Elementals 4: The Portal to Kerberos

by Michelle Madow

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  After what felt like much longer than two hours, we reached the end of the desert. It ended abruptly, just like all other places we’d traveled through since arriving in Kerberos. One moment we were following the barren path, then we turned around a massive boulder and saw a thriving jungle up ahead.

  I ran for the trees, unable to get under their canopied cover fast enough. The moment I reached the shade, I sat on the ground and leaned against one of the trunks, guzzling down as much water as I could manage. The water never truly quenched my thirst in the desert, but now, I finally felt hydrated again. The air around me was humid and misty, although the mist wasn’t nearly as thick as in the Whispering Forest, so we were still able to see. It cooled my skin, making the burn hurt less than it had when exposed straight to the sun.

  “Is there anything we can use in here for our sunburn?” Danielle asked, poking through a colorful variation of plants. “Aloe, perhaps?”

  “Don’t put anything from these plants on your skin,” Erebus warned us, and Danielle pulled her hand back, stepping away from the greenery. “There’s no predicting what they could do. But given where we are, I doubt it would be anything good.”

  “Where exactly are we?” I asked, looking up at the trees. They were gigantic compared to any trees I’d ever seen, their branches and leaves at least three times the size of any on Earth.

  Erebus looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. “We’re in Kerberos,” he said.

  “I know that.” I glared at him. “But what area of Kerberos is this? What type of torture should we expect while we’re here?”

  “This is the Jungle,” Erebus told us. “Like everywhere else in Kerberos, don’t consume any food or drink while here. Many variations of food grow here, and while they will nourish, each one will come with a different cost. But the food and drink isn’t what keeps most people out of the Jungle.” He paused to scan the area, as if expecting something to jump out at us at any second.

  I stood up and grabbed my bow, wanting to be ready in case anything attacked. I looked at Erebus to continue, but he said nothing.

  “Since you clearly want one of us to ask, I’ll do the honor,” Danielle said, rubbing her hands against her jeans to get rid of any residue from the plants she’d touched. “What keeps most people out of the Jungle?”

  “The dragons,” Erebus said simply, tossing us each a protein bar and turning to continue along the path.

  “Dragons?” I repeated, opening my protein bar and hurrying after him. Danielle and Chris did the same. “The same kind of dragons who flew Ethan and Blake up the mountain?”

  “Helios’s Solar Dragons.” Erebus nodded. “They’re the only dragons who live in Kerberos. They’re the final part of your journey up the mountain. You see—we’ve taken the path nearly to the end. As you saw when you arrived to Kerberos, the mountain shoots straight up through the clouds. Those clouds are the mist you currently see around you. Soon the path will stop, and the rest of the mountain is a wall straight up to the plateau on top. The wall is impossible to climb. The only way up is a ride from the dragons.”

  “And you really think those dragons will fly us up the mountain?” Chris asked. “Because in case you forgot, Helios hates us. He blames us for killing that cow, and he convinced Ethan to turn against us. Why would his dragons agree to help us?”

  “Dragons are notoriously selfish,” Erebus said, as if we should have known that already. “If you offer them something that they want badly enough, they’ll likely provide their services in return. Remember to be civil and diplomatic while speaking with them, and you’ll be fine.”

  “Hold up.” Chris laughed. “These dragons talk?”

  “Of course dragons talk.” Erebus scoffed. “They’re some of the most civilized and wisest creatures in the world. Besides gods, obviously.”

  “That changes everything,” Chris said. “Since they talk, I can use the lyre on them.”

  “That makes sense.” Danielle nodded, and turned to Erebus. “What do you think?”

  He glanced up and chewed on his lower lip, as if something about the suggestion didn’t sit right with him. “I think that’s a solid move,” he finally said, meeting our gazes again.

  “So why did you hesitate?” Danielle asked.

  “No reason,” he said. “Chris is right. You should use the lyre.”

  “Okay.” I ignored the tension in the air, trying to sound more confident than I felt. “So… where can we find the dragons?”

