Volcanic explosion

Afterwards, | could never describe what happened. An explosion, a tidal wave, a whirlwind of power simultaneously catching me up and blasting me downwards into the lava. Fire and water collided, superheated steam, and | shot up from the heart of the volcano in a huge explosion, just one piece of flotsam thrown free by a million pounds of pressure. The last thing | remember before losing consciousness was flying, flying so high Zeus would never have forgiven me, and then beginning to fall, smoke and fire and water streaming from me. | was a comet hurtling towards the earth.

| sat up, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in my head. | looked at my arms, sure that they would be hideously scarred, but they seemed fine. A little pinker than usual, but not bad. | was wearing a white cotton T-shirt and cotton drawstring trousers that weren’t mine. My feet were bare. In a moment of panic, | wondered what had happened to Riptide, but | felt in my pocket and there was my pen, right where it always reappeared.
Not only that but the Stygian-ice dog whistle was back in my pocket, too. Somehow it had followed me. And that didn’t exactly reassure me.
With difficulty, | stood. The stone floor was freezing under my feet. | turned and found myself staring into a polished bronze mirror.
‘Holy Poseidon,’ | muttered. | looked as if I’d lost ten kilos | couldn’t afford to lose. My hair was a rat’s nest. It was singed at the edges like Hephaestus’s beard. If | saw that face on somebody walking down a highway intersection asking for money, | would’ve locked the car doors.
| turned away from the mirror. The cave entrance was to my left. | headed towards the daylight.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said. ‘I’ve just grown used to caring for you. As to how you got here, you fell from the sky. You landed in the water, just there.’ She pointed across the beach. ‘I do not know how you survived. The water seemed to cushion your fall

r. | didn’t even know if Annabeth had made it out of the volcano. | tried to use my empathy link with Grover several times, but | couldn’t make contact. | hated not knowing if they were all right.
On the other hand, | really was weak. | couldn’t stay on my feet more than a few hours. Whatever I’d done in Mount St Helens had drained me like nothing else l’d ever experienced.

 The explosion caused Typhon to stir in his sleep. We’ll have to wait and see -’
‘| couldn’t release him, could 1? | mean, I’m not that powerful!’
The god grunted. ‘Not that powerful, eh? Could have fooled me. You’re the son of the Earthshaker, lad. You don’t know your own strength.’
That’s the last thing | wanted him to say. | hadn’t been in control of myself in that mountain. I’d released so much energy I’d almost vaporized myself, drained all the life out of me.


BotL ch.11-12