Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
{ 🔮 } · love and death are similar things . ݁ ٬٬ ࣪
THE GROUP RODE boar until sunset, which was about as much as Endora's ass could take. Imagine riding a giant steel brush over a bed of gravel all day. That's about how comfortable boar-riding was. She had no idea how many miles they covered, but the mountains faded into the distance and were replaced by miles of flat, dry land. The grass and scrub brush got sparser until they were galloping ( do boars gallop? ) across the desert. As night fell, the boar came to a stop at a creek bed and snorted. He started drinking the muddy water, then ripped a saguaro cactus out of the ground and chewed it, needles and all.
"This is as far as he'll go," Grover said. "We need to get off while he's eating."
Nobody needed convincing. They slipped off the boar's back while he was busy ripping up cacti. Then the group waddled away as best they could with their saddle sores. After its third saguaro and another drink of muddy water, the boar squealed and belched, then whirled around and galloped back toward the east.
"It likes the mountains better," Percy guessed.
"I can't blame it," Thalia said. "Look."
Ahead of them was a two-lane road half covered with sand. On the other side of the road was a cluster of buildings too small to be a town: a boarded-up house, a taco shop and a white stucco post office with a sign that said GILA CLAW, ARIZONA hanging crooked above the door. Beyond that was a range of hills. . . but then Endora noticed they weren't regular hills. The countryside was way too flat for that. The hills were enormous mounds of old cars, appliances, and other scrap metal. It was a junkyard that seemed to go on forever.
"Whoa," Percy said.
"Something tells me we're not going to find a car rental here," Thalia said.
Endora bit her lip. The energy of this place was giving her off vibes, like they shouldn't step there; like something bad will happen. "I don't like this," she said, "Something is off about this place. . ."
"What?" Zoë asked, raising an eyebrow at the girl.
Death. That's what she is sensing. But she kept it to herself, not wanting to scare any of her friends ( companions? on what term are they? ). Endora shook her head.
Thalia looked at Graver. "I don't suppose you got another wild boar up your sleeve?"
Grover was sniffing the wind, looking nervous. He fished out his acorns and threw them into the sand, then played his pipes.
"That's us," he said. "Those six nuts right there."
