Chapter 18 – Steven
STEVEN
Arthur’s still screaming, begging for me to save him, begging for my help.
I can’t decide if this is a trick by these creatures, or actually him, but I’m losing my mind. Looking back at the cave, I still see no signs of Sirena. What if by the time she comes out he’s dead?
I have no one here to tell me what to do.
“Steven, please,” he cries out. “We went looking for you. And… they attacked. We need you.”
My hand closes around the hilt of my sword, and I slowly withdraw it. In an instant, every torch goes out. The lighted path dims, no longer a golden trail in the darkness. Shadows creep in, but so does the scarlet color, washing over the path like blood.
I take a step back, holding my sword out in front of me. The mist grows thicker, swallowing the path, swallowing the blood-red that moves every step closer and closer to me.
Backing up, I keep the cave behind me, trying to stay out of the mist. Trying to avoid the red that I know is hidden beneath the cloak. But it’s coming for me.
All of it’s coming for me.
A beast emerges from the shadows and steps onto the path lightly, as if testing it.
It looks like a tiny hellhound. The thing is no bigger than a small dog, but there’s something wrong with it.
Its flesh is… all wrong. It is strung together muscle and bone, but there's no skin.
Its eyes glow red and he has long, sharp talons for feet.
It draws back its lips and growls, flashing jagged teeth.
Oh fucking hell!
More and more of the creatures step onto the path, and I get the distinct impression that they can’t yet come where I am, although the leaking blood and mist moves closer to me with every second. I continue to step backwards, inching closer and closer to the cave.
Arthur’s cries are now silent, and I can’t decide if that means he’s dead or if this was all just a trick.
I’ve reached the entrance to the cave. And instantly, I know something is wrong. The air is cold. Not just chilly, but a bone-deep cold. It claws at me in a way that feels strange. The cold reaches so deep that it digs into my very soul.
My breath puffs out in front of me and a chill moves down my spine.
She was right about this cave. I shouldn’t go in. I feel it deep in my bones.
And yet, the mist is continuing to creep forward. Dozens of the fleshless dogs have come out of the jungle, all staring at me, lips drawn back, teeth flashing.
Shifting, I go into battle-mode as my skin turns grey. My wings sprout on my back. I can’t leave Sirena here, but I also don’t plan to remain and see what these creatures are capable of.
When the mist is nearly touching the tips of my shoes, I launch into the air. I make it about ten feet before it’s like slamming into a brick wall. I tumble back to the ground, smashing into it, my head spinning.
Instantly, the dogs are on me. When the first one sinks its teeth into my flesh, I scream in shock. Rolling onto my back and leaping to my feet, I stare at my arm. A chunk of my stone is gone, and beneath it, I bleed like any human.
Heart in my throat, I hold my sword out in front of me. These creatures can hurt me. They can really hurt me, but Sirena will be out soon. If I can’t fly her to safety, then the only path out of here is the way we came.
A dog leaps at me. I slice it in two, the pieces falling at my feet.
Breathing hard, I stiffen as the dog’s pieces slide back towards each other and then begin to knit back together.
Oh fuck! I’m in trouble.
More of the creatures leap at me, but no matter how quickly I cut them down, there’s always more. One bites onto my other arm. I shake myself free and try to ignore the sting of its bite. It’s fucking cold, the same chill that was in the cave.
That scares me in a way I never imagined.
The fight is a whirl of pain and fighting. I slice the bastards, kick them, punch them, but they keep coming back, knitting themselves back together, and more and more emerge from the shadows.
Things are only getting more dangerous by the second.
“Sirena!” I shout.
It’s time we get the fuck out of here. There’s a voice in my head that says I won’t survive this, but I’ll be damned if Sirena doesn’t.
I hear someone gasp behind me. I turn, and six of the dogs jump onto my chest. Stumbling back, I tumble over something, and then they’re all covering me. Biting, tearing at my flesh.
Sirena is above me in an instant, tossing the dogs off.
And then I hear a roar that shakes the very air.
A massive hellhound leaps onto me, sending the little dogs flying. They whimper, but the massive hellhound continues to attack, crushing the dogs in her teeth, and eating them like they’re nothing at all.
Sirena helps me to my feet. My head’s spinning, and blood runs all over me.
She takes the sword from my hand. “We need to run now, understand?”
I nod.
She puts her shoulder under my arm and half carries me as we stumble forward. Some dogs try to leap at me, but she swings the sword and takes them down. Her movements are awkward, inexperienced, but sure.
More growls and sounds come from behind us. I see the hellhound. Dozens of the little dogs are attacking her, but she can’t go after us. The chain holds her there.
“She needs… to get to safety,” I bubble out.
“She’ll go back into the cave. She’s trying to distract them so we can escape.”
My head continues to spin. My thoughts are foggy, and yet, I’m shocked.
I can picture in perfect clarity the blood that runs down the hellhound’s back and legs.
Why is she helping us? All I know of Cerberus is that it’s a cruel three-headed beast that works for Hades, guarding the gates of the Underworld.
Nothing about the stories of the three-headed beast connect with the lone woman fighting for our sake. I guess she isn’t the monster I thought she was. The thought is oddly troubling.
We’re moving faster down the path, her dragging me with a strength that no mortal woman could have.
“I feel… weird,” I gargle.
And I do. My head’s spinning. My limbs don’t seem to be obeying me.
It’s like I’m drunker than I’ve ever been in my life and in mind-numbing pain, all at once.
She makes an angry sound. “Of course you feel weird! Those beasts devour the pieces of you that make you immortal, killing not only your body but your soul.”
Huh? “I didn’t leave the path.”
She tisks, sounding out of breath. “Did you… try to… attack them?”
“Maybe.”
I’m surprised when she swears.
We reach the end of the path, and she drags me out into the jungle. We’re falling, stumbling over roots and tangles of plants.
“Arthur! Max!” she shouts.
We hear nothing.
She continues to drag us forward, sliding down uneven hills and getting back up to keep dragging me forward.
“Arthur! Max!” she shouts again.
We hear something somewhere in front of us.
She adjusts our direction and drags me along a little longer, then shouts again.
A sound comes again, and this time I know it’s Max and Arthur.
We keep going, and their shouting grows louder and louder with every step. More of the fucking beasts attack us in the darkness, but Sirena is shockingly focused as she cuts them down.
When we at last explode out onto the shore, we practically tumble into Arthur and Max’s arms. She shoves me at them and whirls around, my sword in hand.
For the first time I realize she’s coated in blood, mine or hers, I don’t know.
She backs up slowly, over the uneven rocks, keeping the sword held out in front of her.
Red eyes glow in the darkness, but none of them leap forward.
After a long, tense moment, she lowers the sword. “They can’t come out here.”
“What the fuck are they? And what happened to Steven?” Max demands.
She doesn’t turn around. “You don’t want to know, but we need to get the hell out of here.”
“I… agree,” I mumble, sounding strange even to my own ears.
She finally looks back at me. “We need to go someplace close. And then we need to take care of him.”
Saying nothing more, she wraps her arms around Max’s neck.
Arthur holds me tighter and shifts, launching us into the air. I watch, my head spinning as the misty, red island fades below us. The Isle of the Demons, ha! I can’t believe I thought it was just some stupid human fairytale.
My eyes start to close. It was fucking hell.