118. ‘We Have Arrived’
‘We Have Arrived’
It was as though we were slowly
falling out of the sky toward the ground.
Asteria and I both swayed, holding
each other’s hands tighter than ever.
The cold body of the vessel began to dissolve,
and I could see mist rising around me.
By the time our feet touched the hot earth,
the entire vessel had disintegrated into mist.
As it cleared, a large cavern glowed before us,
a hundred rivers of magma flowing inside.
I could see why it was called the mouth
of Tartarus. The entire cavern looked
like it was a molten hot maw
of a monster made of rivers of fire.
Asteria gripped my hand hard.
‘For Metis,’ she whispered,
as Leto, Perses, and Pallas joined us.
Boreas looked upon us as though afraid,
then disappeared up into the clouds.