“Are you satisfied?”
Hades turned to look at the man
in the robes.
“Yes.” Hades replied.
“Now you are king of the dead
though.”
“It’s what they deserved.”
“And did you deserve this?”
Their boat came to an abrupt
halt, as its hull clashed on solid land. Hades frowned; every moment seemed
like a ticking bomb increasing his anxiety. The man got down from the small
boat, unhooked the lantern and motioned hades to follow him. Hades drew his
arms together, as a defense to the chilling cold that attacked them. He looked
around trying to access the location. He was on rocky, uneven ground, melting
into black to his eyes. His vision was hazy owing to the mist that hung low
over the ground like a thick blanket. He followed the light of the lantern
bouncing of the thick mist forming dark shadows and glimmering light. It
reminded him of Zeus thunderbolts.
The mist started clearing and a
huge wall of black molten rock became visible. Hades tried looking at its peak
but it seemed to extend forever. He followed the man into a small crevice
between two large boulders. The passage inside was treacherous. Sharp rock
jutted out in the most importunate places, hades kept hurting his feet trying
to negotiate his way around it and the harsh turns every now and then made him
feel disoriented. Soon enough the passage cleared into a large area.
Hades looked awe stuck, His
jaws almost dropped to the ground. By the looks of it, it looked like an
ancient throne room came to ruins, caved in this mountain. The throne made of
limestone and hardened black lava was embedded in the cave walls at one end.
What stuck Hades particularly was the forty feet stone statues standing in a
circle around a slightly raised dais in the middle of the clearing. Hades
craned his neck to see the face of the statues, but they were armored each
holding a great knight sword between their legs. It filled him with wonder,
where was he? The center of the dais, contained a raised structure carved
in the shape of a scabbard. The hilt of a long sword was clearly visible
embedded in the stone frame. Its pommel was a three-headed dog, with red rubies
inserted in place of its eyes.
Hades heart beat wildly, was this his prize?
