THE BATTLE OF THE LABYRINTH Percy Jackson ... - No one's invited.

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The three-bodied man winked. “I make it my business to keep informed,darlin ’. Everybody pops into
the ranch from time to time. Everyone needs something from ole Geryon. Now, Mr.di Angelo, put that
ugly sword away before I have Eurytion take it form you.”
Eurytion sighed, but he hefted his spiked club. At his feet,Orthus growled.
Nico hesitated. He looked thinner and paler than he had in the Iris-messages. I wondered if he’d eaten
in the last week. His black clothes were dusty from traveling in the Labyrinth, and his dark eyes were full
of hate. He was too young to look so angry. I still remembered him as the cheerful little kid who played
withMythomagic cards.
Reluctantly, he sheathed his sword. “If you come near me, Percy, I’ll summon help. You don’t want to
meet my helpers, I promise.”
“I believe you,” I said.
Geryon pattedNico’s shoulder. “There, we’ve all made nice. Now come along, folks. I want to give you
a tour of the ranch.”
***
Geryon had a trolley thing—like one of thosekiddie trains that take you around zoos. It was painted
black and white in a cowhide pattern. The driver’s car had a set of longhorns stuck to the hood, and the
horn sounded like a cowbell. I figured maybe this was how he tortured people. He embarrassed them to
death riding around in the moo-mobile.
Nico sat in the very back, probably so he could keep an eye on us. Eurytion crawled in next to him with
his spiked club and pulled his cowboy hat over his eyes like he was going to take a nap.Orthus jumped in
the front seat next to Geryon and began barking happily in two-part harmony.
Annabeth, Tyson, Grover, and I took the middle two cars.
“We have a huge operation!” Geryon boasted as the moo-mobile lurched forward.“Horses and cattle
mostly, but all sorts of exotic varieties, too.”
We came over a hill, and Annabeth gasped.“Hippalektryons? I thought they were extinct!”
At the bottom of the hill was a fenced-in pasture with a dozen of the weirdest animals I’d ever seen.
Each had the front half of a horse and the back half of a rooster. Their rear feet were huge yellow claws.
They had feathery tails and red wings. As I watched, two of them got in a fight over a pile of seed. They
reared up on their wings at each other until the smaller one galloped away, its rear bird legs putting a little
hop in its step.
“Rooster ponies,” Tyson said in amazement. “Do theylay eggs?”
“Once a year!”Geryon grinned in the rearview mirror.“Very much in demand foromelettes !”
“That’s horrible!” Annabeth said. “They must be an endangered species!”
Geryon waved his hand. “Gold is gold, darling. And you haven’t tasted theomelettes .”