Until Death

by E. A. Copen

“Why? So he can turn into a tiger and eat us? No, thanks!”

  “Well, you need to get his blood somehow!”

  Guy was right. We couldn’t go to the Nightlands without the blood of a Titan, but how was I supposed to draw blood with nothing but a stick and my fists? I should’ve traded in the magic staff for a sword. That had been an oversight on my part. I supposed I could smack him around until he bled, but that might take a while. It’d also require me getting dangerously close to those very sharp looking horns.

  Maybe another animal would be easier to deal with, like a jellyfish. They didn’t have brains, and he wouldn’t be too mobile as a jellyfish in less than an inch of water. Still, I had no idea how to control what the staff turned him into. I hadn’t been thinking of a goat at the time. Maybe it was completely random.

  Please turn into a jellyfish, I whispered and slid to a stop, pointing the staff at Ikelos.

  Another bolt of blue power flew through the air and hit him hard enough to send him sliding back through the water with a loud, desperate bleat.

  “Guy!” I shouted, even though I couldn’t see where Guy had gone. “I need something sharp! Guy?”

  The ground shook. I glanced down at the water, watching the surface of it tremble. What the hell was that? Whatever it was, I was about to find out. The stomping was coming closer. I swallowed and took a step back. Not that it’d do me any good. Judging by the amount of noise it was making just by walking, it was something huge.

  A massive orange snout pushed through the darkness. Razor-sharp teeth gleamed in the low light, and tiny, clawed arms waved.

  “Oh, great. It’s only a T-rex.”

  The dinosaur opened its massive jaws and roared in my face, coating me in dino spit. I was almost too grossed out to turn and run. Almost. I don’t care how many million years the Tyrannosaurus Rex had been extinct, or how many times I’d seen Jurassic Park, being chased by one was still terrifying. Big, lizard feet lumbered after me, gaining despite me running full speed. I’d never be able to outrun him. My only choice was to zap him with the staff and hope he turned into something less carnivorous, but I couldn’t stop or slow down or I’d be dino food.

  “I think I liked the goat better!” I shouted. “Guy! Help!”

  A black tentacle shot out of nowhere right in front of the t-rex, stretching taut. The dinosaur couldn’t get his legs up in time. His ankles caught on the tentacle and he fell, little arms waving in cartoon style.

  The black tentacle retreated, and Guy came running out of the darkness. “Hurry, while he’s still down!”

  The t-rex’s arms flailed as it tried and failed to reach the ground to push itself back up. It would’ve been funny if I wasn’t practically pissing myself with fear.

  I aimed my staff at it but paused. Something sharp… The next thing I knew, I was sprinting the short distance between me and the t-rex. It roared in frustration and tried to turn and snap at me when I got close, but I stayed just out of reach and thrust my staff at Ikelos’ eye. It went in deep and Ikelos screeched, rearing his head up and shaking from side to side violently. I had to let the staff go or be tossed like a rag doll. He tried to get his little arms up to pull the stick out of his eye, but it was no good. The only way he could reach it was with his back feet, and that took him a few tries.

  I backed away while he fought to get the staff out, licking my lips and trying to gauge where it would fly. Right, left, right…

  He pried the staff free with his hind leg. It clattered to the ground and rolled away from me. I dove for the staff as the dinosaur found his balance, rolled, and snatched it up as I came to my feet. The end of the staff was coated in dark red dino blood. Success! I pumped my fist enthusiastically.

  “No time to celebrate, kid!” Guy sprinted past. “Let’s beat it!”

  I glanced behind me. Ikelos roared and snapped, his teeth closing close enough that I could feel him breathing. With a terrified yelp, I took off, running after Guy as fast as my legs could carry me.

  We ran in a straight line, although all I could see was darkness. How far away from the door had I walked, and in what direction? “Guy,” I huffed, “how far are we from the exit?”

  “It’s just ahead!” He pointed but I still couldn’t see it.

  Ikelos roared and lowered his head, jaws open. Hot breath and the nauseating stench of death and decay washed over me. Apparently, the only thing worse than dino drool was dino breath.

