Bright Fire (Bright Fire Series Book 1) (16 page)

Chapter

40

Stepping into the Underworld is like nothing I’ve ever seen. The lush forest and blue sky do not give off the sense of foreboding I thought I’d have. Lyla and Alec must be thinking the same thing because they are both staring at the sky with their mouths hanging open. 

"It’s so…pretty." I can’t think of a better word. 

"Like I said, the Underworld is an alternate universe. Not all of it looks like this, but it’s not like the books depict. Sure some areas look like Hell should, but some look completely normal. That’s the scary part though. The normal scenery tends to give people a sense of comfort, and before you know it, something gets them." 

I shiver. “What exactly gets them?" 

"You name it, lost souls, giants, chimera; there is an assortment of horrors here." 

I have a hard time grasping the term horror when my surroundings look so ordinary. "OK, Lyla do you have the harp?" 

She nods and tries to pin it to her shirt. 

Alec stops her. “Wait. Won’t it affect Hermes or me?" 

Hermes shakes his head. "No, she for all intents and purposes, is the siren. She chooses who to call to. As long as she focuses on Hades and not one of us we will be fine." 

Alec relaxes, "OK, so I think maybe she should wait a bit before she puts it on. If she lures him too soon, you both will have to distract him for longer. The palace is two and a half miles or so that way. Give us thirty minutes." 

Hermes shakes his head again. "It doesn’t work like that. Time and distance are not the same here as it is in our world. What is two miles to us on earth is more like ten and what seems like a day out there is more like a month in here. Lyla and I will wait right outside the opening and give you two hours. You need to be discreet, though; it’s a balancing act, and one wrong move can tip the scales in his favor." 

I can’t believe I'm hearing this. "Now you tell us this?!" 

"What?" He shrugs. “I thought it was common knowledge." 

"Um…No." I glare at him. "Whatever, you guys wait out there and give us two hours. Since we have no way of communicating with you, we will just have to hope we time it right." 

I grab Alec’s arm and turn to leave. Lyla stops me. "Wait!" I turn around, and she crushes me in one of her bear hugs. "I’ll see you back at the bookstore soon, OK?" 

"Yeah, don’t worry. You’ll see me soon enough." 

I wave to Hermes and watch them walk through the opening. I turn to Alec. “Here goes. Are you ready?" 

"Ready as I’ll ever be." He smiles encouragingly at me. 

I start walking through the trees. It is so unreal. There are birds and squirrels. If someone had told me the Underworld looked like this, I would call them a liar. "Did you know about this?" I wave my hand toward the forest. 

"No. I guess they paint the picture of doom and gloom all around to keep people out." 

"But I thought no one could come in unless they are dead?" 

"There are many ways someone could get in here. It may not be easy, but it is possible. I am also pretty sure Hermes knows how and just wanted to see if you could do it. Either that or he’s banned." 

"Is it wishful thinking to hope that Cass is in a place like this?" 

"I’d say so, but you never know." 

"Don’t sugarcoat it or anything." I nudge him in the side. He doesn’t even smile. "Whats wrong?" 

"Nothing." 

"Liar, spill it." I’m starting to worry because I can’t read the expression on his face. 

"Well, I was just wondering… Did you mean what you said earlier?" 

"I said a lot of things earlier." Even though this is true, I know exactly what he’s talking about. 

He still doesn’t smile. "Earlier in the kitchen." 

"Yes, why?" 

"I thought maybe it was the circumstances that made you say it." 

"Lyla asked me the same thing. At first I wasn’t sure, but then when I said it I knew it was sure. Did you mean it when you said it back?" 

He finally smiles. “Absolutely." 

"Good. Now that’s all cleared up."

We keep walking with an awkward silence hanging in the air for what feels like an hour, although I can’t be sure.  All of a sudden we reach a break in the trees. My jaw drops at the shift in scenery. Behind us is one of the most beautiful forests I have ever seen. In front of us, it looks like the site of a nuclear bomb going off. The sky is a muddy brown, and the ground matches it. There are large holes in the ground that look like meteor crash sites and mounds of dirt with smoke rising from them. I look up at the sky and where the two scenes meet there is a clear line of contrast. One side is blue, and the other is brown. 

Alec looks back and forth. “Wow." 

"Yeah." 

“This should be the Chasm of Lost Souls." 

"I don’t like the sound of that. Maybe we should go back." 

He grabs my hand. "It’s OK. You can do this. We need to get to Cass, and this is the only way." 

