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Of course, the passage finished in a giant boulder after one hundred yards. We skidded to a stop before it. Ragged breathing and lumbering footfalls reverberated behind us.

"Sounds like a Laestrygonian." Raiden cracked her knuckles. "I'll get him!"

"No!" Annabeth said quickly. "We have to keep moving."

"Fine. I'll move this thing." She thrust her shoulder against the massive rock with a grunt. Dust fell from the ceiling.

"Be careful!" Grover warned. "Don't make the roof cave!"

The boulder moved with a horrid grinding noise that grated on my ears. I gritted my teeth, blocking out the cacophony.

"Move it, people!" Raiden urged, massaging her shoulder and pushing the boulder into a small room.

"Block the entry!" Annabeth said.

Tyson shoved the boulder back into place, initiating a wail of frustration from the thing pursuing us.

"Well, that solves that problem," Percy said. "Now we just have to—"

"We're trapped," Grover interrupted.

The opposite wall of the twenty-foot-square concrete room was lined with metal bars. Our corridor had steered us straight into a cell.

***

"What is this?" Annabeth pulled on the bars, but they refused to move.

Beyond them, I saw rows of cells in a circle around a shadowy courtyard—three levels of metal doors and catwalks. My heart started to race as I gazed at the courtyard. Although I could see into the courtyard, I knew the darkness was coming. I knew, here, it was finally going to devour me. I could almost hear Kronos whispering in my ear: Your time is up, little huntress.

I shuddered and grasped the grips of my daggers, forcing myself to remain collected. 

"What's wrong?" Percy asked.

"Nothing," I said. "Where are we?"

"Alcatraz," Annabeth answered. "The island prison in San Fransisco Bay."

"We're in San Fransisco?" I gulped, clutching the grips of my daggers harder to stop my hands from shaking. My entire hands turned white.

"Yes."

"That's fun," Raiden muttered. "That's really fun. Maybe we—"

"Wait!" Grover said. "Do you hear that?"

I tuned into my hearing. Terrified sobbing reverberated above our heads throughout the prison, accompanied by a raspy voice speaking in a language that sounded like rocks in a tumbler. Chills tumbled down my spine. Every instinct was urging me to flee.

"What's that thing saying?" Percy whispered.

"Let's go." Raiden grabbed two bars, and as though they were clay, bent them wide enough for us to step through individually. Tyson hurried through, looking worried.

We passed through and jogged after him. Suddenly, the most revolting aroma I'd ever smelled reached my nostrils. I inhaled and gagged. My nose told me that the monster we were about to confront was ancient and poisonous.

"Stop!" Grover threw out an arm to stop us. "Tyson!" He seized the Cyclops's arm. "Don't you see her?"

Everyone followed to where Grover was pointing, and my stomach plummeted down to the ocean floor.

The creature below us resembled a centaur with the upper body of a woman, but in place of a horse's lower body, she had a dragon's form: obsidian scales, enormous claws, and a spiky tail. Where her legs should have been were hundreds of vipers, with their fangs exposed. Her hair was a writhing mass of snakes. If that wasn't enough, where the woman and the dragon part met, the monster's skin shifted and bubbled, sporadically producing animal heads: a wolf, a lion, and a
bear.

"She's horrible," Tyson whimpered.

"Can anyone understand what she's saying?" Percy muttered. The dragon woman said something in a rumbling language. "And what even is she?"

"Kampê," Raiden answered. "I'll translate."

When she next spoke, it was in a raspy, female voice that made the hairs on my neck stand straight up. "You shall serve the master or face torment."

"Who's Kampê?" Percy frowned. "And what language is Raiden speaking in?"

"Tongue of the ancient times," Tyson murmured. "The language of Gaea and her children."

"Okay, but who's Kampê?"

"The jailer of the Cyclopes," Annabeth replied.

"After Uranus was, uh, defeated, and the Titans took over, they imprisoned the Hekatonkheires and the Cyclopes."

"What else is she saying, Raiden?" I asked.

Raiden continued in a defeated and wounded tone. "I shall not work."

She switched back to Kampê's voice. "In that case, I shall savor your suffering, Briares." Tyson gasped at the last word. "If you found your first confinement unbearable, then you still have not felt true torture. Reflect on this before my return."

The monster trudged in the direction of the stairwell and unfolded her enormous bat-like wings. She jumped off the catwalk, glided over the courtyard, and vanished around the corner.

I caught of whiff of her scent again and gagged. "She smells disgusting."

"Yeah," Grover whimpered. "That about sums that up."

"One thing," Percy said, "who are the Heka-honk-Ares?

