Percy POV
We were running for our lives. We had no idea where we were running, but we were running. I was trying to find another narrow passageway.
The beast dog was getting closer and closer.
"Percy, turning, right," Nico shouted. We took a shark right, which led us into a narrower passage, but it wasn't narrow enough.
Growls and howls erupted from behind us. The dog was pushing its way through narrow passageways. I turned to realize that the dog was bouldering the walls to get closer. It was only about 20 feet behind us now.
Suddenly, I tripped against a vine and fell forward. My head pounded in pain as I hit myself against the concrete wall. My elbows burned from the impact against the ground.
My head spun as I stood up again.
I felt a hard push against my back, which caused me to fall again. I scampered on the ground as the dog stood over me. This dog was bigger and scarier than the dog that was chasing Nico. His teeth were the size of my fingers. Drool poured over my chest and neck as I stared at the black dog above me.
"Percy, oh my god," Nico exclaimed.
I twisted my head to gaze at my friend. He had to leave before the dog got to him too. "Run, Nico, It's pointless," I shouted.
Nico didn't move as his eyes shook with emotions. I turned back to the dog as my hands shot up and pushed against the dog's neck. I was barely holding the dog from biting my head.
The dog's golden eyes shone with hunger and aggression. My arms burned from the pressure from the dog. I was only prolonging my death.
This was it. This is how my life ends, I thought.
Suddenly, immense pain exploded into my stomach. I noticed the dog's paw pressing into my stomach. Blood splurted out of the injury.
I shouted in pain before twisting my body. The torque was enough to flip the dog to the side. His head smashed into the concrete wall, which temporarily dazed the beast. We were in a very narrow tunnel, so it didn't separate us that much. However, it gave me enough leverage to stand up and run.
Fortunately, Nico listened to me and left. I couldn't see him anymore due to the darkness, but I could still hear his echoing footsteps.
I followed in the same direction.
I groaned and yelped as my hands tightly clutched my stomach. The blood flowed down my shirt and pants, and my fingers barely contained the heavy flow. Each step splurted more blood out of my injury.
A loud howl echoed from behind. I didn't dare look behind me because I didn't want to know how close the beast dog was.
After reaching the end of the pathway, I didn't know which way Nico went, so I turned right again. My vision blurred as I leaned against the wall.
Keep going in the same direction, the whispers repeated.
That was the validation I needed to continue. I blinked multiple times to clear my vision before starting to run again. Barks and thundering steps vibrated in my ears. Blood seeped all over my stomach and arms.
I was ready to give up when I saw a tunnel.
Literally, it was a tunnel (not a passageway). A small cave opened along the wall, and I immediately slid into it. I crawled painfully for a few feet.
The beast dog's loud barks echoed through the tunnel. It was scratching the entrance of the tunnel, but it was too large to enter. Honestly, the tunnel wasn't even large enough for me to sit straight.
I clamped my ears to block the extra noise. Everything hurt.
My back arched as I leaned against the wall of the tunnel. I was in 95% darkness now since it was a closed tunnel. My eyes had adjusted to the dim setting though.
I took my shirt off before gazing at my injury. There were three deep gashes against the right side of my abdomen. They tore my abdominal skin and muscles.
I practically fainted after seeing the wound. It looked that horrific.
I used my shirt to apply pressure to the injury. The dog's barking lightened, but it was still growling outside of the tunnel's entrance. Darkness was the only way to go.
Crawling through the tunnel was very slow and difficult. I tried my best to keep applying pressure, and it did help with stopping the bleeding. However, I had already lost a lot of blood and energy.
Not to mention, I was hungry and thirsty.
The journey through the small tunnel was grueling. I didn't know where I was going, and the darkness seemed to stretch forever.
Keep going forward, the walls whispered.
I finally reached the end, and I almost passed out. The tunnel opened into a large clearing. It was the first open field that I came across in the labyrinth. It was a grassy field, and the moonlight from above illuminated the boulders and concrete walls around me. Bushes and trees were growing in the corners of the field.
