Beyond Hades (The Prometheus Wars)

by Luke Romyn

  His gaze drifted back to the profile of Hades....

  ***

  They ascended the winding gray stairs, Hades in the lead, Talbot and Wes trailing slightly behind him. The two hadn’t had a chance to talk alone, but they didn’t need to use words – it was obvious neither liked Hades, and they needn’t remember Heracles’s warning; Hades was indeed a snake, and they couldn’t trust him for a minute.

  At the top of the staircase, Hades led them down a short corridor displaying huge frescoes and marble sculptures – each depicting the slightly feminine features of the Lord of Hades. Gazing upon the pieces of artwork, Talbot shook his head. The man was narcissistic to the point where it was sickening. Then Talbot thought of the people who had designed and created these incredible pieces of art, and how they had been sacrificed to the Keres.

  That bastard.

  The thought contained such malice that Talbot was almost surprised. The more he stared at Hades, the more he yearned to attack him, something completely foreign to the professor of archaeology. He had never considered himself a malicious sort of man, but he felt a steady rage strengthening with every step he took.

  Talbot’s hands curled into fists, but he quelled the rising anger savagely. He needed Hades to open the rift into Tartarus, or at least show them where the mechanisms were located. There was no way he and Wes could scour the entire city searching for the location of the alien technology that opened the rift, especially with creatures like the sphinx prowling out there.

  “Would you two care for some refreshments?” asked Hades, lifting his sword from the scabbard at his side and placing it on a desk near a foggy-glass window.

  Wes stared at him incredulously. “After you just told us you drugged the rest of your race in order to feed them to those things? How about you go fuck yourself?”

  “I understand your reticence,” said Hades smoothly, honey dripping from his words. “But you have nothing to fear from me. I need you to accomplish your task as much as anyone.”

  “Why don’t you just show us to the controls for the rift?” snapped Talbot, his rage causing his voice to quaver. Why was he getting so angry? Something wasn’t right.

  “Of course,” said Hades smoothly. “Just through here.” He led them through another set of doorways which opened into a control room almost identical to the one in Zeus’s temple.

  “I am able to open the gateway for you,” said Hades, his tone making Talbot almost quiver with the need for vengeance, to tear him to pieces.

  Talbot took a step closer.

  The need was upon him now, he couldn’t deny it.

  He reached out, his feet seeming to move of their own volition as Hades strode to the nearest console, his back an easy target. All it would take would be for Talbot to grab that sword off of the table where Hades had left it. He’d ram it between the master’s shoulder blades, plunging it home through his heart… his heart… his….

  Something snapped within Talbot.

  What was he doing? How could he hate the master? The master was wonderful. The master had saved both him and Wes from the sphinx in the valley. Talbot distinctly remembered that now. He loved the master.

  ***

  The figure of Hades turned around, a malicious grin lighting his face. He gazed at Talbot and Wes, both men’s faces now slack, their expressions vacant. It had been slightly risky turning his back on them, but the airborne version of the powdered root was not as potent as the liquefied one. It had taken all his reserves of the stuff to make it strong enough in the air to affect the two men at all. But it had not been enough to subdue them completely.

  It had made them both angry – he had noticed that instantly – but they needed to succumb completely to a mindless rage before the airborne toxin would overcome them utterly. He had deliberately played on that, telling of how he had betrayed those stupid peasants in order to form an alliance with the Keres; the ones he’d hoped would someday form the backbone of Hades’s invading army.

  But Hades’s army had been destroyed, torn asunder like a child’s toys by Cerberus. The huge hound had broken through Hades’s defenses like paper, and torn the Keres asunder as though they were human! Unused to the threat of mortality, the Keres had swiftly fled, leaving Hades alone. Only the help of those who Hades had wanted to destroy – Zeus and his precious Olympians – had saved the kingdom from complete annihilation. But with no people, and no army of Keres to aid Hades in invading Olympus, Hades had been left alone. The Keres had eventually returned – blind loyalty earned owing to their feast on Hades’s citizens – and were swiftly sent out to protect the far flung grounds and rivers which bordered his land.