  “At the end of the path,” he replied, pointing forward. “There’s a cliff at the point where the Jungle meets the clouds, with a view across the entire realm. It’s the dragons’ favorite spot in all of Kerberos.”

  “Then what are we waiting for?” Chris placed his hand on his lyre and puffed out his chest, turning to continue along the path. “Let’s go meet these dragons.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  We continued along the path, through the hot and sticky jungle. I sweated out the water in my body as quickly as I could drink it. Sweat soaked my hair and clothes, and it was hard to believe that recently I’d been in a desert, wishing for humidity. Now I felt like I was drowning in the hot, wet air. It was so thick that it was hard to breathe.

  Eventually the trees thinned out, opening up into a clearing. When we stepped into it, I saw them—four orange dragons. They were large, but not so large that they dwarfed us. If I reached up, I would be able to touch their heads. They stood next to a cliff, which like Erebus said, looked out over all of Kerberos. When the clouds parted I saw the desert, the Red River, the River of Dreams, and I could just barely make out the Whispering Forest along the horizon.

  It was crazy to think about how far we’d traveled to get here.

  The dragons watched us with thoughtful, yellow eyes. The largest one stepped forward, observing each of us individually, as if it was trying to size us up.

  I swallowed, nervous for whatever was going to happen next. As intimidating as these creatures were, they were majestic as well, and I had no idea what to expect from them.

  We continued to stare at each other, and then the dragon in front shifted into human form. The others followed his lead. There were two males and two females. They all had matching yellow eyes, bright fiery hair, and bodies that would make the most beautiful of humans jealous. They were also all naked. I supposed that as dragons, they felt no need for modesty, but I averted my eyes just the same.

  “What brings you here?” the dragon who’d shifted first finally spoke, his voice wise and deep.

  Chris reached for his lyre and began to play, the notes filling the clearing. But unlike the previous times when he’d played the lyre—when I’d wanted to close my eyes and lose myself in the music—something sounded off. Out of tune. I doubted that people who weren’t attuned to music would be able to tell, but I could clearly hear the difference.

  “We need a ride to the top of the mountain,” Chris said, continuing to pluck and strum the lyre. “The four of you will fly us up there, wait while we complete our task, fly us back down to the portal to Earth, and once we’ve returned home to Earth you’ll forget that you ever met us.” He stopped playing the lyre and watched the dragons, waiting for them to follow his command.

  I held my breath and gripped my bow, praying that the lyre was still in tune enough to work. Because without the lyre… how were we supposed to convince the dragons to fly us to the top of the mountain?

  The male dragon who’d spoken first snorted, a puff of smoke billowing out of his nose. “Why should we do as you say, mortal?” he asked, his voice booming so loudly now that I could feel its vibration in my bones.

  “Because the lyre…” Chris glanced back at me, his eyes wide in panic.

  One of the female dragons stepped up to join the first. “You thought you could use Apollo’s Golden Lyre on us?” She sneered. “We are dragons. We are not silly creatures who can be wooed by the sound of music. You dare to think us so naïve,
so easily pliable? You think you can insult us in this way?”

  Chris lowered his hands to the strings, as if to try playing again.

  “Don’t.” I reached for his hand to stop him, speaking as quietly as possible. “The lyre’s out of tune. It won’t work.”

  “Then what are we supposed to do?” His eyes were wide, panicked. “We need to get up that mountain.”

  “Don’t you think I know that?” I hissed.

  “There’s no need to speak so quietly,” the first dragon—who I assumed was the leader—said. “Our ears are far more advanced than yours, and we can hear every word.”

  Danielle stepped up beside me and leveled her gaze with the dragon’s. “It was wrong of us to use the lyre, and I apologize on behalf of my group,” she said. “We’re just in a hurry, and we thought it would be the fastest way to complete our mission. But now that you know why we traveled so far to seek you out, I must ask—is there anything you can do to help us?”

