by T. G. Ayer
The lone coin, with the three faces, had engravings of loaves of bread on its back. Baffled, Evie slid the single coin back into the bag and held onto the coins meant for the Ferryman. Almost an eternity passed while Evie waited for Charon to slap his paddle into the black waters and surge against the rush of the waves to return. She watched the boat bob on the misty water. Time was a strange and fickle thing while one was stuck in the Underworld. Where minutes passed for Evie, hours probably sped by for the Warriors of Irin.
The slap of Charon's paddle on the water grew louder and Evie scrambled to her feet to jog down to the water's edge. He moved faster than she expected and was already mooring the lines when she got to the boat. Charon's face was still devoid of emotion. Evie kind of understood his lack of feeling. Anyone charged with ferrying the dead day-in, day-out would surely go berserk if they were affected by the cries of those he was unable to take across.
She climbed aboard, and again, the boat shivered. But this time it held, and Evie passed one of the coins to Charon. She waited as he studied the disk. Amazement and wonder shone from the face she'd thought unable to express any emotion.
"It is you?"
"I'm Evangeline, if that's what you mean." Evie was puzzled. Who was she supposed to be then?
She frowned and kept a close eye on the Ferryman as he set off across the water. Every few minutes, he would glance back at her, an odd smile on his lips, as if he knew a great secret and was bursting to tell someone. Evie chose to ignore him. Otherwise, she'd be shaking the man senseless until he confessed the secret.
The trip across the river seemed long as Evie had watched Charon's progress from the hill. In actuality it was interminable. It took close to an hour to reach the other shoreline. Evie was nodding off when the boat nudged the dock and Charon brushed past her to tie the mooring lines.
Evie rose on wooden legs and stumbled off the boat. As she passed Charon, he grasped her hand and squeezed it between his own strong palms.
"Welcome to Erebus." He nodded and smiled a toothless grin, pumping her hand. "Go with the Gods."
Evie smiled back and nodded, backing away onto solid ground. Charon disappeared across the lake, evaporating into a strange mist that floated on the surface of the black water.
Evie looked around and sighed. So this was all real.
Chapter 16
The other shore was as different to the rocky barren land she'd come from as night was to day. Sand crunched beneath her bootheels. The path up to the trees was peppered with crushed seashells, then lined with long grass as it led deep into the trees, trees which were green and hung heavy with fruit, so succulent and ripe her mouth watered as she imagined the thick juices running down her chin as she sank her teeth into the soft flesh.
Evie jerked out of her reverie—the cawing of another errant raven stung her eardrums. She looked up and could only see a black fleck circling high up in the sky. Hard to comprehend they were beneath the Earth, deep within its bowels.
Baa'ruk's warning still rang hot in her ears. Eat nothing, drink nothing. So, no matter how tempting the fruit might be, no food of the Underworld would satiate the cravings now building within her.
She stared longingly at the heavily laden peach tree. Hunger gripped Evie's gut, and she recalled her last meal hours ago. Dragging her attention from the fruit, she sighed and checked her watch to confirm the time, then swallowed a gasp. Her watch had stopped at seven this morning as she'd crossed the threshold of the cave to begin her journey.
Now Evie began to worry. About how long she'd been down in the Underworld. Whether Baa'ruk was safe or if his boss had punished him by sending him back to the underworlds of Hell. If Marcellus had discovered his collection of Seals was gone.
Evie sighed, helpless despite her angelic nature. Usually she felt imbued with a power that made her stronger, faster, and smarter than the next Joe. Today, she felt far from the savior Nephilim.
Evie walked through a large orchard that ran along the shore in both directions as far as the eye could see. The trees were filled with shining fruit, varieties of every fruit available to mankind and some she'd never seen before. She passed strange and unusual creatures. A two-headed peacock wailed and honked as she passed.
Don't stop, don't dally.
Evie had no control of her legs. They seemingly took her where she needed to go. How did she really know where to go, which path to take, which ones to avoid?
