by Brian Smith
Charon, the ferryman
“Why are you come here before your time?” his gloomy voice whispered and echoed through the sepulchral space. “I cannot take you.”
Philomenus gave each of his companions a silver coin.
“Accept your fare and do your duty, O Charon!” he said in a commanding tone. He put a coin in Charon’s hand and pushed past him to board the ferry. The others did the same.
Charon looked angrily at them but then shrugged his shoulders.
“Beware of what you wish for!” he warned them.
“We’ve got no time to waste,” Edward urged him.
“So be it,” Charon said and steered them across the Acheron.
Edward held his torch over the water and looked down.
“That’s strange,” he said. “There’s no reflection in the water, it’s totally black.”
“Reflection?” Charon chuckled darkly. “What reflection can there be from the waters of woe?”
Charon set them off at the other side of the river. There was a worn path, trodden by millions of weary feet that led the way from the shore. Edward eagerly strode out but stopped after a short distance. In front of him was a huge, intimidating gate.
“The Adamantine Gate,” Philomenus said.
“What’s adamantine?” Anthony asked.
“That means it’s harder and stronger than anything else in the world and,” he sighed, “it’s guarded by Cerberus.”
“Isn’t Cerberus a three headed dog?” Edward asked.
“That’s right,” Philomenus said. “He admits the dead into the underworld, but he let’s no one out again.”
“Great,” Alric said sarcastically. “So what about us?”
Edward walked up to the gate and knocked.
There was a hollow clanging sound and then the gate slowly rumbled open. Cerberus glared at them with his fiery eyes, but let them pass unharmed.
“That was easy,” Anthony said.
“Sure,” Alric replied, “we’re going in.”
Immediately after the gate they were confronted by three judges whose job it was to judge the dead and send them to different parts of the underworld. It was impossible to pass them without judgement. Edward tried to walk past, but his legs were frozen to the ground. The judges looked severely at our five heroes. They consulted their books and talked to each other.
“You’re not in our books,” they finally said fiercely.
“We demand to see Hades!” Edward said.
“Hades, King Hades,” they whispered, “ ruler of the shadowy land of the dead, Lord of the underworld. You’re not in our books and we cannot judge you. So be it. Be on your way to King Hades!”
They walked through the shadowy land. Their blazing torches were the only bright light and all around the dead looked at them with envy. It was a gloomy dark place. Black mists swirled above them, shadowy figures gazed at the living and all about there were whispers that told of lives and joys gone by.
Then they stood before Hades. He sat upon a throne so dark that even the light of their torches could not make it visible.
“What are you doing here?” Hades growled at them. “Your time here will come soon enough. This is no place for the living.”
“We have come for our friend Flavia,” Edward said boldly and stepped up to King Hades.
“The dead,” Hades said gravely, “belong to my realm. They are not for you.”
“We have brought a gift,” Philomenus said quickly.
“A gift? What gift could any mortal give me?”
“The most beautiful music you have ever heard, King Hades,” Edward said.
Hades was intrigued.
Hades, God of the Underworld
“What?” he said. “More beautiful even than the music Orpheus played for me?”
“For you to judge, your majesty,” Anthony said. “We only ask that Flavia be here to listen as well.”
Hades chuckled.
“And then, I suppose, you want to take your Flavia and escape to the land of the living while I’m listening to your beautiful music?” he said and laughed. “Orpheus once tricked me in this way and almost managed to take one of the dead back to the land of the living. Do you really think I’ll be so foolish to let it happen a second time?”
“Your majesty,” Geetu quickly said, “we know it’s not possible to deceive you. All we want is to play some music for our friend and you. We have come a long way and we beg you humbly to grant our request.”
“Indeed,” Hades said, “ you have come a long way, though how you want to make your way back I cannot imagine, past Cerberus and the ferry that only takes its passengers one way.”
He laughed cruelly.
Philomenus took out the magic lyre. It sparkled and shone brightly in the dark realm of Hades, brighter even than the fires of the blazing torches. Hades looked at it with interest.
“Very well,” he said at last and had Flavia sent for.
When Flavia was brought before them she looked at them with sad mournful eyes. She tried to speak to them but the sounds coming from her mouth were mere whispers about her past life. She envied her friends for their life and wanted to beg them for help, but she was unable to say what she really wanted.
