Page 58 of Poseidon's Trident
“Shut it before you scare him again and I do end up in the ocean,” Greyson whispers.
“Aww, I would laugh so hard at that.”
“I’ll get you for that later,” he says with a grin.
“Promises, promises,” Raven sings.
We get to the shore, giggling at their antics, and I pat the hippocampus’ head again as I hop off his back into ankle-deep water. It’s better than swimming to the island though.
“Where do you think the giant crab is?” I ask.
“Maybe we should follow the carnage.” Jayden points to a trail in the sand that appears to be blood.
The sand is no longer white but stained a dark brown and packed together in clumps, and small bits of human flesh litter the area around it. Bile crawls up my throat, burning my esophagus as I gag at the sight.
“Ugh, why do monsters have to be so gross?” I ask.
“Because they’re monsters?” Raven bumps my shoulder with hers.
“Just be glad your nose isn’t as good as a shifter’s.” Greyson frowns.
“It still smells awful even though I’m not a shifter,” Jayden grunts.
“Right. Same.” I hold a hand over my nose but it’s no use.
The stench is already tickling at my senses. My stomach roils at the awful smell. Why do monsters have to be so vile? Human bones litter the ground as we follow the blood trail deeper into the trees.
“Was that a finger?” Raven asks.
“I don’t know and I really don’t want to know.” I shudder.
“I actually think it’s a toe.” Greyson gags.
“I don’t care. It’s gross.” I pick up my pace.
Get away from the toe on the ground. This is fucking disgusting. It’s almost worse than the sirens. I actually almost prefer them to walking into the unknown carnage and having no idea how to destroy a giant crab thing.
“Watch your step,” Jayden says.
He steps over a large bone on the path in front of us and I squeak at the sight. It’s huge and appears to be a femur.
This is fucking fantastic.
“Eww,” I groan as Jayden grabs my hand and I carefully step over it.
“That’s bigger than the leg bone I threw for Cerberus.” Raven steps over it behind me.
“At least with Cerberus he wasn’t actually going to kill us.” I scan the trees.
There’s no sign of the monster. How is it that we can’t find a giant crab on a small deserted island that shouldn’t even be here?
“Where do we find it?” Jayden runs a hand down his face.
“I don’t know. How does a giant crab blend into the trees?” I hang my head.
We walk for a long time around the island until we get to the center but there’s no giant crab. A small stream cuts through the space and I plop on the ground.
“What the hell are we supposed to do?” I scan the area but there are no dryads or nereids in sight.
