Annabeth Chase and the Battle of the Labyrinth

Chapter 24 - Percy, son of Apollo

Percy deflected one of the knives easily with Riptide, the other slamming into the picnic table. Then he launched himself at Geryon, eyes flashing. 

Geryon was wielding a paid of red-hot tongs and a barbecue fork, which he used to parry Riptide's slices and lunge at Percy. The son of Poseidon merely dodged to one side and stepped forward, stabbing Geryon through the middle chest. 

The monster gasped and bent over, a massive hole in his chest. I held my breath and waited for him to disintegrate, but instead he started to laugh. 

"Nice try, sonny," he grinned, straightening up. "Thing is, I have three hearts. The perfect backup plan." Even as he spoke, I could see the hole in his chest healing up until it disappeared. 

Geryon went on the attack, hurling the barbecue over and spilling scorching coals everywhere. One landed right beside my face and I screamed, trying to scramble back out of reach. Tyson began struggling again but still made no progress, the ropes just too strong. 

Percy flicked his eyes at us before turning back to Geryon, his concentration intensified. He started stabbing at Geryon, death blows all of them, but Geryon just laughed. He would have had a better time battling a hydra, for all the damage he was making. 

He realised that too and ran into the house. 

Geryon looked stunned. "Coward!" he cried. "Come back and die right!" 

He charged after him into the house and I lost sight of them both. I tried to wriggle around to see them through the windows but they were too high. 

Eurytion sighed and began filing the nails on his other hand. Orthus snorted and rolled over. 

"Your head's gonna go right there, Jackson!" Geryon yelled. "Next to the grizzly bear!" 

There was some scrambling and smashing. It was torture not being able to see, worse than watching. I felt like my heart was in my mouth. 

I heard Geryon laugh. "You fool! One arrow is no better than one sword." 

There came some thumping and then I heard the distinct sound of a bow being shot. Silence settled. My heart stopped. 

Eurytion was still studiously ignoring us. 

I heard whispering but it was too low for me to catch. The suspense was almost killing me. 

The door opened and Percy strolled out casually, like he hadn't just been fighting for his life. He met my eyes and smiled, and suddenly everything was alright. 

He bent over me and untied my gag first before slicing through my bonds. 

"How did you do it?" I gasped, resisting the urge to hug him. 

"I shot him with an arrow," he said casually, working on our friends bonds. Nico shrunk from him, but allowed him to cut through his bonds. 

"But you can't shoot," I said, massaging out my sore arms and legs. They'd stiffened from being tied down for so long. 

He merely grinned at me before turning to the barbecue and stoking up the flames. He tossed a few of the hamburger buns onto the fire and muttered a quick prayer. I guessed I was right when I guessed that Apollo was on our side. 

"Yay for Percy!" Tyson said. 

"Can we tie up the cowherd now?" Nico asked, staring at him darkly. 

Percy met my eyes briefly before turning to Eurytion. The immortal was still chilling at the picnic table, Orthus resting his two heads on his lap. He didn't look concerned at all as we all faced him, although I supposed if it came down to a fight, we'd still struggle to take him and the dog.