Retribution [malexmale]

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

The Greek underworld was a complicated place.

And extremely crowded since slavery had been abolished and slaves were now allowed to own property and all sorts of fun stuff. Styx had significantly expanded, Inferi as well, and Hades had added extra security to his palace because the bastard adored his privacy like the evil mad scientist he was.

Hades's palace was carved into the side of a steep mountain range that separated this realm from the next. It had been adjusted since the year it was destroyed during the Titan's attack. Now the entrance had been lifted up so you had to walk along a stone bridge to get to the door, and it was heavily guarded by his black skeleton army, who were poised at the ready to attack anyone who would threaten their lord.

Spouts of water poured into the river Acheron that ran beneath the bridge and down a steep hill to create a waterfall that let out over jagged rocks before continuing on pass Charon's house about a mile down. The part of the palace that jutted from the mountain side was made of black masonry and blind-arcade arches that disappeared into a pair of towers that had been carved into two pointed peaks of the mountain with pointed-arch windows.

If this place didn't scream Gothic, I had no idea what did.

Because the palace was heavily protected by a barrier spell, teleportation inside was impossible, even for me. Since Hades had consumed the hearts of Cronus and Rhea, thus absorbing their powers and nearly driving himself off the deep end in the process, he now held enough power to ensure that not even another god could enter his home without going through the front door first.

Dorean and I walked across the bridge that was only dimly lit by two black skeleton statues holding lanterns. From the looks of them, they had once been part of their skeleton brethren, but must have pissed Hades off bad enough to turn them into statues.

I tucked that unfriendly piece of knowledge away just in case as I approached the doors.

The skeletons didn't attack when I opened the door, meaning Hades must have given them a list of who was allowed in and out of the palace. So I walked in with Dorean trailing along behind me.

We entered the foyer where several rows of tall columns made of snowflake obsidian held up the ceiling made in the classic Gothic rib vault style; though, it was mostly obscured by the Aurora Borealis that lit up the entire hallway all the way down. It was a streak of light, mostly green, but with shades of blue, pink, purple, and gold slicing through it here and there.

We made our way through the foyer across the black onyx floor, our movements causing the emerald green and black drapes on the wall to flutter lightly. They were the only things decorating the walls as we made our way down to the end of the hall where two hallways split off in either direction, but it was the door in front of us that we wanted.

A tall black point-arch door with stainless steel handles and images of bloody battles carved into the door, it made a very unpleasant sight. I opened the door and entered a long open throne room.

The place was massive made with black onyx floors and matching walls that faded to green near the ceiling that was heavily layered with the Aurora Borealis, and black tree branch designs stretched from one side of the room all the way over to where Hades's black sleek throne sat in front of a giant skull and cross bones design on the wall behind it with glowing blue hues spreading out from behind it to light up the dark wall.

A second later, the air rippled and sizzled, making the hairs on my arms stand on end. A second later, Hades materialized into the room, looking less than pleased to see me here.