Diary of a journey through Hell

by Trudie Collins

  I found it hard to breathe as Kris, somewhat reluctantly it appeared, introduced me. “Ankou, this is Rob’s friend, Rachel. Rachel, this is my cousin, Ankou. Death’s son.”

  Hearing him referred to as Death’s son should have put me off him, but it didn’t. I don’t think anything could have. I’m surprised I wasn’t drooling.

  Robert, however, did react. I guess Kris had forgotten to mention Ankou’s parentage to him. “Your father,” he snarled, “has kidnapped my girlfriend and is holding her against her will.” He stood up and looked like he was going to punch him. Or try to strangle him.

  I expected Ankou to defend his father, but he didn’t.

  “I know and I am sorry,” he said, bowing his head slightly as if in shame. “If there was anything I could do to help release her, I would, but unfortunately there isn’t. My father will not listen to anything I have to say, so I will be wasting my breath.”

  Robert didn’t know how to react. All anger seemed to drain out of him as he collapsed back into his seat. Ankou turned his attention to me. “I am delighted to meet you, Rachel,” he said, holding out his hand to me and smiling warmly. God he had a wonderful smile.

  I took it, expecting him to shake my hand, but instead he raised it to his lips and kissed the back of it tenderly. His hand was warm and smooth, his lips soft and inviting. My heart was beating so fast he must have felt it.

  “Thank you,” I stammered. My legs were beginning to feel weak and I had to sit down as soon as Ankou released me. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kris roll his eyes. Maybe he was used to women reacting like this to his cousin.

  Famine walked into the room looking slightly perplexed. “It appears that dinner will be a formal affair tonight,” she said. “The cottage has decided we need a dining room.” She surveyed the four of us, clearly not pleased by what she saw. “I will not have you dressed like that. Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. Find something a lot smarter to wear or you will go hungry.”

  With that, she left the room. I immediately followed her. I needed to get away from Ankou before I made an even bigger fool of myself. As I left I heard Ankou tell Robert that he should have something in his wardrobe that would fit him and, much to my surprise, Robert thanked him.

  Rummaging through my bag I found the red dress that Pestilence had given me and the sandals. The way I saw it they were a present and it would have been rude to leave them behind. Luckily the material was not one to hold creases and a quick shake had the dress looking as good as new.

  It did not take me long to get dressed and do my hair, but I was still the last to arrive. All three men were dressed in black suits with white shirts and bow ties. Kris looked so uncomfortable in the outfit that I was reminded of Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic. Robert, however, looked like he had been dressing like that all of his life. The style really suited him. Ankou just looked fantastic; no other word will do.

  “Kept the dress I see,” Robert whispered to me as I took the seat next to him.

  “Of course,” I said. “I’m not stupid.”

  Dinner seemed to take forever. I have no idea what I ate or what the topics of conversation were. I found it impossible to concentrate on anything other than Ankou. I could not keep my eyes off him. His voice was soft, yet captivating. My heart skipped a beat every time he spoke.

  After we had finished eating (I think I ate, I’m not really sure), we retired to the sitting room. At least we would have done if it had not been replaced with a music room, complete with grand piano.

  “Play for us,” Famine requested and after much cajoling Kris complied. He was good. Very good. His fingers almost danced across the keys as he performed some lively tunes. Ankou sat next to me as we listened, making me feel hot and flustered. I was about to announce that I was tired and run to the safety of my room when the tempo changed and Kris began Moonlight Sonata.

  “I love this piece of music,” I found myself saying. It was enchanting and I could not leave until it was finished.

  “Me too,” Ankou said. “Beethoven was a great composer. What is your favourite classical piece? By anyone, I mean.”

  “Adagio for strings,” I said, without having to think about it. “It’s a haunting piece of music that brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it.”

  “You have good taste,” Ankou said.

  Robert snorted. “The only reason she likes that piece is because it is in Platoon and she had a crush on Charlie Sheen when she was younger.”