"Hekatonkheires," Annabeth corrected.

"Whatever."

"The Hundred-Handed Ones!" Tyson said excitedly, as though he were a fangirl reading about their OTP. "Big and powerful. Taller than mountains. So amazing!"

"Is that who's in the cell?" Percy asked.

"Yes! Briares, a Hundred-Handed One, can break mountains and—"

"Okay," Raiden interjected. "Let's go see what's up."

"Yeah," Annabeth agreed, "but before Kampê returns."
                                                                                             ***

We approached the cell, and the sound of crying amplified. The creature trapped inside looked even weirder than Janus, and that's saying a lot. He was about six feet tall, with extremely pale skin, the same hue as milk. He donned a loincloth like a giant diaper, and his feet appeared disproportionately large for his body, with eight toes on either foot and broken filthy toenails. The strangest part was his torso. Sprouted from his chest were innumerable arms, arranged in rows encircling his chest. They were so tangled that his chest looked like a mass of spaghetti someone had twisted together. Many of his hands were clasped over his face as he wailed.

Tyson rushed forward and called, "Briares!"

The wailing halted.

"Great Briares!" Tyson exclaimed. "Please help us!"

Briares glanced upward. His face was lengthy and depressed, with a crooked nose and broken teeth. His eyes were a deep brown, devoid of any pupils or white, like soil after a rainfall.

"Flee while Kampê is still gone, Cyclops," he said dejectedly. "I am unable to assist myself."

"But you are a Hundred-Handed One!" Tyson persisted. "There is nothing you can't do."

"No, I cannot," Briares groaned. "Kampê has returned. The Titans shall win and cast us back into Tartarus!"

"Be brave!"

Briares's face instantly changed into something else. His brown eyes remained the same, but he had completely different features. He sported arched eyebrows, an upturned nose, and a strange smile, as though he was attempting to look brave. However, his expression quickly crumbled.

"I cannot," he said.

"Woah," Percy said. "That's cool."

"It is," Raiden agreed. "The Hekatonheires have fifty distinct faces."

My fear was beginning to fade, replaced by impatience. Did we need to know all these facts about monsters?

"Must be hard to take pictures of him," Percy muttered.

Annabeth elbowed Percy, and Grover cleared his throat. "Guys, I love the facts and everything, but we need to go. Kampê will be back any second."

"Come on, Briares," Tyson urged. "Smash the bars, and show us your awesome power!"

"He's not going to come," I said impatiently. "He's too scared. Let's just go."

Percy glared at me, and I glared right back. Annabeth shot me a That's not helpful in the slightest look then faced Briares again. "Come on, Briares," she encouraged. "You can do this."

Briares whimpered. "Kampê shall punish me. Her whip...it is terrible!"

"Don't you remember the last you fought the Titans?" she persisted. "You won!"

"Of course, I remember." Briares's brow furrowed. "Bolts of lightning shook the earth. We tossed countless rocks. The monsters and Titans nearly beat us. And now, they are growing powerful again. Kampê said it was happening!"

We all looked at each other and then at Briares. He hadn't moved. I was very tempted to leave him there. We'd already wasted time that could have been spent completing our quest trying to convince him to leave. Raiden apparently sensed my impatience and stepped forward.

"Briares, listen to me," she commanded. "I don't care if you're scared or how terrifying Kampê is—"
"Raiden, what are you doing?" Percy interrupted.

"Zip it, Jackson," Raiden barked, and he shut up. "I'm doing something." She faced Briares again. "I don't care how terrifying Kampê is, Briares. You are a Hundred-Handed One. You once freed the King of the Gods himself from a prison. You survived imprisonment in Tartarus, not once, but twice. I don't care what you think about yourself. You—are—a—survivor. You—are—strong. There is nothing  that can stop you."

"Except Kampê!" Briares's eyebrows shot up, as though he was flattered by Raiden's words.

"NO!" Raiden's voice echoed throughout Alcatraz. "Not even she can stop you. You--are--amazing, Briares. Now, stand up, and RETAKE YOUR FREEDOM!"

She seized the bars and ripped the entire cell door out of the wall as though it were paper. She offered Briares her hand. "Come on. Let's go."

Briares's face morphed into a half-scared, half-hopeful expression. He accepted her hand, and she pulled him to his feet and out of the cell.

"We have a problem." Percy pointed down at the ground floor.

Kampê gazed up at us, snarling, poised to kill.
                                                                          
                                                                                       ***

"Get behind me," Raiden commanded.

None of us needed telling twice. We scrambled behind her, although every instinct was telling me to flee. Raiden concentrated, brow furrowed. Sweat trickled down her face. Kampê soared upward to attack us and then she froze in midair.