It was a rectangular field surrounded by concrete. Each wall had one wide alleyway leading into an unknown section of the maze.
If I had to guess, this was the middle of the labyrinth.
I cautiously stood up and walked forward a few steps. Smoke was rising from the far side of the field. I couldn't see who was there, but someone had to have made a fire. Hope nestled in my burning chest.
My body got accustomed to the pain, but sometimes, it would explode in sensation. Blood still leaked out of my body. I'd have to stop walking and breathe to control myself. Gods, I probably looked like trash.
I realized that the smoke was originating from behind a giant rock. The stone was taller than one story garage, and I had to walk around. My blooded hand trailed the smooth stone as I readied myself for what was behind the barrier.
"PERCY, OH MY GOD," Piper exclaimed.
She immediately stood up and ran towards me. My body exploded in pain as her body collided with mine. Her arms hugged me tightly. The blood on my hands soaked the back of her shirt as I hugged her back.
Gods, I was so grateful to see her.
Thalia, Leo, Jason, and Will were sleeping on the ground around the fire. Piper must've been keeping watch.
"Okay, Piper, I need you to release me now. You're hurting me," I groaned.
"Percy, I didn't realize," Piper said.
Piper gasped as she pulled away. Her eyes lingered against my blood-soaked clothing. Her hand reached forward and pulled my hand away from my abdomen. Her eyes widened and she winced as she analyzed my injury.
"It's a good thing that Will is here. He actually has a mini first-aid kit with him. Maybe, he can help you like he helped Leo," Piper said.
She quickly led me to the group. I noticed that Leo was indeed injured. His foot had a makeshift splint wrapped around the ankle. Even so, it looked horribly displaced. Gods, it must've been painful.
"What happened to Leo?" I asked quietly.
"Thalia and I met each other pretty quickly. I can't imagine walking through that maze alone. By nighttime, we found this field and we settled down. Jason said that Leo got hurt after a beast dog launched him several yards into the air," Piper explained.
"Jason practically carried Leo for a few hours before finding us here. Leo, of course, knew how to make a fire. Fortunately, Will found us next."
I groaned as I sat down. Piper quietly shook Will. He jolted awake and frantically looked around. Pipe rubbed his arm to calm him down.
"Hey, Will, don't worry. Everything's relatively fine," I said quickly.
"Percy, oh my god, what happened to you?" Will exclaimed. He quickly crawled to my side and started working on my injuries.
"Same thing that happened to Leo. Beast dogs."
"Percy, I sleep with a mini first-aid kit under my pillow. I managed to grab it before they dropped us here. I can stitch and pad your injury," Will expressed. "However, it's gonna hurt like hell."
"Just do it," I whispered. "I'd rather feel pain than die."
I laid down. My head leaned against Piper's thigh. She gave me a stick to bite down on and started holding my body steady.
Then, Will Solace started stitching my abdomen.
The pain was immeasurable. My eyes scrunched shut, and my jaw hurt from how tightly I was biting down on the stick. My legs moved on their own accord as tears flowed down my cheeks. I was getting stitched while completely conscious.
Piper and Will worked hard to hold my body steady. Jason woke up and helped them.
"Almost done, Percy, please just hold on," Will comforted.
The pain managed to knock me unconscious though. Honestly, I was glad that the pain dissipated into darkness. I had resisted the huge to sleep for so long, so I graciously allowed the darkness to creep into my body, mind, and soul.
...
The others didn't know that the walls whispered. They were astounded after I told them that the walls gave clues on which way to go. We quickly realized that the South passageway was the correct route to take.
The sun was shining brightly, so it was easy to figure out directions.
We followed the whispers for hours. My body shook with a fever. It was pretty cold last night, and my injury was also causing me to get a fever.
Will did a fairly decent job of stitching my gashes. Honestly, it was quite ugly and dirty. An infection would be inevitable if I didn't clean myself soon.
Leo was having the most difficult time during the journey. Since his wound wasn't quickly fixable, he had to painfully walk with a broken bone. Will tried to set it, but the injury was still causing Leo a lot of pain.
