Summary

The novel begins with Apollo refusing to tell this story, calling it the worst week of his life. However, he begrudgingly admits to the reader that Zeus wants him to write down his adventurers so that no one will ever forget them. He, Meg, and Grover have been walking through the Labyrinth for two days, and are lost as it is separate from normal time and space. There are only three days left until an attack on Camp Jupiter, and Apollo is becoming weaker while his visions are more intense and frequent. Eventually, Grover says they are close to Palm Springs, but the screams of unknown, avian creatures terrify them. Meg uses seeds to grow plants that block the path, but the monsters- which Apollo remembers as strixes- break through. One cuts Apollo, and he tells Meg that they curse whoever kills them, and...