Authors: Suzi Davis
I hadn’t spent much time on sailboats growing up. My father didn’t sail, my mother wasn’t the outdoorsy type and I was rarely allowed to go out unaccompanied. The few times I had been out on the ocean was with Clarke and his family and despite the company, my memories of sailing were surprisingly pleasant. I enjoyed the feel of the wind on my face and in my hair, the smell of the sea and the sound of the boat cutting through the splashing waves and bouncing gently on the water. I felt almost disappointed when Francois, the platinum blonde leading the way, brought our group to a stop in front of a completely ordinary-looking motorboat with no sails. The paint was peeling in places and barnacles were growing just below the water line. It was fair-sized but there would only just be enough room for the nine of us.
“Krystos, Darius, take them into the cabin,” David instructed as we climbed aboard. I idly wondered why the others deferred to him so easily and if it had something to do with his previous friendship with Sebastian? It wasn’t a topic I was about to bring up.
Sebastian boarded ahead of me and then gallantly offered his hand. That he could still be so considerate and such a gentleman despite the dire circumstances and his obvious injuries was endearing in the most deep and painful way. He looked at me strangely as I took his hand, reading the powerful emotions I thought I had hidden in my eyes. It made my heart and soul ache, knowing that in such a short time, I would have no choice but to say goodbye to him.
“This way,” Krystos said with a smile. He had hopped aboard just after me and was now gesturing towards the open cabin door. I eyed the small space with distaste.
“I’d rather remain above deck.”
“So would I,” he agreed, glancing up quickly to look longingly at the warm, summer sky stretching out above us. “But this is the way it must be.”
“Move it!” Darius barked from behind us. I felt him step on board as the boat shifted under his heavy weight. I slowly turned to come face-to-face with him.
“Do not speak to me in such a tone,” I commanded in my sweetest and deadliest voice. In that moment, I could feel Caoilinn’s spirit alive within me and I wasn’t afraid at all. I met his gaze with my own piercing, sapphire eyes and wasn’t surprised when he looked away.
“I’ll do what I want to,” he growled, though he still didn’t meet my eye.
I continued to glare at him. I was vaguely aware of the others watching – some with curiosity, others with open wariness and apprehension. I took a step closer to him, ignoring Sebastian’s sudden hand on my arm. I waited until Darius finally looked up and met my eye, and then I lowered my voice to a soft and seductive caress.
“If you think what you want still matters, you’re even stupider than you look,” I warned, the words springing to my lips automatically and without thought. “And once you understand what I want, you will regret the choices you have made today with every aspect of your minuscule existence and be begging for my forgiveness.”
Darius’s eyes narrowed and his lips pressed together tightly. I thought some of the redness might have been washed from his pallor.
“Caoilinn!” David’s voice snapped from the dock. He pushed his way forward and boarded the ship with one smooth stride. “Do I need to watch you at all times myself?”
“Whatever you want,” I replied innocently. I carefully slid my hand into Sebastian’s and then led him past Krystos and the Others and into the awaiting cabin, gliding gracefully forward with my head held high. I had never felt so alive. It was empowering to face danger so boldly with such unwavering confidence, and suddenly, I wondered if my wants might just be powerful enough, if I dared to risk it all?
After a sharp gesture from David, Krystos and Darius followed us into the cabin. It was a small and dismal space with just enough room for the four of us to sit around the square table, Sebastian and I on one side and our guards on the other. There were two small windows letting in a bit of natural light but it was still dark and gloomy within. The cabin entrance was narrow and the dark cupboards and clutter-filled shelves only added to the feeling of claustrophobia. I sighed impertinently.
“I hope we won’t be going too far,” I commented to the air. Darius ignored me but Krystos met my questioning glance with a ready smile.
“Just upriver a little ways, it won’t take too long,” he assured me, almost cheerfully. It was strange to have to fight the urge to smile back.
“How does The Order use the Necromanteion as their temple? Isn’t it a tourist site?” Sebastian asked.
“We only meet there occasionally; we aren’t disturbed if we don’t want to be,” Krystos explained.
“Shut up!” Darius snapped, slamming his hand against the table in irritation. “David said no talking.”
I arched a cool eyebrow at him. “Did he?”
“Yes,” Darius hissed back but again, without meeting my eye.
“This is going to be a boring boat ride,” I commented.
“It can’t be any worse than the trip here,” Sebastian pointed out, copying my dry, sarcastic tone. Krystos grinned at us but didn’t say anything else. Darius glowered.
“Tell me more about the Necromanteion?” I politely requested, speaking only to Sebastian but including Krystos in my gaze.
“I’m afraid it’ll have to wait,” Krystos cut-in apologetically.
Just then the boat’s motor started up, the noise filled the small cabin and drowned out all chances of continuing our conversation. The objects on the shelves began to rattle and vibrate as the boat slowly pulled away from the dock, the gentle rocking motion increasing as we moved further out into the waves and open sea.
I sighed, leaning into Sebastian’s side and trying to appear relaxed. Inside, I was nauseous, exhausted and growing more apprehensive by the second. I closed my eyes, shutting out the world so that I might focus on defining my vague plan and fully committing myself to my chosen course of action. I knew that the only way my plan could possibly work was if I wanted this with one hundred percent certainty.
As we traveled out of the harbor and around the narrow point of land, I caught the occasional glimpse out the window of pristine, turquoise waters and high cliffs and coves along the shore. Our speed increased and the waters gradually grew choppier, the gentle lurch of our boat becoming more of a rough, tossing bounce through the wild waves that jarred my bones and eventually broke my concentration.
The boat slowed down again as we began navigating the rougher waters. I could see out the small window that we were passing quite closely to large, jagged rock formations that rose out of the water like deadly fangs, ready to crush and consume our vessel.