I straighten up and will myself to move forward. "OK, I can do this." I continue chanting to myself as we walk. "How long have we been walking? Do you think it’s been two hours for Lyla and Hermes?" 

"I doubt it, but who knows. We can’t worry about that right now. We just have to hope they get the timing right." He rubs tiny circles on the back of my hand. "Calm down." 

Yeah, right. Like that’s gonna happen. I trip over a mound and break my fall with my hands before my face can impact with another mound. The packed dirt is like concrete and my knees throb. I work to push myself up and make the mistake of looking into the mound and come face to face with another person. I scream and scramble backward. 

Alec jerks me up by my arm. "What is it?" 

"In the mound. There is a person in the mound." 

He eyes me for a second and then walks to the mound and peers in. He looks up and slowly walks over to me and grabs my hand. "We need to move, now. Walk carefully between the mounds. Do not look in them or step on them. Do you understand?"

I nod. "What was that?" 

He guides me slowly around the mound. "A lost soul. The mounds are their tombs; kind of like prison cells. They are meant to spend an eternity in them wandering around. That kind of life, an eternity with no purpose, can drive a person mad." 

"If they are bound to the tomb, then why do we have to be careful?" 

"They can hitchhike out of their tombs on another person." 

"You mean they can grab someone and pull themselves out?" 

"Pretty much, yeah" 

I stop dead in my tracks. In front of us, the mounds have tripled, and there is barely a footstep’s width between them. "Alec, how are we going to through that?" 

"Shit. This complicates things." 

"Yah think?" 

He mentally calculates the best possible route through the maze. "OK, get behind me and step where I step." 

I follow along his path, holding his arms so tightly my nails draw blood. Each step is harder and harder because the path is getting narrower. I let out a sigh of relief as I see the end of the mounds about two hundred feet ahead of us. Then I feel my foothold slip as the ground gives way beneath it. I almost drag Alec down with me, but he braces himself against the dirt. I scream as a slimy hand grabs hold of my ankle, and I wriggle to shake it off. 

"Dell you need to hold still so I can pull you up." 

Alec hoists me up and pulls me to his side along with the soul that grabbed my leg. "Get it off me! Get it off me!" I keep shaking my leg, but its grip is too tight.

Alec rips the dagger from its holder and plunges it into its arm. The soul shrieks in pain as the dagger makes the same whooshing sound as it did with the siren. In a puff of dust, it is gone. 

Breathing heavily, Alec slowly puts the dagger away. "Let’s not do that again." 

"Agreed." I stand there frozen because my limbs are shaking, and I’m having a hard time controlling them.

Alec scoops me up in his arms and starts walking. “Dell, you need to breath." I didn’t realize I was holding my breath. He sets me down on solid ground. "There. It’s over." 

I drop down and put my head between my knees. My breaths are coming in short gasps.
Great, I'm having a panic attack.
 

He rubs my back. "It’s OK. Just breath. It will pass." 

Slowly the ringing in my ears goes away and my breathing evens out. "I am not going back through that; we will have to find another way. I don’t care if we have to search for a year." 

He smiles at me and pulls me up to stand.

Chapter

41

”Are you sure we are going the right way?" My impatience is wearing on me. We have been walking for a long time, and my ankle still hurts from the soul's grip. 

"Yes, we are about halfway to the gates." 

"How do you know?" 

He stops and turns to me. “I know because I was trained for this. I can follow a basic S on a map and if you look that way you see what?" 

I look over to where he is pointing, and my skin crawls. “The River of Lamentation,” I whisper. 

"Exactly, so can you please stop second guessing me and have a little trust in my capabilities?" 

I look down ashamed at my behavior. “I’m sorry, it’s the stress I think." 

"I know, it’s OK. It’s been a long day for both of us. Are you hungry?" He pulls out a granola bar and starts unwrapping it. 

My stomach growls in response. I giggle. “Guess so. Can we sit down and rest for a minute?" 

"Sure, but only for a couple minutes." 

We sit without talking. The only sounds we hear are the crunching of the granola bars. I look around at the gloomy atmosphere and wonder what it would be like to be stuck here for eternity. Something over the hill catches my eye, and I do a double take. 

Alec notices. “What is it?" 

"I could swear I just saw a person over that hill. I think my mind is playing tricks on me." 

He scans the area a few times and then stands up. "Come on. Let’s go." 

