Before the Barrier

Chapter Three

            It was surprising how quickly I lost track of time. Being tied to a stake can do that to you, I guess. It might’ve been my ADHD acting up again, though. Before I knew it, I had started dozing off. Whether it was the warmth of the fire below me, or just the realization that I was going to die no matter what, I just closed my eyes and let my body relax. I dozed off to the sound of the cyclopes shouting his pleads for help.

            That’s why I wasn’t alarmed when I heard Luke’s voice scream, “Thalia! Wake up!”

            What really brought me to my senses what the sound of metal on metal—swords clanging; a sound I’d recognize anywhere.

            My eyes shot open.

            A boy with scruffy sandy blonde hair was weaving in and out of the cyclopes’s legs, confusing the beast, causing it to stumble around and try to stomp on him with its foot.

            “Luke!” I cried, instantly regaining my adrenalin and resumed thrashing against the ropes binding me.

            He shot a glance my way then returned his attention to the cyclopes, flashing his sword at its calves, cutting them deeply.

            It roared in indignation and grabbed Luke, throwing him against a wall. “LUKE!” I screamed when he didn’t get up. He groaned and shifted slightly, struggling to lift himself up, but the cyclopes had other ideas. It lifted Luke, making sure that I saw the swollen, bleeding spot on his head, and then began tying Luke to the spit beside me.

            I thrashed and struggled, trying to warn Luke, but he was too dazed to function properly. “Luke!” I screamed. I desperately reached for his waist, for where he sheathes his sword, before making a heart crushing realization. Luke had dropped his sword when he hit. “No . . .” My one hope. Now we were both going to die here.

            At least I won’t die alone . . . A part of me thought. I shook my head. No! I can’t think like that! I got Luke into this mess, and I’m going to get him out of it. We won’t die. I scolded myself, hating the flicker of hope flaring in me for a second at the thought that I would die with a friend beside me. But . . . no. I wouldn’t allow myself to think that.

            Annabeth’s still out there . . .

            Good! She has a chance to get away! She needs to escape while she can. Surely the daughter of the goddess of wisdom would have enough sense to leave. Even if she did find us, she could never defeat a grown cyclopes on her own. But still, I couldn’t fight that annoying glimmer of false hope that maybe Annabeth could somehow save us.

            I shook my head again and sighed. I was going to die here. That was that. All of my bravery and fights and scars were for nothing. In the end, I get roasted and eaten by a cyclopes with a girl’s voice.

            I glanced at Luke. His eyes were partially open, but the way his blue iris was rolled up in his head suggested that he wasn’t conscious. Blood was seeping from his hairline where a goose egg was already forming. If we got out of this, he’d have a nasty bruise there. His light blonde hair was sticking together with blood and was drenched in sweat. He was pale, and his torn plaid shirt hung off his frame. We hadn’t had enough to eat in ages, and I guess it was starting to show on all of us.

Yet Luke always managed to motivate us to keep going, to push ourselves until we (quite literally sometimes) collapse. He made it seem like there might be a reason we were always running, like we were actually headed towards something worthwhile. He’d never let us give up, and always believed in us.

But despite all that, here he was, helpless and bleeding and unconscious, tied to a spit next to me, about to get eaten by a monster. All those times he held Annabeth after she had nightmares, or when he’d make us laugh after a long, hard day. He’d manage to cheer us up.

Then, when Grover found us, and was actually leading us to a place of sanctuary, we actually started getting legitimately cheerful. Having an idea of where we’d end up, that we wouldn’t have to just run away for the rest of our lives, was really appealing.

But having a satyr didn’t mean that the monsters stopped. If anything, it was more trouble with another mouth to feed. He’d often get lost, and, though we knew it wasn’t it fault, we’d lose our tempers. Monsters started to catch up to us, and Grover told us to wait outside an old house as he went to the nearest town to ask for directions.

The three of us sat outside the wrought iron fence which trailed around the perimeter of the mansion’s landscape. After an hour or so, the sun set and it began to get very, very cold. I was holding Annabeth, trying to keep her warm, as she shivered in my arms. Luke paced, keeping the blood flowing, and waiting for Grover. None of us said it, but we were all thinking the same thing—he had left us.

“He should be back by now . . .” Annabeth murmured, her teeth chattering.

“I know, kid. Maybe he’s lost. He’s coming for us, though. Don’t doubt that for a minute.” I told her, tightening my arms around her and resting my chin on her head.

“Thalia . . . how long are we going to wait? What if he doesn’t—” She began to say, but Luke cut her off.

“He’s coming. Don’t you doubt it.” He knelt in front of us and ruffled Annabeth’s hair. He smiled his convincing smile. “Grover is a good guy. He wouldn’t just leave us here. He’s gonna come. We just have to be patient.”

Annabeth suddenly tensed. “Luke?” She asked, her grey eyes flicking to bushes and trees near us.

Luke recognized her change in tone instantly and slowly reached for his sword. He replied in the same manner he had been using before. “What’s wrong?”

“I saw that bush over there move.” She whispered.

I glanced at the bush and sure enough, when I looked hard enough, a few leaves swayed, as if being blown by the breath of some hidden creature. “Luke . . . we should go.”

“But Grover’s going to meet us here!” Annabeth insisted.

Luke slowly drew his sword.  Very slowly, he turned towards the bush. “Which is it?”

There was a roar, and before we knew it, a giant beast leapt over the bush and charged at us, its three mouths opening to spit acid.

Luke cursed. “Hydra!” He grabbed my arm and pulled me up. I put Annabeth down, activated Aeigus and my shield, and prepared to fight.

“Thalia! You can’t fight a hydra unless you have fire! Come on! Run!” Luke shouted, taking Annabeth’s hand and running through the gate of the fence, hoping to take sanctuary within the house. I ran after them, deactivating Aeigus, and slamming the gate shut after me.

After that, I ran towards the house where I met my current demise.

*          *

I looked at Luke, all unconscious beside me, and sighed. Annabeth is only seven. There was no hope. Lots of people we met assumed that Luke and I were together, but it was nothing like that, though on rare occasions I thought it might be one day. But we had too much on our minds to ever think of getting together. So I never talked to him about it. Now, that we were about to die, I wish I had.

Just as I was thinking that, the cyclopes roared loudly, snapping me from my thoughts. I turned my head to see what happened, and I saw what I least expected to see.

Annabeth was hanging onto the cyclopes, sitting on its shoulders, riding it like a rodeo bull, and hitting it over and over with a hammer.

That’s my girl.