Forward was good.
At last, she came to a clearing, Grass padded the ground, thick and green. It opened out onto the mouth of another cave so like the one she'd taken to arrive here that she felt slightly dizzy with déjà vu. Her steps faltered as she approached the dark maw of the cave and Evie wished she were back home, far from these deadly dilemmas.
Water trickled from the walls of the damp, cool cave as if the rocks were alive and perspiring with the effort of keeping the tunnel open so she could pass. Evie entered the tunnel and made her way deeper inside. Soon she felt as if she were walking for miles in the semi-darkness when she suddenly reached the end.
The tunnel opened into a large cave and Evie turned slowly on her heel to study the five entrances which now lay before her.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end seconds before a roar reverberated through the tunnel, rippling the sand on the floor and sending showers of rock-dust to the ground and onto Evie's bare head. She tensed for the collapse of the tunnel or for something large and dangerous to fall onto her head.
When nothing happened, she relaxed and strained to discover the origin of the howling bellow. Another roar and the offending tunnel was clearly identified as it shook with the sound. Slivers of shale fell to the ground, striking the stone floor and shattering into fine shards.
Evie entered the cave and walked on tiptoe toward the sound. Intermittent and irregular, the next howls made Evie pause often to allow her to track the cry through the darkness. The tunnel ended, and Evie came face-to-face with a hideously strange creature.
Cerberus. The Cerberus.
He pawed the ground at Evie's feet and stared at her with each of his three grotesque heads. His roar chilled the bones down Evie's spine. Confronted by a creature which thus far had only existed in myth, she was ready to choose flight if it came to it. The dog was larger than anything she could have imagined. Much larger. The top of Evie's head barely reached his shoulder and she had to crane her neck to get the full view of his dripping jaws.
Despite the cool air flowing through the chamber, eau-de-wet-dog hung in the cavern and coated her throat as she breathed. That, combined with the fetid stench of Cerberus' bad breath, and Evie was ready to hurl. Now she was looking at her empty stomach with a more positive note.
Evie was partly grateful that the animal was tied, tethered by a chain with links as large as her wrists. The problem was the length of the chain gave the creature the run of the small cave, ensuring nobody could pass without becoming Cerberus chow.
He roared again. Or was it they? Evie was confused as the cacophony of three simultaneous howls slowly died down. He tugged at the chain, veins turgid at his neck, bulging. Was it possible for a mythical creature to burst a blood vessel?
It may have been the sound of the blood rushing from Evie's over active heart, but all three heads turned to her at the same time. Six eyes examined her head to foot followed by another bone-quivering roar. Each head faced Evie, jowls open, saliva dripping in great globs to one common set of paws. Their teeth sent shudders of fear through her body. Three sets of vicious canines glinted at her.
Cerberus rushed at her, and even though Evie knew he was tied, she still screamed and stumbled backward, landing on her rear with a thud. Her feet were two inches from him and she watched in a complex mix of amusement and fear as the three heads fought for the chance to sniff at her boots.
Evie plucked her foot away from the searching muzzles and jumped up.
Now what?
"You are wasting your time, little one."<
br />
The rough, deep voice was so unexpected, Evie jumped with shock. She turned around and faced the speaker who was currently lounging against the rough wall, uncaring that the moisture seeped into the soft silk of his shirt. Arms crossed and foot supporting himself on the rock behind him, the stranger shook his head. His dark curly hair moved around his shoulders like a mane of a lion.
"Well, I have to pass him." Evie spoke, wondering if he was an apparition or another shade. She was sure she hadn't been followed when she left the river's edge.
"As I said, you really don't have much of a chance."
"Can you explain what you mean by that?" Evie felt her face heat up in anger, sure there were two bright spots on her cheekbones revealing her annoyance. Who was this mysterious naysayer? And where did he come from? More than ever, Evie wished for guidance. But Patrick was dead, probably completing his journey as she stood shivering in her boots. As for Baa'ruk, he wasn't even allowed to be here. "And who exactly are you?"
