We were near the outer edges of the river Oceanus, a part of the sea where the mortal world ended and the Underworld began. The air was cool yet balmy, somewhere between winter and spring.
I stared straight ahead. “Last chance to turn back.”
Valentina sighed. “What kind of friend would I be if I did that?”
“A safe one.” I was having second thoughts about bringing my friends on a possible suicide mission.
“I’m not leaving you, Gray. I told you, you’re stuck with me.” She smiled through her fear. She was more stubborn than I was.
A surge of guilt shot through me. “I promise you, I will get us out of here.”
She squeezed my hand. “I don’t doubt you for a second.”
I wish I had her confidence. Doubt was spreading through me like wildfire.
Many supernatural worlds existed alongside our mortal one, hidden behind a veil that could only be accessed through magic. The Underworld was no different. Seven’s ship idled at the spot where the entrance should be, according to our compass.
All eyes were on me. I drew out one of my daggers and pricked my finger. Holding my hand over the side, I let my blood drip down into the sea. Aldric was as pale as a ghost while he watched me. “Your turn.”
He raised his hands up and closed his eyes. The clouds darkened and the sky in the horizon cracked open, splitting vertically like an invisible curtain parting in two. The ship swayed back and forth. A magnetic force pulled us toward the opening.
The wind whipped at us, scratching my lungs. Aldric and I clung to each other as the ship picked up speed, turning the world around us into a hazy blur.
White light blinded me as we moved closer to the opening with a force that threatened to tear us apart, limb from limb. I threw myself over Aldric. “Everyone down. Now!”
Seven pulled Valentina down underneath him as the loud crack of thunder and splitting wood rang through my ears. We were being sucked in like a vacuum. Aldric wrapped his arms around me and held tight. Water sprayed up and over us from every direction. The wind howled as we plunged forward into the divide. I held my breath as it swallowed us whole, and then everything went black.
It was dark, but I could make out shapes and shadows scurrying around the ship. My face was wet, pressed against the wood panels of the deck. The water continued to splash up and over the sides of the ship.
I strained, trying to will my eyes to adjust. “Is everyone all right?”
Valentina grunted. “Ugh, I’m drenched.”
A light flicked on like a spotlight, shining in my eyes. I blinked a few times to clear the spots out of my vision.
Seven held a lantern over Valentina. “You look like a wet mop.”
She pushed out her lower lip. “Thanks for stating the obvious.” Seven chuckled as Valentina rolled her eyes and gave him her back.
Aldric groaned beside me. His hair was drenched and matted to his forehead. His hands trembled as he attempted to sit up. “Did it work?”
Considering this was the first time Aldric and I had used our magic together, I’d say it worked too well. “Yeah, I think it did. We went through the veil.”
Aldric’s eyes were red and swollen. I reached out to brace him as he was still unsteady. Magic this powerful was draining. Especially at the level we were using it. Once we were both fully standing, I took my first look out into the abyss.
I swallowed hard, an effort to keep the contents of my stomach from bubbling up. The dizzying effects of this place were already starting to set in. The air was thick and chalky, like fog that you could taste. Every hair on my body stood at attention. Every nerve was on edge. There was no denying it. This place was toxic. Evil. I could feel it in my bones.
I shivered as the ship began moving again. The wind whipped through my hair, coating each strand with tiny ice crystals. I sensed Seven’s eyes on me. He watched me, expressionless. He had a way about him that was both calm and alert at the same time. He took slow easy breaths while his stance suggested he was ready to fight at a moment’s notice. I was grateful he was here. He nodded in my direction as if reading my mind.
There were five rivers in the Underworld, but we only needed to get across one—the River Styx. The entrance to the river was guarded by Charon, the Ferryman of the Underworld and the Taker of Souls. The souls of the dead would make offerings to Charon by placing gold coins underneath their tongues. It was the only way to ensure safe passage into the afterlife.
