The Silver Ring (PJO)

Chapter 26

A/N-Thank you guys for all the support! how you have a nice day and enjoy! I've read your comments for a longer chapter. Unfortunately, I have already prewritten some chapters after this one, so look forward for Chapter 29, which will be the first longer one!

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I appeared five feet above the floor of the room.

I only had time to think Uh oh, before I fell to the ground, right on my head. I groaned in pain and rubbed my head. Then, I froze, not knowing where I was.

I heaved a sigh of relief as I realized the room was devoid of life, which made sense, as it was the middle of the night. It was the room I had seen through Nyx's portal. My earlier speculations were correct: It was a throne room with thirteen thrones. There was a central one facing the closed doors on the other side of the room, while there were six on either side, making a big semicircle. They all looked very different from the one next to them, creepily similar to how the Olympian throne room was arranged, with the thrones as tall as me.

The only big difference was the amount of power emanating off the thrones. For the Olympians', it wasn't much, like a persistent fly buzzing in your ear. But the ones in that throne room had so much power it almost crushed you, sort of like a chained-up, hungry bear trying to attack you. I had to try hard in order not to fall to my knees.

The most power seemed to be coming from the throne in the center. It looked like . . . a galaxy. It had planets and stars and satellites, all with the dark background of space. 

I shivered fear and practically ran to the door, not knowing if the super-powerful deities could detect me. Considering the amount of power from the thrones was only a tiny percentage of their real power, I wasn't sticking around to find out. Maybe Artemis and Thalia were right. Dad's probably dead—

I shook my head, trying to get rid of that thought. I put my ear on the door wincing as the cold, hard, and unforgiving metal made contact with my warm skin. I could hear faint, muffled voices coming closer.

I held my breath as they passed by, and waited until they were again faint. Then, I opened the door slowly, making sure to be extremely quiet. I looked left and right through the hallway, spotting two guards walking away from me. They were armed with spears and protected with full armor, making them a handful to deal with.

Only if they see the threat. I sneaked up behind them, making sure not to make a sound. Before taking them down, I listened to their conversation, trying to gain some clues of where to go next.

"Did you hear?" the one on the left said. "Lady Nyx has captured a god."

"The pesky sea one, right?" the guard on the right—the taller one—asked. When the shorter soldier nodded, Righty said, "I'm surprised he's not dead yet. How long has it been, three weeks?"

My eyes widened in shock. If the taller guard was correct, time passed much faster wherever I was.

"He probably wishes he was dead," Lefty said. "Especially if it was Nyx torturing him." They shared a laugh like sadistic maniacs.

At these words, I got angry. Righty was opening his mouth when I wrapped my arm around Lefty's neck, and started squeezing, choking him. 

Lefty dropped his spear on the ground in surprise, which clattered loudly. Righty started turning around. "Clarkson? What happened . . . ?" he trailed off as he saw me strangling his buddy. Before he realized what was really happening, I punched him straight in the face, fueled by anger, still restraining Lefty.

Since Righty was wearing a helmet, it hurt him as much as it probably hurt me. I cursed and shook my hand in pain as Righty stumbled backwards and fell onto the floor, out cold.

I shifted my focus onto Clarkson. "Where's Poseidon being held at?" I demanded, practically growling it. I loosened my hold a tiny bit on him, enough to let him talk freely, but still tight enough that it was very uncomfortable.

"In . . . Nyx's room!" the guard panted out. 

"Why the hell is he being held there?" I asked. When he didn't respond immediately, I started to slowly add pressure on his neck.

"I don't know!" Lefty exclaimed, in a desperate and honest tone.

"Where?" I asked, accepting his answer. 

Lefty merely pointed towards the direction he and Righty were going before I interrupted them, then said, "You'll know when you see it."

Then, I thanked him and went on my merry way.

Well . . . that was what I was hoping to do. Instead I thought about how he was laughing at my father, and I subconsciously started squeezing his neck tighter. By the time I realized what I was doing, he was limp and out cold.

I left both of them there, not bothering to drag them into another room. If somebody found them, it would divert their attention temporarily.

Seven minutes and five knocked-out guards later, I finally found the door. It had the right shape, size and material as a regular door, but it hummed with power, similar to Nyx's aura.

I cased the hallway one more time before turning my attention to the doorway, uncapping Riptide. I carefully took hold of the door handle and opened the door slowly.

The room's lights were off, and I couldn't hear any sound of a person inside, but Nyx had already pulled the same trick on me before.

Nevertheless, I stepped into the room, keeping Riptide in the ready position.

Two steps in, the door magically shut, like I was in a bad dream. Then the attack came.

The first one came from my front. My reflexes saved me by ducking under the stab.

I gulped. It didn't seem as though they were playing around.

And I was their target.