bandages to examine the wound, and I wanted to faint. The bleeding had stopped

but the gash looked deep. The skin around the cut was a horrible shade of green.

 

"Annabeth ..." I choked up. She'd taken that knife for me. How could I have let

that happen?

 

"Poison on the dagger," she mumbled. "Pretty stupid of me, huh?"

 

Will Solace exhaled with relief. "It's not so bad, Annabeth. A few more minutes

and we would've been in trouble, but the venom hasn't gotten past the shoulder

yet. Just lie still. Somebody hand me some nectar."

 

I grabbed a canteen. Will cleaned out the wound with the godly drink while I

held Annabeth's hand.

 

"Ow," she said. "Ow, ow!" She gripped my fingers so tight they turned purple,

but she stayed still, like Will asked. Silena muttered words of encouragement.

Will put some silver paste over the wound and hummed words in Ancient Greek — a

hymn to Apollo. Then he applied fresh bandages and stood up shakily.

 

The healing must've taken a lot of his energy. He looked almost as pale as

Annabeth.

 

"That should do it," he said. "But we're going to need some mortal supplies."