A faint beacon of light glowed in the distance. We were getting closer. The once-fierce wind transformed into a warm breeze. It would only get hotter from here. The black sky was behind us, but a different type of darkness was hovering in the water up ahead.
The Ferryman was hunched over his staff, covered in dirt and black sludge. His eyes glowed, fiery swirls of black and red. I shuddered as he looked in our direction. His limbs were like branches, twisting and curving around each other like snakes. Sharp, but smooth like obsidian. Whispers floated in and out of the air around us.
With gold coins underneath our tongues, Aldric, Seven, Valentina, and I joined hands and stood in a line to face Charon.
I took a deep breath and said a silent prayer to Apollo. Would this work? Would the Ferryman let us pass?
I closed my eyes and found my link to Aldric. I visualized the connection in my head. Focus. Aldric squeezed my hand just as his magic seeped in and danced alongside mine. Sparks of light flashed behind my eyelids as I summoned the power of Dolum. Fox magic. It bestowed the ability to trick and deceive. Its power was strong, but I still needed Aldric to help blanket the others inside the spell with us.
Sparks of light turned to shards, bursting inside my head as our magic pulsed between us. It whipped and sizzled before finally settling into a quiet rhythm. It hummed just below my consciousness, present but not distracting. I let out a deep breath and hoped the spell would work.
I opened my eyes to see Charon aboard our ship and mere inches from my face. His eyes were full of flames like two volcanoes erupting over and over again. I forced myself to hold his gaze. I tried not to tremble, but I was on the verge of losing control.
His long scaly fingers outstretched before me as he waited for my payment. With one swift motion, I opened my mouth and dropped the coin into his hand. Charon weighed the coin diligently, never taking his eyes off me. My hands began to sweat as I waited.
Satisfied, Charon moved over to Aldric and did the same. I was tempted to look to see if he was okay, but I couldn’t move a muscle. My heart was beating out of my chest. I held my breath as he moved on from Aldric to Valentina, and then Seven.
With the spell still buzzing low in my ears, I thought I heard Valentina’s soft whimpers as she dropped her coin into Charon’s hand, or maybe those were my own whimpers. Lastly, Charon faced Seven. The thought of a pirate giving away gold coins almost made me chuckle. If I hadn’t been so terrified, I would have laughed out loud.
Seven grunted, spitting out his coin. Charon lingered in front of him, longer than he had with the rest of us. My stomach dropped. Was the spell wearing off? The tension was thick around us. All four of our hearts were beating hard and fast. My eyes were shifting. I felt them changing color. I started to pull my hands away from the others. I needed to reach my daggers.
Aldric gripped my hand tighter. “Don’t do it, Gray,” he whispered.
The buzz was fading. I could barely hear it as black clouds formed in my eyes. I couldn’t wait any longer. The spell would break soon. I had to do something. Just as I was about to break free from Aldric’s grip, Charon closed his hand around Seven’s coin. He looked at each of us one more time before disappearing into a patch of barren trees.
Aldric spun around at me. “What were you doing, Gray? You almost broke the link.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it. It was like something was making me do it. I can’t explain it.” My chest was tight and heavy.
Aldric looked at me wild-eyed. “You couldn’
t control it?”
Seven stepped in between us. “No, she couldn’t. It’s this place. It affects everyone differently.”
Aldric fumed at Seven. “And how do you know so much about this place?”
Seven chuckled. “A story for another time, mate. Another time.”
Seven was right. I felt different here. Darker. I was on edge, and Aldric was too. Valentina, on the other hand, was full of sorrow.
“Val, you ok?”
She trembled. “It’s like there’s this ache in my chest. Like I’m missing a part of me. I feel nauseous.”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. “We have to keep moving. The sooner we get out of here, the better.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. We had made it past the first trial, but it would only get more difficult from here.
Seven steered us down the River Styx in silence. Everyone seemed lost inside their own thoughts. Prisoners in our own minds. I suddenly felt unprepared. All my training seemed so trivial now. We worked so hard to get here together, but this place threatened to pull us apart.
