Elementals 4: The Portal to Kerberos

by Michelle Madow

  I devoured the protein bar, and was soon onto my second. Mid-way through eating it, Chris jolted up, his face twisted in horror. He scrambled to the side of the boat and retched over the edge.

  “Where am I?” he asked once he’d gotten control of himself. “What just happened?”

  Erebus told him exactly what he’d explained to me after I woke up. Chris relaxed as he listened, apparently glad that what he’d just experienced had only been in his mind.

  I wondered what he’d seen, but I didn’t ask because of the same reason that I hadn’t asked after the forest—our experiences had been so personal. I didn’t want to think about my nightmares, let alone tell them to someone else.

  Once Erebus finished his explanation, he handed Chris two protein bars, apparently figuring that Chris would be just as hungry as I was. Chris thanked him, and we all sat in silence as we ate, looking around as the boat floated down the river. Tree branches canopied above us, shielding us from the amber, overcast light that I’d come to associate with Kerberos, and making it possible to imagine that I was still on Earth.

  For the first time since arriving here, it actually felt peaceful.

  Until something whacked into the side of our boat with enough force to send us toppling to the floor.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  “What was that?” I peered over the edge of the boat, trying to see what we’d crashed into. Something whammed into the opposite side, and if I hadn’t been holding onto the edge, I would have gone flying into the water.

  “Merpeople,” Erebus muttered, at the same time as the boat got another whack. It rocked back and forth, as if caught in a storm, and we all held on tight to make sure we didn’t go flying over the edge. He rowed faster, but it made no difference—the boat wasn’t moving.

  A slimy, webbed hand reached over the edge, gripping onto mine with a surprising amount of strength.

  I reached into my quiver for the arrow I’d used on the fox and jammed it into the hand. It lost its grip, and it and the arrow flopped back into the water. Now that I was free, I pulled away and removed my knife from my boot, hurrying to the center of the boat. I held up the knife, ready to stab any merpeople who tried to attack.

  “Get to the center!” I yelled to the others. “Quickly!”

  They did as I said, and we huddled in a circle in the center, holding onto each other to keep steady. Chris and I each had our knives out, and Danielle had her sword.

  Webbed hands gripped at the sides, and then the merpeople surfaced. With hair like seaweed, bulbous faces, bulging eyes, and gaping mouths, they were nothing like the beautiful mermaids I used to imagine existing as a kid. They were creatures from nightmares, and they hissed and screeched at us, showing us their rows of sharp teeth and reaching forward with their slimy hands to try to pull us into the river.

  “Only their top halves can go above the surface—their tails have to stay in the water,” Erebus said. “And whatever happens, don’t let them pull you in. They won’t try to take a bite out of you while you’re still alive, but drowned mortals are their favorite food.”

  More and more of them surfaced, rocking the boat harder and harder. If we capsized, that was it. We would drown before we were able to fight them.

  So we would have to fight them from here. Since they were in close range, I shot one of them with my other used arrow, the shot going straight through its chest. The mer-creature gasped and sunk back into the river. I’d hoped that seeing that would scare the others away, but instead they screeched louder, apparently angered even more. Danielle swung the Golden Sword at the ones she could reach. The dismembered arms fell into the boat, but more of them were surfacing by the second, making her fighting futile. And I couldn’t use my three remaining arrows now. There were too many of them and not enough of us. Plus, if I used all my arrows now, I knew I would regret it later.

  “Chris!” I yelled at him. “You need your lyre!”

  “It’s in the bench,” Erebus told us, and I groaned, because there was no way to get to the bench while avoiding the merpeoples grasps. Chris must have realized that too, because he stared at the bench, his eyes wide in horror.

  “You have no idea how much I miss my power right now,” he muttered. “With the wind on our tail, we could blow away from here in seconds.”

  “Well, you don’t have your power,” Danielle stated the obvious. “So we have to do this another way. You get that lyre—I’ll fight off any merpeople that try to stop you with my sword.”