  And Hades had waited....

  Time did not exist within this realm, and Hades’s wait had been the equivalent of centuries. The wait had grown stale and arduous. Only the loyalty of the Keres had prevented him from drastic action. Their rekindled loyalty had been double-edged, binding them in ways Hades had never foreseen. When things had reached their darkest, and Hades had tried to end it, they had stopped him.

  And still he had waited, knowing that one day the humans would be stupid enough to open the rifts once more.

  He had known immediately when they had opened, for tiny rips had appeared into his world also, allowing creatures such as the sphinx entry. They were of little import; all that mattered was that eventually a human would arrive with knowledge of the Elder-tongue. And that was what he needed.

  “Come in here, now!” he barked.

  Through the wall strode the image of Heracles. Hades winced at the sight of him. He knew it was merely Kharon bearing the former Olympian’s features, but it still made his stomach twist to see Zeus’s son so close to him.

  “Meld with the short one,” he ordered Kharon, pointing at Talbot, who had a thin line of spittle dribbling from the corner of his mouth. “The other one can wait until later. For now I need access to the Elder-tongue.”

  Kharon bowed before moving smoothly over to where Talbot stood. “Do you accede to this melding?” asked Kharon. Talbot nodded, the line of saliva snapping and dropping to the floor.

  Hades grinned in anticipation. The Ferryman’s mouth snapped open, and his arms reached out, pulling Talbot into his embrace, bending down to make contact with him.

  “Hey there,” growled a voice behind Hades. He spun around just in time to see a huge steel pipe swinging straight for his face.

  The floor rushed up to meet him, and his head crashed heavily against the stone.

  ***

  “How about you back the fuck up from my buddy there?” snarled Wes at Kharon. The commando had thrown aside the length of pipe and now kneeled atop Hades’s prone body, the tip of Chiron’s sword pressed hard against the base of Hades’s skull. Kharon hesitated, but when Wes readied himself to slide the blade home, the Ferryman quickly complied.

  “Make him coherent again,” said Wes, nodding at Talbot, who still stood motionless beside Kharon.

  Again Kharon hesitated until Wes silently threatened to carve open his master’s neck like a leg of lamb. The Ferryman hurriedly exited into to the other room and returned carrying an earthenware jug sloshing with liquid which he raised to Talbot’s lips.

  “Hold it!” snapped Wes. “What is that shit?”

  Kharon raised his dead eyes, the only feature which didn’t look like Heracles. “It is the antidote my master consumed; the one designed to create immunity against the Olympian root which did this to your friend. How do you think my master remained untouched?”

  Wes hesitated. “If that shit hurts him, I’m gonna cut this bastard’s head off and wear it as a condom right before I find out some way to kill you. Is that understood, Casper?”

  “Everything... except for the word ‘Casper’.”

  “Yeah, well don’t worry about that. Just make sure my buddy is okay,” grunted Wes.

  Kharon lifted the jug once more to Talbot’s lips. Plenty of the liquid splashed and dribbled from the sides of his mouth, but enough
made it in for him to reflexively swallow. Within moments the doctor’s eyes began to clear, and he swayed slightly. Kharon caught him, and Talbot was lowered to a sitting position, coughing several times before noticing Kharon and pulling himself free of the Ferryman’s grasp, rising swiftly to his feet.

  “You alright there, princess?” asked Wes, still positioned to strike Hades should Kharon betray them or Hades awaken.

  Talbot looked around at Wes, his eyes blurry. “What happened?”

  “This asshole,” Wes nudged Hades, “put some of that shit that makes you go all passive into the air. At first I didn’t understand why you were getting so tense, but soon realized something was going on. When you blanked out completely I played along just to get Herpes here to show his cards. He wanted fuckhole there –” Wes indicated Kharon with a nod of his head, “– to suck you off and take over your language shit. You know what I’m saying?”

  Talbot really had very little idea, but he nodded, still groggy. “Why didn’t it affect you?”

