The Golden Amulet (PJO, Sequel to The Silver Ring)

Chapter 9

Unsurprisingly, Percy got lost in the first few minutes.

It wasn't really his fault; all the passages looked exactly identical with their dimly burning torches which made shadows dance on the dirt walls—not to mention the spiderwebs which would consequently have to spit out as he ran blindly through the silk, which was almost invisible in the dark caverns. He knew he had to be somewhere underground—but how far underground was he really? There could be miles upon miles of tunnels—and with his luck, he was probably heading away from where Rosaline and the others were being kept.

At one point, he stumbled upon some fresh footprints and had actually thought he was making progress, but a short distance after they just magically . . . disappeared.

Stupid caves and stupid Army of Void, Percy thought grouchily, kicking a loose clot of dirt forward through the passageway.

"What was that?" the voice of a young man asked a short distance away.

"Frand probably lost his damn dog again," a gruff voice responded. "C'mon, Levine. We better find it before he stirs every other guard up into a frenzy looking for it."

At the sound of their voices, Percy had initially frozen in shock, not expecting to actually be in the proximity of people—but as he heard their footsteps march closer, he looked around in panic. The closest split to another passage was a few minutes back, which he could easily get to, but he would still have no idea where he was. This was the perfect chance to find information on where to go, however, there was a chance they would shout as he tried to interrogate them. 

This is a golden opportunity I have to take, Percy convinced himself as he uncapped Riptide.

However, a few moments before he sprung out of his cover, an idea sprung into his mind—one that might as well backfire into his face, but the risk of his cover being blown was significantly less, since he could immediately clobber them if it failed. 

He quickly backtracked a good distance, until the guards' footsteps were but a whisper in the darkness. In a voice that was deeper and more commanding than his regular, he shouted, "Soldiers! Get back to your post!"

In the distance, their footfalls stopped. "Who are you?" the gruff man, asked tentatively.

Percy wasn't expecting the question, but if the uncertainty in the man's voice gave him any clues, he already looked up to Percy as a commander. "Why, er, I'm Major Rodriguez, of course! My voice is a bit . . . hoarse today, if you didn't notice."

"Major Rodriguez!" the young man, Levine said quickly. "Of course we recognized you!"

Percy wasn't sure whether he actually had guessed a major's name or Levine was just playing along just in case he had forgotten a leading officer, but he wasn't going to complain.

"We were just looking for Captain Frand's dog, Major," Levine continued. "We heard some kind of scuffle and went to investigate."

"Even so, that's not your job," Percy countered, coming up with his words on the fly. "You should've notified another squad, just in case it wasn't Frand's dog. Levine, I know you're still training, but this is a breach of the code that wouldn't just put your life in danger, it would put the whole army at risk of getting attacked or found out."

"I understand, sir," Levine said glumly. 

"However, you've caught me in a good mood." Percy wasn't sure why he still hadn't been caught yet. "I might let this slip just this one time if you do a small favor for me before returning to your posts . . ."

"Anything, Major," the gruff man quickly cut in, sounding relieved.

"Glad to hear it, soldier," Percy praised. "I need to speak to Captain Aurelia urgently. I checked the with the soldiers in the interrogation room she was supposed to be at a few minutes ago, and they told me she was in 'Central Base.' Do you boys have any idea where that might be?"

"Well, sir," Gruff Voice started, clearing his throat. "I believe I can infer that Central Base is referring to our headquarters, where our other captives are held. If I may, when did you check in with the soldiers? We had been notified that they had be neutralized by the captive, who escaped . . ."

They already found out? Percy thought.

"And where exactly is Central Base from here?" Percy asked, completely ignoring his question. "I may have gotten lost—but don't you dare tell my wife about this! That woman would shout at me for a few hours . . ."

There was another pause, and Percy thought he went too far, but then Levine told him the directions to the headquarters.

"Thank you, boys. You've made an old man happy. And Levine, you might get a promotion."

"Yes sir!" Levine replied gleefully. "Thank you sir!"

"If I may again, sir," Gruff Voice cut in again as Percy turned to escape before they realized they were duped, "Could you please tell me your unit code?"

Of course not, Percy wanted to say, but he tamped it down. "I'm sure I've got it written down here somewhere," Percy muttered, purposely loud enough so the soldiers could barely hear him. He made a show of loudly patting his pockets, as though he was searching. "Give me a minute."

"Take your time, sir," Levine added respectfully.

"Thank you," Percy replied.

Then he silently ran away towards the headquarters.

~~~

Oh no, was Percy's first thought as he looked around.

When Percy thought of "headquarters," he imagined a building where all the important stuff happened, and all the important people stayed—free or tied up, depending on if they were an enemy, or a friend.

What he didn't expect, was that all of this was happening in one room—which was significantly harder to sneak into. Or in Percy's case, one, gigantic cavern, as wide as a city block with a stone roof situated so high he wondered if they were a quarter of the way to the core of the planet. There were dozens of passageways all connecting to this central room. In one corner, blacksmiths were forging new weapons, the steel they held in their gloved hands glowing as though it was possessed. In another, soldiers were sparring with each other, the smell of sweat permeating through the whole cavern, while at the center, important people—distinguishable with their jewel-encrusted hilts of their swords and decorated uniforms—watched over everything with their hands on their hips. Captain Aurelia was one of them.

There was one thing Percy couldn't find, however; the captive section. The guards might have lied to him knowing he wasn't actually their leading officer, or straight up didn't know the layout of the base. Whatever it was, Percy still didn't know where Rosaline was—

"I'm telling you, Levine," Gruff Voice said. "He definitely is heading towards headquarters. We better find him, or we'll both get kicked out."

"I still can't believe I'm not going to get a promotion," Levine grumbled

For the second time of the day, Percy froze. They were right behind him.

And this time, if he tried to take them out, the whole compound would be alerted.