  With the next step, the exit hovered on the horizon, so close yet so far away. It’d be another minute or two before we could reach it, even moving at full speed. By then, Ikelos would’ve caught us and barely broken a sweat doing it. I lowered my head and forced my legs to pump faster.

  Guy reached the door first and yanked it open as Ikelos snapped at me. I jumped and threw my arms out in the Superman position, clenching my eyes shut. There was no way I was going to make it. Sharp teeth snagged on my shirt and ripped it. I fell and hit solid ground with a grunt. Guy had somehow followed me through and landed only a few feet from me. Behind us, Ikelos’ snout slammed into the door, sending cracks cascading up the wall. His nostrils flared and he tried to snap his jaws, but he wasn’t strong enough to break whatever the prison was made of.

  As soon as I realized I’d escaped, I scrambled up to crawl away on my hands and knees, only to back into something solid. I screamed until I realized it was only Persephone. She leaned over me, frowning.

  I flashed her a victory grin and wiggled the bloody staff in my hand. “See? Nothing to it,” I said, and collapsed at her feet to catch my breath.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  I said goodbye to Persephone, collected myself, and trudged to the shore, where Charon was waiting.

  He eyed us and chuckled. “My, you two have seen better days. And just think, you haven’t even reached the Nightlands yet.”

  I may have mumbled something to him about where he could shove his oar, or maybe I was more polite. He was our ride there, after all.

  Technically, it was impossible for a spirit to feel exhaustion, but I knew that logically I must be. I’d spent the entire time inside Tartarus running from a deranged nightmare, but that wasn’t all. Seeing Pony again, even if it wasn’t him, made old emotions surface. He was dead and gone, his soul consumed in the ritual I’d used to banish Typhon. He didn’t get a good or a bad afterlife. Poor Pony didn’t get an afterlife at all. He’d sacrificed everything he was to save the city he loved. At the time, it had seemed fitting, but now… Now it didn’t seem fair.

  How many others had given up something irreplaceable since I’d become the Pale Horseman? Nate had lost his daughter’s entire childhood. Nearly lost his marriage too. Emma had lost her job and several months of time. The memories from when she was a Valkyrie still hadn’t fully returned, and we didn’t know if they ever would.

  “What’re you thinking so hard about?” Guy asked from the other end of the boat.

  I looked up and shrugged. “Just how much everyone’s given up to get me this far. It doesn’t seem fair. I feel like I’ve asked a lot from my friends.”

  “Askin’ ain’t the same thing as takin’. Taking should make you feel guilty. If you asked and they gave something up, that was their choice. No need to feel bad about a choice someone else made.”

  “I just feel like I haven’t done enough, is all. Like I haven’t earned my time off.”

  Guy nodded sympathetically. “I get that. I do. But you have. That’s not really guilt you’re feeling. That’s loss. Must be hard to give up the Pale Horseman mantle after having it all this time. It’s part of who you are now. Walking around without it is going to take some adjusting. In a way, you’re losing a part of your identity. Learning to redefine who you are without that sort of power, it ain’t no small thing.”

  “And what would you know about it?” I felt bad as soon as I said it, but Guy took it in stride.

  He cast a long look out over the black water and empty landscape. “You know, most Voidwalkers don�
�t stay in a single body as long as I’ve been in this mook. It’s dangerous getting attached to a single identity. Gets hard to know where you begin and the human takes over. Merging with a human host is… Well, it’s a messy process. Imagine melting two different flavors of ice cream together and then trying to separate them after the fact.”

  “That’d be impossible.”

  “Maybe you could do it, or at least sort of do it. But even if you did, you’d lose a part of both along the way. Where does the monster end and the man begin? Hard to say after all this time. I don’t think I could just walk away even if I wanted to. He’s part of me now. You know what that makes others think of me? Makes me seem weak.” He rubbed his ribs. “I like to think it gives me an edge when it comes to dealing with you humans. I don’t experience the world quite like the rest of you do, but I’m about as close as a creature from the Nightlands can get. Gives a guy perspective, you know? And maybe that’s enough.” Guy cleared his throat. “But enough about that. So, Hawaii, huh? Why there?”