  None of the dragons betrayed an ounce of emotion. I leaned back and looked at each of them nervously, but they just watched us as if we were bugs they could easily squash.

  “Of course we can help you,” the leader finally said. “We can fly you to the top of the mountain, wait for you to finish whatever you set out to do there, fly you back down to the portal, and allow you to return to Earth. But what we can do and what we want to do are different things entirely. Just because we can do something doesn’t mean that we want to do it, or that we will do it. You see… for us to want to do this for you, we need something worthy from you in return.”

  “And after you tried to manipulate us with the Golden Lyre, what we want to do right now is kill you,” one of the female dragons added, grinning maliciously.

  I looked to Erebus for help, but he stood silently to the side, watching us as if he couldn’t care less how this confrontation ended. It didn’t make sense. I knew from all the ways he’d helped us so far that he did care—why was he acting so nonchalant now?

  Primordial deities could be so frustrating sometimes.

  But I didn’t have time to worry about him right now, so I turned my focus back to the dragons. “What exactly do you want?” I asked the leader. I held tightly onto my bow—I didn’t want to use my final crystal arrow, but I wouldn’t hesitate if it were necessary. “Everything we have is back on Earth… but perhaps we could make a deal. Tell us what you want, and if we have it, we’ll send it back to Kerberos once we’ve returned home.”

  “That isn’t how these deals work,” he said. “This is how they work—you must first present a gift to us. Then we will decide if we wish to accept your gift or not. If we accept, we will do as you asked in return. If we do not accept… normally we would let you go on your way. But after you insulted us by attempting to use that instrument to manipulate our thoughts and actions, that will not be the case this time.”

  “You cannot get away with trickery like that and live,” the female added, as if we were too stupid to understand her the first time she’d said so. “Unless, of course, you offer us something tempting enough to change our minds.”

  “I could give you the lyre,” Chris offered, holding it out to them. “The deal would make sense, since the lyre is what angered you in the first place, right?”

  “What use have we for that lyre?” The leader sneered. “It only works when tuned, and it can only be tuned by Apollo. Apollo has never stepped foot into Kerberos. And if the portal ever opens, I doubt he would agree to tune it for us. Your offer of an out of tune magical lyre that only works when it’s in tune is insulting. I hereby reject your offer. And I hope—for your sakes—that you do not propose such an offensive offer again.”

  The other dragons nodded, clearly in agreement with their leader’s sentiments.

  “What about my remaining crystal arrow, along with the Golden Bow?” I said. “When the crystal arrow is shot with the Golden Bow, it’s guaranteed to hit its target, as long as the target is in sight. Nothing like it exists in the entire world.”

  “That last fact is true.” The leader pressed his lips together and stared down at the arrow in my hand. Finally he raised his gaze to mine, his amber eyes flashing with suspicion. “But does the arrow’s magic last indefinitely? I see you have other, similar arrows in your quiver, and yet you say that this one in your hand is the only one of its kind. Which leads me to believe that the magic in the arrow is limited, and the ones in your quiver have already reached that limit.”

  “The arrow can only be used once,” I admitted. “But if you choose when to use it wisely, as I’m sure you would, it could be extremely useful weapon to have at your disposal.”

  “The Golden Bow is a beautiful weapon,” the female purred. “But an arrow with magic that will disappear after one shot is hardly a fair bargain in exchange for a favor from all four of us.”

  “Per usual, I agree with my mate,” the leader said. “Both of your offers thus far have been sub-par. What else do you have to give?”

  “Like I said, we have a lot back on Earth,” I said, trying to think of something we could part with that they might value. “Do you have guns in Kerberos? I haven’t seen any so far. They’re the most powerful handheld weapons on Earth—with enough bullets, you’ll be victorious against any opponent.”

