The Forest Gods' Fight

by Alexandria Hook

  You see, when we had that enlightening conversation with the Oracle, Demeter hinted at what she felt needed to be done above all else, but Zeus waved her off without a second thought and her problem had since been left unresolved. I guessed she finally decided that this was the perfect time to carry out the hideously desperate plan to save her daughter, even if she had to do it on her own. I could only hope that Alec and Hermes were already down in the Underworld to meet her, but so was Hades, with an army of bloodthirsty monsters at his side, no doubt. My good friends would be in dire need of some help.

  So what did I do next, you ask? I took off my helmet. Then, of course, I put on Hades’s infamous helm of invisibility.

  Chapter 11

  A WAR OF WORDS . . . AND OTHER STUFF

  I lost track of time as I raced through the forest as fast as I could; all I could think about were the different strategies I could use down in the Underworld. I knew I was going to be at a disadvantage, having never been down there before, so I had to do everything perfectly if I was going to help Alec and Hermes get Demeter, Persephone, and Cole out of the Underworld alive. The entire war could be lost or won with this unannounced visit, so I wasn’t about to go down there without a plan in mind.

  I tried to ignore all the prayers of the soldiers that had started echoing through my head again and wondered if they knew how distracting and maddening it was to the other gods and me. But at the same time, I knew the first generations of the Greek gods had had it even worse because they had hundreds of thousands of people worshipping them back then, not just a couple thousand spread thin around the world.

  Speaking of past generations, this was only the second time in history that Athena had worn the helm of invisibility, and this was going to be the very first time that Athena ventured into the Underworld, as far as I knew. I had not had any visions or memories of my past lives doing anything like what I was about to do. Normally, only Hermes the messenger could travel between the different realms of the gods, though I figured the war gave me probable cause.

  Concentrate, Athena, I told myself.

  When I reached the giant, cave-like boulder where the rest of the gods and I had first come face-to-face with Hades, I slowed to a stop and glanced around, surprised that Hades didn’t have any monsters guarding that particular entrance to his realm. It was a big mistake on his part. But perhaps all of the monsters were guarding his prisoners or wreaking havoc on my tired troops around the forest. I didn’t really like either of those ideas.

  Staying as quiet as possible just in case there really was a monster lurking around nearby, I strode up to the boulder and ran my hand over its cool, rough surface. I was trying to find a trigger that would open the entrance when I stepped on a fallen branch and it cracked, triggering a dark hole to open beneath me. I squealed as I felt my stomach drop then cringed when I hit the hard earth not a second later. Apparently, I had only fallen a few feet underground, though I was now covered in a fine layer of reddish-brown dirt.

  I squinted my eyes as I studied my surroundings, but I couldn’t see much. In front of me, an earthy staircase descended into the blackness below, but besides that, I was walled in. I took a deep breath, wishing I had brought a flashlight, then set down my own helmet, spear, and shield, still keeping the helm of invisibility on my head. Shivering from the cold air, I slowly began to strip off my shoes, along with nearly all of my clothes, which were soaking wet from the rain and dripping all over the ground. After all, I couldn’t sneak into the palace very well if I was leaving a trail of water behind me and making weird squishing noises in my wet boots.

  It took a few minutes for me to wring out my shirt and jeans while I kept a close eye and ear out for monsters, but I knew my efforts would be worth it. Had there been another being in that tunnel, he or she would have witnessed only my sopping clothes seeming to levitate, though, thankfully, I was able to see myself. Once I had re-dressed, thus rendering my clothes invisible to another’s eye again, I started to put on my shoes but stopped when I realized that they were still full of water. I made the executive decision to leave my shoes there and go barefoot since I couldn’t risk being heard by anyone or anything in the palace and didn’t have time to wait hours for them to dry out. I also left my armor and shield behind to avoid dealing with the loud noise of clanging metal and to be able to move more freely. I just hoped that I wouldn’t accidentally step on anything sharp on my way down to Hades and that I wouldn’t get into a bloody battle later on down there.

