𝙇𝙮𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙨 (𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙮 𝙅𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙭 𝙁𝙚𝙢! 𝙊𝘾) 𝙏𝙏𝘾

We Talk and Talk and Talk and Bring up Trauma and Talk

They travelled until sunset, which was about as long as Sylvia could last without murdering Percy.

She wasn't exactly sure how many kilometres they'd covered, but the mountains faded into the distance and were replaced by miles of flat, dry land. The grass and few plants got more and more sparse until they were galloping across the desert.

As night fell, the boar came to a stop at a creek bed and snorted. He started to drink the muddy water, then ripped a saguaro cactus out of the ground, needles and all.

"This is as far as he'll go," Grover said. "We need to get off while he's eating, or..."

"Death," Sylvia finished his sentence.

"No, he's just gonna befriend us." Thalia snorted.

They slipped off the boar's back while he was busy ripping up cacti. They 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 much better," Percy guessed.

"Can't blame it," Thalia said. "Look."

Ahead of the group was a two-lane road half-covered in sand. On the other side of the road was a cluster of buildings too small to be a town: a boarded-up shop that looked like it hadn't been open since before Queen Elizabeth was born, and a white stucco post office with a sign that said GILA CLAW, ARIZONA hanging above the door. Beyond that was a range of hills...but they weren't normal hills. They were enormous mounds of old cars, appliances, and other scrap metal. It was a junkyard that seemed to go on forever.

"Whoa," Lux breathed.

I will check this area for monsters, Fawkes told Sylvia from above, flying north.

Got it.

"Something tells me we're not finding a car rental here," Thalia said. 

Sylvia looked at Grover. "I don't suppose you've got another boar or...something that isn't as painful up your sleeve?"

The satyr in question was sniffing the wind, looking nervous. He fished out his acorns and threw them into the sand, then played his pipes. Sylvia winced at a couple wrong notes, but the song was close enough to the real thing to work just fine. 

"That's us," he said, looking concerned. "Those seven nuts right there."

"Which one is me?" Percy asked.

"That little deformed one," Zoe suggested.

The comment was so unexpected, Sylvia cackled and high-fived the lieutenant.

"Oh, shut up." Percy crossed his arms.

"The cluster right there," Grover continued, pointing to the left, "that's trouble."

"A monster?" Bianca asked.

Lux shuddered from beside Sylvia.

Grover looked uneasy. "I don't smell anything, which doesn't make sense. But the acorns don't lie. Our next challenge..."

He pointed straight toward the junkyard. With the sunlight (sadly) almost gone, the hills of metal looked like something on an alien planet.

Sylvia pursed her lips. It was going to be dark soon. Lux seemed to realize the same thing, as they stepped closer to her and discreetly grabbed her hand.

There are no monsters--from what I can tell--for at least a 500-metre radius, Fawkes reported, making Sylvia jump at the sudden voice in her head.