  “They were locked into Kerberos over three thousand years ago,” Danielle whispered to me, rolling her eyes. “Guns didn’t exist back then. They probably have no idea what they are—”

  “Silence!” the leader commanded, and Danielle clasped her mouth shut, stopping mid-sentence. “We’ve heard of these ‘guns’ that you speak of, and we have no use for such crude, mortal weapons. What else do you have to offer? Think long and hard, as I’m growing tired of your insolent suggestions.”

  Danielle reached for the handle of her sword, and I shook my head, trying to will her to stop. We’d trekked through Antarctica for that sword, talked our way into Chione’s ice palace, and risked our lives to free it from the block of ice that had encased it for multiple millennia as it waited for the one deemed worthy by the goddess Aphrodite to free it. Danielle—a descendant of Aphrodite herself—had removed it from the ice. That sword was her destiny.

  “No.” I stepped forward, stopping her before she could pull out the sword. “We have so much back on Earth. We just need to think. What do we have that they might want? There has to be something…”

  “Our patience is wearing thin,” the leader said. “And we will do nothing for you unless what you offer is in your possession and handed over to us now. So tell us, child,” he said, his eyes twinkling with greed as he stared down at Danielle. “What is it that you wish to offer?”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  Danielle removed the sword and held it up high, the gold shining so brightly under the amber sun that I had to shield my eyes to protect them from the light. “The Golden Sword of Athena,” she said, looking like a goddess herself as she presented the ancient weapon to the dragons. “It was forged by Athena at the beginning of time, and is blessed with the ability to cut through any material in the universe. The Golden Sword is so powerful that the gods locked it away for thousands of years, making it accessible only to the one they deemed worthy to retrieve it. My ancestor Aphrodite cast the spell to lock away the sword, and she chose me as the one to free it, so that I could use it to behead the gorgon Medusa. But I’ve already completed that task, so if you deem the sword an acceptable trade, I will hand it over to you in return for your services.”

  The dragons said nothing, practically salivating as they admired the sword.

  “The Golden Sword of Athena,” the leader finally said, smiling greedily at the item he spoke of. “Every creature on Earth and Kerberos has heard of this weapon, but few have seen it with their own eyes.” He reached forward and opened his hand, waiting for Danielle to hand over the sword.

  She stepped back, moving it out of his reach. “I won’t give it to you until you agree to do as we asked,” she said.<
br />
  “Silly girl.” He snarled. “You expect us to accept your offer without us first confirming that this is the mythical sword you speak of? Let me hold it first. Then I will decide whether or not to accept your offer.”

  “You would be able to tell that this is the Golden Sword just by holding it?” I asked him.

  “Of course,” he said. “You forget, young mortal, what creatures you are speaking to. We are dragons. We know and recognize precious metals better than any creature in the Universe—perhaps even better than the blacksmith god Hephaestus himself.”

  “It’s a good thing that Hephaestus can’t hear through the realms.” Erebus chuckled. “Because he would not be happy to hear you say that.”

  “It is the truth.” The leader held his head proudly, focusing on Danielle. “Now, will you allow me to inspect the sword, or not?”

  “You promise that if you choose not to accept the deal, you’ll give the sword back to me?” she asked.

  “If this sword is what you say it is, then we will be accepting your deal,” he said. “You have my word.”

  “Do you swear it on the gods themselves?” I asked.

  “Yes—I swear my word to Zeus and the Olympians.”

  “Not only the Olympians,” I said. “The Olympians don’t reside in Kerberos, so swearing to them while here means nothing.” I glanced back at Erebus, hoping the human form he’d taken around us wasn’t recognizable to any of the creatures here. He nodded—very subtly—so I turned back to the dragon and continued, “Swear on the primordial deities Nyx and Erebus themselves.”

  The dragon raised an eyebrow. “What do you know of the primordial deities?” he asked.

  “I know enough.” I held his fiery gaze, refusing to back down. “Why are you stalling? If you intend to keep your word, I don’t see why this is a problem.”

  “Fine.” He huffed. “If this is the Golden Sword of Athena, then I promise on the primordial deities Nyx and Erebus that I and my companions will accept your deal.”