  Alone with my thoughts, I began to silently walk down the stairs. It got darker and darker as I moved away from the hole through which I had fallen and, soon enough, I couldn’t see a thing. I had to move much more slowly than I originally expected, using one hand to brace myself against the walls of the tunnel and my spear as a walking stick, but the uneven, rocky steps made my descent even more difficult. However, in about ten minutes or so, I had gotten used to the darkness and was moving a bit faster.

  But the farther I went on, the more frustrated I became. I couldn’t stand the silence, the never-ending darkness through which I was trudging. I worried endlessly about my friends since I felt certain that I had been walking for at least an hour, yet there was no change in the scenery whatsoever. I thought I was finally starting to understand Hades’s bitterness, though at the same time it was no reason to start a war, for I was sure that his life in the palace was a breeze.

  Over time, I became more and more desperate to find the end of the dark tunnel, and was practically running down the rocky steps. I rounded a couple of corners, expecting to see the opening to the cavern through which the River Styx ran, but each time I was disappointed. Needless to say, my thoughts became even more pessimistic than usual. My walkie-talkie was well out of range by then so, for all I knew, the rescue mission could have been a success and my friends had already returned to camp. Or Hades had somehow managed to capture all of them.

  Expecting the worst, I ran faster.

  And then I tripped. I just barely managed to keep my mouth shut as I tumbled down the hard staircase, curling up defensively. I closed my eyes and winced every time my back, sides, or legs slammed into the edge of a stair, hoping that I would stop rolling and reach flat ground sooner rather than later. It was the only time so far that I wished I hadn’t left my armor behind, but at least I knew my head was relatively safe from harm.

  Thankfully, I managed to direct myself toward the side of the rocky tunnel which prevented me from rolling down the steps any farther. Holding back a groan, I stood up again and glanced over my body to make sure I hadn’t been too seriously injured, but it was hard to see through the darkness. Luckily, it appeared that I had only received some new (very ugly) bruises on my sides and scars on my ankles, although my older, larger scratches made by the shrapnel from Hestia’s explosion were starting to bleed again, not unexpectedly. Knowing I shouldn’t waste any more time, I shook off the throbbing pain with a sigh and continued around the next dark corner.

  I let out another sigh, but this one was in relief as I gazed below me at the one and only River Styx. Its dark, stagnant waters stretched as far as I could see in either direction in the cavern, and large masses of souls, which were almost transparent, lined both rocky riverbanks. One small lantern at the front of Charon’s gondola on the water, coupled with the dim light emanating from the souls, was enough to light up the whole underground area. Now, I could see that across from the long staircase on which I stood, hugging the wall, was the similar staircase Alec had used on his first trip to the Underworld. Thinking back on how long it took me to reach the gigantic cavern, I realized that the way he had come must have been about three or four times faster than this one.

  Shrugging to myself, I rushed down the rest of the staircase and started to weave my way through the groups of poor souls who didn’t have the money to pay the fare for Charon’s gondola ride across the wide river. I quickly realized, however, that although I was invisible, the ghostly souls could sense someone pu
shing right through them. They knew something was amiss and if Charon noticed this as well and had a monster report his suspicions to Hades, I knew I would be caught within seconds.

  Therefore, I quickened my pace and mere moments later I was standing next to the hooded, gray-skinned Charon on his little black gondola. Luckily, there was a tiny group of souls trying to get a ride across the river at the same time I was, so I carefully hopped on board alongside of them as the last couple paid Charon. I made sure to sit very still for the entire time, so as not to accidentally rock the boat and risk the chance of being caught. I could only hope that Charon and the souls had no sense of smell since I probably smelled strongly of dirt and pine trees, whereas the Underworld smelled more like a wet dog. But despite the possible issues, everything was going okay until I looked closer at the faces of the souls with whom I was sitting.

  My heart dropped when I recognized all four of them, though I should have expected to. After all, few people still believed in the ancient myths, which meant that few were buried with money to pay the fare and almost all of them were fighting in the war.

