Hellscape

Chapter 11: The Grotto

    In the dark, the three teenagers sit in the rocky canoe, the sulfur scented Styx surrounding and clouding them behind its fine mist. The banana shaped boat bumps into the cave wall, jostling its passengers. Melinoe falls over into Lazarus, but he catches her with ease, steadying her beside him.

    "Sorry about that," she whispers.

    "No worries." He smiles at her, but in the shroud of darkness neither of them can see the other.

    "I can't believe I've let you talk me into this, again," Charon grumbles from the back of the boat. He twists his hands around the oar, steering them down the narrow river.

    "It'll be different this time. You have no reason to worry," Mel says, not completely sure of herself, but wanting to sound confident. "It's not like we're battling a giant demon and breaking into the records room again."

    "No," Charon agrees, "we're only sneaking into the God of the Underworld's private office that just so happens to be guarded by nymphs, sirens, another giant, and a fearsome beast. Why would I worry about that?"

    "I thought demons were supposed to be rulebreakers and risk takers?" Lazarus scoffs, "I didn't realize they could be scared."

    "I am not scared," Charon corrects. He clutches the oar even tighter, puffing out his chest and taking on a strapping affect. "I fear nothing."

    Mel's giggle ricochets off of the cave walls, and she hums, "that's not true."

    "Which part," Lazarus asks eagerly.

    She remains silent for a moment, thinking over her answer carefully. She shrugs, answering honestly, "all of it."

    Charon rolls his eyes as she continues, "for starters, giants are basically extinct. Nymphs and sirens could never live in such close quarters, and you do sound a little scared."

    Charon scoffs at her observation, but offers no rebuttal.

    "What about the beast?" Lazarus asks.

    "That part may be true." Mel shrugs, "but I doubt it."

    The canoe comes to a slow but steady halt in a large grotto. The narrow cave walls open into a sizable circle and at the center, like a castle surrounded by a moat, is an open flat surface with a large desk and a grand chair sculpted from stone. As the canoe ventures further into the grotto, a thin veil of hellfire lifts around the island, shielding it from intruders.

    "Huh," Melinoe thinks aloud, scowling with surprise. "Well, that's unexpected."

    Suddenly, a beautiful and entrancing lullaby floods the cavern, turning Melinoe's blood ice cold as a chill runs down her spine. She looks all around, scouring the dimly lit grotto for the bird-like creatures she fears is making the call. Something moves above them and she lifts her head to see a dozen women with small stunted wings and large pointed noses crawling along the walls and clinging to the stalactite spikes that hang at the top of the cave.
    Ugly creatures, sirens are, but their beautiful songs carry through the space — hypnotizing men and other weak creatures. Charon and Lazarus quickly fall under their spell, completely bewitched by their song.

    "They're mine," Charon claims, desire and lust darkening his eyes until there is no white left in them.

    Lazarus scowls, standing to his feet. His smokey grey eyes cloud with black ink as he readies his fists, "no way, Man, I saw them first."

    Mel rolls her eyes, exhaling sharply. "Seriously?"

    The sirens scurry down the walls, diving into the Styx and swimming just below the surface. Normally, in any other water, this would be considered ordinary for sirens. But with the Styx being a bubbling acidic cesspool, diving into the waters should kill them instantly — it certainly would the three teenagers.