“We’re entering the Acheron delta now,” Krystos shouted out over the noise of the boat’s motor. Darius glared at him but Krystos just shrugged and grinned. I looked to Sebastian questioningly and he bent his head to speak directly in my ear. He still had to yell to be heard.
“We’ll be traveling up the Acheron River – known in mythology as the River Styx.”
I frowned and he turned his head, offering his ear to my lips.
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
He met my eyes and his own were full of worry and fear. He squeezed my hand tightly beneath the table.
“I’ll save you somehow,” he promised, lowering his voice so I could barely hear him despite his lips and breath brushing against my ear as he spoke.
I smiled, and sadly kissed his cheek before he pulled away. I didn’t dare say what I was thinking aloud, not even to him. I was beyond saving – we all were.
As our boat slowly putted upstream, the door to our cabin opened and Francois gestured for us to come above deck. I was more than happy to oblige but rose slowly, following Sebastian out of the cabin with a steady and dignified grace.
There was little room for us above deck. We were forced to stand, crowded in amongst the Others. I guessed that we were nearing our destination now and looked around with a mix of anticipation and dread.
I could see why the Acheron River was thought to be the mythological River Styx – the river that the Ancient Greeks believed one must travel to enter the Underworld, the world of the dead. The trees that lined each side of the river rose up thickly and blocked out much of the day’s bright sun, their boughs dipped into the dark and muddy waters. Flies buzzed in the air and there was a disturbing scent of rot and decay that clung to the humid breeze. Despite our boat’s loud motor, there was a strange and heavy silence that weighed down upon us along with the stifling heat. No matter how calm and composed I was trying to appear, I couldn’t push aside the creeping sense of unease that was shadowing my heart and chilling my soul. I could see it affecting the Others too, their expressions growing even more solemn, their eyes darting around uneasily, their stances shifting and their confidence wavering. Only David appeared to be unaffected. He was as cold and calm as ever.
David cut the motor and let the boat drift up to a small dock that had appeared on the side of the river, nearly hidden amongst the shadows and tall reeds. Nathaniel and Charlie easily leapt from the boat and onto the wooden dock, tying the ropes and securing the motorboat with a practiced ease.
The flies buzzed around us and the water quietly lapped at the boat’s sides. Every now and again the boat would bump noisily against the dock, making us all flinch at the loud, knocking sound. A sickly, warm breeze stirred the air and sent chills down my spine. I clutched onto Sebastian’s hand tightly.
“Let’s go.” David’s voice cut through the eerie silence.
He stepped up onto the rail of the boat and stood balanced with one foot on the dock. He turned around, holding his hand out towards me just as gallantly as Sebastian had done. There was nothing warm about his expression or the look in his eyes, he seemed to be taunting me, daring me to take him up on his challenge.
“Caoilinn?”
I hesitated only a second longer before releasing Sebastian’s hand and gliding forward to accept David’s firm yet cold grip.
“Thank you.” I spoke coolly, my head held high as I managed with surprising grace to climb out of the boat and onto the dock, coming to a smooth stop by Nathaniel’s side. He took a small step back from me.
Once we were all off the boat, David led the way up a small path leading away from the river and winding up the steep hill. It felt more like we were in the jungle than in Greece with the thick grasses and trees around us and the steamy, humid air that seemed to be suffocating us all.
We walked in silence, the Others occasionally muttering comments back and forth but never loud enough or long enough for either Sebastian or myself to overhear. We had all worked up quite a sweat when we finally approached a hillside village several kilometers away from the river. I was surprised when David took a fork in the path that led us away from the village and around to the hill that rose up behind it.
“The Necromanteion is an underground temple, hidden within the hill,” Sebastian whispered to me as we walked. No one tried to stop us from talking so he continued in a low and soft voice. “In ancient times, people would come here in hopes of conversing with the dead. They would stay underground in the tunnels for days, fasting and given nothing to eat or drink except for hallucinogens from the priests. Then they were brought to the main chamber, into the Underworld itself to gain knowledge and wisdom from the dead. Many did not survive the trial or were half-mad by the end of it.”
Someone cleared their throat loudly behind us and we fell into silence once more. Sebastian’s whispered words of this place’s dark history echoed through my mind and haunted my thoughts as we continued hiking up the trail.
The trees grew more sparse, the grasses taller and drier, the earth rockier and bare. Up above us, not even a quarter of the way up the hill, rose an arched entrance of large, squarish-shaped stones, marking the entrance to the Necromanteion and the Underworld.
David marched ahead and through the entrance. We had no choice but to follow.
“This is just one of the many entrances,” Sebastian whispered in my ear as we approached the intimidating archway. “This hillside is full of caves and tunnels, many of which lead to the Necromanteion temple and its chambers within. I don’t imagine tourists typically enter by this route or travel too far into the tunnels. One could easily become lost for days.”
I didn’t respond. I told myself it was because I was out of breath from the heat and the steady hike, and that it wasn’t fear that was choking the words in my throat and sucking away my breath.
I found myself following David through the archway and into the shadows beyond. The air immediately felt cooler than outside and goosebumps arose all over my body while my eyes adjusted to the darkness. The Others took out flashlights and lanterns as they entered behind us, the beams of light weakly fighting against the heavy, consuming darkness. We shuffled forward in single file, approaching a steep and narrow staircase that disappeared down into the depths of the Earth.
“Watch your step,” David cautioned as he began descending the stairs.
My breath was loud in my ears as I followed him, my heart pounding in my throat. I used one hand to feel along the rough, jagged stone walls as I slowly took the stairs one at a time and with the other hand I tightly gripped onto my necklace as if holding onto life itself. Its warmth was an invaluable comfort in this cold and dark place.