Not Just Another Fae (Vegas Fae Stories Book 4) Read online

  "I can arrange that," I replied.

  "Good," she said, taking my hand. "Then let us bind this agreement in the old ways, if you are up to it."

  I didn't answer. There was no need. She led me to another doorway. This one led to her bedroom.

  Chapter 18

  "Are you out of your mind?" Diantha asked, shocked when I told her where I was going.

  "What'd you think I was gonna do?" I replied, pouring myself another cup of coffee. "Hell, you helped me figure out what to say to the Keres."

  It was early evening, and we were in my kitchen, preparations already made for my trip with Charlie to the Underworld. I'd had to procure a few items before Kyras would take me and it had taken a few days to get everything in order. Of course, I'd given no hint of what I was really doing. That had been the easy part. Everyone was already out hunting Demons. I'd had to send one more back myself the other night. The only one that knew was Ordunez. He'd figured it out the moment I'd called him to ask a question. But now I'd told Diantha to let the others know after I was gone.

  "An alliance is one thing," she replied. "But I never thought you'd try and go yourself."

  "Who else was going to do it?" I asked.

  "I could still go with you," Diantha replied.

  "I thought you said I was out of my mind."

  "I did," she said. "But at least I cannot die."

  "True," I said. "But I won’t risk you getting stuck down there. Besides, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve." I held up my hand, a fire Demon's ring on my finger. I'd been given it by one I'd defeated in battle. Although they also lived in the Underworld, it was a different place than where the Hells were located. Still, it was close enough, and Demons could go where they wanted in that accursed place. So I'd been told, anyway.

  "Do what you must then," she replied.

  "I'll be fine," I said as I picked up the backpack I was taking, then headed for the doorway with Charlie in tow.

  "Have no fear," Charlie said, turning back as I opened the door. "Hell is no match for the two of us."

  Then we went walked out of the yard and made our way down the street toward the cemetery.

  "That was kind of cocky," I said to him some 10 minutes later, as we cut through fence into the graveyard where Kyras was waiting.

  He didn't reply, but instead sped up and then stopped in front of the Keres.

  "Well met, Karalos," I heard her say as I walked closer.

  "You are prepared?" she asked me, looking up.

  "I have everything you told me to get," I replied.

  "Good," she said. "Then we will go." The dark mist surrounded us and then we were somewhere else.

  We appeared a moment later in a dismal place. On a dirt path that led between dead and dying trees. Well, maybe they weren't dying, but they damn sure looked pretty sickly. They were stunted and at best, the tallest might have stood ten feet. Not my idea of a forest, but what did you expect in the Greek equivalent of Hell? It's been said that there were areas with real trees. There just weren't any here. The ground was hilly, and mists covered most of it. There was light, but it was like an overcast day. Enough light to see by, but not enough to hearten the spirit.

  "This is as far as I can take you. Behind me lies the Plain of Judgement. Your destination is that way," she said, pointing to the left. "The forest will hide you from the view of the judges, if any still exist."

  "Thank you," I replied.

  "It is, I fear, a fool's errand. If you do not find what you seek, search out the Tower of Cronus. Perhaps the portal is still there. If not, find a way to get a message to me While I cannot search this place to find you, I can return if I know where you are."

  From what I've been told, getting in to Hades was the easy part, getting out... not so much. If I could find the Helm of Darkness, I'd have it made. If not, I'd have to find another way; if there was one. According to what I'd been told, after their family squabble, Hades brought Cronus to the Underworld, where he ruled over the Elysium Fields, and the Isle of the Blessed, where his tower still stood. Kyras believed he had a gateway there; one to the rest of the worlds. It was just a rumor. But we know he moved about, so at least it was a good one. Getting her a message might be doable, but it was also a worst case scenario. Apparently, things in Hades weren't what they used to be. I watched as the mist began to curl up around her, then she stepped forward, kissed me, and was gone.

  "She is not such a bad Fae after all," Charlie commented as he leapt ahead. "She is pretty as well. I think she likes you."