  I shrugged. “Emma wanted to go, so we’re going. Have you ever been there?”

  “Who? Me?” He shook his head. “No reason to go. I’m not keen on crossing large bodies of water where I can’t see the bottom. Never know what’s down there. Anyway…” He grunted, tipped his hat down, and relaxed further into the boat. “Had no reason to. Hawaii’s where people like you go. Lovers, dreamers. People like me would be bored to tears with hula dances and blue cocktails with little umbrellas. I hope you and the missus thoroughly enjoy yourselves.”

  I leaned to the side to see around him. Upriver, the tunnel where Josiah and I had run into Baron Kriminel waited. I shuddered at the memory. Kriminel was one dangerous Loa, and not someone I was looking forward to meeting again. At least we wouldn’t have to endure the torturous walk through Naraka, though.

  “Hey, Charon. The last time we went through here, you didn’t take us through Naraka.”

  “That’s correct.” Water sloshed as he thrust his oar into it and pushed us along. “I left you at the transition tunnel between here and there. I’m generally not permitted to go over the border, but this is a special occasion.” He didn’t sound too pleased to be going into Naraka, and I couldn’t blame him.

  As the tunnel loomed closer, my heart rate picked up. “There was someone in the tunnel last time. Do you think it’s clear this time?”

  “Who knows?” said the Ferryman with a shrug. “I never go through there. But if anyone gives us any trouble along the way, I’ve got my oar. You’ve got your staff, and he has his…whatever he does.” He gestured to Guy.

  “Generally speaking, he eats things.”

  Guy tipped his hat up. “Hey, it’s not my fault. I get bored easily. I’ve got to cope somehow.”

  The temperature dropped as the little boat slid into the dark tunnel. Shadows twitched along the walls. I scanned the darkness, searching for any sign of Kriminel. Soon, it was impossible to see almost anything. I lifted my hand in front of my eyes just to see if there was any light at all. At my full arm’s length, I could barely see my fingers wiggle in front of my face.

  “Creepy,” said Guy.

  “You have no idea.”

  “Who did you run into in here last time?” Charon’s whispers bounced off the metal walls.

  “Baron Kriminel,” I answered, barely above a whisper myself. “Patron Loa of murderers. Not a nice guy. He tried to kill me. Well, try to kill me more. Guess I was already dead, technically speaking.”

  “He shouldn’t be any trouble for you this time.” Charon’s oar sloshed through the water. “Kriminel and the other Loa all answer to Baron Samedi, and you work for him, right?”

  “That didn’t stop him before,” I muttered.

  Yet, as we moved through the tunnel, no shadowy figures rose out of the water to challenge us, and there were no other signs of Baron Kriminel. I breathed a sigh of relief as we came out the other side, and then promptly held my breath. Just seeing the barren landscape of Naraka again was enough to bring back memories of the long walk through the burning wasteland. It’d been one of the most painful experiences of my life, despite not being alive at the time.

  But this time, we wouldn’t be walking. We had a ride.

  Charon jammed his oar at the rocky shore and pushed us further into Naraka. “Hang onto your britches, boys. This is about to get bumpy.”

  I was confused about what he meant at first, until I shifted my weight and peered at the river ahead. Some fifty feet in the distance, the river dropped off completely. The only thing to hint that it didn’t just lead to a dead-end was a fine mist reflecting the red fires of Naraka dancing around the drop-off. The closer we came to the drop-off, the louder the roar of water became.

  “Um, Charon?” I gripped the sides of the boat tightly.

  Guy finally sat up and tipped his hat back, twisting to look behind him. “Looks like we’re headed down a waterfall. You okay, Lazarus?”

  Charon cackled. “Don’t worry! You can’t die! You’re already dead!”

  I squeezed my eyes closed and gritted my teeth as the boat picked up speed. Though I knew I couldn’t die again, that didn’t make going over a waterfall in a rickety old rowboat any less terrifying.

  The boat hit the drop-off and teetered for a minute, before tipping forward. Wind rushed by my face, pushing my cheeks back and drawing stinging tears from my eyes. Mist rose around me, blocking my vision. Blind, the sensation of falling clenched my gut and pulled my insides toward my throat. It lasted two, maybe three seconds, and then we were upright again, sliding through the mist as if nothing happened.