"She'll only be frozen for two minutes," Raiden said, staggering slightly. Her face was drenched. "Lead the way, Annabeth!"

"Right." Annabeth seemed to shake herself out of a daze. "Right. Follow me!"

We followed. Annabeth dashed down a flight of stairs, through a corridor, and into another cell block. She sprinted left, and we emerged outside into a prison yard where tourists were milling around, snapping photos. In the north, I saw Mount Orthys, swirling with storm clouds. I stopped dead, transfixed by the horrid sight.

"Ainsley, what are you doing?" Raiden yelled, but I didn't really hear her.

My heart pounded.

My legs quaked.

I couldn't move.

My vision turned foggy and then I was plunged into the frigid shadows that haunted and hunted me. My breath was seized from my lungs. I wanted to scream but all I could do was flail. I was drowning in the darkness.

Your fault, the voice of Kronos taunted...or was it my own? Your fault.

The glacial shadows penetrated my skin, my heart, and my soul, freezing my blood, and piercing every inch of my body. An excruciating pain erupted on my navel, in the exact spot where Atlas had impaled me the previous winter. I wanted to fight, to destroy the darkness, but I couldn't.

I was trapped inside my own nightmare.

"Ainsley! Ainsley!" Someone was slapping my face.

I gasped. My vision cleared abruptly. I was lying on the cement ground of the prison, trembling. I was drenched in cold sweat. Raiden and Agro's blurred faces were above me.

"Are you okay?" Raiden asked gently. She glanced over her shoulder and then back at me. "Can you stand?"

"Raiden," Annabeth's voice yelled, "we have to go! She's here!"

"Can you stand?" Raiden repeated urgently.

I opened my mouth to respond, but no words escaped I tried to speak but to no avail. It was as though someone had twisted my vocal cords into knots.

"RAIDEN!" Percy bellowed. "COME ON!"

I heard screams from mortals and then what seemed like an exploding wall.

"Agro, let's go!" Raiden scooped me in her right arm and sprinted off.

"I...don't...want..." I protested feebly.

"I don't care if you don't want me to carry you!" As she passed, Raiden pulled a light pole out of the ground as though it was a toothpick. "I'm doing it anyway!"

She hurled the light over her shoulder then dashed around a corner, toward the wharf. A hiss of fury and a nasty CRACK! informed me that she'd nailed Kampê in the chest and then broken one of the dragon lady's legs.

"We need to go back into the maze," Raiden told the others as we caught up. "I only bought us about fifteen seconds."

"Can't you slow time down?" Percy asked.

"I did, but she's a powerful monster, Percy. And freezing time takes a lot of out me. Let's go."

We dashed for the cellblocks. The steel door was closed. Without even stopping, Raiden barreled straight through and splintered the door from its hinges.

There was a furious roar from behind us. Kampê was closing in. Over Raiden's shoulder, I could see poison dripping from her dual swords.

"She will get me!" Briares wailed. "I cannot go on!"

"Yes, you can!" Percy insisted. "Come on!"

"There!" Annabeth led us into the cell we'd entered from and stared at the barren cement back wall. "Where's the mark?"

"Right here!" Grover touched a small crack. It transformed, becoming the Greek letter A. Daedalus's symbol glowed sapphire, and the cement wall opened.

It was too slow. Kampê was still approaching, destroying cells with her swords. Nothing was stopping her.

"Get inside!" Raiden deposited me just behind the wall. Percy, Annabeth, Agro, and Briares rushed in next. Raiden thrust her shoulders against the wall and forced it to open completely. "Tyson, Grover, go!"

The pair rushed inside just as Kampê burst into our cell. But Raiden was still outside. She turned to dash inside when Kampê raised her swords.

"NO!" I screamed, forgetting the terror of my vision.

I charged forward. I couldn't lose anyone else I loved. Not now. Not again.

"Ainsley, don't!" Annabeth seized my left arm.

I reacted without thinking. I dropped my right shoulder and rammed my right elbow backward. Annabeth grunted in pain and released my arm.

"Ainsley, why did you do that?" To my relief, Raiden grabbed my arm and pulled me along as we sprinted into the darkness. The entire corridor shook as Kampê slammed her fists on the door, roaring lividly.

"Annabeth was stopping me from helping you!" I snapped. "No one gets to do that, not even warriors like her."

"I was fine! I don't need to be protected!"

I didn't respond. I knew Raiden could protect herself. I knew all my Hunters could protect themselves. But after what had happened last winter, I couldn't allow any of them to be hurt.

The consequences would be devastating if I did.