Until Death

by E. A. Copen

  I raised an eyebrow. “There’s a Starbucks in Tartarus?”

  “Aye,” said Charon. “And their lattes are to die for.”

  I guess gods and monsters needed their coffee too, although I couldn’t imagine they saw much business. Who was I to judge, though? I turned my back to Charon and the river.

  It was only a short walk from the bank to the gate, but it felt like it took forever. A cold wind swept over the plain that made me shiver, despite knowing I didn’t have a physical body to warm. Even Guy hugged himself and swept his gaze back and forth as if he were looking for trouble. There was something inherently wrong about the place, even for a prison in Hell.

  A single door of thick steel blocked the entrance, a little intercom next to it the only means to reach whoever was inside to open the gate for us. I pressed the button and nearly jumped when it buzzed and crackled.

  “Yeah?” demanded a disinterested male voice.

  That was new. Before, Hades had said Tartarus was unguarded. Maybe he’d stepped up security since the Titans escaped the first time.

  I shot Guy an inquisitive glance. He responded with a shrug, so I pressed the button again and hunched over to speak into the intercom. “Um, hi. My name’s Lazarus Kerrigan. Hades said I could come in? I’m here to—”

  The intercom buzzed, and the massive gate crawled aside just wide enough for us to fit through. A squat, red-skinned creature about four feet tall waddled through and lifted his flat-billed cap to get a good look at us through squinty eyes. “Lazarus Kerrigan, huh? And who are you? Santa Claus?”

  “Funny you should mention him,” I said. “We just came from the North Pole. Well, before we were in Hades’ palace. It’s been a weird couple of days.”

  The guard eyed me, his face blank. “What do you want?”

  “Show some respect.” Guy gestured to me. “You’re talking to the Pale Horseman. The guy who put half these inmates in here.”

  “You mean the guy who put half the inmates back in here after he let them loose the first time?” The guard snorted. “Do you have any papers?”

  I blinked. “Papers?”

  “Instructions from Hades. A pass of some sort. Identification. Anything that would make this visit official?”

  “Um…no. Hades didn’t say anything about papers.”

  “Sounds like him.” The guard sighed and waddled to the side, making room for us to pass. “Fine. Go in.”

  “Really?” I took a step forward.

  He slammed his fist on an invisible panel. The gate buzzed and slid closed with a bang. “No, not really. I don’t know you from Abraham Lincoln. Why would I let you walk into the most secure facility in the underworld without so much as an ID? I’m going to have to call this in.”

  He lifted a small radio from his chest to his mouth. “HQ, we’ve got a code indigo at the gate. Please advise.”

  “Code indigo?”

  Guy shrugged. “I don’t usually worry unless they start saying code red or code black. Indigo sounds kinda nice if you think about it.”

  The radio buzzed to life, and a voice murmured something over the static.

  “Uh-huh,” said the guard. “Yes, ma’am. Yes, ma’am. Copy that. Says his name’s Lazzario.”

  “Lazarus,” I corrected.

  The guard rolled his eyes. “Lazarus. Got some squirrelly-looking fellow with him in a fedora and a big coat. Uh-huh. You don’t say? You sure? If you’re sure…” He stepped back, slammed his fist on the button panel again, and the gate slid aside. “Boss lady said to let you through. But make no mistake, I’ve got my eye on you.”

  The gate slid open all the way. Beyond the gate, the door waited. That too opened, and a familiar feminine figure emerged.

  My eyes lit up, and I broke into a run toward her. “Persephone! Long time, no see!”

  She smiled widely. “Lazarus! It’s so good to see you. But what are you doing here?” Her eyes slid to Guy behind me, a note of caution in her tone.

  I paused just short of her and gestured to Guy. “This is Guy Smith.”

  “Pleased to make your acquaintance.” Guy extended his hand.

  Persephone shook hands with Guy but maintained her air of caution as she looked back at me. “That still doesn’t answer my first question. What are you doing in Tartarus?”

  I gave her the short version. “I need to get into the Nightlands. I have a way in, but I need the blood of a Titan first. That’s what I’m here to collect.”

