19. Eyes on the Gate
Chapter 19
Eyes on the Gate
Ella
T he second my vision ended, I leaned forward and spat out any of the juice or pomegranate seeds that I had tasted, making sure not to consume any more, now that I was aware what horrors it could show me.
And speaking of horrors…
“I have to save her!” I told myself aloud after wiping my mouth on the back of my hand, making sure to not even lick my lips.
I knew I could never live with myself if I didn’t do something to try and save her. Because now I knew that the Gates of the Underworld had a new guardian, and one that wasn’t enamored by either daughter of Hades.
Which meant the moment I saw the new beast raise a giant weapon against her, I knew I had to act. So, without delay I called forth my book, the feeling of comfort sweeping throughout my body instantly. It was as if I was finally giving into some addiction, I didn’t know I had. The supremacy of its core shrouded me in power, encasing every fiber, every cell in my body, every nuance I possessed with the feeling of control. All souls felt as if they had awakened the moment I made contact with the book, and the feeling of life and death flooded me.
I also knew, in that very moment, that the control of the book felt far stronger than it had when in the mortal realm. Which also told me that it was a power that was only increasing with time.
I didn’t even need to think before a portal opened up before me, and it was as if the book knew of my inner thoughts and feelings. It seemed to also sense the anger I felt at knowing my sister was being attacked, like it pulsated from the book itself. The longer we were connected, the more of my inner being was being shared. The book was starting to connect with a deep part of me, now becoming an extension of myself.
Which was why I wasted no time in stepping through the portal, damning all potential outcomes from my reckless actions, and acting without fear of what they may be. Instead, I ran through and straight into the deathly situation Lerna now faced. And it was just in time too, because Lerna had managed to duck from the first blow I saw in my vision. But I knew she would not manage to get away from the second.
I knew it was coming when I saw the rocks crumble from the first blow and land on her foot, making her cry out in pain. She was pinned. And as for the creature who was intent on crushing her, he was a giant. A giant that would have been impossible to sneak past because his entire body was covered in eyes. As if someone had made a hundred slashes all over his red skin and placed an eye in the center of each one. Each moved independently, as if constantly searching for the enemy.
He wore nothing but a loincloth, and no doubt so it didn’t hinder the eyes on his legs, and each natural crease on his body had a row of them. All of which had the same red colored iris, making him even more fiendish in nature. But the most demonic part was undoubtably from the neck up because the whole of his bald head was covered in eyes, reminding me of some giant spider. The front eyes were currently locked on the sight of Lerna, who was raising her arm as if this would help in protecting her. Although just how much she could save herself from the massive, spiked mallet about to rain down on her, I didn’t know.
Which was precisely why I reacted without thinking.
I threw my hands out to the sides and screamed like never before! My entire body changed just like it had done when first faced with my sister and believing her the enemy. Dark green leather seeped up my body, encasing it like some protective cocoon with interlocking scales. As if the book was trying to speak to me, telling me this is who I truly was at my core. Their queen dressed like some soul mastering warrior and commander of its armies. The weight of my armored breastplate became a comfort, and it molded to my torso like shimmering green, metal skin. The crest of my Summoning lineage was worn like a badge of honor, with the symbol for my father’s realm dominating the center like a royal seal.
Every inch of me hummed with power, as if a never-ending source was perpetually circling throughout my body. Something that manifested into a flood of green mist that came pouring out of the book and flowed to the ground before crashing like a wave. Then once free, the power all began to separate from the swell as each soul rose up and became a ghostly figure of their former selves.
This all happened in seconds, quickly surrounding the beast before he could deliver the last and deadly blow upon my sister. Now its focus was elsewhere, and my army of souls surrounded him, ready to attack at my command.
“TOUCH HER AND DIE!” I threatened in a deadly tone as I walked closer to the giant. One whom was actually more man than beast. It’s many eyes atop its head looked up from its prey, causing them all to widen the second he saw me coming closer. Lerna, too, gasped at the sight, shaking her head as if seeing me here was what she had been most afraid of.
“Who are you?” the creature asked, letting me know I could at least communicate with it enough to try and get it to understand the importance of our being here. Because despite it trying to attack my sister, I also knew that it was just doing its job in guarding the gates. Yet despite this, another part of me spoke up first, my voice taking on a far deeper and demonic tone than I was used to hearing from myself.
