THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH Percy Jackson ... - No one's invited.
THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH Percy Jackson ... - No one's invited.
THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH Percy Jackson ... - No one's invited.
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Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html<br />
Together we drew our swords.<br />
***<br />
We got to Zeus’s Fist, a huge pile of boulders in the middle of the west woods. It was a natural<br />
landmark where campers often rendezvoused on hunting expeditions, but now there was nobody around.<br />
“Over there,” Annabeth whispered.<br />
“<strong>No</strong>, wait,” I said.“Behind us.”<br />
It was weird. Scuttling noises seemed to be coming from several different directions. We were circling<br />
the boulders, our swords drawn, when someone right behind us said, “Hi.”<br />
We whirled around, and the tree nymph Juniper yelped.<br />
“Put those down!” she protested. “Dryads don’t like sharp blades, okay?”<br />
“Juniper,” Annabeth exhaled. “What are you doing here?”<br />
“I live here.”<br />
I lowered my sword.“In the boulders?”<br />
She pointed toward the edge of the clearing.“In the juniper.Duh.”<br />
It made sense, and I felt kind of stupid. I’d been hanging around dryads for years, but I never really<br />
talked to them much. I knew they couldn’t go very far away from their tree, which was the source of life.<br />
But I didn’t know much else.<br />
“Are you guys busy?” Juniper asked.<br />
“Well,” I said, “we’re in the middle of this game against a bunch of monsters and we’re trying not to<br />
die.”<br />
“We’re not busy,” Annabeth said. “What’s wrong, Juniper?”<br />
Junpersniffled. She wiped her silky sleeve under her eyes. “It’s Grover. He seems so distraught. All year<br />
he’s been out looking for Pan. And every time he comes back, its worse. I thought maybe, at first, he<br />
was seeing another tree.”<br />
“<strong>No</strong>,” Annabeth said as Juniper started crying. “I’m sure that’s not it.”<br />
“He had a crush on a blueberry bush once,” Juniper said miserably.<br />
“Juniper,” Annabeth said, “Grover would never evenlook at another tree. He’s just stressed out about<br />
his searcher’s license.”<br />
“He can’t go underground!” she protested. “You can’t let him.”<br />
Annabeth looked uncomfortable. “It might be the only way to help him; if we just knew where to start.”