  "Will you stop it1" I replied as I followed. "Let's just find the palace before something finds us first."

  The terrain was much the same for quite a distance; just hills and dead and stunted trees. Occasionally, I'd see wisps of something more substantial floating in the mist, but whatever they were, they didn’t seem interested in us. Eventually Charlie stopped at the top of a rise. I slowed down and carefully caught up with him.

  Ahead of us, across a shallow plain, was a palace. Made of what looked like black marble, it stood in the center of the vale. A road led past the front and, on the closer side, it eventually split and weaved through an Arch, beyond which stood a magic veil that led to the place I knew to be the Elysium Fields. What had caused him to stop wasn’t the palace; instead it was what roamed in front.

  "You have got to be kidding me," I murmured as I lay down next to him in the mist. "Harpies and Chimeras? I thought they'd all be on the Tartarus side. Shit!"

  They were about halfway between us and the palace. A flock of eight to ten nasty looking birds about five-foot-high, with human faces. The flock was being stalked by two giant, lion-like, Chimeras, each with a ram's neck and head sticking out of their backs. Their tails were like snakes and as one approached the flock, fire bellowed from its mouth, scattering the Harpies. The other chased a Harpy as it flew close, causing several of the things to fly up above it and bat at it with their wings and claws. The Harpies didn't seem to fly that well. They appeared evenly matched and I could hear the wail of the Harpies as several of their kind attacked before the Chimeras could spit fire.

  "What do you think?" I asked as I rolled onto my back and pulled my sword and my seax. This was not the sword of Zeus, although I'd brought that as well. This one I'd taken from my armory in Fae. Supposedly carried by Demeter herself; it was a Fae blade forged in the days before The Fall, and powerful enough in its own right. "It's the flying ones I'm worried about. I can block the fire with magic, I think. Even diminished, it should work well enough. But I'm not sure I can do both if they attack from above."

  "Too many to attack in such a group," Charlie growled. "Let me lead them away long enough for you to reach the door. Then I will join you later."

  It was worth a try. I'd seen him run and he was fast. I'd only have to deal with whatever stayed behind.

  "Okay, whenever you're ready'" I said, turning back around, sword in hand.

  He started off slowly, slinking near the ground and allowing the mists to conceal him as long as possible. By now, the two Chimera had retreated some distance and were preening themselves in the dim light. The Harpies were no longer wailing, but their attention was focused on those two as they bunched closer together.

  The Harpies noticed him first. He'd put on a burst of speed as he cleared the mist and as soon as their attention turned toward him, he started barking. Within seconds he was within their circle, scattering them like chickens in a barnyard, when the farmer's dog decides to have some fun. Dust flew as they bolted in all directions, their wings flapping and voices howling. The Chimera's two heads turned and they got to their feet, now moving towards the source of the commotion. As the Harpies regrouped, Charlie took off parallel to the palace. The Harpies took chase a moment the later, with the Chimera not far behind.

  I'd made it up the stairs and was almost at the door, when the Harpy came at me from the side. Dropping and rolling, I avoided her claws and got up to face her. She was going to make another pass, her
claws outstretched and wailing. Seconds later, she swooped down on me. I raised my sword and swung, moving my head to the right as a sharp claw grazed my face. The blade connected, cutting her through the midsection as she fell at my feet. Well, at least they could be killed. Looking around I saw that I was alone again. Charlie had led the others far enough away to be out of sight.

  There wasn't much I could do about the blood, or any scent left behind, but I grabbed the Harpy by the legs anyway and dragged her to the doorway. I was hoping, at least, not to leave anything that could be seen at a distance. The door was another problem; it was locked.

  What to do? What to do? I thought to myself as I felt all around it. There was no knob or handle. Reaching out with magic, I tried to will the door to open, but didn’t have any luck. There was nothing lying around, so I took a moment to think. Placing both hands on the door, I did my best to think of Persephone, and that she was part of my line. Nothing. I had to get the door to recognize me. I had an idea. I reached up and pressed where the Harpy's claw had cut into my face. With the blood on my hand, I placed it back on the door, thinking again of Persephone. Blood was special to the Fae. It worked! The door began to open.