  Persephone’s face was grave. “I won’t stop you from going in, but to retrieve what you seek will not be easy. There’s a lot of security out here, but in there is the Wild West. Titans, monsters, and evil souls are left to roam free, preying upon one another. At best, they will see you as one of them. At worst, they’ll recognize you for who you are.”

  “Don’t you worry about us, toots,” Guy said, strolling past her. “We’ve got this. We’ll be in and out in a jiffy. Don’t wait up.” He walked through the open door behind Persephone, turned around, and gestured to me. “Well? Are you coming or not, Lazarus?”

  I smiled and went to Persephone, hurrying past her to catch up with Guy. “See you on the flipside.”

  The door slid closed behind us, leaving us in complete darkness for a long moment. I held my breath, afraid to breathe. The air inside was musty, like in an old basement. I choked on the next breath I tried to draw, then pinched my nose. “What the hell is that smell? Smells like rotten eggs.”

  “You don’t recognize the smell of sulfur? I can tell you haven’t been here many times.”

  “And you have?”

  “Once or twice.” Guy’s voice sounded like he was moving further away, though I didn’t hear any footsteps.

  I had a moment of panic, my heart jumped into my throat, and sweat formed on my palms and the back of my neck. What if he walked away and just left me there in the dark? I suppose the door was right behind me, but what if it wasn’t?

  I told you he would betray you, whispered Mask’s voice in my head. Maybe not now, but he will. You’re going to die here.

  “I’m already dead, asshole,” I murmured.

  “What was that?” Guy called, his voice echoing through the darkness.

  “Nothing. Where’re you going?”

  “Me? You’re the one who’s moving!”

  I turned around and stretched my hands out, feeling for the door I knew was behind me. All I found was open air. Two steps forward, and still, there was nothing. I knew I hadn’t moved, so where had the door gone? We needed light.

  My fist closed around the vial Ereshkegal had given me. It was one-time-use only, and I was hesitant to use it so early in my journey. Eventually, we would be going into the Nightlands, a realm of absolute darkness. I knew the creatures of the Nightlands hated bright light and had hoped to save it for them. Using it now might destroy the one advantage I had when we got to the Nightlands.

  “Guy?” I called.

  No answer.

  “Guy!”

  I thought I heard something, but I couldn’t be sure. If he answered me, he was too far away for me to understand what he was saying.

  Looks like I’m making my own light. I lifted the vial, gripping the stopper on top. Just as I was about to pull it out, a bright light pierced the darkness. I shielded my eyes against it and called Guy again. I still couldn’t hear him if he’d answered, and there was no sign of him in the darkness, but the light was moving closer. Maybe he’d found a flashlight.

  But as the light bobbed closer and closer, I realized it wasn’t Guy I was seeing, although the figure behind the light was familiar.

  “Lazarus?” Creaked out the familiar voice of Pony Dee. “Is that really you?”

  My throat tightened. “Pony? No, you can’t be here.”

  Pony hadn’t exactly been a saint, but he wasn’t a monster. He’d died helping me, making up for all his past mistakes if that was even possible. Did doing one good deed on your way out really make up for murder? Maybe not, but he
certainly wasn’t as bad as the Titans I’d put down. Hell, he’d helped me defeat the Titans. That alone should have entitled him to a better resting place in the afterlife than Tartarus.

  Pony wandered forward, lifting the light high. A closer look revealed it to be an old-fashioned lantern, the kind they carried around in the early nineteenth century. If this thing, whatever it was, wasn’t Pony, it had done a good job impersonating him. They’d gotten everything on him perfect, right down to the liver spots in the dark-rimmed glasses.

  He embraced me. “My God, boy. I can’t tell you how good it is to see a familiar face after all this time.”

  Despite everything, I couldn’t help but hug him back. “Pony, what the hell? What are you doing here?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, stepping back. “One minute, I’m floating in a sea of white nothingness, all alone. Next thing I know, I’m here.” He leaned in close, whispering, “we ain’t alone in here, boy. There’s something else. I hear a growl every once in a while, hear its big feet stomping around in the darkness. I ain’t seen it yet, but I put out the light every time I think it’s nearby.”