Philomenus let his fingers glide across the strings of the magic lyre. The most beautiful music ever filled the air. When Orpheus had played the instrument it had been his skill that enchanted Hades, but now the lyre was filled with the love of the Goddess Venus and the might of Zeus, King of the gods. The enchanting music filled the air. All the dead and even King Hades stared at the magic lyre and listened to its wonderful tune.
Edward dashed forward and grabbed Flavia’s hand.
“Let’s go,” he said.
He ran away and the others quickly followed him.
“Remember!” Philomenus shouted, “you mustn’t look back. Whatever you do don’t look back!”
They ran through the milling crowds of the dead towards the Adamantine Gate. When they got near the gate mighty Cerberus stood in their way and growled at them with his three heads.
Cerberus
Edward stopped dead in his tracks and held on to Flavia.
“Let us pass!” Edward commanded.
“No one leaves the shadowy lands of Hades,” Cerberus snapped.
“We’re not dead and we will leave,” Alric said and drew his sword. He jumped forward and slashed at Cerberus. The three headed dog quickly pulled its head away and attacked Alric with another head. Cerberus bit the iron sword and his hellish teeth sliced through the metal like a hot knife through butter. Another one of his heads drew close to Alric’s face and growled “No one leaves!”.
Then Anthony had an idea. He walked up to Cerberus and patted the mighty dog’s head.
“Good doggie,” he said. “Let’s play a game.”
“A game?” Cerberus said in surprise.
No one ever played games in the underworld. The idea of anyone patting him on the head and asking him, the ferocious guardian of the Adamantine Gate, to play a game was so daring, so unusual that Cerberus was intrigued.
“A game?” Cerberus repeated not sure if he had heard correctly. “What game?”
“It’s very simple and lots of fun,” Anthony said. He opened his bag. “Look here! I’ve got some nice balls to play with. Let’s play fetch. I throw the balls and you fetch them. We’ll have lots of fun together.”
Cerberus looked at Anthony in astonishment, then to the balls and back to Anthony again.
“Have fun?” he said in disbelief. How could anyone think of having fun in the underworld? And yet there it was: A boy who not only seemed to be totally unafraid of him but who also wanted to play with him and have fun together. This had never happened before. Cerberus thought hard about the things his master, King Hades, had forbidden him to do, but could not remember Hades ever saying anything about playing games or having fun. He decided to give it a try.
“Very well, then. Let’s play.”
Ant
hony smiled at Cerberus.
“Great,” he said. “I love playing with dogs.” He threw three balls in different directions and winked at Edward.
Suddenly Edward understood what Anthony was doing. When Cerberus stretched his necks in different directions to reach the balls, Edward quietly pulled Flavia past the mighty dog and through the open gate. Much to his own surprise Cerberus enjoyed playing fetch. He dropped the balls one by one in front of Anthony who threw them as far as he could, and each time another member of their group managed to sneak past Cerberus until only Anthony was left.
When Cerberus dropped another ball in front of Anthony he suddenly noticed that the others were missing. He looked around and spotted them on the far side of the Adamantine Gate running towards the River Acheron. Cerberus understood that Anthony had tricked him. He was furious. His three heads turned towards Anthony. Six angry eyes blazed in a fiery red at him and three mouths opened revealing rows of hellish teeth. Anthony felt the dog’s foul breath. He decided not to wait for Cerberus to bite him. He threw the balls at Cerberus’ noses and ran away with all speed. Every step took him farther away from the gate and from his friends, but he had no choice.
Cerberus was beside himself with rage. Tricked by a little boy! Balls thrown at his nose! It was too much. He ran after Anthony barking furiously. He saw the boy running through the shadowy crowds of the dead towards King Hades who was still entranced by the music of the magic lyre. Anthony had almost reached Hades when the music stopped.
Hades looked up as if woken from a dream and looked around.
“Where are your friends?” he asked Anthony. Then he spotted Cerberus.
“By the immortal gods!” he cried and jumped up. “What are you doing here?”
There were crowds of the dead milling about. When they saw Cerberus they immediately realized the opportunity. The Adamantine Gate was unguarded. There was a roar and the dead rushed towards the gate.
“Quick, you fool!” Hades shouted at Cerberus. “Back to the gate!”
It was a mad race between Cerberus and the dead. Cerberus understood how foolish he had been. What would the world of the living be like if the dead were allowed to escape from the underworld. He ran with all his might and main. He crashed through throngs of the dead and then, with one last mighty jump, he landed in front of the gate and flung its doors shut with his hind legs while his three heads growled and snarled at the dead. Cerberus had arrived just in time. One second more and the dead would have been through the gate.