“I am the one who will destroy you, should you think to harm my sister,” I told him, making his eyes all each take a direction of my souls.
“You are a Summoner?” It was at this point that the voices of the souls all started to speak as one, and they each whispered in unison,
‘Our Summoner Queen.’
Again, the creature’s eyes all widened, before shooting straight to me, pinpointing me with a hundred-eye stare. They then narrowed in unison, focusing on the royal sigil at my waist.
“The Summoner Queen… but she was said to be forever lost to this world, murdered by…”
Lerna must have tried to free herself at this point, because she screamed in pain, making me ignore his words and all else as I ran toward her.
“Lerna! Easy now, don’t move,” I warned the second I made it to her, now seeing for myself the damage that the rocks falling on her ankle had done. It looked like it could be broken, but before I could do more damage by trying to lift the rocks from her, the creature came to my aid. Although before he could, my army all acted at what they believed to be a threat. Meaning that those with weapons all pointed them his way, warning him about getting too close.
“I only wish to help, little Soul Queen,” the ten-foot giant told me, making me nod and give the silent command for the souls to let him get close. Something he did before easily picking the rocks up in his giant hands and tossed them aside, making her cry out once again.
“Oh, Lerna, it’s okay… it’s okay… I am here now, but I need to check it to see what the damage is,” I told her as I positioned myself at her feet, flipping the long strip of material in between my legs over my thigh. Then while bending down, I lifted her foot as carefully as I could to remove her boot and cradle her foot in my lap.
This was when my first aid training snapped into place, transporting me back to what I knew now were far simpler times. Where my life had the purpose of helping others lost, stranded, or in need of aid. And now it seemed as if my very existence was a threat to all of mankind, making every action a risk to all I held dear. The damning thought had me looking up for long seconds, taking in the Hell around me and asking myself how had it all come to this?
“You look like you have done this before, sister,” Lerna remarked in a strained voice, telling me of her pain and pulling me out of my self-pity.
“I used to help people,” I told her as I looked for signs of misalignment in her foot, applying pressure to determine whether it was broken or not.
“Is it tingling or numb anywhere?” I asked, and she shook her head to tell me no, which was good news.
“That means it’s probably not fractured and likely just a sprain, but I need to bind it.” I looked to her tunic, and she nodded because she knew without words what I was about to do. Then after tearing strips off the hemp, I used this to bind her foot, wrapping it as I would a compression bandage. I knew this would help to reduce the swelling and provide support because there was no way I could get her boot back on. So, I wrapped it enough so that it would fare against the barren wasteland, but not too tightly to prevent proper blood circulation.
“There, that should help but walking will be painful, so we will need to take it slow,” I said while helping her up, something that made her wince in pain with the movement.
“Who are you?” I asked the giant once I had Lerna leaned up against some rocks to keep her steady.
“I am Argus Panoptes, and I am the guardian of these gates.”
“I was led to believe another was the guardian of the Underworld,” she said making him scoff.
“Since Cerberus’s Fate led him to his mortal counterpart, many have come and gone in his place, for none were as strong as the HellBeast King.” Well, I couldn’t argue with him there, but that didn’t exactly tell us who he was, despite now knowing his name.
“What happened to the others?” Lerna asked, because clearly she had also been expecting someone else, and not someone that had eyes all over their body and was impossible to sneak past.
“There are forces acting against Hades, as every century brings new attempts at trying to defeat a guardian of the gates. Whereas before no one would even dare to try. But Heracles took Cerberus, and a weakness was unveiled, and since then Hades has been trying to fill the void that Cerberus left behind,” he told us, taking me back to all that Lerna had told me.
“That is because Cerberus was born for the task,” I muttered, giving cause for Argus Panoptes to say,
“Yes, but legend foretold that he would be rewarded by Hades’ own blood, yet when the time came, he was deceived, for it was only to be found in the mortal realm.” I looked to Lerna at this, knowing her part played, because clearly the legends told among this realm had been warped over the ages. Unsurprisingly, she looked away, the guilt there was plain to see, and it was one piece of the puzzle I was yet to hear from the lips of the betrayer.
His wife.
It was painful to even think about it, let alone hear it firsthand from someone I cared for. But I knew that I would have to, eventually, if I was ever to understand her motives. Naturally, I didn’t say anything to this, because I thought I was better leaving any legends told in Hell as they were and letting them be believed.