"You won't have much chance getting past the terrible trio here. They will eat you alive. Besides, many better travelers have come this far and turned back."
His arrogance spiked Evie's annoyance. "How would you know?"
"Because I have been around a good long while. Long enough to know that only the deserving get to pass Cerberus." The stranger grinned, pleased to have stumped Evie.
"I'm here to see Hades. I have to get past." She was losing her patience with his cocky arrogance.
"Oh, you have an appointment to see His Highness?" He curved an eyebrow.
"No. But it's important," she assured him, but immediately felt deflated on seeing his grin widen.
"That's what they all say. And that's why you need to get Cerberus to let you pass. Which is not going to happen."
Evie ignored his jibe and turned on him, asking, "Who are you?"
"Oh, I don't think we've met before, but Ares is the name." There was a ringing in Evie's ears, accompanied but the sudden intense need to faint. Ares was the bloody God of War. "Nothing to say?" Ares smiled, apparently enjoying Evie's discomfort.
"Why do you care if I pass or not?" He was beginning to get on her nerves, God of War or not.
"It's the blood, you see. I am drawn to this place. I quite enjoy the way Cerberus rips his victims apart. It's especially fun to see the three of them fight for the good parts." Ares grinned and Evie wasn't certain he was kidding. His eyes were devoid of emotion as he spoke, uncaring of the agony of the creature's victims.
"And you think he's going to eat me?" she asked, her voice dry.
"Oh, I'm certain of it." Cocky, arrogant and provocative. Perhaps he got away with it because of his looks, but Evie was not entranced by this god.
Ares' confidence unsettled Evie. Made her jittery and uncertain that she would actually get past the creature. The huge hulking dog paced before her, turning around twice before coming back to look straight at her. The three heads each looked in a different direction, and for an instant, their position brought to mind the lone coin.
Evie slipped her hand into the satchel at her side, out of Ares' line of sight, and withdrew the gleaming disk inscribed with the three heads. She hadn't immediately made the link because the heads on the coin were human, but there were loaves of bread inscribed on the back. If Evie recalled the myths properly, then it was food she needed to get past the beast.
She was stumped. With three heads, which one would she give the coin to? Cowardice won out and she placed the coin on the floor and kicked it toward Cerberus. Let the three fight over who grabs up the coin.
Meanwhile, Ares craned his neck to get a better look at the coin.
"Where did you get that?" Shock and anger simmered in his voice. "Who gave you that?"
"Nobody gave it to me. I found it." Evie backed away from the infuriated god. She'd never had a conversation with a deity before and speaking with one whose fury alone was potentially lethal, Evie silently begged for divine assistance. A few seconds later when no help arrived, she cast a quick glance at the dog. The middle head had grasped the coin within its teeth and tossed its head side to side. The other two nudged him, each trying and failing to get him to release it.
At last it fell to the stone floor with a clang, which echoed all the way along the tunnels and came back again, hauntingly beautiful. But the reverberations did not stop. Cerberus moved to hover over the now glowing disk.
"Told you it won't be that easy." Ares chuckled behind Evie, clearly enjoying her initial failure.
"What now?" she snapped.
"Be nice, or I won't help you." Evie wanted ask him how his sneering would be helping her but she clamped her mouth shut. "You have to answer a question."
She raised her eyebrows, waiting.
"Cerberus had three heads. What purpose do they serve?"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you slow or something?" Ares asked, his voice slick with ice as he pushed off the wall and drew closer. "What do each of Cerberus' three heads represent?"
Evie scanned the panting dog, who now lay on all fours, staring at the shimmering disk with longing. Long strings of drool dripped from all three jaws and all three pink tongues. Each head was identical to the next.
