"You okay?" I asked him.

 

"Fine." What was that expression on his face . . . doubt? "Just keep moving," he

said.

 

I didn't have much choice. I followed Mrs. O'Leary into the depths. After

another hour, I started to hear the roar of a river.

 

We emerged at the base of a cliff, on a plain of black volcanic sand. To our

right, the River Styx gushed from the rocks and roared off in a cascade of

rapids. To our left, far away in the gloom, fires burned on the ramparts of

Erebos, the great black walls of Hades's kingdom.

 

I shuddered. I'd first been here when I was twelve, and only Annabeth and

Grover's company had given me the courage to keep going. Nico wasn't going to be

quite as helpful with the "courage" thing. He looked pale and worried himself.

 

Only Mrs. O'Leary acted happy. She ran along the beach, picked up a random human

leg bone, and romped back toward me. She dropped the bone at my feet and waited

for me to throw it.

 

"Um, maybe later, girl." I stared at the dark waters, trying to get up my nerve.

"So, Nico . . . how do we do this?"