“And my sister?”
His eyes grew wide, making Lerna sit up and quickly say,
“He found me trying to sneak by when he was asleep.”
“Yes, but I see all,” he stated, and I wanted to say, ‘yeah, no shit’ but wisely refrained.
“And you should be dead,” Lerna argued back brazenly, making him scoff,
“Yes, but as we both can see, not all legends are as true as the teller that speaks them, for I have equally heard my own stories.”
I frowned, seeing something pass between them and making me ask,
“What is he talking about, Lerna?”
She ignored my question and told him,
“I am here only so as to get a message to the Gate’s rightful guardian, something the last protector allowed me to do seeing as I had no intention of setting foot into the Underworld.”
“My predecessor was needed elsewhere and therefore I was charged with taking his place, appointed by the king himself,” Argus replied. Lerna tensed because she must have been counting on the last guardian who had obviously let her approach the gates before.
“And do you try to kill all you meet?” I asked, with my hands going to my hips and my stance accusing.
“No, but I do tend to find that those who attempt to sneak past me usually have reasons to be denied entrance,” he returned, and I had to admit, it made sense for him to think this way.
“And I did not know who you were and could not risk you preventing me from completing my task,” Lerna countered in annoyance, and I had to say, it was a sight I was not used to seeing. I had never witnessed her losing her cool before. Hence why I intervened and got in between them, holding a handout to each.
“Look, clearly, neither side acted rationally here, but arguing about it won’t achieve what we want. Neither of us wish to pass the gates, we only need to get close enough to get a message to Cerberus. Now will you allow us to do this?” I asked, making him turn his multitude of narrow gazes from Lerna and focus on me instead.
“I will allow this, yes, for the request comes from one I know.”
I jerked back a little and asked, “You know me?”
“I know of you, yes, everyone in the Underworld does.”
I sucked back a startled breath, before asking in astonishment,
“They do?”
“We don’t have time for this!” Lerna snapped, before trying to limp toward the gate, making me rush to her side when she whimpered.
“Easy, I will help you,” I said, putting her arm around my shoulder and walking her up to the colossal gate. Although it didn’t exactly look like a typical door, gate, or entryway. It was more like some gigantic stone frame carved from the mountain side. The pillars were enormous, like the kind you would expect to see on a grand temple made for giant Gods to enter through. And in its center, there was nothing more than a heavy orange-red fog that was thick enough you couldn’t see anything beyond it. As if there was some eternal fire blazing on the other side.
I finally took a good look around the place and realized that it looked exactly like it had done in my vision. The mountains, the haunted valley full of lifeless statues, and its vast terrain of barren dead wasteland.
I helped Lerna to lean against the closest pillar, and I wanted to ask her what all that was about with Argus, despite knowing that now was likely not the best time. However, the exchange had been so tense that I knew I was likely missing something. Of course, she could have just been hanging on to the fact that when I showed up, he had been trying to kill her. And, well, that was enough to piss off anyone into holding a grudge.
But like I said, now was not the time, because I knew she had to concentrate on getting her message to Jared, as well as dealing with the pain of an injury. One that would no doubt heal soon thanks to her being Supernatural in nature… and well, that’s how it went, right?
“Here goes,” she said, before slapping her hand to the stone and the second she did, a strange essence overtook her body.
For starters, every inch of her started to glow white, just like she had appeared across the lake that night. As if she was somehow manifesting her body to the mortal realm without actually leaving this place. It was how I had seen her in my vision, the one she had shown me when I first arrived. Making me now question, was this her power, the one she had inherited from our mother?
Even her eyes started to turn white, and she froze in place like her form had become nothing but a statue housing her soul. One that for a short time had now left her. It was as much of an incredible sight as it was startling and the longer she was gone, the more I began to panic.
“Lerna?” I whispered her name, ignoring the presence of my souls that still surrounded us or the one called, Argus Panoptes. Of course, when there was no response, I was about to try again, when suddenly something started to happen, and it had nothing to do with my sister…
But everything to do with me.
“Something is coming,” Argus Panoptes warned, now taking a protective stance, making me look behind to see that he was right.
For the second time today, a portal was opening at the gates of the Underworld.
The first had belonged to me.
And as for the second…
That belonged to Garmr.