When Penny started to wake up, the only thing she knew was how much her head hurt.
She could see light through her eyelids, so she could tell it was daytime.
Penny tried to sit up, and became aware of pain in her ankle.
She took one look at and immediately wished she hadn't. It was bent in the wrong direction.
Penny turned away, trying to look at anything but her ankle.
She was in a large, dusty room. Sunlight filtered through several windows on various walls, two of them broken. A stack of old wooden crates sat in one corner of the room, across from Penny.
One of the creatures that had captured her sat on a folding chair, across the room. She got a better look at him now. At first glance, you would think he was a hobo. He wore faded jeans and an old plaid shirt that looked like they had come out of a dumpster. On second thought, they probably had. She could see his single bloodshot eye hidden beneath a moth-eaten cap.
Altogether, the cyclops was rather terrifying.
The door creaked open, making Penny jump. Another cyclops entered. He was smaller than the first, but no less frightening.
He was wearing an outfit similar to the other cyclops', only this one had a mace slung over his shoulder.
He spotted Penny and looked at her hungrily, like he wanted to eat her. For all Penny knew, he did.
The first cyclops spoke.
"No sign of the sea-spawn?" His voice was harsh and grating.
"None. Why do we keep the girl? We need food. It will make no difference whether she is dead or alive when the boy comes." The smaller cyclops' words chilled Penny to the bone. They were going to eat her?
Penny shuddered at the thought.
She wished she could get up and run. She needed to get out of this place. But she couldn't. Not with her ankle broken.
The first cyclops spoke again. "We will save her for when the boy comes. Then we can enjoy watching him as we kill her."
The smaller cyclops glared at the other. "I don't care about how he will feel when he sees us kill her. I'm hungry! Let us kill her now. It will bring him all the faster."
"No!" Penny screamed the word without thinking.
Both cyclopes turned.
"What?" The larger one asked.
Penny stared in fear, wishing she hadn't opened her mouth.
Then an idea came to her. She might as well use their attention while she had it.
She licked her dry lips, trying to build up the courage to speak. Finally, she said, "Who is it you're looking for?"
The small cyclops laughed, a sound that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.
"Do you not know, little girl? Do you not know? We are waiting for the Son of Poseidon to come to us."
Then they turned back to each other, leaving Penny with no answers, only more questions.