by Heath, Joel
offered.
Jessie took a deep breath.
“It’s alright, Spencer, besides we’re fresh
out of options.” Jessie said as the sound of the
banshees wailing entered the scene.
Spencer, Vince and Jessie scrambled
aboard the boat and the oarsman shoved off. “Keep out of the water.” The oarsman
warned. Spencer sniffed the water, it smelled of
sulfur and rotting meat.
“It’s acid.” Spencer guessed.
The current carried the small vessel down the
river of acid toward the first of the obstacles, the
Sirens.
As the boat drew near to the Sirens, their
beautifully haunting song started to echo through
the canyon and grew louder until the Sirens
appeared on a rocky outcropping just out of reach
of the acid.
The oarsman seemed unaffected as the
Sirens continued singing their perpetual song to
draw in the souls of the damned.
Jessie looked at Vince and Spencer and
noticed that the song of the Sirens had them
captivated them by the time they passed by the
Sirens.
Terror gripped Jessie as both Spencer and
Vince started to walk toward the Sirens, in mere
seconds Spencer and Vince would fall into the
acid and who knows what would happen to them.
Thinking quickly Jessie kicked Spencer and the
gut, and then tackled Vince, as they tumbled to
the floor of the boat their lips almost met. “Jessie, what…” Spencer began as he just
came out of the spell.
“COVER YOUR EARS!” Jessie snapped,
Spencer and Vince did so, yet it only diluted the
effects of the Sirens auditory assault.
Jessie glanced at the oarsman, hoping he
would be picking up the pace. She soon realized
he would not need to; the current began to
quicken and turned from rough to violent as it
swept the boat down stream. The song of the
sirens finally blended with the sound of the
rapids.
After a quarter of a mile, the rapids
calmed but the danger was far from over.
The massive volcano loomed over the boat, with
each spouting of fire and smoke the boat would
rock despite the erupting mountain being two
miles distant.
The boat slowly drifted downstream for
another half an hour before the sound of an eagle echoed through the canyon. Spencer looked around and noticed a woman perched atop a stone pillar that jutted out of the river and
extended halfway up the canyon wall.
“Is that?” Jessie began, and as she did
another shriek reverberated off the canyon walls
as the woman leapt from the pillar and fell head
first toward the acidic river, and pulled up to at
swoop over the intruders, buzzing them. “IT’S A HARPY!” Spencer shouted.
Spencer drew his sword for the first time since
the sixth circle of hell. He held the sword up. “You cannot harm her, she’s a harpy, an
immortal creature.” The oarsman warned with a
raspy voice.
“What do you suggest?” Spencer asked
watching the sky for the harpy.
“Soon we will enter the cave.” The
oarsman advised.
“What good will that do us?” Jessie
demanded.
“She fears what is beyond the cave’s
entrance.”
Spencer, Jessie and Vince exchange a worried
glance.
“There.” The oarsman said pointing at a
cave that opened up to greet the river, the cave
was forty feet wide and maybe ten feet high
several jagged rocked jutted up from beneath the
river’s surface. The cave was only a hundred feet
away.
The harpy had circled back and was on
her way back for another attack.
“Here she comes again.” Spencer called. The harpy went into a dive bomb head
right at Spencer.
“Do not attack her.” The oarsman warned,
“Just get out of the way.”
The harpy skimmed over the river’s
surface heading straight for Spencer. Everything
screamed for him not to attack their hunter, but as
she got to within striking distance, Spencer
attacked.
The harpy shrieked, not in pain but in
anger, she started to climb toward the roof of the
canyon, shrieking as she went.
“Fool, she’s going for the others.” The
oarsman warned.
“Can we get to the cave before she gets
back?” Spencer asked, while staring at the cave
entrance, which now sat sixty feet away. The current quickened and the boat
moved more quickly though the choppy river. The cave entrance was now only forty
feet away, they would be there less than sixty
seconds. But time was running out the sun faded. “It got dark fast.” Spencer noticed.
Jessie looked up toward the sun.
“Um, Spencer.” Jessie started causing
Vince and Spencer to stare at what Jessie was
looking at.
The sun still shone above the horizon, but
a blackened mass had blocked out the sun. It was
a mass of shrieking harpies, thousands of them
moving in for the kill.
Spencer, Vince and Jessie stared in
terrified trepidation. The current was strong and
fast, but could it carry them to the cave in time? With twenty seconds the first of the
harpies dove into the canyon, in the mortal world
all that awaited them is pain, but this wasn’t the
mortal world, anything could happen, either way,
at the rate they were moving, they would soon
find out.
