The Hidden Oracle

Stumbling through the glade, Apollo finds and keeps Meg’s swords, which have turned back into crescent rings. Apollo feels the gods are punishing Meg for breaking his sacred oath to the River Styx by playing the ukulele. Pete reappears and reluctantly reveals to Apollo that the myrmekes have taken Meg to their nest, which is also the only entrance to the Grove of Dodona. It is around this entrance that Paulie went a few days ago. According to Pete, the sacred grove could have been slumbering in the woods for centuries until it was awoken by the ants building their nest close to the grove. Apollo learns that the entrance to the grove is half a mile away, and he learns the ants’ modus operandi with their prey: The creatures slather their victims in their salivary juice and let them soften for about a day before eating them. Apollo is filled with horror and guilt at the thought of Meg wrapped in “insect goop,” tucked away in a larder in the myrmeke nest. In another surprising reveal, Pete tells Apollo that Paulie had spied three men looking for the grove and talking in Latin, the language of ancient Rome, confirming Apollo’s suspicions about the Beast lurking in the woods.