Aldric touched my arm. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. I…I don’t know what came over me.”
“Aldric, promise me that we won’t ever turn on each other. No matter what. I couldn’t bear it.”
He pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around my waist. “Nothing will ever come between us. I promise.”
I felt warm for the first time since entering this place. My heart was swelling and bursting with love for him. I couldn’t imagine a time when that would end.
Everything ends.
A lump formed in my throat. Did I think that? No. I would never. Not when it comes to Aldric. I shook it off. “Seven, faster.”
His eyes narrowed as he nodded. The ship sped fast toward the Ninth Gate.
Twenty-Three
We would be deaf soon. No screams, no heartbeats, no sound. Silence would take on a whole new meaning.
The potion would shield us from their cries. It was the only way to keep our ears from bleeding. A knot formed in my chest at the sight of the willowy figures up ahead, guarding the Ninth Gate.
Banshees. There were twenty-five of them. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the vial that The Keeper had prepared for us. Silentium. It was the antidote to their madness.
“Bottoms up.” I took a swig and passed it on to Aldric.
Valentina was next, then Seven, who hesitated but gulped it down.
Like a blow to the head, all sound left my ears. Valentina clung to Seven as he clutched her to his chest. Aldric and I stood still next to each other. His fingers reached for me and I clasped his hand.
This was insane. I couldn’t hear a pin drop. I couldn’t even hear my own breath. My knees wobbled as we inched closer to the gates. All my other senses were amplified. Bile rose in my throat as the stench of sludge and opium pinched my nose. The banshees were all around us as we sailed through, hanging off the gates like animals.
The banshees’ mouths opened wide, contorted as they screamed at us. They whipped their heads around revealing black empty holes where their eyes should have been. A wave of panic washed over me. I looked away from them.
Aldric was wide-eyed and as pale as a ghost. Valentina’s eyes were shut tight as she held onto Seven with an iron grip. He glared defiantly at them. The more we resisted their screams, the more they flailed around. They reached for us in hysterics.
The potion was working. We couldn’t hear a thing, but it was still just as terrifying as if we could. It was chaos. The banshees screamed at each other in a fit of agony, pulling at each other’s hair and limbs. They craned their necks up and screamed at the sky like they were pleading to the gods to let them have us. But the gods weren’t listening, and neither were we.
As we passed them, the wood rumbled under my feet, threatening to break apart.
I mouthed to Aldric, “You okay?”
He nodded, grinning from ear to ear. He looked back at the banshees and waved goodbye. This sent them into more of a frenzy as they lunged over each other, struggling to break free from their post. But they couldn’t reach us. We had made it.
The spell was wearing off, but the effects made me feel like I was underwater. Voices were muffled as we tried to speak to each other. After a few more minutes, my ears popped and opened. I let out a huge sigh of relief. The Keeper told us it wouldn’t last, but the fear of being deaf forever was very real.
My moment of satisfaction quickly faded. We got lucky. How many poor souls had been tortured by them? We were prepared. We knew what to expect. But my heart suddenly ached for those who had no idea. For those still to come. I wished I could save them all. But I knew that I couldn’t. I was immortal, but not everyone else was. That was my curse. To watch those around me perish. The humans deserved better than this.
“We shouldn’t be here. This place is damned.” Seven was a man of few words, but when he spoke it was wise to listen. He was right, but it was too late now.
I blinked back tears. “We had no choice.”
Seven looked at me, eyes full of sorrow. “There is always a choice, Gray.”
His usual charm was gone, and in its place was something much darker. It cast shadows over his eyes in a way I had never seen. I had no answer for him. For me, there was no other choice. I had to get the Narcissus flower. To defeat Pythia.
Aldric came to my defense. “Well, it’s too late to turn back now, buddy.”
He couldn’t hide the bitterness in his voice. He never liked Seven, and he would jump at any chance to put him in his place.
