¹𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 ━ 𝗽. 𝗷𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀𝗼𝗻

032

⋆ ˚｡⋆ʚ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐓𝐖𝐎 ɞ⋆ ˚｡⋆
─── ❛ being the bait ❜ ───

WHEN YOU THINK "MONSTER island," you think craggy rocks and bones scattered on the beach like the island of the sirens.

the cyclops's island was nothing like that. okay, it had a rope bridge across a chasm, which was not a good sign. you might as well put up a billboard that said, 'something evil lives here'. but except for that, the place looked like a caribbean postcard. it had green fields and tropical fruit trees and white beaches. as they sailed toward the shore, isabella breathed in the sweet air. "the fleece," she said.

percy nodded. he couldn't see the fleece yet, but he could feel its power. the boy could believe it would heal anything, even thalia's poisoned tree. "if we take it away, will the island die?"

isabella shook her head. "it'll fade. go back to what it would be normally, whatever that is."

percy felt a little guilty about ruining this paradise, but he reminded himself they had no choice. camp half-blood was in trouble. and tyson... tyson would still be with them if it wasn't for this quest.

in the meadow at the base of the ravine, several dozen sheep were milling around. they looked peaceful enough, but they were huge—the size of hippos. just past them was a path that led up into the hills. at the top of the path, near the edge of the canyon, was the massive oak tree percy had seen in his dreams. something gold glittered in its branches.

"this is too easy," he said. "we could just hike up there and take it?"

isabella's eyes narrowed. "there's supposed be a guardian. a dragon or..."

that's when a deer emerged from the bushes. it trotted into the meadow, probably looking for grass to eat, when the sheep all bleated at once and rushed the animal. it happened so fast that the deer stumbled and was lost in a sea of wool and trampling hooves.

grass and tufts of fur flew into the air.

a second later the sheep all moved away, back to their regular peaceful wanderings. where the deer had been was a pile of clean white bones.

isabella and percy exchanged looks.

"they're like piranhas," she said.

"piranhas with wool. how will we—"

"percy!" isabella gasped, grabbing his arm. "look."

she pointed down the beach, to just below the sheep meadow, where a small boat had been run aground... the other lifeboat from the css birmingham.

they decided there was no way they could get past the man-eating sheep. isabella wanted to sneak up the path using the mist and grab the fleece, but in the end, percy convinced her that something would go wrong, given that she had little to no experience using the mist for survival. the sheep would smell her. another guardian would appear. something. and if that happened, he would be too far away to help.

besides, their first job was to find grover and whoever had come ashore in that lifeboat—assuming they'd gotten past the sheep. percy was too nervous to say what he was secretly hoping... that tyson might still be alive.

they moored the queen anne's revenge on the back side of the island where the cliffs rose straight up a good two hundred feet. percy figured the ship was less likely to be seen there.

the cliffs looked climbable, barely—about as difficult as the lava wall back at camp. at least it was free of sheep. isabella hoped that polyphemus did not also keep carnivorous mountain goats.