Page 20

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WHERE THE WILD ONES LEAD

S tepping through the portal had been just like when I first arrived back in the Underworld, only times that by ten. In fact, it had been a challenge to hold onto my mortal vessel as every cell of my supernatural being had wanted to change into my HellBeast. Cerberus fought at me for control and the only thing keeping him locked down was the mission.

The mission to get our Chosen One back.

He knew, as well as I did, that I was the only one able to achieve it, for we had to be of sound mind to plan our next move. Which meant he needed me to lead us both through the wasteland of Tartarus, to find who we were looking for.

Of course, it had changed since the war, no longer the colossal Mount Tartarus that was forever a viewpoint, no matter where you looked, for it was long gone now. And with it, the immortal resting place of the Titan Gods it once held captive in the belly of the prison.

And all thanks to Keira, who saved the world that day.

Not that I went into detail when telling Ella of its brief history, as well, it was one story that wasn’t mine to tell. No, I would leave that mind bending story to her aunt, if she ever wished to regale her with it.

As for where we were now, Koro had been right, as the portal brought us to the outskirts of Tartarus. Which thankfully, was far tamer than its core of evil. But that didn’t mean it still wasn’t home to the worst and most vile souls. Meaning that we would keep our guard up for any trouble.

I think my beast was even looking forward to it, as any excuse for him to break free of my control. Something that was far easier to do than in the mortal realm, as this place only fueled his need for dominance over me.

But this change hadn’t just taken me, but my brother too, as he looked to be struggling the same Fate as I. His skin looked close to splitting and his eyes were a constant amber glow, with his hands curled into demonic fists. A pair barely able to hold onto the reins that would have sliced in his talons. Even the horses looked unsettled by the change in their riders. However, Tyr and Marcus stayed the same, for they, unlike us, they weren’t born of this place.

The river Cocytus ran alongside Tartarus, separating the two lands by a river mile-wide, and a mountain in between. This crossed paths with the River Phlegethon, which was a literal river of fire. The land created was known as the steam craters or Hell’s basin, as the locals called it.

An uncrossable expanse of land that would flay men alive should they step in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was where sections of the Cocytus River branched off into Phlegethon. Doing so underground and creating pockets of dangerous steam to burst through the crusted earth.

As for where we were headed, Koro had been right, it would have taken us a week on foot to cross over. Which was no doubt why a portal still existed between the two lands, as it was a far quicker way to travel. Of course, only those not imprisoned here for their crimes could freely come and go. Most of which were used by bounty hunters, returning escaped prisoners. Or those bound for this place as further punishment for crimes committed within the realm.

One such place was where we were headed now, as it was a prime location for these hunters to pick up their bounty owed for jobs completed. The town of Kakía Topoi wasn’t far, its meaning in Ancient Greek translated into Evil Place, as most towns were named in the literal sense, just like in ancient earth.

The town gates could be seen at the end of the road and with the speed the horses rode at, we were there in minutes. A row of wooden poles each spiked three stories high, as most towns in the Underworld were surrounded by walls for a reason… to keep out those who are unwelcome. Which was why the moment we stopped, town guards appeared, instantly drawing their weapons.

“Who goes there!?” a voice shouted from the battlement above, their bows drawn ready to fire.

“We seek business at the inn,” I shouted, making him scoff and test us.

“At the Black Claw, you say?”

“No, as that is the inn at Gods Hallow,” I replied, knowing of one of the other towns on the other side of the river.

“I speak of The Devil’s Hoof,” I added, making the guard take pause, which was when Tyr intervened, pulling his axe from his back and said,

“We come to this town peacefully, but being Tyr, God of War and Justice, I always welcome a chance to use this, for I assure you, this gate would take little effort for my axe.”

“Subtle,” Marcus muttered, making me reply,

“Isn’t that our specialty?”

His grin said it all.

The guards muttered some more and said,

“We want no trouble with outsiders.”

“And you will get none as long as you don’t keep us from our business, now open your gates, for we will not ask again!” I shouted, losing patience, something that was evident in my tone.