  “Why didn’t what affect me? Oh, you mean that mesmerizing shit. I just decided not to listen, that’s all. It’s like when that bitch was singing to me out there. I heard her the same way I felt the pull of this stuff, I just didn’t listen to it, that’s all,” Wes said simply, leaving Talbot with more questions than answers.

  Talbot put aside the growing enigma of Wes for the time being. They had bigger problems. “So what do we do now?” he asked.

  “First things first. You!” Wes indicated Kharon with his chin while still keeping his weapon poised above Hades. “Move over and face that far wall now, or I’ll skin Hemorrhoid here and dry-hump his bones.”

  Kharon’s eyes narrowed. Wes sensed the Ferryman was contemplating attacking him. He pressed the point of the sword down hard on the back of Hades’s neck, slicing the skin and causing the electricity to crackle loudly.

  “Are you going to make me repeat myself?” asked Wes. Reluctantly, Kharon shuffled to the far wall and stood facing it.

  “Doc, I need you to start this thing up.” Wes pointed at the gate controls. “Can you do that?”

  Talbot nodded, swiftly moving to the stone panel and rapidly pressing the controls. Within moments the Stonehenge-type structure in the center of the room began to rotate, accelerating faster and faster until with a loud clap it disappeared and was replaced with the inky quality of a dimensional rift.

  “You need to go first this time, Doc. But before you go, give me a hand with this bastard. I want to get him closer to the rift so I don’t have to run too far before that freaky fucker gets me.” Wes nodded toward Kharon.

  Talbot came over, but before they began to move Hades’s large frame, Wes unbuckled the scabbard the Olympian wore and swiftly looped it into his own belt. They each then grabbed an arm and dragged Hades across the floor to the edge of the rift.

  “Quick, you go,” ordered Wes. “I’ll keep an eye on our Ferryman friend over there.”

  Talbot nodded, quickly ducking his head and diving headlong into the rift.

  ***

  Wes glanced back at Kharon, seeing he hadn’t moved from the wall, and he allowed himself a grin. Rising, he pressed his palm flat upon the stone control panel, praying it had the desired effect.

  Several symbols lit up at his touch and the entire tablet of stone suddenly flared, illuminating everything like an intense flashbulb. Wes turned and – blinking rapidly to clear the dots before his eyes – saw the rift shimmer and shrink to about half its size. He didn’t have long before it reset and collapsed completely.

  Taking a single step toward the wavering rift, something suddenly clamped around his ankle. Snapping his gaze down, Wes saw Hades was partially aware, enough so for him to grab a hold of Wes’s leg with his right arm.

  “Kharon!” bellowed the prone lord. “Get him, Kharon!”

  The Ferryman shot across the floor at a bewildering speed, malice radiating from his inhuman eyes.

  “Fuck it!” snarled Wes, bringing the sword of Chiron down as hard as he could on Hades’s arm, severing it completely at the shoulder before leaping backwards into the collapsing rift. Strangely, as grievous as it was, Hades’s wound didn’t seem to bleed.

  Wes didn’t have time to marvel the incident. Just as he stepped into the rift, Kharon leaped for him, but was too late. The rift snapped shut like a bear trap, cutting off the Keres before its clawing hands managed to grasp him.

  CHAPTER 13

  This rift seemed different from the others, and Talbot felt as though he were shooting through the barrel of an enormous gun, thrown forward with incredible velocity. The rift seemed to slowly twist and turn until Talbot had the impression he was pointed downwards, though there was no sort of gravity in the rift, so he couldn’t be sure which way he was truly aimed. He shot through the kaleidoscopic tunnel, moving faster than thought –

  And then it ended.

  There was no warning, no tapering off of speed. It just stopped, and suddenly Talbot found himself falling....

  Falling....

  He seemed to drop for an eternity. Initially Talbot had let out a yell of terror, but after his scream tapered out, he was still falling. Now he forced himself to remain calm and look around.

  Obsidian walls skidded past Talbot, looping past him in a full circle at least a hundred feet wide. The light was dim, but Talbot could see the inky stone with its slight illumination. Below him was nothing. The pit just seemed to drop into darkness forever. But something was emerging from that darkness....