Hades sat down in relief and mopped his brow.
“Phew,” he said. “That was a narrow thing. Now, what was that silly dog doing here?” He looked at Anthony and said sternly “Something tells me it had something to do with you.”
8
Edward and Flavia, Geetu, Philomenus and Alric reached the River Acheron. They turned round expecting to see Anthony come any minute. They waited and waited but there was no Anthony. Edward became desperate. It could not be that he had saved Flavia but lost his brother.
“Wait here,” he said to Flavia. He ran back to the Adamantine Gate and came just in time to see it crashing shut. He banged his fists against the gate, he screamed, he cried, but it was no use. The gate stayed shut.
Heartbroken Edward turned back to the river. What could he do? When he reached the others he had tears in his eyes and told them what had happened.
“What about the dare?” Geetu asked. “If we fulfil it we’ll get him out again, won’t we?”
Edward shook his head. “You dared us to be on that boat together. Without Anthony we can’t fulfil it.”
“The gate must open again sooner or later,” Philomenus said. “The underworld can’t keep out the dead. We’ll just have to wait.”
They went back to the Adamantine Gate and sat down to wait for as long as it would take. As time went by Charon brought more and more of the dead across the river. Fallen soldiers, old people, children who had died of illness and many others milled about staring with wonder at the living and not understanding why the gate was closed. All the while Flavia cowered behind her friends. She tried to speak but like all those around her she could only make whispers. Whispers filled the air and mingled with the echoes that bounced off the bare rock all around. There was nothing to say for Edward and his friends. They sat in an eerie silence while the hours went by. Gradually the cool air thickened and death pervaded everything. Their eyes grew heavy and their breathing slowed. Flavia looked at them strangely, yet she didn’t understand. Those around them stopped moving about and stood to watch. Soon, they knew, they would all be together. And high up, far above the gate, an eye peered down. It was Cerberus. Victory was almost his and he watched with a quiet sense of satisfaction. Had he not told them that no one ever left the underworld?
Edward’s gaze was fixed on his hands. His usually restless fingers were barely moving now. His skin became darker and the blood vessels stood out in black.
“They’re black! How strange!” his mind deep down told him. “Why should they be black” They shouldn’t be black!” his mind kept nagging him. Yet he was too tired and drowsy to think. “Wake up! Wake up!” his mind told him. “Something’s wrong! Quickly wake up!”
This last thought managed to get through to him and he moved his eyes. He suddenly realized that something was indeed wrong, terribly wrong. He wanted to stand up, but his arms and legs wouldn’t move. A single tear ran down his face. He understood he was dying.
“I don’t want to die!” he told himself again and again. The drowsiness was pulling him into the darkness. He struggled and he fought with all his might and main to wake up and get control over himself again. He was afraid. Then his heart began pumping harder. His blood flowed again. At last his mouth opened and he took a deep breath. He could move again! All around there were excited whispers and high up Cerberus looked down in dismay.
Edward forced himself to stand up and went to Geetu. He shook her and slapped her face until she, too, awoke. Then they saved Philomenus and Alric. When they understood how close they had been to death Geetu gave Edward a big hug and kissed his cheek.
“You’re my hero,” she said.
“Indeed,” Philomenus said, “you saved us all.”
Edward blushed proudly.
“But now,” Alric said, “we have to leave.”
“We can’t leave Anthony behind,” Edward protested.
“We can’t stay,” Alric replied. “Look at us all. Our veins are still dark, almost black. If we don’t leave now we’re never going to leave.”
“If you fight and run away, you live to fight another day!” Philomenus said. “We must go, Alric is right, but we can try to return another time.”
Edward didn’t want to go but he knew they were right. His head hanging low he followed the others to the river. Flavia took his hand.
When they got to the River Acheron the ferry had just arrived. The vessel emptied and they tried to board it. An angry Charon stood in their way and wouldn’t let them pass.
“There’s no way back,” he snarled.
“Just take your fare and be quiet!” Edward shouted.
Charon stuck his face into Edward’s.
“You would be angry with me?” he growled. “How dare you!”
“We’re not leaving,” Philomenus said. “We were five when we came and we’re still five, so you can take us.”