  I glared at him. OK, so the statement may have been partly true, but there was no need for him to say it in front of Ankou.

  I felt Ankou’s leg brush mine as he moved position and I couldn’t take it any longer. Despite the fact that Kris was still playing, I stood up, made my apologies and went to bed.

  So here I sit, writing in my diary and trying my best to get Ankou off my mind. When I woke up this morning I never dreamed that I would meet the most perfect man in the world. Just my luck that he is a grandson of Hades and lives in Hell. You’ve heard the term ‘God’s gift to women’? Well in Ankou’s case that can be taken literally.

  I am going to try to get some sleep now, though I have no idea if I am going to manage it. I just hope I don’t do something stupid in the morning, like throw myself at him. I’m acting like a love-sick teenager not a grown woman. Maybe a good night’s sleep will help me get my libido under control.

  I doubt it though.

  Day 11

  I had the most wonderful dream last night. I dreamt that Ankou came to my room. I don’t think I need to go into any more details; I’ll leave it to your imagination. All I can say is that Bill never made me feel so good.

  The sun was only just beginning to rise when I awoke, but I quickly got washed and dressed anyway. It’s not like I would be able to get back to sleep. I made my way to the kitchen, where I found Robert with Famine, drinking coffee and eating freshly baked bread.

  “Good morning,” Famine said as I entered. “Would you like some breakfast?”

  I nodded my head and took a seat beside Robert.

  “Are you alright?” he asked. “You left early last night.”

  “I’m fine. I was just very tired,” I lied. There was no way I was going to tell Robert that I had to run out of the music room while I was still able to control my lust. “Did you enjoy the rest of your evening?”

  Famine placed a mug of coffee in front of me, along with a plate of bread and a dish full of butter, before announcing that she was off to feed her horse.

  Once we were alone, Robert answered my question.

  “Yes. Famine and Ankou both retired early and Kris and I stayed up late, talking. I have greatly misjudged him. He is a pretty cool guy really and is doing his best to help us.”

  I smiled, glad that those two had become friends. It boded well for the rest of our journey.

  “I think Kris has a crush on you,” he continued. I had just taken a bite out of my bread and began to choke.

  ‘What?” I asked when I could breathe again.

  “He asked a lot of questions about you, especially about you and Bill and whether you are really still an item. Also, he couldn’t keep his eyes off you last night, or didn’t you notice?”

  I hadn’t. How could I when I was watching Ankou all evening?

  “I’m sure you’re making a mistake,” I said, feeling uncomfortable. He couldn’t be right, could he?

  I was rescued from further discussion by the man in question making his entrance.

  “Good morning,” he greeted us as he started to cut himself a slice of bread. “Are you ready for whatever challenge my aunt has planned for you?”

  “Of course,” Robert replied. “Any idea what it is?”

  Kris shook his head. “Sorry, she hasn’t said anything to me.”

  “Well I have already had my bravery and intelligence tested,” Robert continued. “I wonder what can be next.”

  “Let’s hope it isn’t your integrity,” I said playfully.

/>   Robert put on the worst attempt at a hurt expression I have ever seen. “Your words wound me,” he said, theatrically covering his heart with his hands as though he had been stabbed.

  “Someone is in a good mood this morning,” a voice said through the open doorway. My heart rate instantly increased. Ankou walked in, looking as stunning as he had last night. “That will soon change.”

  My mouth had gone too dry for me to comment, so I took a sip of coffee. I expected Robert to rise to the bait, but he didn’t. Instead he made mundane conversation with Kris and Ankou until Famine returned.

  “When can we face our next challenge?” he asked the moment she entered the kitchen. “I am eager to be on my way as soon as possible.”

  “Whenever you are ready,” Famine replied. “Your next task is simple. I want you to rid me of a troublesome dragon.”

  Did she just say dragon?

  “You mean drive it off,” I asked, knowing that I wasn’t going to like the answer.

  “No,” she said, smiling. “I want you to kill it.”