  “Where’d you get that lantern, Pony?”

  “This ol’ thing?” He wiggled the lantern. “Tripped over the damn thing not too long after I arrived. It took me a while to figure out how to light it. A little magic goes a long way, but it’s hard to dredge up here. The thing in the darkness, it practically eats power.”

  “This is Tartarus,” I explained. “There are Titans in here, along with the worst monsters history’s ever seen. It doesn’t make sense that you would be in here.”

  Pony chuckled and turned. “Well, I wasn’t exactly a choirboy in life.”

  He started walking, so I jogged to keep up. “Yeah, but you weren’t evil.”

  “Maybe I was.”

  I shook my head. “You were a bastard when you wanted to be and you did some awful things, but if everyone who did something bad wound up here, this place would be crawling with inmates. It seems pretty empty to me.”

  “You, of all people, should know looks can be deceiving.”

  Something rattled in the darkness, deep and loud, off to our right. Pony spun toward it, stretching the lantern out as far away from his body as he could get it to try and shed light on whatever it was. Nothing popped out of the darkness.

  “What was that?” I whispered.

  “Don’t know. That’s new.”

  We shuffled on in the darkness, with only the lantern to guide us. After what felt like an eternity, I said, “I’m going to get you out of here.”

  Pony chuckled. “That’s mighty kind of you, Lazarus, but you don’t need to go through all that trouble for me.”

  “It’s no trouble. Even after all you did, you still went out like a hero. I can’t leave you in here to rot. It wouldn’t be right.”

  “Well, I ain’t going to argue with you. You do what you feel is right. But first, we’ve got to find a way out.”

  I stopped, planting my feet, and Pony did the same, turning around to cast light on me. “I can’t leave until I have the blood of a Titan. That’s what I came here for. If I don’t get it, I can’t get into the Nightlands.”

  Pony snorted. “What do you want to go there for? Nothing in the Nightlands but darkness and more darkness. That’s why they call it the Nightlands.”

  I fidgeted with the light in my pocket, feeling the weight of it. “Something happened to me, Pony. There’s a part of me that isn’t really me. It’s something…much worse. I have to get rid of it before I can move on with my life. The only way to do that is to go to the Nightlands. I don’t have a choice.”

  A distant voice echoed through the darkness around us, almost coherent, but I couldn’t quite make out what it was saying or who was speaking. It sounded as if they were underwater and very far away.

  I turned, searching the darkness for the source of the sound. “Did you hear that? What was that?”

  “I didn’t hear nothing.” Pony snorted and turned around, shuffling onward. “If you want the blood of the Titan, I don’t know what to tell you. There’s not much in here except for me and whatever’s making that growling sound, and I don’t want to go near whatever that is.”

  “No,” I said, rushing to keep up with Pony and stay in the light. “What I heard didn’t sound very much like growling. It sounded like a voice, somebody shouting for help.”

  “Maybe you’re hearing things.”

  A sound like the crack of thunder echoed above. I paused and turned toward the source of the sound. On the thunder’s heels came a voice I recognized—Guy’s voice. “Lazarus! Look out! Behind you!”

  I turned back toward Pony to warn him, but something stabbed me in the gut. I looked down to see a scorpion tail retreat from my stomach. As nothing but a soul, I shouldn’t have been able to feel anything, but the wound burned. Before me, the visage of Pony faded, replaced by a miniaturize version of Ikelos, the Titan of Nightmares.

  Chapter Twenty

  I had defeated Ikelos at Angola with the help of Emma, Grammy, and a foulmouthed unicorn named Buck. He’d been trying to break through into my dimension, forcing loving fathers to become murderers as part of his plan to open a door. Plagued by nightmares, they went insane and killed their families. I never expected to run into him again, but then I’d never expected to walk into Tartarus either.

  He grinned and retracted his scorpion tail.

  I fell to my knees, gripping my stomach. “What…” It was all I could get out. The burning pain choked all other thoughts from my head.

