I couldn’t help but smile. There was a time, long ago, when my father and Cadmus hadn’t gotten along so well. Cadmus had killed Ares’ dragon without knowing who it belonged to and it had caused a huge ruckus in Olympus. As penance, Cadmus had been bound to Ares as a servant for eight years. It had turned out alright, even though it had been rocky at first. Cadmus and I had fallen in love and Ares had grown very fond of him. At that point, Ares’ had granted permission for us to be married and the rest had been history.
I watched him conversing easily with Ares now and it warmed my heart. Family was important to me and I loved that we had such good relationships.
Our journey through Tartara was surprisingly uneventful. It was a frightening place to be sure, dark and shadowed. Misery hovered over our heads the entire way, but that was how it was meant to be. Nice people weren’t relegated here, only the most heinous of souls.
We heard the Dungeon of the Damned long before we saw it. Screeches, wails and moaning echoed for miles down the trail leading up to an enormous stone wall. The wall was covered in moss and consisted of heavy cut stones. It was at least twenty feet high. There were wide wooden doors, but there was no guard on our side. There was no need. No one wanted to get into the Dungeon of the Damned.
We opened the doors and walked directly inside. To our right, there was a strange sort of courtyard filled with torturous looking devices. A screaming prisoner was being drawn and quartered by one of the Keres’ sisters. I recognized her bleeding eyes. Their eyes continually bled from all of the things that they had seen. But this was interesting. It meant that they were here in the Dungeon assisting the Erinyes.
We slipped past the gruesome scene and around the corner, where we found a door to a stone and steel building. It was solid- there was no escaping it. With its foreboding atmosphere, it reminded me vaguely of the old prison, Alcatraz.
Ares didn’t hesitate. He simply opened the door and walked in. Cadmus followed and the rest of us trailed behind.
It was hot as the blazes in the building, most likely from the many raging fires that burned within. The walls were scorchingly hot to the touch, so we had to ensure that we didn’t lean on them. I learned that the hard way and I had a burn on my arm to show for it.
We wound our way through the dark corridors as we attempted to find the Erinyes. The wails were just beginning to cause a low ache behind my left eye when we finally turned a corner and stumbled into just the person we were searching for.
Alecto.
She was alabaster white, like so many were in the Underworld since they could never experience the warmth of the sun. Her hair was long and red and she wore tight black pants and a ruby red cloak. She turned her face toward us and I had to force myself not to show any outward signs of shock. Her eyes were pure black.
“Ares!” she exclaimed, her voice husky. I had to admit, she wasn’t what I expected. I had expected something like the Keres or the Fates, stooped hags. She was not.
“What can I attribute this pleasure to?” she asked, her gaze sweeping over the rest of our group. “You seem to have brought an army.”
“I’m sure you are aware of what is going on,” Ares replied, not unkindly. “How you stay abreast of things in here, I do not know, but you always seem to.”
She nodded slowly. “Yes, I am aware,” she confirmed. “But that does not explain why you are here in my dungeon.”
She stopped moving and stared into my father’s face. Moving closer, she stood directly in front of him.
“The god of war is afraid,” she murmured, reaching out to trace his face with her fingers. “You are afraid that you are facing insurmountable odds.”
He stiffened and moved back a step.
“I am not afraid,” he growled. “I am concerned.” He turned to the rest of us. “The Erinyes have the ability to gauge one’s fear. They can see what we are afraid of. That is a gift that is put to great use here.”
I could see that. To our right, a man was in a small cell completely covered in writhing snakes. I assumed that his greatest fear involved the reptiles. And that made sense. The Dungeon of the Damned was even more formidable when it was your own personal hell.
“And you,” Alecto turned to me. “You are afraid of loss.”
“Yes,” I confirmed. “I am afraid of losing those who I love.”
“Your fears are valid,” she nodded. “How can I help you, Chosen One?”
“We’re not really certain,” I admitted. “We only know that we will need friends while we are here. We don’t know how things will go. But we do bring news of your son, Alexi.”
Her head snapped up.
“What of Alexi?”
“His soul is in the Kere’s box,” I explained. “He is fine, he is being kept safe in the Spiritlands. But the Keres hold his soul.”
She bellowed a horrendous screech.
“Thanatos!” she shrieked.
The Keres turned from where she was attending to a prisoner. Blood dripped from her hands.
“Yes?” she creaked.
“You have imprisoned my son’s soul? Was this not something you felt you should share with me?”
Thanatos’ expression relaxed. “I had forgotten, actually, with everything else that went on. Yes, we are holding Alexi’s soul. He had fallen into league with our sisters.”
“Give it to me,” Alecto demanded.
“You know I cannot,” Thanatos replied brusquely. “He must come before me so that I can merge it back with him. You know the way of it. Either that or he must stand in front of Hades.” She shrugged.