Seven shot him a defiant look. “We can turn back anytime you want, Bannister. But you and I both know that’s not going to happen. Just try not to get yourself killed.”
We spent the next few hours chewing on pieces of willow bark to keep the nausea at bay. It got harder to breathe the further we went. The ship glided like a bird downstream, maneuvering gracefully through jagged rocks and thick marshes.
There was some comfort in being on deck, but we would have to dock soon and go the rest of the way on foot through the Mourning Fields. It stood between us and Erebos, where we would have to face our last challenge before meeting the Reflection Siren.
The Mourning Fields were pain and desolation personified. It was where the lost souls roamed with no end to their suffering. Their unrequited loves and failed endeavors kept them in a state of limbo. A torture they would have to endure for all eternity. The only brief respite was the occasional offering of a blood sacrifice. Blood would temporarily alleviate their misery. And they didn’t care where that blood came from.
“This is as far as I go, my lovelies.” Seven turned to Valentina and embraced her. “I will wait here until you return. I cannot go any further.”
Panic struck me. I thought he would accompany us all the way through. I’d already asked enough from him, but the thought of him staying behind filled me with dread. “You’re not coming?”
Valentina shot me a look that seemed to say, don’t ask any more questions. Aldric stiffened as Seven took my face in his hands.
“I cannot go any further. You don’t need me, Gray. The gods are with you.”
I was dumbfounded, but one look at his tortured eyes and I thought it better not to push. There was so much I didn’t know about him.
“No. I am grateful you came with us this far. We’ll try not to keep you waiting.”
Seven winked and reached out to shake Aldric’s hand.
He hesitated but took it. “Just keep the engine running.”
Seven pulled Aldric in for a hug, which caught him off guard as he chuckled and awkwardly patted his back. “May Apollo guide you and keep you safe, my friend.”
As happy as I was to see them getting along, I couldn’t help but worry that I was leading us all to our deaths.
The ground was black, jagged, and colder than ice. A gaseous steam rose between the cracks, blurring my vison. The terrain stretched on for miles in every direction. It wa
s impossible to get my bearings. I pulled out the compass that The Keeper had given me. Not an ordinary compass, but it was from his realm and blessed with magic.
There were no directional indications of north or south on it. Instead, the device was marked with the twelve signs of the Zodiac. We were instructed to follow the constellation Virgo for the rest of the way. Apollo created Virgo as a tribute to our fallen kind. It made perfect sense that the Reflection Siren would be waiting at the other end of it.
My skin tingled. “We’re almost there. Can you feel it?”
The Mourning Fields were not yet in sight, but I could feel the anguish. My chest was heavier and filled with an unexplained sadness. The sorrow had been collecting here. It wafted through the entire perimeter, pricking the back of my throat like nettle thorns.
Aldric and Valentina nodded, their heads drooping and slumping as they walked. Was I dragging my feet too? I couldn’t tell. Everything was hazy. The trees were bare, like skeletons, arching and twisting in agony without leaves or grass to comfort them.
The ground shifted, and we began walking uphill. The swelling in my chest grew with each step I took. The skeleton trees were disappearing the higher we climbed. The desolation was unbearable.
As we neared the top of the hill, my chest tightened. Their moans blasted through my ears. My knees buckled. Valentina let out a yelp as she toppled over, her hands slamming out in front of her. Aldric collided into me, covering his ears as we hit the ground right next to her.
Every fiber of my body burned as the Mourning Fields’ moans turned to screams. Valentina’s eyes glowed red. She dug her nails into the thick soil. Saliva dripped from her fangs as she gasped for air.
“Gray—the blood—make the offering.”
The blood. Yes, the blood should make it stop.
I fumbled for my pouch. Pain seared through my head as I struggled to get it open. Aldric writhed around on the ground, clutching his head. My heart beat faster as I dumped the contents out in front of me.
Blood and Magic (Blood and Darkness Book 1) Page 14
