by Mario Routi
Rebecca fell to her knees and sank her head in her hands. Turgoth stooped and gently lifted her up again, folding her into his arms.
“What are we going to do?” she asked, shaking her head in despair.
“I will go to Tartarus and save our daughter!” Turgoth said quietly. “There is no alternative.”
“Nobody can go to Tartarus,” Martha said, “unless given permission from either the Titans or the Gods.”
“Then we need to go and see the Gods immediately,” Rebecca said.
“You’re staying here!” Turgoth said. “Take your grandmother to Doctor Afterland. I’ll go to Felicia’s house now to fetch Pegasus so he can carry me to the Elysian Fields to ask permission from the Gods to enter Tartarus. I’ll then travel on there and bring our daughter back with me!”
“I’m not a little girl anymore,” Rebecca said firmly. “She is my daughter and I am the Princess of the Land of the White Sun. I will come with you to see the Gods and we will go to Tartarus together. I won’t argue about this with you anymore. I’m leaving right now. Are you coming?”
Turgoth realised that he couldn’t object to anything she had said but now he was filled with the dread that he might lose her as well as Leylah.
“Go then,” Martha said, seeing that there was no other way. “Hurry! I’ll take myself to the hospital, don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I will also inform the family, as well as Bull, the Doctor and the Generals about what happened. Now go. And good luck!”
Rebecca and Turgoth exchanged a look and both knew that there was no alternative for either of them. They ran to the stables and jumped on their horses, riding like the wind towards Felicia and Leiko’s house.
57
A few hours later, they arrived at the house that had once belonged to Lord Life. Leiko had seen them coming and he and Felicia came out to greet them, guessing that something must be very wrong to bring them calling unannounced in such a hurry.
“What’s going on?” they both asked in one voice. “Lomani?”
Turgoth explained the scene they had returned to at the house and passed the demons’ letter to Leiko.
“Demons and Titans will never keep any promise they give,” Leiko warned after reading it. “Even if we were to give them the Flame, they would still kill Leylah and destroy the Land of the White Sun.”
“We will never give them the Flame!” Rebecca said, her voice cracking but still utterly certain. “It would be better for us all to die, including our daughter.”
“So you see?” Turgoth interrupted, unable to bear the thought of having to pay such a price. “We need Pegasus to take us now to see the Gods, so that they can arrange a safe passage for us to Tartarus.”
“We will all go!” Felicia said. “Lenus is here, too. He came to spend some time with Pegasus. We can leave immediately.”
Leiko nodded in agreement and all four of them ran to the stables, mounted the mythical winged horses, and flew off.
A few minutes later, they landed in the Palace of the Gods. Lord Life and Lady Danae, who were close by, spotted them approaching and hurried to meet them. Felicia explained in seconds what had happened.
“Let’s seek an audience with Zeus!” Lord Life said, leading the way into the Palace of the Gods.
The King of the Gods was on his throne with his children, Athena and Apollo, next to him. Beside them stood another tall, dark and fearful-looking God. Despite the urgency of their mission, the party approached the throne with respect, bowing low.
“I know why you’ve come,” Zeus boomed. “You must understand that what you are about to do holds great risk, but we will do all we can to help you. That is why Hades, Lord of the Underworld, is here with us, too.”
All eyes turned to the visiting God, whose unblinking expression was as unreadable as stone.
“I don’t know for sure where they are holding your daughter,” he said, “although I do have some ideas. All I can do is allow up to five people in and show you a path that you can follow. Then, you are on your own. You have to remember that, just like in the Elysian Fields, if any of you are killed in Tartarus, you will be dead forever.”
“All four of us will go,” Leiko said, “and we’ll take Bull with us too.”
“So be it!” Zeus clapped his hands as if to seal the decision. “Take care of the details, Hades. Lord Life, send Pegasus to bring Bull over. Oh, and Leiko, your father has requested the opportunity to speak with you.”
