Before the Barrier

Chapter Four

(I apologize that this chapter is so short. I promise that they'll get longer. Its just this is all i wanted in this chapter, so . . . thanks for reading and stay tuned!)

            The cyclopes roared and swatted at Annabeth, but she had managed to hide on a spot on its back where it could reach. She continued wailing on it with her hammer.

            Gods, I was so proud of her I could bust.

            She scrambled on to the cyclopes’s head, drew her dagger, and plunged it into the beast’s single eye. It roared loud enough to pop my ears.

            It staggered around, stepping into the fire and howling as the burning wood stabbed him in the foot. He knocked down the spit, and, since my arms were bound and I had nothing to break my fall, I hit the ground hard. But hey, at least now I had hope.

            The blinded cyclopes tried to grab Annabeth, but she had already yanked her dagger out from the giant eyeball and had jumped to the ground. She ran to me and Luke and started cutting our ropes.

            The cyclopes heard her footsteps and whirled around towards her. She cursed and took off running in the other direction, leading the beast away from me and Luke. It followed her.

            She ran to the corner where the cyclopes had thrown Luke, and retrieved his sword. She wielded it, though it was too heavy for such a small girl, she attacked the monster ruthlessly, but always had a plan as to how to back up, parry, or strike if the monster’s defenses were down.

            Once again she climbed the monster, all while it was roaring and flailing and trying to grab her. She climbed with one hand, the other gripping the sword. Once she got high enough, she hooked her free arm around the cyclopes’s neck, and shoved the blade of the sword deep into the monster’s throat, so that you could see the point of it sticking out on the other side.

            The monster let out a startled grunt, before exploding into dust, Annabeth and the sword falling to the ground.

            And then, there was just . . . silence.

            I watched as Annabeth shakily pulled herself to her feet. She dusted herself off and shook the monster dust from her hair. She picked up Luke’s sword and walked over to us. She cut our ropes and then just collapsed.

            “Annabeth!” I crawled over to her and picked her up.

            The poor girl looked terrible. She, like all of us, was thin, but since she was younger, she needed more food than us, and so she looked just awfully thin. She had heavy bags under her eyes, and dirt smeared on her face. Spots of blood dotted her clothes. She seemed so exhausted.

            So I just stroked her hair, working through some of the tangles and knots. I hummed a simple tune softly and held her.

            Gradually, her eyes closed and her body relaxed as she fell asleep.

            I smiled at the girl who had just saved our lives. I kissed her head and whispered, “Don’t get cocky, wise girl.”