“Trying to be clever with me?” Charon laughed. “What nonsense. You Greeks always think you’re so clever, but let me tell you something. Not one of you has ever left this place with all your cleverness.”
This was turning out to be a serious problem. They eyed the river wondering if they could swim across. Charon saw where they were looking and laughed again.
“Want to go for a swim? Go ahead, just stick your finger into the water. The moment you touch it the river will carry you off for ever.”
Then Edward had an idea.
“I’m sorry I was angry with you before, Charon. I jus
t wanted to help you. It’s a question of economics, you see.”
Charon looked confused. No one had ever apologized to him before, let alone spoken of economics. The ferry was his business and over the millennia this was the first time anyone had shown an interest in it.
“Economics?” he said suspiciously. “What do you mean?”
“Well,” Edward began, “it’s obvious that you’re a good businessman. You charge everyone one silver coin for a trip across the river and you don’t take any passengers who can’t pay. Unfortunately you’re not using your ferry to capacity.”
“Yes, I am,” Charon protested. “Every time I make the crossing I make sure the ferry is full.”
“Really? Are you sure? So how come you go back to the other side all empty? If you take passengers both ways you’ll be able to earn a lot more. You might even double your earnings.”
Charon was astounded. He had never thought of this before and didn’t know what to say.
“Of course,” Edward went on, “I know you’re going to say that no one can leave here, and you’re right. Look at those on the other side of the river who have no money to pay the fare, they’re stuck there for ever. So why not take passengers both ways as long as they can pay the fare? Take us, for example. We still have a bag full of silver so why not take us for a ride? It’s not your concern, after all, where we are left in the end when our money is used up.”
Charon was overwhelmed by the logic. It was true even those on the other side of the river couldn’t return to the world of the living and it was equally true that he could earn more by taking passengers both ways.
“Why not,” he said to himself. “All right then, pay the fare and I’ll take you.”
Each of them paid. When they were on board and the ferry moved across the river his friends patted Edward on the back.
“Excellent thinking!” they said.
The rest was a piece of cake. Well, all right, not quite that easy. They had to walk up the narrow tunnels filled with horrible fumes and they had to remember not to look back, but they managed. To the surprise of everyone outside the entrance to the underworld suddenly three children and two men came out. As soon as Flavia crossed the threshold to the cave her mouth took a deep breath of fresh air, her shadowy shape became solid again and she hugged her four friends. Flavia had been saved!
A priest who had seen them enter cried out in amazement.
“A miracle! They have returned from the realm of Hades. A miracle! Come, you must come with me!”
The priest quickly took them to the temple and told the high priest what had happened.
The high priest smiled at them in delight. A miracle at his temple meant thousands, no hundreds of thousands of visitors would come and make generous donations in the hope that they, too, would save a loved one. He quickly calculated how much more money he would earn and decided that he was going to be very rich in future.
“You must tell me everything,” he said greedily.
9
Anthony breathed a sigh of relief. Cerberus had been hard on his heels and he’d barely escaped. He decided that King Hades might not be such a bad fellow after all. Ignoring the stern look, Anthony went to Hades and climbed onto his lap. He put one arm around Hades’ neck and a hand on his chest and looked into the king’s eyes.
“Thank you for helping me, Hades,” he said softly. “You’re so nice, I like you.”
Hades was astounded. In all the thousands of years no one had ever said such a thing to him. He felt his heart melt and didn’t know what to say.
“You know,” Anthony went on, “I was playing with your dog and we were happy together, but then he got really angry with me.” He looked up at Hades with his charming blue eyes. “But you’re not angry with me, are you. You’re such a nice man.”
“You were playing with Cerberus and you were happy?” Hades said in disbelief.
Anthony nodded and explained the game of fetch to the king. Next he happily talked about their adventures and how they’d come to be in the underworld. Hades smiled a little and feeling encouraged Anthony was delighted to tell Hades about their other adventures and how each dare led to new excitement and fun. Hades listened in fascination. Mortals never came to him and told him their stories, they only hung about in silence feeling sorry for themselves.
“But tell me,” Hades said at last, “what did you do to make Cerberus so angry?
“Oh that,” Anthony said and stuck his tongue against his cheek, but there was no way to avoid the question. He quickly told the truth and gave the king a big hug.
To his surprise Hades laughed out loud.
