Forge of the Gods 3

by Simon Archer

  Feeling came back one nerve ending at a time. It crawled up from my pinky toe all the way up through my body. The lights in my brain fired up, like a slow computer booting up at years of sleep and gathering dust. I felt cold again, mainly against my back. It pricked at my spine until I was sufficiently annoyed. I needed to find out what was causing such discomfort.

  I opened my eyes.

  I knew I should have never doubted Daniella’s incredible genius, but I would have been lying if I said I was one hundred percent that this was going to work. Sure enough, though, I found myself back on the inlet of rock in the Underworld. It looked the exact same, with its gray rock and flowing black river. It rushed alongside me, ink spilling from its container. I never thought I would be excited to see that terrible river, but it was a clear sign that we were exactly where we were supposed to be.

  I sat up and raised my arms in the air triumphantly. “We’re dead!”

  “That’s not something I thought you would say excitedly,” Hailey grumbled from her place on the floor.

  When I finally saw my girlfriend, I had to do a double-take. Her normally golden skin, kissed by the sun, was a faded gray. It looked as though she stepped into a black and white movie. Her features drooped, and there were speckled marks on her neck. She had a similar reaction when she finally saw me.

  “Let me guess,” she said, trying to keep her voice light. “I look as weird to you as you look to me right now.”

  “All black and white and gray?” I checked. I reached out my hands and turned them so I could examine both sides. My features were the same gaunt colors, with knobbly knuckles and cracked fingernails.

  “Yep,” Hailey said, popping the word against her lips. “Death doesn’t look good on you, babe.”

  “You either,” I said, trying to imitate her joking tone, but I couldn’t seem to shake the morbidity in the air.

  “Well, what do we do next?” Hailey said as she got to her feet. She reached out a hand and offered it to me. I reached up to take it but nearly lost my balance as my hand fell right through hers.

  I didn’t quite comprehend what happened right away, so I tried again, thinking I had just missed. But that wasn’t the case. My hand slipped right through Hailey’s again. Stunned, I spent the next several seconds waving my hand through Hailey’s just to watch the astounding effect happen over and over again. Hailey finally pulled herself away from me, out of my reach.

  “Okay, that’s enough of that,” she concluded. “The first few times was cool, but now it’s just creepy.”

  “But wait!” I exclaimed, suddenly full of panic. “Does that mean…?” I reached out and touched the helm that was next to me, tipped over on to its top. Miraculously, I could hold on to the metal, which had retained its original coloring.

  “Oh, thank the gods,” I exhaled a sigh of relief, putting my hand to my chest. As I did so, I reached up to fiddle with my locket. To my surprise, I found that I couldn’t grab it. My hand flayed about like a dead fish as I tried to grab the necklace, but there was no way to do it.

  “Katlynn!” I said, my worried eyes connecting with Hailey’s. “We don’t have Katlynn.”

  “It’s okay,” Hailey said. She tried to grab my shoulders but pulled her hands away at the last second, remembering. “Daniella said we’re only supposed to be ‘dead’ for an hour. Once that corrects itself, we’ll be able to get Katlynn back out.”

  “Right, right,” I said, reassuring myself with her words.

  “Now,” Hailey said, her tone changing back to her determined, soldier voice, “I’m assuming this is the River Styx, and we need to ride it down to the actual Underworld.”

  “Well, I’m not sure what river it is, but it will get us to the Underworld,” I corrected unhelpfully.

  “So, do we just wait for Charon or what?” Hailey wondered.

  “We don’t have to wait for him,” I said with a cocky smile spreading on my face.

  Hailey raised an eyebrow in response.

  “Just watch,” I smirked.

  The pair of us got to our feet, and I crossed over to the edge of the rocky inlet. I closed my eyes and held out my hands. I dug around in my memories to find the feeling of Charon’s boat. The weight of the steel, the layers of death, and carnage woven into it. I remembered the kind of tingle it gave me as I yanked it up onto the shore the first time when I battled Charon for control of it. I sent out my thoughts down the length of the river, and my fingers twitched, searching for the boat.

