The Battle of the Labyrinth

didn’t.
    He yelled an angry battle cry and charged me, but I parried his blade and backed away, letting him come after me.
    “Booo!” Antaeus said. “Stand and fight!”
    Ethan pressed me, but I had no trouble defending, even without a shield. He was dressed for defense—heavy armor and shield—which made it very tiring to play offense. I was a softer target, but I also was lighter and faster. The crowd went nuts, yelling complaints and throwing rocks. We’d been fighting for almost five minutes and there was no blood.
    Finally Ethan made his mistake. He tried to jab at my stomach, and I locked his sword hilt in mine and twisted. His sword dropped into the dirt. Before he could recover, I slammed the butt of my sword into his helmet and pushed him down. His heavy armor helped me more than him. He fell on his back, dazed and tired. I put the tip of my sword on his chest.
    “Get it over with,” Ethan groaned.
    I looked up at Antaeus. His red face was stony with displeasure, but he held up his hand and put it thumbs down .
    “Forget it.” I sheathed my sword.
    “Don’t be a fool,” Ethan groaned. “They’ll just kill us both.”
    I offered him my hand. Reluctantly, he took it. I helped him up.
    “No one dishonors the games!” Antaeus bellowed. “Your heads shall both be tributes to Poseidon!”
    I looked at Ethan. “When you see your chance, run.” Then I turned back to Antaeus. “Why don’t you fight me yourself ? If you’ve got Dad’s favor, come down here and prove it!”
    The monsters grumbled in the stands. Antaeus looked around, and apparently realized he had no choice. He couldn’t say no without looking like a coward.
    “I am the greatest wrestler in the world, boy,” he warned. “I have been wrestling since the first pankration !”
    “Pankration?” I asked.
    “He means fighting to the death,” Ethan said. “No rules. No holds barred. It used to be an Olympic sport.”
    “Thanks for the tip,” I said.
    “Don’t mention it.”
    Rachel was watching me with wide eyes. Annabeth shook her head emphatically, the Laistrygonian’s hand still clamped over her mouth.
    I pointed my sword at Antaeus. “Winner takes all! I win, we all go free. You win, we die. Swear upon the River Styx.”
    Antaeus laughed. “This shouldn’t take long. I swear to your terms!”
    He leaped off the railing, into the arena.
    “Good luck,” Ethan told me. “You’ll need it.” Then he backed up quickly.
    Antaeus cracked his knuckles. He grinned, and I saw that even his teeth were etched in wave patterns, which must’ve made brushing after meals a real pain.
    “Weapons?” he asked.
    “I’ll stick with my sword. You?”
    He held up his huge hands and wiggled his fingers. “I don’t need anything else! Master Luke, you will referee this one.”
    Luke smiled down at me. “With pleasure.”
    Antaeus lunged. I rolled under his legs and stabbed him in the back of his thigh.
    “Argggh!” he yelled. But where blood should’ve come out, there was a spout of sand, like I’d busted the side of an hourglass. It spilled into the dirt floor, and the dirt collected around his leg, almost like a cast. When the dirt fell away, the wound was gone.
    He charged again. Fortunately I’d had some experience fighting giants. I dodged sideways this time and stabbed him under the arm. Riptide’s blade was buried to the hilt in his ribs. That was the good news. The bad news was that it wrenched out of my hand when the giant turned, and I was thrown across the arena, weaponless.
    Antaeus bellowed in pain. I waited for him to disintegrate. No monster had ever withstood a direct hit from my sword like that. The celestial bronze blade had to be destroying his essence. But Antaeus groped for the hilt, pulled out the sword, and tossed it behind him. More sand poured from the wound, but again the earth rose up to cover him. Dirt coated his body all the way to his shoulders. As soon as the dirt spilled away, Antaeus was fine.
    “Now you see why I never lose, demigod!” Antaeus gloated. “Come here and let me crush you. I’ll make it quick!”
    Antaeus stood between me and my sword. Desperately, I glanced to either side, and I caught Annabeth’s eye.
    The earth, I thought. What had Annabeth been trying to tell me? Antaeus’s mother was Gaea the earth mother, the most ancient goddess of all. Antaeus’s father might have been Poseidon, but Gaea was keeping him alive. I couldn’t hurt him as long as he was touching