  Robert asked the more important question. “A dragon? As in a huge, flying, fire-breathing lizard?”

  “Of course not,” Famine replied. Good. This wasn’t going to be as bad as I feared. “Only the golden coloured ones breath fire. This one is green. It spits acid.” No, it was going to be worse.

  “So where do I find this oversized iguana with wings?” Robert asked. Had he not just heard that it spits acid? “And what weapons are we allowed?” We? I guess he is not planning on facing this one on his own then.

  “You can borrow my sword,” Kris said. Was he trying to stop himself grinning? “After all, you did such a good job with it last time.” Yes. He was definitely trying not to laugh.

  Ankou looked at him quizzically. “Don’t ask,” I said, not wanting Kris to describe Robert’s attempt at attacking an ogre.

  “Fine,” Robert said, ignoring the snigger that Kris failed to keep silent. “What about Rachel?”

  “She can have mine,” Ankou said. He looked at me doubtfully. “Have you ever used a sword?”

  I shook my head. “Got a gun instead?” I asked. I have been to a rifle range a number of times and while not an expert marksman, I’m not a bad shot.

  Ankou laughed. God he had a wonderful laugh. “Go outside and I will grab my weapon then give you a few tips.”

  The next thing I knew I was being herded out of the cottage and into the garden. Within minutes I was standing next to Robert with a hunk of metal in my hand. Admittedly it was a very nice hunk of metal with an ornate ivory handle and some sort of hieroglyphs down the blade, but it looked stupid in my hands.

  “Hold it out in front of you,” Ankou said. Kris had handed his sword to Robert, who instantly obeyed the order. “Slowly move it up and down, get to know its weight and how it moves.”

  It was heavy and moved like a lump of lead, but I wasn’t about to tell Ankou that. For half an hour or more we worked on how to thrust and parry until my arms were aching. At one point Ankou stood behind me with his arms around me, positioning my hands correctly on his sword. My heart was beating so wildly he must have heard it. I saw Kris give him a dark look, but he never said anything.

  “That’s good enough,” Ankou said and I breathed a sigh of relief, letting the sword drop to the ground. Then I realised what he meant. It was time for Robert and me to leave.

  “There is a small mountain about 4 hours walk from here,” Famine said. “The dragon lives in a cave at its base. You are to go there, kill it and return with the evidence. Its head. Its tail. Whatever you like.”

  “What happens if it isn’t at home?” I asked.

  “You wait.” Great.

  “Will there be other dragons there?” I asked nervously.

  “There may be,” Famine said. She had been watching our all too brief training session and did not look confident about our fighting abilities. “If it is not alone, you will need to kill all of the dragons that are present.”

  “Fine,” Robert said as though killing a dragon was all in a day’s work for him. He started to walk off in the direction Famine had indicated, but I called to him to wait.

  “Can we take your bag?” I asked Kris. He looked at me with a puzzled expression.

  “Why?”

  “It gives you whatever you need. If we need more weapons, with your bag they will be easily obtainable,” I replied. It seemed logical to me.

  “You haven’t told her, have you?” Ankou asked Kris, who dropped his head. What else was he keeping secret?

  “Rachel,” Ankou continued. “Kris is the grandson of Hades, a god. Do you really think that it is the bag that is magical?”

  Oh. Put like that it was obvious. I don’t know why I didn’t realise it before. Kris had been creating the things we needed, not the bag.

  “So you’re coming with us, right?” I asked Kris.

  “I can’t. It’s against the rules,” he said regretfully. Was he worried about us?

  “Let’s go,” Robert said and I reluctantly followed him out of the garden.

  “Good luck,” Ankou called after us. I turned to smile at him and he waved. Kris just watched us depart, his face unreadable.

  Robert and I walked in silence for a while, each lost in our own thoughts. I was thinking about how I would manage to keep my hands off Ankou if I made it back to the cottage. Robert was obviously thinking of more practical things.

