"Just write a book" they said. "It'll be easy," they said, "Everyone gets published these days." Yeah, well, it's a little harder when your editors are gods that will turn you into a gecko and use you as a ping pong ball if you don't write them exac...
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"I GOT NOBODY!"
Every time Polyphemus's voice thundered through the cave, I had to risk the urge to run and hide behind a rock. I was trembling so bad I'd nearly dropped the sling shot ammo I had clutched in my hand. We crept to the cave entrance at a snail's pace. I could see the others – Percy and Clarisse especially, though their reasons differed drastically – were struggling not to go charging into battle.
Polyphemus was stood just out side his cave. For a moment it looked like he was just clenching his fist at the sky. Then he shook it. A baseball cap fluttered to the ground. He was holding Annabeth, no longer invisible, by her leg.
"Hah!" the Cyclops said. "Nasty invisible girl! Already got feisty one for wife. Means you gotta be grilled with mango chutney!"
Annabeth struggled weakly. There was a bloody gash across her forehead and her eyes were glassy.
"I'll rush him," Percy whispered to us. "Our ship is around the back of the island. You guys –"
There was a chorus of protests, for obvious reasons. Besides, we weren't unarmed. I had my sling shot and Veerle's switch blade could turn into any bladed weapon. Even our friends, who Polyphemus had disarmed when he caught them, had managed to rearm themselves. Admittedly they looked a little goofy, with Clarisse and Pat finding collectible ram's–horn spears and Grover being left with only a sheep's thigh bone, but they could fight.
"We'll take him together," Clarisse growled.
"Yeah," Grover said.
Which gives an idea of the kind of trouble we were in. I was certain pigs would fly before Clarisse and Grover would agree on something.
"Someone needs to get Annabeth away from him. Then if we attack the ankles, we might be able to slow him down and get away," Pat said, like planning Cyclops attacks was a regular Tuesday.
Percy nodded. "All right. Attack plan Macedonia."
"Attack plan Macedonia" was one of the many tricks camp had taught us, so we all knew what he was talking about. While one of us distracted the Cyclops from the front, the rest of us would sneak around and attack from the flanks.
Veerle turned to Pat to explain what it was, clearly expecting him to not know what that meant. Before she could, he only nodded and muttered "I got it." The weird part was I believed him. Pat kept eying the cyclops like he'd figured him out. I don't know if I should have been impressed at how quickly he was adapting out this whole demigod thing or embarrassed that I hadn't done the same, but either way I was glad.
Percy started towards Polyphemus. As he did, the rest of us split up. Veerle and Pat went left, Grover and Clarisse went right. I stood behind Percy with my sling shot. The only soft spot for me to really aim for was his eye, after all.