“You little rascal,” Hades chuckled. “You actually managed to trick my guard dog to let your friends escape from my kingdom!” and with that he laughed again heartily. It was the first time in thousands of years that Hades had laughed and he enjoyed it so much that he could not be angry with Anthony.
Anthony was still sitting on his lap when he suddenly burst into tears.
“But whatever is the matter?” Hades asked him.
Anthony looked at him with tears in his eyes. “I miss my mummy and daddy and now the gate is closed and Cerberus is angry with me and won’t let me out. Can you help me please?”
The king laughed again, he laughed so much that he cried.
“I don’t know what to say about you and your brother and your friends,” he laughed. “You tricked me with that magic lyre and you tricked Cerberus and everything you do and tell me is so incredibly funny that no one in the world could possibly be cross with you.”
King Hades snipped his fingers and a shadow appeared. He gave an order.
“Now don’t you fret,” Hades said to Anthony. “All’s well that end’s well, and so it shall if it has anything to do with me.”
Anthony wasn’t sure what the king meant, yet he felt that Hades was going to help. He gave Hades another big hug and kissed him on the cheek. Hades went red in the face with embarrassment at this show of affection and patted Anthony on the back saying “Now, now, my little friend. Don’t you worry.”
Not long after there was a sound of wings fluttering through the air and a huge griffin landed in front of King Hades. The griffin looked at Hades suspiciously. Being summoned to the underworld was unheard of, yet the king had promised free passage and an order from the king was an order that had to be obeyed.
Griffin
King Hades gave Anthony a hug and said “One piece of advice, my young friend, take care of what you do in life. You only have one life and whether it’s long or short you’ll always come here in the end. What I mean to say is, don’t do anything foolish. Live a long and happy life and don’t let anyone trick you into giving up your life. Life is meant to be lived, not thrown away. Can you promise me that?”
Anthony nodded. He didn’t fully understand, yet he knew the king meant well.
Hades gave the griffin an order and then took Anthony’s hands. “Time for you to leave this dreary place, my friend. The griffin will fly you out and take you wherever you want to go in the world of the living.”
“Thank you,” Anthony said and climbed on the griffin’s back.
The king waved as the griffin beat its wings and flew up.
“And remember!” the king shouted after him, “don’t throw your life away! It’s all you have.”
The griffin flew across the shadowy land. Anthony gazed down at all those poor souls who could never leave again and began to understand the king’s warning. They flew across the Adamantine Gate. It was open again and the unhappy dead came streaming through it. Cerberus spotted Anthony on the griffin and looked up angrily, but there was nothing he could do and besides he was too busy guarding the gate.
The griffin flashed through the passage to the world above and moments later emerged into the bright sunshine. Both Anthony and the griffin breathed the fresh air happily and looked at the blue sky. Never had white clouds in a blue sky looked so beautiful before to Anthony. The warm sun made h
im treasure his life and he was determined to avoid going back to the underworld for as long as he ever could. He realized that the advice of King Hades was probably the best thing anyone could ever tell him.
“My friends,” he called to the griffin, “fly me to my friends!”
The mighty creature flew high up in the sky and peered down. When it found what it was looking for the griffin dived down in a steep flight heading for the temple above the entrance to the underworld. In a trice they descended from the clouds to ground level and landed in front of the temple where astonished priests and pilgrims stared at them.
Edward and the others were still sitting in the temple with the high priests when Anthony called out his name.
“Edward!” the shout echoed through the temple. “Edward where are you?”
Ignoring the priests Edward jumped up and ran out of the building. When he spotted his brother on the griffin he ran as fast as he could and took him in his arms. He squeezed Anthony tightly and gave his brother the biggest and mightiest hug ever. He understood that all the money the priest had talked of, indeed all the wealth in the world meant nothing compared with having his little brother back alive. Overcome with happiness the two brothers hugged each other closely while their friends, the priests and everyone else watched in amazement.
“A miracle!” one of the priests shouted.
“Let’s get going!” Anthony said to his friends. “Just hop on.”
They climbed onto the griffin and flew up high into the beautiful blue sky. The wonderful fragrance of pine trees filled the air and below them the sound of waves on the shore made a heavenly sound. They were together again and they were all alive! It was the most wonderful feeling in the world.
Anthony laughed out loud as the wind blew through his hair.
“Fly, griffin, fly,” he shouted. “Fly us to Julius Caesar!”
The mighty creature obeyed and they shot through the sky.