The horrors of this place somewhat woke me out of my stupor. I tightened my pinky against Ryder’s and tried to speak to him.
Nothing came out.
I opened my mouth again, but my voice box had been stripped. Or locked. Or…something.
I couldn’t make a sound.
Ryder’s feet tripped over some unseen obstacle in the path and he almost stumbled off of it. I grabbed his shoulder with my free hand before his feet could step on ground I was certain would make him a prisoner to this place.
I tried to speak again, but there was nothing. It was more than my voice though. It was like this place completely restrained my powers. I couldn’t speak or even whisper. But most importantly, I couldn’t sing.
I shivered in the coldness of this hell, knowing that the heaviness in the air was death. I felt it creep over me, sink into my skin, slither through my hair and claw at my bones.
The images around me flickered in and out of solidity. It was like watching a black and white movie that had a messed up tape. Everything appeared in stuttering sequences.
Was that a dragon? But the image of a creature the size of a semi-truck exhaling fire was gone before I could truly grasp the image. The same with the next. I could have sworn I saw a three-headed dog, sleeping. But then it was gone.
This place was nothing but pure evil. And I was afraid we would be trapped here forever. What if we were lost and never found our way out? Or we’d been sentenced to wander this path forever?
I couldn’t do it! I would end up like Persephone, completely void and utterly deranged.
Ryder stumbled again and I nearly started crying. I had to get him out of here! My own life be damned, I wouldn’t let him end up on the other side of this path. I wouldn’t let those creatures have him!
Light.
There was light up ahead.
At first it came like pitch black darkness again. But I felt the change. The images started to come less and less. Then the darkness lightened to a soft gray. Moonlight pierced the oppressiveness.
We were almost there.
I squeezed Ryder’s pinky with mine and took a deep breath. He wandered forward unseeing and I couldn’t tell if he saw the end or if he was still under the heady influence from this place.
It didn’t matter. If I could just get him back to fresh air, he would be okay. He would make it.
Wewould make it.
We were so close. I could feel the outside. I could sense the clean air from beyond this awful place. It floated over my skin like a summer breeze.
I wanted to weep tears of relief.
Just a few more steps and we would be free of this place. And we wouldnevercome here again. We would find a new way back. No matter how long it took or what we had to do.
I would scale the mountain before I ever stepped foot in here again.
The moonlight infiltrated the darkness and landed on the path in front of us. Three more steps and we would reach it.
We wereso close.
The moonlight disappeared beneath a huge shadow. I would have cried out if I could make any sound.
“Leaving so soon?” Crete’s cold, sleazy voice boomed through the cavern, directed at us.
I opened my mouth to scream, but nothing came out. If Ryder’s pinky hadn’t squeezed mine so tightly, I would have toppled over.
This was the Underworld. And Hades was king.
Somehow Ryder and I had wandered straight to the gates of hell and Hades had come to greet us.