  They hurried toward the bench, and Danielle swung at any arms that reached out to them. Chris opened the bench and pulled out his lyre—but just as he did, a hand reached out from behind Danielle, grabbing her non-sword arm and pulling her and her sword down into the river.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  I pulled out a crystal arrow and ran to the side of the boat, ready to shoot the merperson who’d taken Danielle. But the water was so dark that I couldn’t see anything beneath the surface. I wanted to dive in after her, but I had no way of fighting those creatures in the water. Jumping in would be suicide.

  Then there was a splash behind me. I looked to see what had happened, and saw Erebus’s pack on the ground. The spot where he’d been standing was empty.

  He’d jumped in after Danielle.

  Another merperson reached for me, but just as it did, Chris started playing his lyre.

  “Stop attacking us,” he commanded, his voice fluid with the melody of the music. “Swim as far away from us as possible and forget that you ever saw us.”

  The merpeople stopped rocking the boat and descended back down into the water. For the first time since they’d started attacking, all was still.

  I leaned over, trying to see what was happening with Danielle, but the water was too dark for me to tell.

  “Where’s Erebus?” Chris asked, apparently only just noticing that he was gone. “He didn’t get pulled in too, did he?”

  “He jumped in after Danielle,” I told him.

  “Good.” Chris sighed. “Then Danielle will be okay. Those creatures won’t stand a chance against a god.”

  Seconds later, Erebus surfaced with Danielle by his side. She coughed and took a deep breath, her eyes panicked as she looked around. “They’re gone?” she sputtered, taking in the scene. “You got to the lyre?”

  “Yep.” Chris smiled and raised it up. Then he held out a hand to help Danielle onto the boat.

  She tumbled back on board, still gripping the Golden Sword. At least, despite everything, she’d had the sense to not let it go.

  I held out a hand to help up Erebus, but he scowled at me and climbed up easily on his own. Once they were both back on board, Danielle squeezed her hair, attempting to comb out the remaining seaweed. Which was strange, because back on Earth where Danielle had her powers, she was able to dry herself off immediately. Now, as she sat there rubbing the water out of her eyes, she seemed so small and weak.

  Instead of having control over her element, it had control over her.

  “Did you swallow any of the water?” I asked her, wanting to be prepared in case she was about to fall into a nightmare-filled sleep.

  “Nope.” She shook her head and shivered, staring at the river. “That was terrifying,” she said. “I’ve gotten so used to being able to control water. It’s my element, but here, but it could have killed me. If Erebus hadn’t jumped in to save me, it would have killed me.”

  “Is that your way of saying thank you?” he asked.

  “You saved my life, so I don’t think ‘thank you’ is strong enough to get across I’m feeling right now,” she said. “But yes. Although… and I don’t want to sound ungrateful, because I’m not—I thought you weren’t supposed to interfere with our journey? You’re just supposed to be our guide?”

  “I saw you and the sword go under, and my instinct was to jump.” He shrugged and sat back down with the oars to start rowing. “That sword’s been in legends for thousands of years. It would be a shame to have
such a glorious weapon lost in the bottom of a river in Kerberos.”

  “So you jumped in to save the sword.” Danielle eyed him up, as if making sure she was hearing this correctly. “And while you were at it, you decided it wouldn’t hurt to save me, too?”

  “Something like that,” he said, rowing faster. “Are you disappointed? If so, I can throw you back in and you can see how you fare with the merpeople on your own.”

  “No!” She scooted closer to the center of the boat, pulled her legs up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. “I don’t ever want to go in there again.”

  “I didn’t think so,” he said. “And just so you know—I wouldn’t actually throw you back in there. I might only be your guide, but I do want to keep the three of you alive.”

  “That would be easier if we weren’t floating along a river full of monsters,” I said. “Nothing else is going to burst out of the water and try to drown us, right?”

