The mouth of the old tunnel yawned black and wide and there was a chilling air of foreboding surrounding it.
Even if I hadn’t known what it was, I would have sensed the importance that it contained.
I looked to Hecate.
“Well?”
“Well, what?” she raised an eyebrow.
“Enter.”
I eyed the hall.
The blackness was consuming and the chill emanating from it sent goose-bumps rippling over my body.
“It’s that simple?” I whispered.
The corners of her mouth twitched. “Entering is the easy part,” she answered.
“Enter with a pure heart and a clear purpose and the tunnel will give way.”
I squeezed Cadmus’ hand for strength and took a faltering step and then another.
I could smell the damp and the mold as we descended into the passageway. And then, just as Hecate said, the hall extended.
And then extended more with every step that we took.
I couldn’t see anything as I felt my way along.
It was utterly dark.
I heard the rest of the group following closely behind me and I took comfort in that. We certainly were not alone.
Before I had gone twenty more paces, I recognized the trickling sound of water.
It grew into a roar.
And then we spilled out from the narrow passage into a large torch-lit cavern filled with a river.
The river Styx.
I knew it even without asking Hecate.
The river Styx was the boundary between the mortal world and the Underworld.
From here on out, nothing would be the same. There would be a new set of rules.
I looked to Hecate. She traveled between these worlds frequently.
She knew the rules better than anyone.
“We wait,” she answered my unspoken question.
“The ferryman will be along soon.”
I couldn’t contain my nerves as I glanced around at my companions. We were preparing to go where the living didn’t usually tread.
My father stood stoically with my mother, his arm draped casually over her shoulders.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. Very few things in life unnerved him.
My mother actually seemed calm, which was unusual.
Most things in life unnerved her.
As I would have expected, Ortrera and her warriors stood impassively at attention. They prided themselves on never showing emotion.
I gazed up at my husband and found him watching me, his dark eyes pensive.
“Are you alright?” he murmured, lightly rubbing my shoulders.
I nodded wordlessly.
I had to be, didn’t I?
There was no choice for me.
This was the way it must be.
The sound of oars pushing through water distracted me and I craned my neck.
The ferryman glided to a stop in front of us.
His boat was ancient.
The wood creaked with the movement of the water and moss grew along its bottom.
The boatman himself stood facing us, a questioning look on his sharp, angular face.
Given how long he had been at this job, I expected him to be very old. But he was not.
He was solidly middle-aged, although his face was weathered.
“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded.
“Hecate! This is highly unorthodox.”
Hecate stepped forward to face him.
“Charon,” she began soothingly.
“I realize it is unusual, but we have very important business here, old friend.
It is of utmost importance that you take us to the gates.
The entire world could very well hinge upon it.”
He spat into the muddy water, his hawk-like face curled into a scowl.
“What care have I regarding the world?” he demanded.
“
This
is my world- and it has been for thousands of years.
I care not what happens to mortals before they come to me.”
“It is not only mortals of which I speak,” Hecate pointed out softly.
“It is everyone, gods and mortals alike.
Charon, please.
I would not normally ask such a thing. But this is crucial.”
He cocked his head and examined her.
“I’ll admit, it is not like you to beg,” he finally acknowledged.
“You are much too proud.
Fine.
Pay the fare and I will take you.”
She smiled a beatific smile.
“Thank you, Charon.”
She dug into her cloak and pulled out a handful of drachmas.
“I am indebted to you.”
She turned and offered me her hand.
“Come, Harmonia.”
I stepped forward and she helped me into the rocking boat, followed quickly by everyone else.
Charon barely waited for the last Amazon warrior to step into the boat before he pushed away from shore and quickly sailed down the river towards the Underworld.
I clenched the side of the boat tightly as we moved and glancing down, I saw that we weren’t actually sitting in the water at all.
The ferry was hovering just above the river.
We moved from the confines of the dark passage into a vast expanse of space where the blackness of night enveloped us and the river flowed downward through midair.
I peered over the side of the boat and saw that there was nothing below us as far as I could see.
If I fell from the ferry, it looked as though I would fall forever.
I clenched the side tighter.
