Page 117 of Poseidon's Trident
“I still don’t know.” I lean forward and glance at the map. “Do we even know where they are in this strait?”
“If we are going by the stories, then they will probably be here.” Raven points to the spot where the two sides of the strait are closest to each other.
“Yeah, that makes sense. Scylla will be on this side.” I point to the left island. “She inhabits her own island and is a giant crab-like creature.”
Fucking crabs. Just like fucking snakes and lions. It’s all bullshit.
“I think I’m our best chance of escape,” Thad says again.
“We’re driving into the strait,” Greyson says from his spot looking out the porthole. “We probably have about ten minutes before we need a solid plan.”
“I say we take our chances with Scylla. I can use my lightning to keep her at bay.” I tap my fingers on the worn table.
“She’s fast, B. What if we don’t even see her before she snaps at us?” Raven asks.
“We don’t have any other good options.”
“Yes, we do,” Thad says. “I can do this.”
“What if she turns on you and no one is there to help you?” I ask, throwing up my hands.
“I’ll be fine. I’m the son of Poseidon. I can swim fast.”
“Faster than a giant whirlpool?” I raise a brow at him.
“Probably, but it will get you guys and the boat safe passage and I’ll meet you on the other side of the strait.” Thad grins.
I don’t like it but he has a point. With Charybdis out of the way, we won’t be close enough for Scylla to attack. We could be the first to get through the strait between the two sea monsters in all of history, not like I’m going to brag about it or anything, but maybe we can all get through this together.
“Fine. You have five minutes to distract her not a minute more. If you can’t get the whirlpool to stop, we are changing course and going closer to Scylla.” I glance at everyone.
They all nod and stand as we prepare for some of the scariest monsters in the sea. We can’t defeat them. No demigod ever has. I hope getting past them will be enough to get rid of them. Like the boar. We just had to chain it to defeat it. Just like Heracles did.
We’re banking on this being the same concept as the boar and the fountain of Apollo. Once the magic is gone, they will be gone as well.
We trudge up the stairs to the deck and I lean on the ledge on my elbows. There are land masses on either side of the boat and if the sun was out, they would be blotting it out.
The water is murky but I dare not search its depths. Are there bodies down there of the people that the beasts killed? What about the wreckage of all those ships that the creatures terrorized?
I glance away from it, staring as we get closer to the midpoint of the strait.
“What is that?” Cal calls from the captain’s chair.
We race to the front of the boat and Cal points to the swirling water. The whirlpool is fucking huge and takes up a third of the sea here.
“That would be Charybdis. It’s go time, Thad.” I clap him on the shoulder.
Thad winks at me as he rips his shirt over his head and tosses it on the deck. “I’ll see you on the other side, guys.”
Thad dives in the water and my heart skips. My stomach does a somersault as we wait to see what will happen. Will Thad be able to distract the goddess under the waves long enough to let us past or did we just send him to his doom?
“I hope he knows what he’s doing,” Jayden says.
He props his chin on my shoulder and we wait.
Two minutes go by, then three and four. There’s no sign of Thad anywhere. The whirlpool is exactly the same the entire five minutes. Fuck, we have to take our chances with the crab bitch. Great.
“Change course,” I say to Cal.