  Nothing happened at first. As I concentrated, I realized that I had only ever summoned metal that I could see. Never had I tried it before on a piece of metal that wasn’t within eyeshot. A spark of worry flared up in my stomach that I wouldn’t actually be able to get us where we needed to go. That Hailey and I would be stranded down here. Or worse, Charon would actually come to pick us up, and we wouldn’t get the audience with Hades that we needed and that we would get sorted into one of the three Underworld locations with the rest of the dead.

  Instead of letting that worry grow and fester, I thought about the boat and how I managed to manipulate the first time around. I pictured the essence of it and all it had been through. Tingles shot up and down my spine, radiating along my arms. I knew it was close, and I envisioned it coming close to me. I brought it toward Hailey and me.

  Then the river stopped rushing.

  The silence was the encouragement I needed. Hailey’s mouth opened, and I heard the start of a sentence come from her lips. I whipped out my arms towards her, holding up one finger. A hiss emanated from my lips, warning her to be quiet. Slowly, I brought my arm back to my front, side by side with the other one as I reeled in the boat.

  I closed my fists as though I were pulling an invisible rope. Hand over hand, I moved. My whole body heaved. I dug my heels in and yanked. The boat resisted my compulsion, giving me a hell of a game of tug of war.

  It felt as though I were trying to wrangle a boar. It jerked, and I tipped forward on my toes. I heard Hailey shout my name from somewhere far away, but I couldn’t pay attention to her or address her concern. All of my concentration focused on the boat.

  The tension in my hands grew as I pulled my arms back in toward me. The boat came with. I controlled its movements as it navigated over the top of the still, black river. Even though I heard the crash when the bottom collided with the rocky edge, I didn’t dare open my eyes yet. Suddenly, I had the impulse to open my hands. I complied even though I didn’t want to lose control of the boat. But to my surprise, there was a cool sensation that kissed my palms.

  Immediately, I recognized the steel of the boat. The bow of the ship pressed into my hands, finally completing its journey to me. Despite the fact that I couldn’t touch anything else, I could confidently place my hands on this vessel. Armed with that knowledge, I opened my eyes.

  “Holy shit,” Hailey whispered from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see her mouth hanging open. Even with her gray-toned features and poxish skin, I couldn’t help but smile at how attractive she looked at that moment. I liked impressing her, and there was a flare in my belly, reminding me of that desire.

  “I told you I had it covered,” I said, trying my best to be cool and casual. “Will you grab the helm? We have somewhere we need to be.”

  “Yes sir,” Hailey said with a sloppy salute. She did as she was told and then scrambled in the boat after me.

  I let Hailey sit in the back as I had when I made this journey the first time around. I took a spot at the bow so that I could guide the boat appropriately. Mainly I would listen to the course of the ship and rely on it to send us in the correct direction.

  “Do you know where you’re going?” Hailey asked, mistaking my silence for confusion rather than concentration.

  “I remember the route,” I said, my words sticky on my tongue. “But we can’t go the same way that I went the first time.”

  “Why not?” Hailey wondered, leaning forward, her upper body wrapping around the helm.
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br />   “Because there is this thing called the Tunnel of Fears,” I said, remembering it as I spoke. “It’s supposed to force the dead to relive their greatest fears.”

  “Oh, Cameron,” Hailey said sympathetically. She tried to reach out and take my hand, but then we remembered we couldn’t exactly touch each other and retracted it. “That must have been horrible for you. I’m so sorry.”

  “That’s the thing,” I said as I put my hands on my hips. “I didn’t experience it the first time because I wasn’t dead, but now…” I let my words trail off.

  Hailey was smart enough to put the pieces together.

  “We are dead,” Hailey concluded, “so we would have to experience it.”

  “Shit,” I muttered under my breath, cursing myself for not remembering this sooner. “I really don’t want to have to go through that tunnel if we can help it.”

