The waves stretched past the horizon, broken up only by the wake of Lucas' small boat as it cut across the morning sea. The scent of salt and wet rope clung to the air, and the sails creaked softly in rhythm with the breeze. Circe's island had long since vanished from view, swallowed by the horizon's blur.
His course was eastward, toward the Sea of Monsters' broken archipelago. Among them lay the isle of the Cyclops Polyphemus, but Lucas' route first took him near another danger, a jagged outcropping of stone and surf rumored to house the Sirens.
He kept his head low. The Sirens' song wasn't just music; it was a weapon that wormed its way into thought, unraveling restraint and magnifying longing. Lucas stuffed wax into his ears as the boat passed the reef-shadowed cliffs, and even then, he felt the air thicken; so he also shielded his ears with magic.
He saw the Island's rocky outcroppings, waiting to tear ships apart, and atop the rocks, shrouded by fog, were silhouettes that looked human. To see clearer he would need to move closer, but he wouldn't risk it. Not just from the danger to his ship, but because he remembered Luke and Thalia's experience with Sirens and had no desire to have one of his own.
He gripped the tiller tighter and kept his eyes fixed ahead.
When the song faded, it left an ache behind. He didn't remove the wax until long after the cliffs had vanished.
Ahead, the sea opened and beyond it rose a new shape: lush, green, deceptively idyllic. Polyphemus' island came into view beneath the slow crawl of cloud-shadow, framed by golden beaches and rolling hills that shone under the sun. From a distance, it looked like a paradise; an untouched corner of the world where sheep grazed peacefully and wildflowers danced in the breeze ; Lucas could even feel the life the island radiated. But Lucas had read enough, heard enough, to know better.
This place was home to probably the most powerful and infamous cyclops in myth.
He anchored his boat just beyond the curve of the western inlet. The water was shallow, the sand beneath it clean and white. He slipped into the surf and made landfall silently, a shimmer of magic cloaking his body from casual sight. As he stepped onto the beach, the island's scent hit him, something sour. A smell that did not belong to the paradise around him. It clung low to the ground, too faint for most to notice. But it was there.
He left the beach and made his way towards the bushes, upon stepping foot on the grass he heard a crunch. Lucas stepped back and crouched, moving away from the bush to see what he stood on.
Bones.
Looking at the soil that was faintly red, he seemed to guess where the smell came from.
Glancing around more carefully, it wasn't just here. Piles of bones littered around where he could see. Polyphemus had two sheep-flocks. One normal, the other cannibal. He can guess which ones grazed around here.
He moved inland slowly, careful not to disturb the sheep. They were scattered across the hills, larger than normal sheep, big enough to be mistaken for hippos if not for their woolen coat. Their wool was black, shining in a metallic flicker when caught in the rays of the sun. He counted as he walked. Fifty. Sixty. More. Lucas kept his distance, both not wanting to meet flesh-devouring sheep and not wanting to make a ruckus alarming Polyphemus he was here.
He saw a small deer prance about the trees, most likely looking for food. Not knowing it soon would become food too. The sheep seemed to hear it gliding through the flowers as they turned and upon seeing the little deer, attacked and pounced upon it.
A few seconds later, the sheep left, returning to their docile temperament leaving only a shining, fresh pile of bones behind.
As the sun began to lower for the afternoon, he reached a rise in the land. From there, he saw the crevice, a jagged split between the outer island and the interior. Beyond it, smaller sheep wandered, grazing upon the fresh grass, but what caught Lucas' eyes was their shepherd.
Polyphemus.
Fifteen feet tall, covered in muscle, a single yellow eye and an unkempt bushy black beard. He wore a combination of woollen loincloth and a sheep-pelt mantle tied together with sheep sinew; weilding a tree haphazardly shaped into a shepherd's crook.
The cyclops suddenly started herding the flock towards a large boulder which dwarfed even him, Polyphemus steadied himself against before pushing with all his strength and revealing a cave opening. The cyclops started patting both the back and the stomach of the sheep entering the cave, it seemed the cyclops grew more careful after figuring out how Odysseus had entered his cave to blind it.
Polyphemus grabbed the final sheep in the flock, placing it away from the cave and then rolled the large boulder back to cover the entrance. He lifted the stray sheep and carried it to a wood-plank bridge which seemed to be the only way across the crevice. Hearing the swaying the Carnivorous sheep started bleating, calling for more of their kind, by the time Polyphemus reached across the bridge the sheep were all together, crying for their meal.
Polyphemus chuckled, muttering something beneath his breath, patting their backs, their metallic coat doing nothing to the cyclop's hand. He threw the normal sheep into the flock, and turned to walk back across the bridge only to stop and turn back.
He started sniffing, head turning around, Lucas caught on to what was happening, cursing himself for forgetting. He disguised his smell, which seemed to cause Polyphemus to stop sniffing, his brow furrowed and a slight frown adorned his visage. He gave one last tentative sniff before turning back and making his way across the bridge, opening the cave entrance and closing it behind him.
Lucas returned to his boat, wanting to set up camp for the night on it, not wanting to stay on land anywhere near the flesh-eating sheep. He would wait till morning, when Polyphemus would let out the sheep to graze, to try and sneak into the cave and search for the golden fleece, for there was no way he could move that giant boulder himself without alerting Polyphemus.