I'm still tired, but I don’t argue with him. The less time we spend here, the happier I’ll be. We start walking towards the river. The sense of dread feels like a lead weight in my stomach. The river runs perpendicularly to the path we are on, and the only way across is on the rickety bridge up ahead. It’s one of those bridges you would see in the movies where it gives way and snaps halfway across. My steps slow until I reach the bridge and stop. 

Alec reaches for me. "What are you doing? Come on we have to cross."

I shake my head. 

"Dell, this is the only way across. We are so close. You can’t give up now." 

"What if it gives out and we drown?" 

"That won’t happen." 

"How do you know?" 

He gives up on the pep talk and goes for stern. "Look, you are crossing this bridge, even if I have to carry you again." 

I look at him, shocked at his tone. The hard look on his face tells me I'm not getting out of this one, and I give in. "Fine, but if we die here, I'm voting for you to be stuck in a tomb." 

He rolls his eyes. "Come on Drama Queen, you first." 

"Why me first?" 

"If it’s going to give out it’s probably going to be the half behind us. Wouldn’t you rather me fall first?" He wiggles his eyebrows. 

I half smile. "Not really, but it’s a sweet gesture."

I grab both sides of the rope railing and tentatively step on the first board. Seems solid enough, so I continue. We continue like this, step by step, working our way across the bridge. Three feet below us the current of the river is moving strong and fast. 

There is a splash behind me, and I hear Alec cry out. I whirl around causing the bridge to sway violently back and forth. He is on his knees with his head in his hands. He is shaking and sobbing uncontrollably.
What the heck?
 

"Alec!" I shake his shoulders. “Alec! What’s wrong." 

He shakes his head back and forth. "She’s gone. She’s gone, and it’s all my fault." 

"Who’s gone? What are you talking about?" 

He is wailing loudly, and I cover his mouth to muffle the sound. He tries to talk through my hand. I can’t understand a word, so I let go. "Cass, she’s gone. It’s my fault. I was supposed to protect her. It’s my job, and I failed. Just leave me here. I deserve to die for what I've done." He resumes sobbing, but it’s not as loud as before. 

Crap! What do I do?
I drop down to look him in the eyes. “Alec, look at me. This is not your fault. Things happen. No one is dying today, so snap out of it." Nothing. He keeps sobbing. I grab underneath his arms and try to pull him up, but he is too heavy for me. I look back to the other end of the bridge. It’s maybe ten feet away. I need to get him off this bridge.  

I try to pull him up again with no luck. I change tactics and pull him forward instead of up. He moves. It’s just a little bit, but it’s something. I pull again harder this time. Each time I pull his arms we get a little closer to the end of the bridge. With one last pull, I manage to heave him off the bridge and onto the grass. I fall backwards, panting from the strain of his weight. I catch my breath and sit up. He’s staring at me with blank eyes. It’s almost as if he can’t see me at all. 

"Alec?" 

"Hmm?" 

"Are you ok?" He doesn’t answer.

I grab his arm. "Come on we need to get up." I am able to get him to stand up, and I throw his arm over my shoulders to help carry his weight. He continues to stare ahead with lifeless eyes. I urge him forward, and he slowly creeps along. 

We make it about twenty feet, and he stops. "What happen?" 

"I’m not sure, but if I had to guess I’d say grief happened." 

He looks back at the river. "I dropped a can of soda and the water splashed onto my jeans." The area where the water hit his pants had tiny burn holes. 

"It’s the water. It must have touched your skin and affected you." 

He sways and I force him to sit down. I pull two more granola bars out of the sack along with soda and shove them in his hands. "Eat, trust me you need it." 

"How bad was it?" 

"On a scale of one to ten? Thirteen. You dropped down and started freaking out about Cass and how it was all your fault." 

He shakes his head. “I feel awful. Like I slept for three days straight." 

"Yeah, that happens when you have a meltdown like that. You have to know this isn’t your fault, though." 

"Logically I know that, but emotionally I guess I still blame myself." 

"Well, it doesn’t matter. What matters is we are going to get her back, and she will tell you herself that she doesn’t blame you. Then this will all be over." 

"Yeah, but it sucks that you saw me cry. That does not help my image." 

"Seriously? That’s what you’re worried about right now?" 

He shrugs. “Look over there." 

I turn my head and see a gigantic palace behind a set of gates. We made it. With renewed energy, I stand up. "Are you feeling better? I don’t know about you, but I think it is time to get Cass back." 

He stands up and grabs my hand.