Evie paused before the disk, afraid to pick it up, but knowing she should have a good look at it. Maybe it held a clue. The side facing upward was the one engraved with the loaves of bread. She tried to picture the engraving on the other side. Three human heads. Evie recalled that she'd been initially confused as the heads were human, but the coin was for the three-headed dog.
She pictured the heads, one facing left, one forward and the last one facing right. What would that mean? Hades looking three different ways. Four directions. Four seasons. She recalled a trick question about the seasons of a man's life, but that didn't apply. Day and night were two.
Evie strained to recall anything that Patrick may have told her for clues. Patrick had so loved learning. Had always maintained that people could learn so much from the past because the past shaped the future.
Evie stiffened. The past and the future.
That was it.
She turned to Ares. "Past, present and future?"
Ares stared, aghast and slowly turning pink. Evie hoped it wasn't anger.
"Close, but no cigar!"
"What do you mean? What else is there?" Evie was flabbergasted.
"The answer must be exactly as it is meant to be spoken. Only then will Cerberus be tamed to your hand and allow you to pass." Ares’ smile was triumphant, as if he knew it was impossible for her to get the answer right. As far as Evie knew there were only a few ways to say past, present and future.
"What has been, what is, and what shall be?" Evie took a chance, hoping she was right. She had no other options left.
Ares' face turned bright red as Cerberus’s chains began clinking. Evie turned to see the dog walking to her, dragging the long chain behind him. When he reached her, he nudged her hip with the nearest head, urging her to walk toward the other side of the cavern.
Ares, the epitome of the angry god, lashed out, charging at Evie with an angry roar. Cerberus turned and head-butted the god just as he reached her. The God of War lost the battle as his head bounced against the rock wall and he slumped unconscious to the floor.
Evie walked on, moving only because Cerberus was pushing at her back. But she continued to look over her shoulder every so often, not sure whether she was concerned Ares would revive and chase after her or if she was worried that he may be dead. Only when she lost sight of him was she able to think about her mission. She just hoped coming to Hades wasn't a huge mistake.
Chapter 17
Evie walked with Cerberus, who trotted alongside her, his great haunches bumping against her shoulders. The dog's three heads repeatedly turned to look behind him. Was he keeping an eye—or six—out for Ares? Thankfully, there was no sound from the unconscious god. Hopefully he wouldn't be there on her way out. She hitched the satchel around her,
feeling its comforting weight against her hip.
She'd used two disks so far, and she'd need to keep the remaining coin for Charon on her trip home. That left her with eight of the actual Seals. She hoped Hades would be happy to receive this gift. Hoped too that he would find a better place to hide the Seals. Whoever thought of charging a bunch of demons with the job of guarding the Ascension Seals needed to get their head checked.
The dog led Evie deeper into the warren of caves. Water leaked from the stone as if crying for Evie on her journey. The tunnel was marked every so often by a small stream of water which ran across the floor and Evie had to keep a close eye on the ground to ensure she didn't wade into a crossing stream. Cerberus was happy enough and stopped regularly to lap at a trickle of water with one or all of his pink tongues.
At last, the passage opened out onto another large cavern and Cerberus stopped. When she turned to the dog, he whined, the sound coming simultaneously from each of the three throats. The creature barked at Evie, spraying globs of saliva onto her. Evie hid her head behind her arms.
As Cerberus turned and loped off into the darkness of the passage, his tail swung around and hit Evie full on the side of her head. So hard was the blow that she lost her balance and ended up on her rear for the second time since she entered these tunnels.
Cerberus pounded through the tunnel. Evie could hear his paws slamming the ground as he returned to his post to guard the entrance to the Underworld.
Evie stood in the huge cavern where the ceiling was so high she could barely see it in the darkness pooled above. A number of tunnels led off the open space. How would she know which tunnel to follow? The Seals held no clues.
A cool breeze blew, snaking through the maze of tunnels. Evie shivered. When would she see the sun again? The last time she'd felt the warm rays of the sun on her skin was that morning as she ate stale beignets with a blond, dreadlocked albino demon.