Cadmus leaned forward.
“It will be fine, wife.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“And how do you know?”
“I just do,” he shrugged.
“I will make it so.”
I had to laugh.
“I hope you’re right.”
“I usually am,” he continued cockily, pulling me back to rest against his chest.
“I agree with your husband,” Ares boomed from the stern of the boat.
“Everything will be fine.
We
will make it so.”
Charon glanced at us dismissively before shaking his head.
He clearly wasn’t interested or concerned with anything that we were saying.
Instead, he focused on rowing the boat through the air toward a massive wall in the near distance.
Above it, light glowed in the sky- a clear sign of civilization.
But the wall was tall and thick and it was topped with razor sharp points.
As we drew up to it, I saw that we would have to climb over jagged rocks piled at its base to reach flat land.
It certainly looked imposing.
Hecate didn’t hesitate.
“Come now,” she urged as we climbed from the boat. “It isn’t as hard as it looks.”
And it wasn’t.
I scrambled over the sharp rocks easily enough and once I stood on land, I turned to see that everyone else was fine, as well.
Charon watched us disembark.
“I would say that I’ll see you soon, but I know that I won’t.”
He shoved away from shore and rowed in the opposite direction without looking back.
“Well, he’s pleasant,” Aphrodite remarked.
Hecate smiled.
“He has an unpleasant job,” she pointed out.
“You most likely wouldn’t feel very pleasant about it, either.”
Aphrodite eyed the massive wall that loomed in front of us.
“As if our task is a ray of sunshine,” she muttered.
“No,” Hecate agreed. “It certainly is not.” She squared her shoulders and glanced at me.
“Ready?”
I nodded, reaching back to grasp Cadmus’ hand again.
He was, as always, my pillar of strength.
We marched quickly and without hesitation to the large, heavy gates.
Mist rose from the ground, giving the land an ethereal glow.
Wispy fingers of fog spiraled into the sky and dissipated as we pushed through them.
As we drew closer to the gateway, I made out the black three-headed form of Cerberus, the guardian of the Underworld.
Everyone knew… his job was to let souls in, but not to let them out.
I gulped.
Hecate walked straight to him and petted the head in front of her.
He lowered it so that she could access it better and she scratched him behind the ears.
“Ah, old friend,” she laughed.
“It is good to see you.” She pulled a piece of jerky from her pocket and tossed it into the air.
All three heads attempted to snap it up, ultimately causing them each to miss it.
Ortrera bent to retrieve it but when her fingers brushed it, Cerberus growled menacingly.
He was the size of a large bull with three inch long razor sharp teeth.
When he growled, the world listened.
My sister froze, then straightened, kicking the piece of jerky to him with her foot.
He snapped it into his jaws and swallowed it without chewing.
Hecate patted his stout side, seemingly unafraid.
“Cerberus, my friends and I need to enter. Will you stand aside and allow it?”
The massive beast cocked his heads and stared at her.
She nodded.
“Yes, I understand.
We’ll deal with Hades at that point.”
Cerberus cocked his heads in the other direction and paused, apparently contemplating.
I looked at Hecate.
“You can communicate with animals?”
“Only dogs,” she explained.
“And only because my familiar is a dog.”
She switched her attention back to Cerberus.
“Well?”
He heaved a massive sigh and stepped to the side, his enormous jowls rippling as he breathed.
His large eyes rolled over each of us, but he remained still.
Hecate motioned for us to enter, so I cautiously walked past the menacing dog and into the Underworld.
“He is concerned for us,” she stated calmly, answering the unspoken question that we all had.
“He knows that he is under orders to not let us leave.
He doesn’t want us to be trapped here.”
“Us or you?” Ares asked with a small grin.
“I think he wanted the rest of us for his lunch.”
Hecate smiled.
“He and I have known each other a long time.
He is concerned for me.
Since I am here with you, I cannot come and go as I normally do—at my will. The rules have changed for me.”
I hadn’t realized that and it brought my head up with a start.
“Well, then, I thank you for coming, Hecate.
I didn’t know that this was a risk for you.”
She leveled an ice blue gaze at me.
“It’s a risk for us all, Chosen One.”