***
An hour later, Bull, Felicia, Leiko, Rebecca and Turgoth were standing with Hades in front of a secret gate which led to Tartarus. Leiko had his club and a rucksack and Bull was armed with an axe and four daggers, while Rebecca and Turgoth had their swords. Felicia had her sword and her bow and arrows.
Once he could tell that they were all ready, Hades reached out and touched the gate, which instantly vanished. All they saw now was a dark path.
“Follow this path to where it takes you,” Hades growled. “You will eventually meet the boatman. You need to find a way to persuade him to take Leiko and Bull across the Lake of the Dead. The rest of you can fly above it. Then, take the narrower passage and at each crossing, turn right twice, then left once. Repeat the pattern again three times. You will pass through several large open spaces. In some, the temperature will be extremely warm but, in others, bitterly cold. You will also have to go through the Room of Fears, where you will have to face your worst nightmares, seeing all your fears come true at once. Don’t fall for the illusion. To be able to escape from the room and move forward, you must always look for a hidden door like the one I showed you right here. Leiko, you are a demigod, so touch it and it will open for you. At the end of the Labyrinth, you will at last be close to the Titans’ resting place. Leylah should be somewhere in there. Good luck!”
Hades immediately vanished before anyone could say a word.
58
As they took their first steps into Tartarus, Rebecca was surprised to find that Hell was freezing, not burning hot as she had always imagined, though she remembered Hades warning that there would be hotter parts as well.
They walked silently along the dark path towards the Lake of the Dead and spotted the boatman sitting by the shore in his boat.
“I’ll take care of this,” Bull whispered to the others.
The boatman looked up as the Minotaur approached him followed by his companions, and stiffened.
“You can’t be here,” he snapped irritably, waving them back. “You’re not dead!”
Bull kept walking towards him, beaming broadly.
“What is it that you want?” the boatman asked, standing up and looking as if he was preparing to row away.
“My friend, Leiko, here, and I need you to take us across the lake,” Bull said, talking as gently as he could, as if anxious not to startle the man in any way.
“Oh, is that so?” the boatman sneered. “Why don’t you swim, then? You both look like strong and mighty creatures. It should be a walk in the park for you two.”
“My friend,” Bull spread his hands in a gesture of openness, “we know very well that the moment we touch the black waters of this lake, we’ll instantly die. That is why we are asking for your help.”
“Well,” the boatman turned away, “I’m sorry to have to inform you that I cannot take you across.”
“Is that your final decision?” Bull asked, sounding disappointed.
“It is, indeed.”
“Do you see that rock over there?” Bull asked him, as if starting a casual conversation.
“Yes, of course I do,” replied the boatman, relaxing a little, believing that he now had the upper hand in the conversation.
With one swipe, Bull grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air. “Well, I will take this rock and tie you to it and I will then sink you in the lak
e and let you suffer in its depths for eternity. Then, I will take your boat and cross the lake all by myself. Do you understand what I am saying?”
“OK, OK,” the boatman snivelled, his legs kicking feebly in the air. “I’ll take you across the lake.”
“Before you try any tricks,” Bull continued calmly, “just look back at the rock and recall what will happen to you if you anger me!”
“Oh, just get in,” the boatman said, as Bull dropped him back into the boat and he attempted to regain some of his dignity. “You’re heading towards certain death anyway, so why should I care? I was just trying to be nice and save your hides.”
Bull and Leiko ignored him as they climbed into the boat and started their journey over the still, black waters with the Orizons flying above and keeping an eye on the muttering boatman.
It took only a few minutes to reach the other shore.
“You see how easy that was?” Bull teased, once safely out of the boat. “Now, goodbye, take care of your ugly self, and we’ll see you again soon.”
“I wouldn’t bet on that,” the boatman sneered as he rowed swiftly back to the other side.