  I swallowed down a lump in my throat, forcing myself to look away from the four of them and over at Charon’s unnaturally bony hands, but it was too late. The sorrowful images of the twelve-year-old archer named Ben, a friendly water nymph, a petite tree nymph, and the scrawny Knowing boy with whom Alec had fought back in Kentucky were all burned into my brain permanently. Part of me couldn’t help but wonder where they had been when they were killed and which monsters were responsible. I wanted to declare vengeance in their names as well as for all the others who had died so far and who had yet to die. But to do that, I had to first make it to Hades’s palace.

  As soon as the long, thin boat reached the other side of the bluish-black river, I hopped off gracefully, landing on solid rock once again. Before I continued forward, however, I took one last glance behind me at the four sad souls, which floated right by me impassively. Unfortunately, Charon noticed the way that the ghosts had moved around a pocket of seemingly empty space, and my breath caught in my throat for a second. Even though his large hood completely covered his unearthly face, I felt as if Charon were staring right through me, as if he knew I was standing right under his nose.

  Realizing I was wasting precious time, I whirled around and started to run through even more souls of dead people, which were waiting in three different mile-long lines for Cerberus to assess them. I did not even pause in front of the giant, black and brown Rottweiler, although he started to bark and yelp angrily as soon as I passed under his tall legs. It appeared that the helm of invisibility had a drawback much like the master bolt and Poseidon’s golden trident. All three inanimate objects seemed to radiate power that could be felt subconsciously by those nearby, yet none of those who felt it seemed able to determine the source of the odd feeling so they just carried on with whatever they had been doing beforehand.

  I slowed to a stop in front of the looming Corinthian palace a few minutes later, having run through huge fields of grass that looked like the color had been drained out of them. I paused for a moment, waiting for the tall iron gates to open like they did for Alec weeks before, and when they didn’t, I was forced to start climbing while trying to keep hold of my spear. Although my hands were sweaty, my strength and tree-climbing skills paid off and, soon, I lowered myself onto the ground on the other side of the twenty-foot-high fence.

  Next, I walked right up to the two monster guards standing on either side of the black double doors and jabbed my spear through each of their stomachs before either one could sound an alarm. I stopped to dust off my scarred bare feet, making sure I wouldn’t leave dirty tracks in the palace. With that done, I crept inside Hades’s castle, shutting the doors behind me as quietly as possible. I did not dare to stop to admire the colorful, classical-era paintings that hung on the pastel walls even though I really wanted to because I was certain I could name all of them. Instead, I followed a hunch and walked along the musty-smelling red carpet that wound its way through all of the different rooms until I heard two familiar voices ahead of me.

  As soon as I rounded the corner, my hands flew to my mouth, stifling a gasp. In the center of the marble floor was a shirtless and bleeding Alec, kneeling with his hands tied to two posts and his head hanging low just like when he had been whipped at the Knowing camp. This time, however, Hades was the one standing over him, a small knife glinting in his pale fist. I desperately fought off the urge to drive my spear straight through his ice cold heart when he bent over and slowly dragged the tip of his knife through the skin on Alec’s back, reopening the wounds from the hero’s whipping. As more red blood dribbled in thin streams down Alec’s spine and mixed with stinging beads of sweat, causing him to stiffen, I forced myself to stop shaking and assess the entire situation.

  In the left corner of the room nearest to me, Hermes and Demeter sat tied to chairs with gags in their mouths and were helplessly watching, wide-eyed, as Alec was tortured. The rosy pink color had long since drained from Demeter’s face and she sat still, as if in a trance. I knew she had put up a tough fight, however, because she had a few new scratches and her blonde hair was messy. Hermes, too, was in no condition to escape on his own since one of his arms was gushing golden blood, which I assumed was the wound he had mentioned over the walkie-talkies.

  But at least they were both conscious, unlike Cole who was splayed out in the far corner of the room, his hair covering his face. I sighed inwardly, tightening my white-knuckled grip on the shaft of my spear and wishing yet again that he had never been brought into this merciless world. Cole didn’t deserve to live a life plagued by death and destruction; he was far too innocent.