  “That wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been for Chris’s… reaction to his nightmares,” Erebus said. “The creatures in the water don’t notice the boat. It’s made of wood, so it’s part of nature. But the moment Chris vomited into the water, they were clued in that we were here. So as long as you keep all parts of yourself inside the boat for the rest of the trip, we’ll be fine.”

  “I didn’t know,” Chris defended himself. “I thought I was doing you all a favor by aiming out of the boat.”

  “We know,” I told him. “We don’t blame you.”

  I wanted to ask what he’d seen in his nightmares that caused such an extreme physical reaction when he woke up, but I held back. After all, the last thing I wanted to do right now was to think more about my nightmares by talking about them, and I assumed he felt the same. So we floated along in silence for a few minutes, looking around and taking in our surroundings. It was peaceful again, but I knew better than to think that would last.

  “How much longer will we be on the river?” Danielle eventually asked. “And where’s it taking us?”

  “We’re traveling to the other side of the mountain,” Erebus answered. “It should take a few hours. The path that we’ll be taking starts there, and it’s only accessible from the river. The journey up that path will be exhausting, so even though time is limited, I recommend you get some rest now.”

  I shouldn’t have been tired, since I’d just woken up. But the nightmares had hardly been restful, and after I lay down, it didn’t take long until the boat rocked me to sleep.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  I woke up shivering. I sat up, since it was too cold to sleep, and found Danielle already awake. She huddled in Erebus’s sweatshirt, rubbing her hands over her arms to try warming up. Chris was still sleeping, although by the way he kept stirring, I had a feeling it wouldn’t be long until the cold woke him up, too.

  I walked over to join Danielle and Erebus, hoping that being near the edge of the boat would block some of the wind. “How long was I asleep?” I whispered, not wanting to wake up Chris.

  “About four hours,” Erebus answered.

  “Did you sleep at all?” I asked him. “I could take over rowing if you want to get some rest.”

  “I’m a god,” he reminded me. “I don’t need sleep.”

  “Oh.” I sat back, my teeth chattering from the cold. “That must be nice.”

  “It is and it isn’t,” he said. “Sometimes I find myself jealous of the way mortals can ‘check out’ from the world for a while. Us gods don’t have that luxury.”

  “I would like to not need sleep,” Danielle chimed in. “Imagine how much you could get done with all that extra time—everything you could learn and accomplish. It would be incredible.”

  “I have no doubt that you would be a fierce goddess.” Erebus looked out at the river, appearing to be deep in thought. “But you must remember that time has a different meaning to gods than to mortals. Mortals get so much done in their short lives because they’re constantly worried about running out of time. When time is endless, it’s easy to lose that zeal. Everything can get put off, until you realize that a century has gone by and you’ve accomplished nothing of any importance. I think that’s part of why I’m helping the three of you now. When I look back on the past few centuries, they’re as empty as the darkness I personify. Nyx pointed that out to me when she asked me to help you, and she was right. I’ve given into indifference for far too long. It was about time that I do something—even something as strange as leading three mortals through a deadly hell dimension and ensuring that they return safely to Earth.”

  “You’re helping us save the world,” Danielle said, placing her hand over his. “Without you, we wouldn’t have made it this far. We owe you our lives. Everyone in the world owes you their lives.”

  “We haven’t reached the end yet,” he reminded us. “There are still many challenges ahead.”

  We sat in silence for a few seconds, and I rubbed my hands over my arms, trying to get warm. “I don’t suppose you have another sweatshirt in that bag?” I asked Erebus, still keeping my voice down so I didn’t wake Chris.

  “Nope,” he said. “But I can give you my shirt if it’ll help.” He stopped rowing and lifted his shirt above his head. His body was absolutely perfect—which wasn’t surprising, since he was a god.

  Even though I loved Blake, it was impossible to resist checking Erebus out. Not doing so would be like being in front one of the most beautiful pieces of art in the world and not stopping to admire its beauty.

