The Darkness Within

Chapter 3

"So how exactly are we getting out?" I asked for the millionth time.

Pax sighed. "No wonder you're a seaweed brain."

I flinched at the old nickname.

"There is an exit in Upper Tartarus." she explained. "It is an emergency exit in case the gods fall down and can't get up." I laughed

"And how exactly did you get this information?" I smiled.

Pax shoved me. "Stole it of course. Right under your father's nose during the winter solstice meeting."

"Poseidon's not my father anymore. He disowned me."

Pax rolled her eyes. "Well I stole it from right under old Barnacle Beard's nose. The Olympians still don't know it's missing."

She took a map from her backpack. It showed a detailed route on to get to the exit.

"The journey should be fairly safe from monsters." she added. "The Olympians have it well protected. That's what I'm worried about."

I heard an all too familiar grunting in the distance.

"We should hurry." I said.

We finally reached the entrance to the cavern where the exit is. I made the mistake of turning around. My old foe stood up, horned and ugly as ever.

"Run!" I screamed as the Minotaur charged.

We managed to evade the Minotaur's first attack. I pulled out Moira and Pax pulled out an Imperial Gold sword. The Minotaur came back and began to claw at me. I tried to stab him, but he was on his home turf. He was faster and stronger. A small slash would not affect him.

Pax took her sword and thrust it into the monster's back. It howled in pain, but it was not fading. I stepped forward for the final kill. Moira easily cut into the beast's heart and it disappeared in a mountain of golden dust. All that was left was a horn, broken in half in perfect symmetry.

"I guess both of us take one." I suggested.

Pax nodded. "We make a pretty good team, Kelp Head."

We continued our journey into the dark cavern.

It seemed normal. One would think that an emergency exit would be more guarded, but nothing happened. It was almost as if...

Swish. I accidentally stepped on a wire. Something was coming to life.

"Oh gods." I heard Pax mutter.

Automations of a three-headed dog and a one-eyed giant came into view.

"I take the cyclops, you take the dog?" Pax joked.

"Here boy." I coaxed the dog. "Come get the rubber ball."

It growled back at me. No nice doggy for me.

Pax dashed onto the cyclops. It yelled as he tried to get her off. She took out her sword and took the machine's eye out.

I glanced at the dog. It had its legs hunched back, ready to pounce. I let it lunge at me. As it stood on top of me I took out my sword and thrust it into the core. The dog's eyes died from no energy.

Pax was busy taunting the blind Cyclops. He reached out to grab Pax, but she was behind him. She gave him a hard shove and he fell off the side of the cavern.

More machines began to wake up.

"Now that we have our two problems taken care of, let's get out of here before their friends wake up." Pax said.

"I couldn't agree more!"

We ran to the door, careful not to trip over more wires or land in other traps. After ten minutes or so we finally reached the door. It looked just like the Doors of Death and the elevator to Olympus. However, this door was covered in moss and red debris, as if it was abandoned. Pax quickly began to pick the lock.

Growls began to echo in the cavern. A huge mechanical hydra stood over us, with its seven heads illuminating the cave.

"Hurry up!" I cried.

Pax grunted. "I'm trying! This door's enchanted."

The hydra rushed over and swooped at me. I rolled to the side.

I shouted. "You wanna fight?"

It turned to face me. I jumped between two of its heads, then around the seventh.

The machine did not understand what I was doing. It kept knotting its heads and having to untie itself.

"Now!" I heard Pax shout.

I ran to the door as fast as I could, leaving an angry hydra behind us.

Unlike the Doors of Death and the Olympus elevator, the door did not lead to an elevator. Instead it shadow traveled us to an open desert.

Pax was hunched over. Apparently it was her first time shadow traveling.

I looked at the night sky. A familiar constellation winked back at me.

"Bob says hello, Zoe." I smiled.

Once Pax got over her motion sickness, she stood up and smoothed her jacket.

"I've got a place we can stay, Kelp Head, but you're not going to like it."

I waved her off. What can be worse than Tartarus?

A/N Can you guess where they're going? (Not Camp) This chapter is dedicated to my friend DragonofFantasy2

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