Jason and Will took turns helping Leo during the journey.
We walked for a long time before coming into a long passageway. It was a wide path without any more intersections or turns. Literally, a straight path stretched for almost a mile.
Stay forward. Go south. Keep moving forward.
The wall whispers emphasized that we were on the right path. I was optimistic that we were on the home stretch.
I wanted out of this wretched labyrinth.
It took us almost forty minutes to walk one mile. We were traveling at a very slow pace because of Leo and Thalia, but I didn't mind. I was simply grateful that we didn't run into any beast dogs.
The long passageway opened into another field.
Half a football field separated us from another concrete wall. However, this wall had a large brown door in the middle (labeled exit).
Two girls and a boy were sitting on a boulder near the exit. Annabeth, Rachel, and Nico seemed to be waiting for more people.
They stood up when they saw us emerge out of the darkness.
Annabeth. She looked so beautiful and desirable. Her eyes sparkled as I approached her. The sun highlighted her golden-blonde hair.
I instinctively went towards her.
"Wise Girl," I whispered. My arms wrapped around her waist as I hugged her. Her hands went into my hair as our embrace tightened.
"Thank the gods that you're okay, Seaweed Brain."
Everyone was so happy about reuniting. It was a happy occasion to see that everyone was okay when the likelihood of death was so imminent (via starvation, exhaustion, or mauling).
"Did Frank and Hazel not make it yet?" Nico asked.
"Frank and Hazel already went inside. Hazel had a serious injury, and we ordered them to go inside. If they went back to Sector 3, they could use the resources (ie first-aid)," Rachel explained.
Annabeth gently touched my bare stomach. My shirt was bloodied and dirty, so I didn't bother wearing it. her gray eyes sparkled with tears as she looked up at my face.
"I'm okay, Wise Girl. I'm glad to be back with you," I whispered.
I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. I couldn't express how happy I was to know that Annabeth was okay. Annabeth was smart and powerful; I knew that she'd survive. Even so, I was glad to reunite with her.
Jason and Piper looked at us knowingly. Thalia was smiling quietly.
We started to walk towards the brown doors. Despite the odds, everyone managed to get out of the labyrinth. This was a huge, positive light.
We were walking past the last boulder when growling resounded around us. Everyone froze as two beast dogs emerged from behind the large gray stone.
"Everyone, RUN," Jason shouted.
He grabbed Piper's hand, and they bolted. Will and Rachel wrapped their arms around Leo and carried him towards the brown doors. Thalia started running as well.
Annabeth ran to the side while Nico ran in the opposite direction. I followed Annabeth after realizing their plan. They were trying to distract the dogs so that the others could get through.
I grabbed Annabeth and pulled her behind the boulder.
The dog had almost tackled her to the ground. It had barely missed her.
Annabeth pulled out a wooden shiv. It seemed to be carved from a thick stick. There was dried blood already on the wood.
"Nico and I already talked about this a little bit. If we're going to use Somnus, we need to do it now when they can't completely detect us."
"Annabeth, I can't-"
We ran to the left as the dog crashed into the boulder. Annabeth lunged forward and stabbed the knife into the beast dog's throat. Whimpers and growls erupted out of the animal as Annabeth twisted the shiv.
The dog crumbled to the ground.
My eyes widened as I gazed at Annabeth in awe. "That was incredibly hot, Wise Girl," I whispered in shock. I meant it.
She was powerful, intelligent, and beautiful on the inside and out.
Before we could celebrate, Nico started running towards us. The other beast dog was short on his tail. Nico ducked as the dog jumped at him.
I shouted as the dog tackled me to the ground. My head pounded against the stone as I stared at the dog. My vision blurred, and my stomach started to bleed again.
Annabeth stabbed her shiv into the dog's eye. Black blood spurted over my face and chest as Nico pushed the dog off of me.
I stared at the dead animal lying next to me. What the hell?
Annabeth and Nico moved closer to me. They had serious expressions on their faces, and I knew what was coming next. They wanted to initiate our plan, but I didn't.
However, our options were very limited.
...