  Danielle’s eyes were on Erebus too, her cheeks red. She quickly pulled her gaze away from him and focused on the floor. But he smirked at her as he handed me his shirt—apparently he’d noticed her checking him out, too.

  “Thanks.” I took the shirt from him, wrapping it around my shoulders like a shawl. It did help guard me against the wind, and I stopped shivering as much. “I guess gods don’t get cold, either?”

  “We feel the cold, but it doesn’t bother us like it does a mortal,” he said. “Extreme temperatures are uncomfortable, but they can’t kill us. And since I’m your guide, it makes sense for me to sacrifice some personal comfort if it can help save your lives.”

  The line of what Erebus could and couldn’t do to help us seemed to be getting blurrier as he spent more time with us, but I said nothing. It was kind of him to help—and it didn’t seem wise to irritate a god who was on our side.

  “Maybe once Chris wakes up he’ll need your pants,” Danielle joked, although from the way her eyes roamed down Erebus’s body, I had a feeling that if that were the case, she wouldn’t complain.

  “I heard that,” Chris mumbled from where he was curled up into a shivering ball. “And I might be cold, but I’d rather Erebus leave his pants on.” He sat up and stretched, raising his arms above his head. But then he winced, and he grabbed his shoulder, right where the fox had scratched him when we first tried going up the mountain.

  “Since we have some time, you should let us have a look at that shoulder.” I tried to be casual about it, since Chris didn’t want us making a big deal about his injury. But the pain I’d seen on his face concerned me. If I could help, I had to try.

  “It’s fine.” Chris sat straighter and forced a smile. “It’s just a scratch.”

  “I’m sure it is,” I said. “But we have time right now, and even scratches need to be cleaned. Just let me have a look, okay?”

  “You’re acting like you’re a doctor.” Chris laughed.

  “I may not be a doctor, but I liked to run around a lot outside when I was younger,” I told him. “I got scraped up constantly. I know how to clean up something like this. It’s not a big deal—it’ll just take a minute.”

  “She’s also a daughter of Apollo,” Erebus chimed in. “Healing’s in her blood.”

  “Fine,” Chris said. “It doesn’t hurt that bad, but you can have a look.”

  He pulled his sleeve up, and I scooted over to him to check out the injury. The scratch wasn’t huge, but the
skin around it was red and puffy. I knew before touching it that it would be warm. Sure enough, it was.

  “You don’t have any medical equipment in that bag, do you?” I asked Erebus. “Some antibiotic ointment, or antibiotics themselves?”

  “No,” Erebus said. “And if the fox bit him, it wouldn’t help, anyway. They have a poison in their saliva that can’t be treated by any medicines on Earth.”

  “The fox scratched him,” I clarified, turning to Chris so he could back me up. “Right?”

  “The fox gave me a scratch on my shoulder.” Chris lowered his eyes, refusing to look at me. “But it wasn’t with his claws. It was with his teeth.”

  “Well, this is just great.” Danielle sighed and pulled Erebus’s sweatshirt tighter around her. “What are we supposed to do now? We know nothing about this poison. How long does it take to set in? What are its effects?”

  “For immortals, the poison causes torture and pain,” Erebus told us. “In mortals, it brings on a slow, painful death. It can take weeks—sometimes even months—to take full effect.”

  “That’s good,” I said, relief setting into my chest.

  “Maybe I missed something, but can you explain to me how that’s good?” Chris asked.

  “We won’t be in Kerberos for much longer,” I reminded him. “A day or two at the most, hopefully. Then we’ll go back to Earth, and once we’re there I can use my power to heal you. You’ll be fine.” I looked back at Erebus so he could confirm it.

  He said nothing, his eyes dark.

  “What?” I asked him. “Is there something you’re not telling us?”

  “It’s nothing.” He waved off my question, but the darkness didn’t leave his eyes.

  I didn’t feel like dealing with the God of Darkness being broody right now. So instead I poured some water from my bottle onto the sleeve of the shirt he’d given me and used it to clean the scratch on Chris’s shoulder.