The fellowship then followed the passages that Hades had suggested, taking right and left turns where and when they should. All the paths were so narrow that they had to walk in single file. Bull went first and Leiko, last. The black stone walls were dripping wet and stank like a thousand rotting corpses. Above them, grotesquely-shaped stalactites dripped cold blood down onto their heads.
“I feel we’re being watched,” Felicia whispered, shivering.
They all felt that invisible eyes were following them through the darkness. Rebecca felt something slimy slide over her hair.
“It’s the negative energy of this place,” Leiko assured them. “Don’t pay any attention to it.”
As they reached an opening, the temperature grew suddenly hot, as if warmed by the breath of a thousand demons. There was also a little more light, which made them feel vulnerable as they moved silently forward.
“Halt!” shouted a skeleton. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”
Not wasting a second, Leiko lifted his club and brought it down with one mighty blow, shattering the skeleton into a thousand tiny pieces. Before the dust had even settled on the small pile of ancient broken bones, at least a hundred more skeletons appeared from the walls and ground below, all of them armed with swords and charging towards the trespassers.
The Orizons unsheathed their own swords while Bull swung his axe and Leiko his club, snapping any bones that came within range. Turgoth’s crystal sword sliced off skulls, sending them bouncing to the ground while the skeletons continued their foolhardy and fearless attack.
The skeletons seemed to be trying to get to the female warriors, as if they believed them to be the most vulnerable. Those that made it past the swinging club and axe soon realised their mistake. A skeletal hand appeared through the ground at Rebecca’s feet and grabbed her leg. With one stroke of her sword, Felicia shattered it. The Orizon women fought side by side, spreading destruction among their already dead foes without either of them suffering a scratch. The battle lasted only a few minutes and left the cave floor covered with broken bones.
“That was easy enough,” Rebecca said as the last one fell.
Before the others had time to agree, the darkness stirred once more at the approach of a creature so huge, they could not initially see the top of it.
“I won’t be so easy to deal with,” croaked a menacing voice. “Isn’t that right, dear cousin?”
Bull clutched at his axe with renewed determination, recognising the voice of Asterius, the terrible Minotaur of Crete. Asterius was taller than Bull and even more muscular. As he lurched closer, they could all see that there was no hint of kindness in his eyes, just the twin fires of anger and hatred.
“What is it, dear Bull? Did the cat eat your tongue? The last time that you were supposed to face me - thousands of years ago - you hid from me like a frightened child. You knew that I would rip your guts out, isn’t that right?”
Rebecca remembered Bull telling her the story of the one time in his life that he had been scared, many thousands of years ago.
“I was only a small child back then, dear cousin,” Bull replied. “But I am not that frightened child anymore. So, as a favour to me, let us pass. You don’t need to die today.”
Asterius’s laugh rolled over them like an avalanche, shaking the ground beneath their feet. “I am not the one who will die today!” he roared.
“You can’t fight against all of us at once,” Turgoth reasoned. “We will destroy you in no time.”
“Maybe,” the Minotaur said. “But you see, I am not alone!”
The Orizons looked around to see what he could mean. Was he bluffing? Then, they heard the hissing of a thousand snakes and all three Gorgon sisters - Stheno, Euryale and Medusa, herself - appeared at the Minotaur’s side.
Unprepared, the Orizons looked at them and immediately, all three were turned to stone. Leiko, being a demigod, and Bull, being a mythical creature, weren’t affected by the Gorgons’ spell. Now, however, it was Bull against Asterius and just Leiko against the three huge Gorgons.
The two sides charged at once - both hoping to take the other by surprise - and Leiko grabbed Felicia’s sword from her stone statue while still keeping his club in his other hand.
With the anger of thousands of years to fuel them, Bull and Asterius were fighting bare fisted, like ancient Roman wrestlers, each one landing punches that crunched bones and forced air from his rival’s lungs in shocking, great explosions. Again and again, the blows hammered down and it looked as if they would simply wear one another into the ground. With his greater height and reach, Asterius was able to keep Bull at bay more easily, but Bull’s military training was more thorough and his fighting techniques more cunning.