  When a loud bang suddenly sounded from behind a closed wooden door off to my right, I jumped and Hades shouted in Greek, “Persephone, be quiet. You’re fine!”

  “No, she’s not fine,” Alec growled angrily, in a somewhat raspy voice. “She’ll be fine once she’s away from you!”

  Then Hades’s black eyes narrowed and he slapped Alec across the face as hard as he could, leaving a bright red mark on the hero’s cheek. Alec just laughed, though he still sounded very tired and defeated. “Is that the best you can do? Athena hits me harder than that all the time.”

  I couldn’t help but smirk to myself; it was good to see that Alec hadn’t given up hope. I knew he would go down fighting no matter what.

  “You would be wise not to make me any angrier, little hero” Hades sneered, his eyes flashing as he placed the blade of the knife back on Alec’s skin. “I’m sure that your precious Athena would agree, given your unfortunate situation.”

  If only to prove his point, Hades put pressure on the blade and dragged it along another old scar on Alec’s back just below the black owl tattoo, causing Alec to groan and gasp in pain as his muscles rippled in waves of tension. My mouth went dry with worry as Hades finished loudly, “Like I said before, Alec, you just have to tell me your battle plans and this can stop.”

  “You’ll kill me either way,” Alec said between clenched teeth, trying to stifle a groan and ignore the sweat dripping down his brow, the back of his neck, and even his dark hair. “I’m not telling you anything.”

  “HADES!” I heard Persephone scream from behind the door again, louder this time. “LET ME OUT! LEAVE ALEC ALONE!” She pounded on the locked door in a panic, and I heard her begin to sob. “Let me out! I—I’ll do anything. Just stop this. Please, Hades. Just stop.”

  Hades stood still for a moment, glaring at the door while debating his options. He then grumbled some profanities under his breath and reluctantly made his way into the adjacent room that housed his lover, taking the bloody knife with him. Knowing this would be my only chance to engineer an escape attempt, I ran over to Alec and knelt down on the cold marble floor in front of him. I had to glance around to make sure there weren’t any monsters or souls in the vicinity.

  “Alec,” I whispered in his ear and he froze instantly, his blue eyes
wildly darting around the room. “I’m right here, Alec. I’m right here,” I comforted him, hesitantly placing a hand on his sweaty shoulder, and he relaxed a little bit.

  “You’re invisible,” Alec whispered back quietly in realization and Demeter and Hermes seemed to perk up behind him, noticing his sudden calmness. Meanwhile, Alec closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath, his dark eyebrows knitting together as if he were trying to picture me in front of him. For a moment, the only sound I could hear was of his labored breathing until he stated blandly, “You smell like the forest.”

  “Is that a good thing?” I asked him quizzically. My heart raced faster and faster as I took a closer look at the deep cuts on his back from which blood seeped out very slowly like red-hot lava from a volcano. The fact that I was there distracting him was probably the only reason Alec wasn’t either screaming or unconscious. As I felt my own body begin to shake uncontrollably, I gulped and wondered if Alec knew that he was one of the few in the world who could cause me to panic like this.

  “You are always a good thing,” he replied under his breath, lowering his head sheepishly, and I blushed even though I knew no one could see me. His jaw was set in a hard line as he tried not to quake from pain or appear too weak in front of me, but I hoped he knew that he didn’t have to pretend for me; he was still the bravest and most loyal human I had ever met.

  “But at this rate,” he added in a more playful tone, “you will without question be the death of me and if I go down . . . well, I hope you’re coming too. I wouldn’t want you to have to struggle to live without me, after all.” I only smirked at his attempt at cockiness, but I had to admit to myself that I didn’t want to die any other way.

  Then a loud bang came from the direction of Persephone’s room and I slid my hand off of Alec’s shoulder. He tensed up again and stayed that way even when I started to loosen the rope around his reddening wrists. “You’ll be fine,” I told him. “Just follow my lead.”