  Heavy footsteps stomped through water, and Guy appeared in front of me, hands outstretched defensively. The Titan shrieked so loud I let go of the bleeding wound in my stomach to cover my ears. Guy’s skin rippled and large, black tentacled arms sprouted from his back, waving in the air. Those arms shot toward Ikelos and wrapped around the Titan’s body. “Lazarus, now!”

  Now what? The world was spinning. The lantern Pony had been carrying had fallen to the ground, illuminating a world of darkness and rippling water. I knelt in a shallow pool stretching as far as the eye can see, though the water itself was less than an inch deep. My staff lay on the ground a few feet to my left. If I can get it, maybe I could use it against Ikelos. A few good whacks, and maybe I could draw some blood.

  I tried to stand, but the burning in my gut was just too bad. I fell back to my knees with a grunt. “I can’t!” I panted. “He did something to me. I can barely stand.”

  Ikelos threw one of Guy’s arms off. His scorpion tail stabbed at Guy’s face, missing by a fraction of an inch. Somehow, Guy managed to get his tentacle back around Ikelos, squeezing him. “I can’t hold him long! You’re going to have to do something!”

  I lowered one hand to the cold water and pulled myself closer to my staff. It didn’t look far away but crawling toward it took forever. While I did, Guy wrestled with the Titan, lifting and slamming him to the ground repeatedly. Ikelos let out several loud screeches that made my ears and the wound in my belly ache.

  When at last I reached my staff, I remember what Hades had told me about it, that Circe had used it to change her enemies into animals. Maybe that would somehow help. I planted the staff and used it to haul myself to my feet, despite the pain radiating through my body. Ikelos had gotten the upper hand against Guy, and had him on the ground, his meaty hands around Guy’s throat. Guy’s extra tentacle appendages slapped him, pulled his arms, and barely managed to hold back Ikelos’ tail.

  That tail is the real problem, I thought, and aimed the staff at Ikelos.

  With a shout, I sent a blast of blue magic toward Ikelos. It struck him like lightning and sent him flying backward.

  I pulled myself forward using the staff as leverage, unable to move more than a few inches at a time. “Guy, are you okay?”

  His black tentacle arms snapped back into his skin, and he shuddered before sitting up and cracking his neck. “That was unnerving as hell. What happened? You just walked
off and left me standing there.”

  “I don’t know. I thought I saw an old friend, someone who didn’t belong here. Ikelos must’ve done something to make himself look like Pony Dee.”

  It was a relief knowing Pony wasn’t trapped in here, but how had Ikelos gotten that image of him? Pony hadn’t been hanging around when Ikelos showed up. I’d sent him out of state for cancer treatment and told him never to come back. The two of them had never met.

  Ikelos was the Titan of Nightmares. Maybe he’d somehow plucked the image of Pony from my memory to use against me. That seemed to be what he’d done before, forcing people into waking nightmares until they couldn’t tell reality from a dream.

  “It’s this place,” Guy said, standing. He shook water from himself. “It’s not right. Here, let’s have a look at that injury. How do you feel?”

  I moved my hand off my stomach, which was coated in dark blood. “It hurt at first. Burned like a son of a bitch, but now it’s just numb. I shouldn’t be able to feel pain, right?”

  He examined the wound. “Not necessarily. Sometimes all it takes is for us to believe something is real to make it so. Maybe you saw him stab you and believed you should’ve felt pain and started bleeding. That’s what’d be normal for you, right? But now that you’ve worked out that it’s impossible, and the immediate danger has passed, maybe you don’t feel it anymore.” He wiped his hands on his pants and shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m just a cosmic entity trapped in a skin-sack. I don’t pretend to understand how the human mind works.”

  The bleating of a goat reverberated through the air around us. I dropped my shirt as the sound of hooves clip-clopping through water came closer. A moment later, a giant goat came charging out of the dark, head down, horns pointed straight at me. Guy and I scattered, narrowly avoiding being headbutted by Ikelos as a goat. Ikelos turned, paused, scraped his hooves through the water like a bull, and charged after me. I yelped and took off.

  “What are you running for?” Guy shouted after me. “It’s just a damn goat! Use your magic stick!”