  “You’re not alone,” Hailey agreed wholeheartedly. “It sounds like all of my worst nightmares come to life, and I just… I don’t know. Cameron. I’d really like to avoid that.”

  “I know, me too,” I said as my brain raced to find an alternative solution. I shook my head, rolling my lips over my teeth in determination. “It doesn’t make sense that would be the only way to Hades. There are nine damn rivers in this place, and other Greek heroes never had to go through it. Maybe we don’t have to either.”

  “So you think we can just take another river?” Hailey said. The hope was unmistakable in her voice. It was comforting to know that Hailey was just as nervous as me about the prospect of going through the Tunnel of Fears.

  “I wonder if I can talk to the boat and find another path,” I said, the idea forming in my mind as I said the words.

  “Is there anything I can do to help you?” Hailey asked as she moved one plank forward, getting as close to me as she could without touching me.

  “As much as I appreciate that, I think the best thing for you to do is to be quiet,” I said to Hailey before beginning the journey down the river. “I have to concentrate on the metal in the boat and pointing it in the right direction.”

  Hailey made a gesture of zipping up her lips and throwing away the key. She cradled the helm in her lap and offered me a closed-mouth smile. Satisfied, I closed my eyes. This time, I had the benefit of being able to touch the metal itself. I could connect to it much easier now that I had a direct link.

  Okay, Boat, I thought, feeling slightly foolish. You’re going to listen to me and find another route to Hades, got it?

  The metal in the boat vibrated under my fingertips, letting me know it had heard.

  Then let’s do this, I replied, and I propelled the metal to move forward.

  Together, the metal and I guided the boat along the river. The journey was unnerving. I had to keep my mind clear and free from wandering, which was difficult to do in the surrounding silence. It didn’t help that the deeper we went into the tunnels, the darker it got. I didn’t even need to close my eyes anymore, it was so dark, but I kept them shut, anyway.

  My breathing matched the pulses of the tingles that shot up and down my nerves from the metal in the boat. It kept us on due course, following the familiar path along the river, down into the depths of the Underworld. I couldn’t let myself celebrate. As much as I wanted to whoop and holler that I was doing it, my abilities were getting us to Hades just as planned, I knew I needed to stay connected to the boat and hold my concentration as much as possible. Hailey was following my instructions and staying silent.

  We came to a crossroads, with two tunnels opening up before us. I tapped into the metal’s knowledge and history, hoping to get a clear answer about which tunnel was the safest for us to take.

  My eyes remained closed as I asked the metal for its expertise. Which way is the Tunnel of Fear? I posed the question.

  The answer appeared as an image in my mind’s eye. The forked river laid before us. To the right, the river seeped into a darker ebony color than before. The cave hung low and ominous. On the left, the water lightened into gray, like clouds before a rainstorm. It was clear from the symbolism which route we needed to take and which would lead us down the Tunnel of Fear.

  I extended my gratitude to the metal and guided the nose of the boat towards the left.

  Then the boat jerked unexpectedly.

  It wobbled like a table missing a leg. My knuckles turned white as I grabbed the edges of the boat, trying to stabilize it and myself. I reached out down my mental link with the metal and commanded it to settle. There was a slight resistance, but then the element finally listened. The metal forced the boat to still, but it no longer moved forward.

  “What was that?” Hailey whispered. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine, I’m fine,” I said quickly, trying to reassure her as much as myself. “That wasn’t me.”

  “Then what was it?” Hailey asked, voicing the million-dollar question.

  “I don’t know,” I started, but I was interrupted by another violent jerk from the boat.

  Hailey had to drop the helm as she reached out to the sides to stabilize herself. I did the same and pushed my will into the metal, demanding obedience. The connection wasn’t as clear as before. It was like trying to call someone with limited cell service. The voice on the other line crackled and cut in and out.

  “I can’t talk to the metal,” I said through gritted teeth, my concentration pushed to its limits. “Something’s blocking me.”

  I tried to punch my way mentally through the blockade. As I fought to reform the connection with the metal, the boat turned of its own accord.

