Page 23 of Curse the Flame

I jog after him. There are too many things to process, so I decide not to process any of them. That has always been one of my more useful talents. When life becomes overwhelming, I focus on whatever problem I can solve right now while wearing a big grin and showing off my can-do attitude.

At the moment, that means staying with the puppy, so I do.

To my surprise, the forest thins gradually until the trees open onto a river. At least, I think it’s a river. I hear Sir’s delighted yip, happy that I found him perched along the river snaking in front of us. It’s wide, the water tinkling softly, but… I don’t know. This late, the water looks black. None of the stars reflect in its slow-moving current. Apart from a… oh, goodness. Is that a whirlpool over there? Apart from the freaking whirlpool just beyond a row of big boulders shining in the moonlight, it’s eerily still.

Estige, murmurs Persephone. His hound has brought us right to him.

Yeah. I don’t like the way she said that. Don’t know who he is, and I can just guess that, by “hound”, she means Sir, but the trepidation mixed with excitement in her lyrical voice has me backing away from the river instead of inching closer to it.

I hold my hands up. Sir tilts his head, letting out a soft whine. I grimace, turning away so that I can pretend like I don’t instinctively understand that the fire-eyed puppy seems to think I’m going to follow him into that whirlpool.

A mirror is one thing. A whirlpool into⁠—

Estige, supplies Persephone again. It’s an entrance to the Underworld.

What the⁠—

Yeah, no.

Sorry, pup.

I turn, and I do a double-take when I notice that I see… I see smoke. Wisps of grey smoke that are reaching into the night’s sky before it vanishes. I take a deep breath. Over the scent of flowers, I smell fire.

Fire might mean people. People could mean help.

Unless they’re, like, cannibals or something.

I know enough fairy tales to realize there’s always a chance of cannibals. Are there cannibals in Greek mythology? Remembering the cyclops we just managed to avoid earlier, I’m reminded of Polyphemus.

Oh, yeah. He was a meat-eater, wasn’t he?

Sir sees the smoke, too, at the same time that I do. Leaping from the boulder he was perched on, waiting for me, he barks at me once before taking off through the clearing.

He wants us to stay while he checks for danger, muses Persephone. Though what he’s going to do when he’s that small, I can’t say. I’m sure he’s transformed for your sake, but, really, if he’s here to guard us, he should have at least a second head.

What?

I’m tired. I’m achy. When I said I wanted an adventure, I was good with glamping in Mr. Z’s cabin. This might be a step too far for me, and that was before I lost my mind and started hearing a voice that, honestly, isn’t making any sense right now.

That tiny little pup guarding us? No. I have to make sure Sir is okay, and I call out in a soft voice, “Wait for me,” hoping he heard me.

He doesn’t. Or, if Sir did, he definitely doesn’t listen.

I hurry after him, heading toward the smoke since I’m pretty sure that’s where the puppy went. The ground is muddier here in between the trees, and more flowers bloom in my wake, but I barely notice them. I’m too busy trying not to lose sight of Sir while telling myself that meeting another person is a good thing.

Cassandra gave me riddles. Aria disappeared after her hero did; so distracted by that interaction, I didn’t even think to ask her for help. I probably would’ve been eaten by that cyclops if he caught me… how much worse can this be?

And if you thought I didn’t jinx myself with that question, you haven’t been paying attention.

CHAPTER 6

UXOR

WILLOW

Equal parts hopeful and nervous, I only pause when the ground starts to slope downward a bit. As I stand at the top of the incline, I finally get a better view of what lies ahead of me, plus the source of the smoke.

It’s not a house with a chimney like I secretly hoped. Instead, I see a camp at the edge of some more trees. A pretty decent-sized fire burns inside a ring of stones, belching enough smoke that I saw it all the way by that weird, freaky river. A dark brown horse grazes nearby, tethered to a nearby low branch, and something that looks like a bedroll is stretched beside the flames.