𐌙/𐌍 Ᏽ𐌵𐌀𐌋𐌄 & 𐌕𐋅𐌄 Ᏽ𐌐𐌄𐌀𐌕 𐌌𐌙𐌕𐋅𐌔 ¹

Chapter 16

Sixteen
𖧷

Nobody Finds The Fleece

  “I got Nobody!" Polyphemus gloated.

  We crept to the cave entrance and saw the Cyclops, grinning wickedly, holding up empty air. The monster shook his fist, and a baseball cap fluttered to the ground. There was Annabeth, hanging upside down by her legs.

  “Hah!” the Cyclops said. “Nasty invisible girl! Already got feisty one for wife. Means you gotta be grilled with mango chutney!”

  Annabeth struggled, but she looked dazed. She had a nasty cut on her forehead. Her eyes were glassy.

  "I'll rush him," I whispered to Clarisse. "Our ship is around the back of the island. You and Grover–"

  “No way,” they said at the same time.

  Clarisse had armed herself with a highly collectible ram’s-horn spear from the Cyclops’s cave. Grover had found a sheep’s thigh bone, which he didn’t look too happy about, but he was gripping it like a club, ready to attack. Percy had Riptide, now uncapped, over his hands.

  "We’ll take him together," Clarisse growled.

  "Yeah," Grover said. Then he blinked, like he couldn’t believe he’d just agreed with Clarisse about something.

  "All right," I said. "Attack plan Macedonia."

  They nodded. We’d all taken the same training courses at Camp Half-Blood. They knew what I was talking about. They would sneak around either side and attack the Cyclops from the flanks while I held his attention in the front. Probably what this meant was that we’d all die instead of just me, but I was grateful for the help.

  I hefted my sword and shouted, "Hey, Ugly!"

  The giant whirled toward me. “Another one? Who are you?”

  "Put down my friend. I’m the one who insulted you."

  “You are Nobody?”

  "That’s right, you stinky gobble walker," I actually did not know what the hell that meant, but it sounded like the Cyclops took it as a really bad insult. It didn't sound as good as Annabeth's insults, but it would do. "I am Nobody, and I am proud to announce it. Now get down here, I wish to stab your eye, again."

  “RAAAR!” he bellowed.

  The good news: he dropped Annabeth. The bad news: he dropped her headfirst onto the rocks, where she lay motionless as a rag doll.

  The other bad news: Polyphemus barreled toward me, a thousand smelly pounds of Cyclops that I would have to fight with a very small sword.

  "For Pan!" Grover rushed in from the right. He threw his sheep bone, which bounced harmlessly off the monster’s forehead. Clarisse ran in from the left and set her spear against the ground just in time for the Cyclops to step on it. He wailed in pain, and Clarisse dove out of the way to avoid getting trampled. But the Cyclops just plucked out the shaft like a large splinter and kept advancing on me.

  I moved in with my sword.

  The monster made a grab for me. I used shadows to dismount my body and appear again, stabbing his thigh.