“Excuse me.” Spencer said sheathing his
sword and taking the oar before he began
stroking as hard and fast as he could. Twenty
feet…ten feet.
As the boat passed into the cave, the
harpies pulled up to avoid hitting the wall or
entering the cave. The river continued to a dock
another forty feet inside the cave. Just off the
dock was an embankment holding up a massive
rock wall, a tunnel entered the rock face. The oarsman moored the boat alongside
the dock allowing Spencer, Vince and Jessie to
disembark and enter the tunnel, the tunnel
continued deep into the volcano entering a
chamber where the brittle floor was the only
protection from a fifty foot free fall into a riverof
molten magma, a narrow land bridge offered
passage across the lava.
Spencer looked over the edge toward the
lava, the distance of the lava offered no barrier
from the immense heat from below, and then
Spencer briefly examined the land bridge, it didn’t look stable, or strong enough for all three
to pass over together.
“Just my luck.” Spencer said walking
away from the ledge.
“Well,” Spencer said, “We have two
choices: stay here or risk the bridge and possibly
plummet to our death in the lava.”
“I guess we cross the bridge, then.” Jessie
said.
“I’ll test it first.” Vince said then
made
for the land bridge and slowly crossed. After he
was safely across it was Jessie’s turn. As she
made it to the middle a fracture appeared in the
bridge.
“Jessie, hurry, it’s not going to last much
longer.” Vince demanded, concerned for her
safety, Jessie’s feet lightly pattered across the
bridge, but the crack had already expended to a
threatening size.
“Spencer, no, you’re not going to make
it.” Vince pled.
“Shut up, Vince.” Spencer demanded.
Jessie slugged Vince in the shoulder, and then
called to Spencer.
“Take it slow, Spencer.” Jessie urged. Spencer nodded before he carefully
stepped toward the land bridge and examined the
crack.
Spencer said nothing, not willing to admit
that he did not expect to see the other side of the
room. Spencer took his first step onto the land
bridge and the crack further expanded. He took
another and another.
The sound of crumbing stone that came
from the land bridge warned Spencer that the
bridge would collapse any second so he leapt for
the other side as the rest of the bridge collapsed
into the lava below.
Spencer clung to the edge of the side of
the cauldron above the magma pool, his feet
kicked free of the lava fifty feet below. Vince and
Jessie raced forward to help Spencer out of the
pit, but the small device that had provided the
crucial knowledge fell from Spencer’s pocket and
plunged into the lava.
“The map.” Vince declared as he watched
it sink and melt in the molten rock.
“It’s okay, we’re almost done here.”
Spencer said as he climbed to his feet and walked
toward another tunnel that opened up after three
hundred yards to a massive chamber, in the
center of the large chamber there was a large
underground lake, an eerie green light glowed up
from the water.
“There isn’t any other way out of here;
this must be the way out.” Vince said marching
toward the lake.
Spencer stopped him.
“The way forward is though the lair of the
one who is many.” Spencer repeated.
Spencer pulled out the map device,
hoping it would shed some light on what they
were about to fight, and how they could defeat it,
Jessie pulled out the large book and started going though it hoping for some information, anything, but all they found was a simple passage in
Jessie’s book.
“The one who is many fears the eternities,
and the fire within.”
Spencer stepped to the water’s edge and
looked down. The water dropped down a sheer
drop hundreds, possibly thousands of feet.
Spencer picked up a rock the size of his head and
dropped it into the water, the rock drifted down
until it could no longer be seen.
A rumbling sound echoed through the
chamber, and then an explosion of water
drenched everything in the chamber as a large
head shot out of the water. The head was attached
to a long neck that must have been fifty feet long,
and the mouth was filled with row after row of
jagged teeth.
The creature lurched forward attacking
Vince, then Spencer then Jessie. Each time the
creature’s target narrowly evade the creature’s
teeth. The creature spied the slowest moving
target, it was Jessie, and it lunged.
“Spencer.” Vince and Jessie shouted.
Spencer recalled what Jessie said just a few
minutes earlier and drew his sword.
The blade began to glow with great light;
Spencer raised his sword and hacked at the
creature’s neck. The neck did not sever with one
stroke but it did get the creatures attention, and it
was mad, so Spencer took a second stroke and it
severed the neck causing the large head to fall to the ground, the body collapsed onto the dry ground, then slid back into the water, the carven
grew quiet.
