Matt Jackson: The Demigod Trials - The Sacrificial Spire (Percy Jackson World)

Chapter 16: I Hate The Dark

As we walked through the cave system, the passage kept opening wider and then closing back in on us. There was no sign of any activity or anything living in the caves. After walking for a while, I started to get nervous that maybe we weren't going the right way.

I didn't feel nervous about going the wrong way for long because as we rounded a corner, I saw a sword slicing through the air coming right for my head. I dove forward into a tackle as the sword whistled over my head, knocking the person in front of me to the ground knocking their sword out of their hands. They grappled for my sword as we rolled around trying to get positioning. I was pretty sure the person I was fighting was another demigod and they were probably older than me. They were definitely way bigger than me and built like a wrestler. I had no chance of winning a grappling fight with them and they ripped my sword free from my hand and pinned me to the ground with my sword raised to strike. Something slammed into their head with a loud clang knocking them off of me. I rose to my feet to see my mom holding their sword in her hand as though it was totally normal for her to wield a sword.

"Did you just-" I started before she cut me off. "I didn't kill them. I just hit them with the flat of the blade." She waved at the guy sprawled on the floor with a dent in his helmet.

"Where did you learn to swordfight?" I asked surprised. She gave me a crooked smile. "I took an online class last year while you were away at school." She told me as she swung the sword a few times experimentally. "This is pretty nice."

I picked my sword off the floor and shook my head as I tied the unconscious demigod's hands behind their back. "You're crazy mom." I thought my mom was in danger coming along with me, but I realized now that maybe I was the one who was in danger.

She smiled at me. "Crazy's our thing Matt. Now let's go find your sister." Her face changed back into a look of determination and anger as she marched further through the cave. I had to hurry to catch up to her and walked along beside her feeling a lot better about our chances against whatever had taken my sister.

Only a short time later I felt a sudden change around us as we walked even though the cave still looked the same. I could feel a heavy pressure in the air that came on suddenly. "Something changed." I noted. "I think we're getting close." My mom nodded her head and began moving a little faster. As we kept walking the walls gradually became a darker colour, the air became staler, and I could smell something rotting coming from up ahead. I figure we had to be walking closer to some kind of light because I was able to see a bit further in front of me than before.

The passage grew much taller and wider into the biggest area we'd seen yet. There were hanging lights all over the room lighting the area in a warm yellow colour. The room was bare and looked like a regular cave that you might find a bear in rather than the fancy evil cave lair that we had been in so far.

As we walked into the room, I heard a quiet voice. "Mommy? Matty?" Sophie's voice came from a corner of the room. My mom made a choking sound and sprinted to Sophie dropping her sword as she ran. I followed closely behind her feeling a wave of relief flood over me as I watched my mom wrap Sophie tightly in her arms, tears streaking her face as she stroked her hair. "It's okay sweetie. We're here. You're safe now." She held Sophie out at arm's length looking her over.

Sophie managed to slip out of my mom's grasp and tackled me in a bear hug crying into my chest. "You came." She cried. I squeezed her back fighting to hold back tears. "Of course, Soph. I'd never leave you." My voice sounded huskier than normal, and my vision was blurry as I stared over her head at the wall. Her small arms only reached halfway around my back as she grabbed handfuls of my shirt to hold onto me. she had small scratches on one arm, and I could see her shoulder was still bandaged.