A blue vein pulsed in Alecto’s forehead, a clear sign of her displeasure.
“Fine.” She turned back to us. “Bring him to me. Bring him to me and I will compensate you with valuable knowledge.”
“What kind of knowledge?” I asked.
“I will share with you a portal out of the Underworld,” she answered confidently. “Few know of it- it is a closely guarded secret. Anyone can enter from the outside, but only the pure of heart can use it to exit.”
“If we accept the bargain, you will have to share the knowledge simply so we can leave to retrieve your son,” I pointed out. “You will need to trust us to return.”
“Oh, I know you will return,” she answered. “Because I will want you to retrieve him now, before you continue on your quest.”
I startled, then calmed myself. “That will not be possible. I must reach my own daughter. She’s in grave danger.”
Alecto showed no reaction. “Would you like to know of this portal?” she asked. “Would you like to secure my help in the future should you require it?”
“Of course I would,” I answered calmly. “But not at the expense of my daughter.”
She stared at me for a moment, her black eyes bottomless.
“There may be a compromise. I have Annen here. I will send him and you can send with him several of your Amazon warriors. Would that suit you?”
I turned to Ortrera with my eyebrows raised. She nodded at my silent question. I turned back around.
“Fine.”
She summoned Annen and within minutes, the old man stood in front of us. He was identical to his brother, Ahmose, in almost every way. He had a shaved head, glittering dark eyes and long fingernails. Ancient writings lined his arms and a long black cloak swirled around his feet.
She explained his mission and he nodded obligingly. He was mute- he could not speak. The Fates had cut out his tongue. I eyed him warily. In another debacle with the Fates, he had burned words onto my hands to communicate. It hadn’t been pleasant.
He motioned toward four of Ortrera’s warriors. Once again, I turned to my sister and she nodded once. I motioned to Annen that it was alright.
“Annen can show you out,” Alecto stated, already turning away from us. “I’ll look forward to seeing my son.”
And that was that. We were dismissed. We looked at each other uncertainly, but Ares moved toward the door.
?
??We have no time to waste,” he muttered as he strode back down the long hall. “We must move.”
And so we did. We made our way back through the Dungeon and were not hassled at the gates by the guard, since Annen was with us. We passed effortlessly from the Dungeon back out into the blackness of Tartara night.
I turned to Annen. “I feel like I should be angry with you, but I can’t find the energy. You hid your identity and intentions from me for a very long time.”
He looked at me with glittering eyes, but obviously didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. He shook his head, as if saying that I didn’t understand. And I had to agree. I didn’t. So, until I did, I would wait to judge.
I turned my attention to my husband instead. He had taken off the helm by now and appeared to be feeling much better.
“Do you feel better, my love?” I murmured, stroking the side of his arm. He nodded.
“Much,” he answered. “Even more so now that we are moving toward our daughter. It won’t be long now, Harmonia. I can feel it.”
“I hope you’re right,” I answered. He slipped his arm behind my back and we continued on silently, each of us lost in our own thoughts.
Annen led us straight to the portal and surprisingly, it didn’t take long. It was within the boundaries of Tartara and upon approach, it looked like an abandoned well. Its lip was made from piled up crumbling stones. I didn’t approach it- I simply watched as he paused in front of it and looked to the Amazons just briefly before he stepped into it. He simply vanished. Without hesitation, Ortrera’s warriors followed him. And our number was reduced by five.
Wordlessly, we headed for the border of Tartara. It was only a few minutes away. We could see it from here. On this side, Tartara was dark and horrible. A thin shroud of mist separated us from the other side, where we could see light and green fields. Ares turned around.
“Those who have not been condemned to Tartara can step right over the border without issue. It will prevent those who are damned.”
“So…” I trailed off.
“So, it will prevent me from leaving,” Hecate said, biting her lip as she looked around us. “But there appears to be a gate further down. Perhaps there is a guard?”
“You read my mind,” Ares grinned. I shook my head. I had a feeling he was looking forward to a confrontation. It would be an outlet for his stress.
There was a guard and I was correct. Ares and Cadmus disappeared for a scant moment into the shadows and returned with their swords bloody. The difference between them was that Ares was smiling.
“The coast is clear,” he announced.
We stepped through the gates to find the guards incapacitated. Only one was dead. The other appeared to be unconscious without a scratch on him. I looked at Cadmus.
“He’ll awaken shortly,” he explained. “I did not want to leave this gate unmanned. There is a reason that most are here.”
“Good thinking,” I replied, glancing around. No one approached yet, but I was certain it wouldn’t be long. From what I had observed, the prisoners here were constantly looking for ways to escape.
Two steps later and we had left the bowels of the Underworld behind us. Five minutes more and the butterflies sent by Ahmose had found us once again, bringing their vitality with them. They hovered close to Aphrodite and I now, although since she and I passed the helm back and forth, it wasn’t as imperative as it once was.