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The black cloud of mist that shrouded us dispersed the moment we touched ground. I struggled to regain my footing as I was pushed back behind Draver and Jazz. Orpheus, seeing that he was outnumbered without the help of his zombie like creature, scowled and disappeared in a flurry of black.
I took immediate notice of the area around us. Even though the sky was pitch black, I could still see the vibrant colors around me. To the west were red volcanic mountains glowed with overflowing lava in the distance. The ground seemed to be like the surface of Mars: dusty red and desolate. In the east, from a distance, I could see a glossy obsidian Gothic castle on the west horizon. Hades.
Jazz and Draver were still tense when they turned to me.
"Are you alright?" Jazz murmured softly.
I nodded rapidly, "I'm fine. And you?"
Jazz's jaw clenched. "I am-"
Draver scowled. "Hurt. That's what you are."
I lowered my gaze to Jazz's arm, where his shoulder had been grazed by what looked like claws.
"Orpheus did that?" I reached forward to comfort him, but he flinched back.
"Don't touch it. I have no idea what he was, and in case it's dangerous, I do not want to risk exposing you with it." he bit out.
"Why isn't it healing?"
Draver tore his fingers through his silky black hair. "We're in the Underworld. I'm guessing life doesn't blossom here, only death. Our healing factors won't work here."
My mouth ran dry. "How do we leave? And... get some clothes on."
Draver snapped at me: "Oh, and where do you expect us to get clothes in the middle of the damn Underworld?"
As if in response, the churning milky white river next to us seemed to rush rapidly.
Reaching into my jacket pocket, I pulled out the notebook that Athena had given me. With the pen clipped on the spiral spine, I scribbled into the first page.
Draver groaned. "Love, we need to figure out a way to leave- not start a diary."
"It's not a diary!" I muttered under my breath.
Where can I get clothes?
After a few seconds, a response appeared below.
You're in the Underworld, Faye. You can't just get clothes. Try asking again.
I rolled my eyes. Who knew Athena could be so sarcastic.
Can you give me clothes for Jazz and Draver?
After about a minute, a drawing of clothes appeared.
"What is that?" Jazz held out his hand for the notebook, but I held it away.
"Just hold on. I got this from Athena, she visited me when we were shopping at Walmart."
Draver scoffed incredulously. "Yet another lie. What else are you keeping from us?"
I narrowed my eyes. "If you want to accuse me of something, come right out and say it."
Jazz growled low, responding to my question for Draver. "Why did you not inform us that you were a Valkyrie, or that you received something from Athena?"
I stood my ground by disregarding his demeaning tone. Why would Athena just draw clothes in response? I thought of the owl, the one that came to life as it flew off the cover of the notebook. Reaching to the page, I pressed my fingers into the drawing. My hand dipped further in, and soft cotton grazed me. I curled my hand into a fist to grasp the shirt, pulling it out for the pages.
Draver looked shook while Jazz simple dragged a hand down his face.
"At this point," he muttered as he caught the T-shirt I threw to him, "I'm past being shocked."
Once they were fully clothed, Draver commented on my lack of an answer.
I huffed, pocketing the notebook as I began to climb past the red sand dunes that seemed to be overly abundant in our area. "Any answer I give you will just make you two more upset, and I'd rather not deal with angry Lycan mates. Who knows?- when the Fates and Thanatos come to kill me and heaven knows what other being- you might toss to me them freely since I'll be on your bad side."
Jazz caught my arm, abrupting spinning me to meet his gaze. "Do not act like we have no care of your well being."
Instead of answering, I shrugged out of his grasp.
"Look, we have to find a way to leave the Underworld. I can navigate through this, if it's the same map as the one I've studied when I was still a mythology fanatic."
Draver snorted. "And what's to say you aren't now?"
I rolled my shoulders back. "After all of this? I think I've had enough mythology to last me a lifetime. Now, this is what where I believe we are at..."
Taking my pen, I leaned down and used the clicker end to draw a map in the sand. I pointed to the area where the Phlegethon river bisected the Styx. "We're here. The Styx river is actually the river next to us."
I pointed to the milk white river behind us. Further upstream was the flaming volcanoes. The heat haze above the fire-lit water intersecting the Styx river indicated the Phlegethon. In the opposite direction, branching off the Styx, was the Cocytus River.
"We need to follow along the Cocytus river. We'll reach near the marsh where Charon takes the souls across to be judged by Cerberus and the sectioned off to either Elysium, the Fields of Asphodel, or Tartarus. We'll have to continue along the marsh until we reach the Acheron river, which branches off of the marsh. Some parts of Greek mythology say that Acheron is one of the secret entrances to the Underworld. Hopefully it can be our exit."
I sat up, brushing off any lingering sand.
"That looks like it will take us days, if not weeks, to pass through." Draver growled out, tearing through his hair.
"I'm sorry, but you're human form is going to slow us down considerably. You're going to have to ride one of us." Jazz muttered.
I couldn't help the flush that rose up my neck. I stuffed down my embarrassment at the double meaning and instead gestured to the two of them. "So who's it going to be?"
Draver removed his clothes in rapid fire, tossing them to me. I rolled them up and tucked it in another pocket on my jacket just as his bones snapped and broke into place, resulting in the large black wolf the size of a van. He padded over to the bottom of the sand dune. From the top, I was able to swing my legs over him. His pelt was soft and fluffy, like a fur rug.
"Faye, my clothes-" Jazz handed me his clothes as well. I used a hair tie to roll it together and tuck it next to Draver's clothes.
Jazz walked ahead, his body bending at an unnatural angle as his bones cracked and reformed. His wolf was a ball of sunlight, so bright and golden and buttery.
"You look like a golden retriever," I mused, taking in his shining beauty.
His shook his body, like a dog who had just gotten out of the pool. His arm was still grazed, even in wolf form. The thin red line of blood stained the roots of his golden fur. Even though he was injured, he still ran fast; he took off ahead of us. Draver followed quickly, and I had to grip his fur tightly and clench my legs around his powerful form to stop from flying off with the wind. The air was hot and humid, slicing my face. I was sure that by the time we reached the Acheron, I'd have miniscule cuts on my face- as if I'd exfoliated my face with glass shards.
I took in the milky white river that we were running along. The Styx was quite beautiful; with a pearlescent sheen, it almost looked...inviting. Shaking those thoughts out of my head, I focused on the Castle of Hades. We'd have to bypass that on the way to the Acheron. My muscles tensed at the idea of being so close to the God of the Underworld. If he was intent of collecting the bounty on me, then who's to say that he wasn't watching me now- in his domain? The thought made my blood freeze.
What if he's watching me- buying his time to strike?
The idea begged the thought of the whereabouts of Orpheus. We were on the home playing field, yet instead of taking the opportunity to attack us, he just vanished?
Another horrible thought crossed my mind...
What if this is a game? A trap?