“Alright, we will open up!” they shouted back, and soon enough the gates opened.

We rode our horses through into the medieval looking town with its crude buildings of mortar stone, mined from the quarry nearby. It was a red rock that would bleed when wet, the minerals weeping from inside, giving it the nickname red tear stone. Even the cobbled road had been made with the off chippings of the bricks made. Bricks that had been used to construct most of the buildings in these parts.

The town appeared ominous with the street lanterns reflecting off the walls, making it appear as if the town had a constant red hue. The sinister glow led us forward, where the guards tried their luck by ordering,

“All weapons stay here.”

To which my brother outright laughed, and Marcus scoffed.

“Not bloody likely mate.”

“What he said,” Tyr added.

And this wasn’t surprising, seeing as the guy always travelled with an arsenal of weaponry on him. But the guards weren’t all fired up to try and arrest us, so we continued on down the narrow street without them harassing us.

Our horses traveled in single file until the road started to widen near to where the inn was. Of course, the second I saw the black demonic looking horse, I knew we had found him.

“You two stay with the horses, my brother and I will go inside,” I told Tyr and Marcus, who agreed with a nod. As for my brother, I swear he nearly jumped from the horse, muttering,

“Don’t have to tell me twice.”

We both walked inside the Devil’s Hoof and I spotted him instantly but then again… he wasn’t hard to miss. And of course, he was gambling. As clearly even after being shot in the head holding a dead man’s hand wasn’t enough to put him off the game. Which was why I waited for him to gather his winnings after beating some newcomers to this town, as all the locals knew better than to play against him.

“I smell trouble brewing,” my brother commented.

We continued to watch from a few tables behind, as I was curious to see if he still had it in him. And just when the outraged big bastard of a demon pulled a dagger from the sheath strapped to his thigh, the gambler whipped his gun from his holster and pointed it at the demon’s head in the blink of an eye. The whole room froze, as if they knew what the foolish demon had just got himself into.

“Now, way I be lookin’ at this, is you can be a dumber dang boot-licker and try your hand at throwing that knife before one of these here plums hits you between the eyes, or you can walk from this table with your life and spare me the coin it will cost me to clean up all your blood… now what’s it to be, Corncracker?”

The demon snarled and left the table, putting his weapon away and thinking better of it.

“Damn but I forgot how cryptic this son of a bitch was,” my brother commented under his breath.

“Now are you boys gonna stare at the back of my hat all night or sit your saddle warmers down?”

I smirked, knowing that without even letting on, he had spotted us. But that was my friend, sharp as the shooter he was.

“Wild Bill,” I said, sitting opposite him and taking the place of the sore loser who was now nursing his losses at the bar with a tankard of ale.

“Big Bug.”

I gritted my teeth as he knew I couldn’t stand that shit, even if it did mean he was calling me boss man. But then, that was Bill, he may have gotten with the modern mortal times by exchanging horses for bikes, but as for the lingo, he had never let the 1800’s go.

“Now what brings you boys to my local waterhole, I wonder?” he asked, straightening his brown top hat by running his fingers along the rim. His long dark, curly hair hung over both shoulders, his trademark brown cowboy jacket, folded over the spare chair.

“You mean this shit hole? Ah we just love it here,” Orth said, making Bill give him a pointed look before reminding him,

“Why do I have to remind you boys about cursin’?”

Oh, and that was another thing about Bill, you never heard him swearing. But then, half the shit he said, I didn’t fucking understand so it didn’t much matter.

“Well, you’ve been gone a while, Bill, so a lot has happened,” I told him. His metal heeled cowboy boots tapped on the wooden floorboards.

“Yeah, so I hear… don’t look so surprised, son, we get plenty of folks that could spin yarns for hours down here as well as up top.”

My brother nudged me and said,

“Spin a what now?”

“He means gossip,” I replied as if my natural in-built Wild Bill translator had just clicked on.