  I stepped inside and stopped the massive wooden door as it began to close again. Moments later, I heard Charlie's paws as they hit the ground, the sound of Harpies not far behind. A burst of flame shot by, and then Charlie came flying through the entrance. I slammed the door behind him just as the Chimera came into view, mouth agape as it readied to spew fire again.

  "Cut that a little close, didn’t you?" I asked as he came to rest on the floor a few yards away.

  "They were faster than I thought," he replied. "I do not think they liked being disturbed."

  "Don’t feel too bad," I said, walking away from the door to check out the room we had entered. "I left a dead Harpy on the porch. I doubt they'll be too pleased with me, either."

  I was staring into a large room that connected to the entry. Inside were several couches, a fireplace, and a table. By the dim light, I saw what at first appeared to be a statue of a man standing by one of the couches. Walking closer, I saw it was just a skeleton. Its feet appeared to melt into the floor and whatever clothing it had once worn were now rags. I'd heard the story of Pirithous, of course. He'd been bound to the ground in Hades for lusting after the God's wife, Persephone. The stories varied. In some it was a rock, in others it was the chair of forgetfulness, but in the version I'd read, Hades had released him before The Fall. Looks like they got that part wrong.

  "Ok," I said, turning back to Charlie. "Let's find this cap or helmet and get out of here. Be careful. Who knows what other surprises still exist in this place."

  As palaces go, this one wasn't that shabby. Sure, these days it was dark and dusty, but I could tell it must have been pretty nice at one time. A lot of what was left was not in the greatest shape, but what would you expect after sitting empty a few thousand years? We searched for hours, then on an upper floor, on the other side of what had to have been Hades’ bedchamber, Charlie found a small room accessed by a hidden door in the wall.

  There was a desk of hard wood and a table. It was dark, but with the open door I could see that the walls were lined on three sides with shelves, and on one, a full length mirror stood, recessed into the wall. It was made of a highly polished silver, allowing an image almost as good as the mirrors of today. Unlike the rest of the palace, this room seemed unchanged. Here, whatever magic had once been found in this place was still present.

  "What have we here?" I asked out loud as I entered the hidden chamber. I knew better than to risk sitting in the chair, which was cushioned in deep black. Especially after the reminder of the skeleton downstairs. Who knew what this chair did, if anything. But why risk it? Using a lighter I'd brought from above, I lit the wick in the lamp on the desk.

  Artifacts lined the shelves and there were even a few helmets and smaller metal helms. I tried them all on, but none was the object I was looking for. Perusing the shelves, I found a few things of interest, but nothing that seemed magical enough to traverse the different Hells. Feeling dejected, I slunk down against a wall and sat on the floor to think. Then Charlie's nose went up in the air and he moved toward the ancient mirror.

  I got up and stood beside him, examining it first with my eyes. Looking closely, I now saw a faint glow of magic, barely noticeable from a distance, surrounding the frame. I ran my hands over it but found nothing that indicated it would open. Once again, I placed both hands on it and reached out with my magic. There was something, but try as I might, I couldn’t connect with it. Figuring it had worked once before, I pulled out my seax, cut into my palm, and placed my bloody hand onto it. There was a deep rumble and the glass-like surface disappeared.

  Inside was a suit of Fae armor, a shield and two weapons; a bident made of metal, and a grey flint scythe, or sickle, still stained with dried blood. The bident was leaning against the armor and the scythe was on a small shelf that protruded from the wall. I'd seen statues where Hades carried the two pronged weapon, but unlike the trident of Uranus, there was no record of it being a magical Fae weapon. The scythe was another story.