  “We need to have a plan,” he said. “We can’t just run into the cave with our swords raised and hope that the dragon stays still long enough for us to stab it in the heart.”

  “Assuming you know where the heart is on a dragon,” I said dryly.

  We talked as we walked and before we knew it we were at the base of the mountain. If you can call it that. It was even smaller than the one the ogres live in. We still had no plan.

  Finding the cave was easy. Convincing ourselves that we wanted to enter was much harder. It was dark inside and we hadn’t thought to bring torches. Not that we would have dared to light one; it would have announced to the dragon that we were approaching.

  “Maybe it’s asleep,” I whispered, but I didn’t hold out much hope.

  “Let’s find out,” Robert whispered back and took my hand. On shaking legs we slowly moved into the cave. It was dark inside, but not as dark as I was expecting. The dragon was at home and its body was emitting a faint greenish glow, providing just enough light for us to make out the shape of its body. A deep whistling noise was coming from its nostrils.

  “Is it snoring?” I asked, unable to believe my ears.

  “I think so,” Robert replied. “I guess we got lucky.”

  We crept closer, making as little noise as possible. If the dragon really was asleep, we didn’t want to wake it. We edged forward until we were standing directly in front of the slumbering reptile. It was not as big as I had been expecting. Picture a green elephant with small ears, the snout of a crocodile, wings and a long thin tail with a point at the end and you will get the general idea.

  Still it did not move. This was almost too easy. When it rolled over to expose its chest I began to get very worried. It felt like it was inviting us to kill it. All we had to do was slip one of the swords through its skin and our mission would be accomplished.

  What was I thinking? I have never used a sword in my life. Come to think of it, I have never killed a living creature before either. Except for ants and cockroaches, but they don’t really count. If we had to rely on me doing anything effective then we were both going to become dragon chow.

  It wasn’t until Robert drew his sword that I realised that the dragon’s ‘snoring’ was not the only sound in the cave. I could hear a faint, pitiful cry. I grabbed Robert’s arm before he had chance to do something we might both regret. “Wait.”

  We both stood frozen, listening carefully. “I hear it too,” Robert whispered. “I think it is coming from behind the beast.”

  I signalled to him to stay where
he was and that I would go and investigate. At least I think that is what I signalled. He seemed to understand and nodded, so I began to creep around the dragon. I wasn’t too keen on being separated from Robert, but I would rather have him in a position where he could kill it than be caught at the back of the cave with me, should it decide to wake up.

  It was very dark behind the oversized lizard and I had to grope my way along the wall, grazing my palms as I went. The noise became louder as I moved further away from the sleeping beast, but there was not enough light for me to see what was making it.

  I was about to give up when I heard a sound behind me and froze. The dragon was moving. Too terrified to even breathe, I watched as it rolled over. I stared at its face, expecting it to open one of its big eyes, but it didn’t. It was still asleep.

  Robert, realising that remaining where he was was pointless, eased his way around the dragon to join me. The low glow that the dragon’s body was emitting produced just enough light for us both to see what was making the crying noise and I gasped.

  At the back of the cave a large nest had been made out of twigs and rags and two baby dragons were nestled inside.

  I would say they were cute, but I would be lying. They looked weak and feeble and were the ugliest little creatures I have ever laid my eyes on. They looked like gremlins with wings and they were mewing pathetically.

  “What do we do now?” I asked Robert quietly.

  “Kill the dragon then its offspring,” he said. I was shocked.

  “They are babies. Poor helpless little creatures. You cannot kill them in cold blood.”

  “Famine said we had to kill all of the dragons in the cave,” he said, his tone like that of a teacher explaining to a child why she had to do her homework.

  “But she couldn’t have known that there would be young ones here,” I protested.

  “They may be small and helpless now, but they will grow up to be big, mean and dangerous.” The look on my face must have told him exactly what I thought of his plans. He sighed loudly and his shoulders drooped. “Alright then. We just kill the mother and leave the kids alone.”