  Some sort of creature possessing a huge mouth brimming with needle-like fangs darted directly for him out of the dark. Its skin was like toughened leather as Talbot bashed it aside with a backhanded blow. Whatever it was, it was small enough, only about the size of a large dog with wings, that he had conquered it with simple brute force. Its wings were like those of a bat, and as Talbot struck out at it, it spun away into the obsidian stone, hitting hard and sticking to the wall like a fly in honey. The wall then opened up like a nightmarish maw, swiftly absorbing the creature into it.

  It all happened so quickly that Talbot couldn’t believe what he’d seen. He glanced at the walls shooting by all around him. They appeared to be solid stone, but he hadn’t been mistaken; the flying thing had been swallowed whole, he was certain of it.

  Twisting his body through the air, Talbot moved as close to the center of the pit as possible, trying not to think about what would happen when he reached the bottom. He spread his arms and legs like a skydiver in an attempt to control his fall as much as possible.

  Talbot had time to think while he dropped through the unending pit – after he stopped his heart from beating about a billion times a minute. For a time he wondered how the creatures of Tartarus without wings had escaped – there was no way for them to scale the walls. But then he remembered various references to other, smaller rifts tearing open. That must be how the creatures escaped into Hades, Olympia and Earth.

  A disturbing thought occurred to Talbot. One that made his heart hammer once more in his chest.

  How the hell was he going to get back to Earth?

  A sound from above caused Talbot to twist his body mid-air once more. Hurtling through the inkiness he saw Wes, head down and arms to his sides streaming towards him like a bullet. He seemed to be calling Talbot’s name at the top of his lungs, yet the sound barely reached him.

  As Wes spied him, he instantly flattened his body, leveling out and slowing his descent. Within moments he was beside Talbot.

  “Hey, how ya doing?” Wes yelled over the wind buffeting them both.

  “Stay away from the walls,” Talbot called back. “They’ll suck you in if you touch them. What happened back there?”

  “Shit broke loose, you know how it goes. I came through that rift like a crap riding a super-lax surfboard! Shit was falling down all around me after I shut down the control panel and the rift started to close.”

  “You shut down the panel?” asked Talbot. “How will we ge
t home?”

  Wes shrugged mid-air. “Buggered if I know. Not that way, that’s for sure. Maybe there’s a back door in this place.”

  “I hope so,” muttered Talbot. “What do we do now?”

  “Have a nap,” replied Wes, closing his eyes.

  “Have a nap?” asked Talbot incredulously, but Wes seemed to have already dozed off.

  Looking around, Talbot thought about it. The walls were far enough away now that they posed no direct threat. Despite his fear, fatigue was desperately heavy upon him. What if he just closed his eyes? Just for a little while....

  Beyond all reason, Talbot drifted into a light doze. It seemed like weeks since he’d slept. Flying creatures tried to invade his thoughts, but he pushed them away. Whatever was going to happen would occur whether he stressed about it or not. Worrying wouldn’t change a thing.

  The wind rushing by him was like a whispered lullaby....

  ***

  Talbot hit the ground hard, waking instantly, winded and bruised. Several moments passed before he was able to sit up and probe himself for injuries. Apart from what felt like deep bruising to his chest, there appeared to be no adverse effects from the fall –

  The fall!

  Talbot glanced around and saw Wes squatting nearby, Chiron’s sword in his hand. He scanned the area for enemies, giving no indication he’d suffered any injury from the landing.

  “What happened?” asked Talbot.

  Wes didn’t even look at him. “The wind coming up through the pit just got stronger and stronger until it began to slow us down. When we hit the ground, the impact was about the same as if we’d been wearing a parachute.”

  Talbot cast his gaze around swiftly, finally looking directly above, into the sky, and seeing the yawning exit from which they’d just emerged. It was like a gigantic ebony whirlwind suspended in the sky, opening downward, the obsidian walls fading away at the edges, wisps of black floating away like ebony steam.