“Then you might have heard other whispers from the bottom of the barrel,” I said, another nickname used for Tartarus, as it was literally the lowest part of any Hell there was.

“Oh, I heard me some whispers alright, and I was just waitin’ on you boys showing up is all,” he replied with a grin, one that caused a dimple in his cheek to appear. And fuck me but I couldn’t wait to see what Ella made of him. The thought nearly made me smile until reality seeped back in like the cruel fucker it was.

“What did you hear, Bill?” I asked, getting myself back on track.

“Oh, loco fella so mad that he could bite himself. A big bug who likes collectin’ himself Summoners, so I hear. In fact, had one of those squirrelly fella’s in here the other day,” he said, making me lean in.

“Yeah, what did he have to say then?”

“Ah, he be bellyaching about getting out of the Vale of Thanatos, after the Death Gods Mountain fortress was taken by siege.”

I shot a look to my brother before back at Bill. Who was now rolling a gold coin in between his knuckles and shuffling a deck of cards with his other hand. His fingerless leather gloves cracking with the speed of his movements.

“Is that so?” I said in a knowing tone, as I knew there was more to come. But talking to Bill was like waiting for the adverts to end in the middle of a good movie.

“Talked about angering the Gods, a war be comin’, that type of chatter. Amassing a big army that got a lot of those realm ruler’s noses outta joint. So, I said to myself, I wonder on my own King, and how long it be until he’s down here again. And wouldn’t you know it, here you be.”

“That’s good, Bill.”

He tipped his hat, at the same time slipping his coin back in the leather band around the rim. His midnight blue eyes gleaming with promise of adventure or should I say, a reason to fire his gun.

“Well don’t go praising me yet, as I still haven’t found that young filly you been searching for,” he pointed out with a shrug of his shoulders.

“You wouldn’t have found her after all,” I admitted with a sigh, something that certainly got his attention, seeing as this had been his sole mission all these decades.

“And why’s that, she up in Heaven?”

“No, she was in the Elysian Fields, a hidden place, one that’s forbidden to enter,” I informed him, making him nod as he no doubt suspected as much. Especially considering he had pretty much scoured most of the realms in hell to find her.

“Then I be guessin’ you found her?”

“Yeah, but turns out she wasn’t who I thought she was,” I said, wondering why we were going into this shit now. But then that was the thing with Bill, he was an old soul, yet he also wasn’t. Calling me son had been a habit, as well as Big Bug. But the truth was, I was actually a fuck load of years older than him.

“No, how so?”

“Because I found my Chosen One and it wasn’t her… it was her sister,” I confessed, my tone exasperated, as it was still a mind fuck of reality to swallow.

“Well now that’s something. But it’s like I always say, if you climb in the saddle, be ready for the ride. Still, that must have plum near knocked you from Sunday, yeah, I reckon so,” he replied with a whistle, making me mutter,

“You could say that again.”

“Well, I guess that’s our cue to be leaving then, time to vamoose.”

I stopped him by laying a hand on his arm.

“This isn’t your fight, Bill,” I warned, making him smirk.

“Nope, but it is yours and that vow of mine ain’t gonna complete itself by sitting on my spurs, yearning me some coin. Besides, you will be wantin’ your little lady back, am I right?” he replied, and his tone told me I was missing something.

“Wait, what have you heard?” I asked, making him grin as he got to his feet.

“That she be in the castle of Thanatos,” he told me, shaking out his long jacket before putting it on.

“How do you know that… she was only just taken?” I asked dumbfounded, looking first to my brother and back at Bill. As I had expected him to know something but not the exact location!

“She be needin’ clothes and those girly things right?”

I frowned at this before muttering,

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Then there be a merchant on his way now and he be missing a few coins at that, thanks to a royal flush I hit him with. But more than that, guess what else that Lickspittle dropped?” he said, and I swear I was ready to half throttle him/half kiss the cryptic bastard!

“What?!”

In response his smirk was more demonic than anything else, as he tipped up his hat and said,

“A map inside the castle.”