. “Now, younglings,” the instructor said, “what is the proper name of our kind?” “Sea demons!” one of them barked. “No. Anyone else?” “Telekhines!” another monster growled. “Very good,” the instructor said. “And why are we here?” “Revenge!” several shouted. “Yes, yes, but why?” “Zeus is evil!” one monster said. “He cast us into Tartarus just because we used magic!” “Indeed,” the instructor said. “After we made so many of the gods’ finest weapons. The trident of Poseidon, for one. And of course—we made the greatest weapon of the Titans! Nevertheless, Zeus cast us away and relied on those fumbling Cyclopes. That is why we are taking over the forges of the usurper Hephaestus. And soon we will control the undersea furnaces, our ancestral home!” I clutched my pen-sword. These snarling things had created Poseidon’s trident? What were they talking about? I’d never even heard of a telekhine. “And so, younglings,” the instructor continued, “who do we serve?” “Kronos!” they shouted. “And when you grow to be big telekhines, will you make weapons for the army?” “Yes!” “Excellent. Now, we’ve brought in some scraps for you to practice with. Let’s see how ingenious you are.” There was a rush of movement and excited voices coming toward the cart. I got ready to uncap Riptide. The tarp was thrown back. I jumped up, my bronze sword springing to life in my hands, and found myself facing a bunch of…dogs.

Well, their faces were dogs, anyway, with black snouts, brown eyes, and pointy ears. Their bodies were sleek and black like sea mammals, with stubby legs that were half flipper, half foot, and humanlike hands with sharp claws. If you blended together a kid, a Doberman pinscher, and a sea lion, you’d get something like what I was looking at. “A demigod!” one snarled. “Eat it!” yelled another. But that’s as far as they got before I slashed a wide arc with Riptide and vaporized the entire front row of monsters. “Back off!” I yelled at the rest, trying to sound fierce. Behind them stood their instructor—a six-foot-tall telekhine with Doberman fangs snarling at me. I did my best to stare him down. “New lesson, class,” I announced. “Most monsters will vaporize when sliced with a celestial bronze sword. This change is perfectly normal, and will happen to you right now if you don’t BACK OFF!” To my surprise, it worked.

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