Pulling back as if giving up, Bull tempted Asterius to lean forward in order to land a killer punch. As the taller Minotaur bent down, Bull punched upwards into his jaw with every ounce of strength he could muster, making his cousin’s great head snap backwards, the weight of it almost toppling him over.
The evil Minotaur shook his head vigorously in an attempt to recover his senses, letting out a roar of anger so great that even the Gorgons shivered as they battled with Leiko’s flashing sword and wildly swinging club.
Bull rushed back in to deliver another punch before his cousin had recovered but he wasn’t quick enough and Asterius’s long arms caught him round the throat, lifting him off the ground, shaking and choking him. Bull felt himself slipping from consciousness and reached up to grab his opponent by the horns. Taking a firm grip, he swung his knees up into the softest part of Asterius’s stomach, shocking him into loosening his grip and forcing every ounce of air from his lungs. Bull fell to the ground, while Asterius struggled to refill his lungs.
Leiko could do nothing but defend himself against the three Gorgons as they all came at him simultaneously. There was no time to attack. As Euryale charged him, he managed to dodge her while bringing the club into her chest with a mighty thwack, knocking her off balance. As she stumbled past him, he saw his chance and brought Felicia’s sword down on the back of her neck, severing her head and sending it rolling across the ground, propelled by the furiously thrashing snakes.
In a mixture of grief and anger Medusa and Stheno sent up a wail so terrible it threatened to burst the eardrums of all who heard it. They both ran at him together, the snakes on their heads straining forward to bite him, forcing him to retreat a few steps. He stumbled on a rock and lost his balance, dropping both his sword and club.
The Gorgons saw their chance and leapt on top of him. With his bare hands, he grabbed as many snakeheads as he could hold, squeezing them so tightly that the Gorgons started to fight for breath. They thrashed and scratched and punched a
s they struggled to survive, but Leiko would not release his mighty grip on the vile, writhing serpents. He could feel them growing weaker but still, he held on, determined not to be tricked and waiting until he was certain they were dead. He watched the three Orizons as the Gorgons’ struggles grew weaker, waiting to see signs that they were returning to life. Only then could he know that the Gorgons were truly dead.
Finally, he watched the stone becoming the flesh of his beloved wife and friends once more and saw movement returning to their limbs. At that moment, he released the limp snakes from his grip and pulled himself up to his feet. All four of them prepared to charge on Asterius, who now had Bull on the ground and was poised to deal the final blow with Bull’s own axe.
As they ran forward, bellowing their war cries, Asterius reared up with a terrible scream and twisted in the air, sending out sprays of blood that drenched all of them, and they saw the hilt of one of Bull’s daggers protruding from his throat. With one last howl of fury, the mighty Minotaur fell like a tree, making the ground shake once more.
“Okay, now that wasn’t easy!” Rebecca said as they all stood, panting and surveying the damage in the sudden silence.
“The whole of Tartarus must have heard that,” Leiko said. “We must move on quickly.”
Despite their exhaustion, they staggered on down more narrow passageways, reaching yet another dark and threatening place. None of them could see anything clearly but Leiko was the first to spot the secret exit door. “There!” he pointed.
As Rebecca walked over to it, Turgoth saw a movement in the shadows as a towering beast reached out to grab her.
“Look out!” he yelled.
Rebecca turned too late. The monster grabbed her in one mighty paw and pulled her up into the darkness. She struggled to resist but the beast merely snapped her neck like a matchstick and threw her on the floor like a discarded piece of garbage. Without a thought for his own safety, Turgoth ran at the demon, who turned to smoke and vanished before he could reach him. Turgoth knelt and took Rebecca in his arms. He put his ear to her chest but could detect no sign of life. He knew that death in Tartarus meant the end. His greatest nightmare had just become reality...