  There were several references involving hardened stone sickles in Greek history. The one that interested me most was the one used to castrate Ouranos. But there was another that was alleged to have been used by Zeus to strike down Typhon, the last child of Gaea. Could this be one of those? If so, then perhaps this was what Gaea had wanted me to find. But why was it here in Hades' palace? Of course, it was said that anything that was buried became the domain of Hades and some stories say that the sickle had been buried in the earth. But, even so, why would she need me to come here and retrieve it? You'd think she could have come down here and fetched it herself. Since I already carried Cronus' sword, this seemed to be quite a coincidence. But then again, coincidence was the word of the day where Gaea was involved.

  Even if all this were true, that wasn't what I had come for. Reaching over to the suit of armor I lifted up the helmet and placed it on my head. I held my breath. Nothing. At least nothing like what I was looking for. No Helm of Darkness here. I took it off and placed it back on the armor. Well this sucks! Now what do I do?

  "This is going to be more difficult than I thought," I said, turning to Charlie, only to find he wasn't there. Leaving the room, I went through the bed chamber and into the hallway. Hearing a commotion, I moved toward the stairs. He was slinking down them, heading for whatever was making the noise. I paused at the top and he looked back, then continued down the winding stair as I followed, sword now in hand. He was standing when we reached the bottom. Starting for the doorway, I could hear sounds and something brushing up against the door.

  "What is it?" I asked as he sniffed he air.

  "More creatures," he said.

  I moved to the door and listened. A cacophony of sounds came from the other side. The moaning of Harpies, the bleating of goats, and the occasional roar of a lion led me to be sure that there were many more creatures than had been there before. Since the door was solid enough, I went back up the stairs to see if I could get an actual view of what was going on outside. Going into a chamber across the hallway from the large bedroom, I spied an opening only partially covered by a curtain. Walking up, I slid the rest of the fabric aside to see what was there. It was a doorway that led to a balcony. It overlooked the road that lead to the Arch, the gateway to the Elysium Fields.

  "Well that’s not good," I said as I looked out. Not only had the Harpies returned, they'd brought their friends. While I couldn’t see what was happening in front of the palace, there was plenty to see on this side.

  Magic shielded the road beyond the Arch. I could only hope it still led to Elysium. There were three groups of Harpies and at least five Chimera wandering around the front and even from here, it was a good 100 yards we'd have to travel to get to it. Even more troublesome was the fact that the two different groups of creatures were no longer fighting amongst themse
lves. Instead, their attention was focused on the building... and us!

  I headed back into the bed chamber and went to the window located there. It was on the other side. I hoped to find an easier way to get to the back side of the palace. There were no Harpies or Chimeras there, but it wasn't empty. Shades, the ghosts of the once living, filled my view.

  It was said that those not worthy to live in the special places and those not sent to Tartarus existed in the afterlife as ghosts. Dwelling in shadow as hints of the person they once were. Although they weren’t supposed to be dangerous, they wandered the Underworld mindlessly as their fate in the afterlife. Unfortunately, they were still an entity and as such, had some semblance of form. It was rumored that some might retain memories from before, but I don’t know if that's true. Shades packed the area behind the palace. Like moths drawn to a flame, they were everywhere. So tight that they created a wall of force blocking the back way out.

  "What do you think?" I asked Charlie as he stood on his hind legs looking out over the throng. "Without the helm, the best I can figure is to head for the Elysium Fields. At least we'd have some time to think about our next move without all this shit that's happening outside, or at least I hope so."

  "The Arch is not far and looks clear," he remarked. "But we will have to fight our way to it."

  Whatever magic was in this place kept the Arch clear. If there were less of the Shades, I would have tried barreling our way through. But as many as there were, it would be like running through molasses, and more were coming this way.

  "What do we have that we can use?" I asked as I walked back into the hidden room with Charlie following. Clearing the desktop with my arms, I put down my backpack, laying both swords on the table, then fished through the pack for the Demon Queller. I pulled the sword of Cronus, but as we were in the Underworld, it barely registered as anything more than a blade; the usual electricity, although still present, was faint. I'd been warned that might happen so I put it away. There was no reason to risk using it since I had the other sword. Looking at the armor I had an idea.