  “Is it over?” My voice came out in a squeaky tone.

  “It’s over.” Guy snickered.

  I had to pry my fingers from the edges of the rowboat, and I’m pretty sure my fingernails left permanent indentations on either side.

  The dry heat of Naraka burned my throat. The stench of rot and death turned my stomach, even after I lifted my shirt over my nose. There was nothing I could do to block out the smell. Even Guy wrinkled his nose and coughed before covering his face.

  The river cut through Naraka’s flatlands, boiling tar pits, and pools of lava on either side. Souls writhed in the bubbling liquid, hundreds of them, their mouths open in silent screams. Twisted creatures sat around a pit, armed with pitchforks, and wicked-looking blades. They ushered new souls into the pits with the jab of their weapon. On the other side, they lifted the tortured, broken, bodies using a metal hook. Or at least, what was left of them.

  Beyond the pits, the river cut through a deep valley. Black cliffs soared high, so high I couldn’t see the top. I didn’t need to, because I knew what was up there. Scorpions the size of house cats and snakes as long as trains devoured souls above, they themselves picked apart by eagles that would swoop down to steal the food straight from their mouths. I had seen it all before, on my first walk through Naraka, and I was glad to be spared a second glance.

  Eventually, the cliffs gave way to a burning forest. The air there was so hot and full of soot that even Charon coughed. We passed through burning cities, an icy tundra with huts made of snowy brick, through black cities and shadowy valleys. Once, I leaned over the side of the boat and looked down at the river to find it had turned to blood. Chunks of ice floated on the surface. The Ferryman pushed them away and kept the boat moving at all costs.

  When I saw Yama’s golden palace right on the horizon, I knew we were close to the border. New dread filled me at the sight of the palace, however, despite knowing I wouldn’t have to set foot inside again. Yama had promised me the first time he’d have his due. After what I’d done to him at the summit, he definitely would be thinking up new ways to torture my soul in the afterlife. Hopefully, that was still a long way off.

  Charon directed the boat to the bank. “This is where you get off. I can go no farther.”

  The boat wobbled as Guy stood on shaky legs and adjusted his hat. “How far to the gate from here?”

&
nbsp; “Let’s see.” I waited for him to get to shore and took his hand when he offered it to me. Once I was on dry land, I dusted myself off and looked around. “Not far if memory serves. But I didn’t go straight there the last time I was here.”

  Naraka was where Josiah and I had encountered Khaleda and her demon torturers. We stopped to free her, of course, so it took longer than normal. I also had no idea where we were in relation to the gate because we hadn’t come by river the last time.

  Charon leaned forward on his oar. “Follow the riverbank until you reach the rocky path. Take that up the little hill and go past the rock shaped like an elephant’s trunk. The gate is on the other side of that.”

  “And this gate will take us to the Nightlands?” Guy asked.

  I shook my head. “It’ll take us to Irkalla, which we have to pass through first. The gate to the Nightlands is on the other side of Irkalla.”

  Charon handed me my staff. “Don’t dawdle here, lads. Naraka’s no place for sightseeing. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll be on your way and be quick about it. As for me…” He pushed his boat away from shore and gave us a salute before paddling back the way he’d come.

  “He seemed like a decent fellow.” Guy wiped his hands on his pants, stuck them in his pockets and trudged forward. “But he was right about one thing. Not much to see here in Naraka.”

  “I’m sure you’ve seen worse where you’re from.” Guy had long, lanky legs. I had to work to keep pace with him. If I’d been alive, I might’ve been huffing and puffing after just a few steps.

  “To be honest with you, I haven’t spent much time in the Nightlands over the last hundred years or so.”

  “I thought you said you worked for the Old Ones?”

  Guy wrinkled his nose. “Not the Old Ones. Mask works for them. Technically speaking, I think he is an Old One, even if he’s a lower ranking errand boy.”

  My heels dug into the rocky ground without any signal from me to do so. “Errand boy?” The voice that came out of me wasn’t my own. My hands slapped over my mouth.