  “Cameron,” Hailey said with a slow and worried voice, “where are we going?”

  “It’s not me.” I bit the words out, a painful effort to speak. It felt as though my mind was being cleaved in two pieces. While it hadn’t been an easy journey to speak with metal, it had never been this hard for me to form a connection. Or to get one back that I’d lost.

  The metal felt like sand slipping through my fingers, compelled by some other force than my powers. The boat responded accordingly and propelled us forward, down another tunnel than the one I was leading us down.

  I pulled on the reins of this bucking and temperamental horse. It was as though the boat suddenly had a mind of its own. As though someone was fighting me for control…

  At that moment, another voice entered my head. It slapped across my thoughts like a thunderclap.

  “Get out of my boat!” it commanded. Another violent jerk came from the boat, accompanying the warning from the voice.

  “Cam!” Hailey shouted as she toppled on her back, the helm flying across the floor of the boat as she lost her grip on it.

  “I think Charon is fighting me,” I said in a rush, trying to let Hailey know what was going on. But the rocking on the boat upped its speed. It teetered back and forth as though we were caught in a hurricane, rather than on a still black river. All the while, the boat sped forward, zooming towards the darker of the two tunnels.

  I felt like I was driving a car with no breaks. As much as I tried to reach out and regain control, there was nothing to hold on to. I looked up, down into the mouth of the Tunnel of Fear. A cold breeze breathed on the back of my neck and slid down my spine like an ice cube.

  The sheer prospect of having to face my darkest fears terrified me. As brave as I thought I was, this tunnel’s entire purpose was to torture the newly dead. I didn’t want to have to experience that. What’s more, I didn’t want to put Hailey through that. She was there to support me and had journeyed into the Underworld, so I wouldn’t have to go through it alone. Entering the Tunnel of Fear was definitely not a part of the bargain.

  I made up my mind in a split second. I released the bow of the ship and spun on my heel to face Hailey, who pushed herself all the way to the back of the boat, keeping as much distance between her and the tunnel as possible. I could already see the impending horror in her eyes as the prospect of venturing in the tunnel. I clambered back to my girlfriend, doing my
best to keep my balance against the constant rocking. I tried to take her hand in mine and picked the helm off the floor, catching before it nearly rolled off the side.

  “Come on,” I said as Hailey got the message and rose up to her unsteady feet.

  She bolted up and tried to wrap her whole body around mine. “What are we doing?”

  “Exactly what Charon wants us to,” I replied with as calm of a voice as I could muster at that moment. “Getting off the boat.”

  Without giving her another second to doubt or question me, using the Helm as the point of contact, I pushed Hailey with it and I let us fall forward with the next rock of the boat. We toppled over the side and into the depths of the black water.

  Our bodies broke apart the minute we slapped into the river. The impact felt as though we fell from fifty feet into a belly flop. The sensation woke up my system. Disorientation dominated my thoughts. I couldn’t tell up from down or left from right. My memory was bogged down by the lifelike scenes from before, and I wasn’t sure of my reality anymore.

  My lungs shriveled inside my rib cage, tightening every muscle. My throat refused to expand, to allow any additional air. I was paralyzed. I no longer had control over my body. The freezing water burned against my skin, and I struggled to find a functioning thought through the cold. Finally, my survival instincts kicked into gear, and I swam for the surface.

  My face broke through, and I gasped for air. After my brain regained some oxygen, I could think coherently. My first thought was of Hailey. I twirled in the still water for my girlfriend and found that she was only a few feet away, swimming for me.

  “Cameron!” she called out as she approached me. She came closer, but we didn’t touch one another, using our arms to stay afloat in the surprisingly deep river. “What were you thinking?”

  “It was either this or the Tunnel of Fear,” I explained, throwing out my free hand to gesture towards the darker of the two tunnels. The other one still held onto the helm, an annoying weight as I tried to stay above water. “I wasn’t about to go through that, were you? Especially since we were going to lose control of the boat either way.”