“You did it, Spencer.” Vince noticed.
Spencer was mildly winded as he replied. “Yea, now let’s get moving.” Spencer
said.
Spencer, Vince and Jessie moved to the edge of
the water. A series of small bubbles rose to the
surface of the water and popped.
“What the hell?” Vince asked.
The water suddenly became turbulent.
“I don’t think it’s over.” Spencer said.
With those words, the turbulence in the water
increased until three heads erupted from the
water.
Spencer looked around, hoping for a
miracle. The only option was a torch. The
creature struck again and again forcing Spencer,
Vince and Jessie to scatter. Vince noticed a hatch
on the wall, then another one on the other side of
the cavern.
“The fire within.” Vince said illuminated. “What are you talking about?” Spencer
asked.
“Forget it, can you keep this thing busy?”
Vince asked.
Spencer nodded and lunged at the three headed
creature.
Vince pointed to the hatch nearest Jessie. All three of the creature’s heads focused
on each of the three intruders, two held back since Vince and Jessie were not a serious threat;
the third went for the attack aiming for Spencer. Spencer swung and sliced through the
side of the creatures face causing it to shriek in
pain. The remaining two heads turned to focus
the attention of all three heads on Spencer. Vince
and Jessie made their move, releasing a thick
gooey substance that flowed toward the indoor
lake.
“Vince,” Jessie called “I can’t get to the
torch.”
Vince noticed that the river of gelatinous fluid
was between Jessie and the torch.
“I’ve got it.” Vince said as he made his
way to the torch.
Two of the heads noticed Vince was going for
the torch, all three were moving away from
Spencer, so he stepped into the water and began
to swim towards the creature, the syrupy fluid in
the water was making it difficult, but Spencer
finally reached the creature.
Vince reached the torch and put his hand
out to grab it.
“VINCE,” Jessie yelled, “LOOK OUT!” One of the creatures head lurched forward
on the attack, but instead landed on the rocky
ground, severed. Spencer hovered in the water
then swiped and took off one of the other heads. “Get the torch and let’s get moving.”
Spencer ordered.
Vince grabbed the torch.
“It’s going to be coming back any second, let’s get out of here.” Jessie said before jumping into the water.
“Vince, into the water; swim down.” Spencer said holding his sword aloft to stave off
the creature.
“Get going, I’ll be right behind you.”
Spencer decided not to argue with Vince and
submerged beneath the water.
Vi
nce jumped threw the torch towards the
middle of the lake and jumped in, swimming
down under the surface as it lit up, but beneath
the water the lake started to churn and swirl
turning into a huge cyclonic whirlpool. The
creature was nowhere to be seen, but the water
was starting to get rougher and rougher swirling
around and around until one by one they were
pulled down and down, deeper in the water and
drawn down by millions of watery hands until
they each lost consciousness.
As Spencer lay unconscious somewhere
between life and death, between heaven and hell
he heard a voice.
“Don’t leave me.”
It was the voice of Gretchen.
Spencer woke up screaming, the
screaming quickly faded to deep panting as
though he was roused from a terrifying
nightmare, which was not far off. The nightmare
had not yet begun.
Spencer found himself alone in a prison
cell, outside his cell he often saw black gossamer
guards hovering back and forth, patrolling the cellblock. After several hours a pair of ghostly guards passed by Spencer’s cell escorting several dozen people, many he had seen in movies, some he knew as leaders, but one in particular caught
his attention.
“Eric.” Spencer whispered getting up
from his cot.
A guard came to Spencer's cell.
“Get back.” The guard hissed. “Or you’re
next.”
Spencer caught a reflection that allowed
him to see down the cellblock where the rest of
the people were coming from, the wraithlike
guards were taking everybody from their cells,
but why, after a few minutes he saw Vince walk
by, his head was moving, looking for Jessie and
Spencer.
“Vince” Spencer whispered catching
Vince’s attention, Vince looked relieved, but
only for a moment, he still did not see Jessie. “Where’s Jessie?” Vince mouthed.
Spencer shrugged his shoulders as if to say “I
don’t know.”
Finally, Spencer’s cell opened and he was
placed in column, then ordered to march. Spencer
looked up to the next level where he saw Jessie;
she had been stripped of her book, like Spencer
was stripped of his sword.
How were they going to escape, let alone
fight back?
A guard appeared in front of Spencer. “Lucifer will be pleased that we have
captured you.” The guard hissed.
They were lead to a large courtyard, there
were tens of thousands of people in the
