"So,keep going," I said and scrolled some more.
"Youwent too far. I do not know how I know, but that is the highest material plane.Home of the winged ones," Candace chimed in, fear tinging her voice.
Ipushed the tattoos down until a warped plane wrapped in angry text took itsplace. At the point farthest from the bottom a mountain stood with twistedrivers feeding from the base, crisscrossing the rest of the plane. "Sure,that looks like hell. Let's try that one," I said more cheerfully than Ifelt.
"Wehave the map and the key, did anybody bring a bus?" Dennis looked aroundthe gathered. "How do we actually get there?"
Isent another flare of power directly into the exposed plane on Shea's map andwrapped the room in shadow.
Wefell at least a foot to the spongy shadowstuff beneath us, but it was unlike anyI'd ever seen before. Even the landscape was different. Usually we weresurrounded by shards of light that led back to the mortal realm. This time, wewere on a road. A road that looked suspiciously like water. We were standing ona frozen river leading through the night sky. Tiny pinpricks of light above usdid little to illuminate the expanse around us, but it offered some comfortfrom the complete blackness.
"There'speople down there," Candace said shakily, pointing at the frozen riverbeneath us.
Sureenough, souls floated by, lifeless eyes staring up at us through the frozensurface as their bodies drifted by.
"It'sthe River Styx," Nana said with a bit of awe.
"Well,I'm glad it's frozen since we don't have a boat," I answered drearily.
"Itis not frozen," Shea answered. "It is covered in shadow…"
"Maybewe should just get going." Jimmy looked around nervously, jumping at thingsthat weren't there.
"There'sno song. I don't think we're in the shadow realm," I muttered to myself.
Sheareached back and patted my thigh. "I would suggest not taking your handfrom the map, Lady."
"Goodcall." I nodded at the back of his head.
Weall started shuffling forward, the river moving beneath us impossibly fast. Itfelt like an hour later that we halted before a wall of stone with a doubledoored gate standing twenty feet above us. It would have been impossible toclimb even on its own, but the downward pointing spikes of obsidian didn't helpeither.
"Neverin my day," my mother whispered as she looked up.
"Yourday had tyrannosaurs until the big meteor put a stop to that."
"Really,Mother?"
"Well,that is the popular theory. But if those scientists had bothered to ask you, wewouldn't be having this conversation."
"Littleless quibbling? How do we open the gate?" I looked at Candace.
Shejust shrugged.
"Maybejust have her give it a push?" Josie offered meekly. "She is the key."
Candaceshrugged again and stepped to the seam between the giant doors and put herhands on either side. It was almost comical to watch her struggle and makelittle groaning noises as she put all her weight behind it. "I do notthink this is going to work," she called out when a resounding thud that echoed in our chests filledthe darkness. She squawked and backed away.
Thedoors split and red light filtered through the crack between them as theypulled inward, stone grinding on stone. It wasn't a pleasant sound. The teethin the back of my mouth started to ache in sympathy.
"LittleWD-40 would clear that right up," Jimmy said, mesmerized as he watchedthem slowly grind open.
Ifinally had the courage to let go of the map. Uncharacteristically, the tattoosdidn't dim when I pulled my hand away, either. At least the gate would remainopen without me running around keeping one hand on Shea. As fun as thatsounded, there was a time and place for everything.
"Let'sgo," I said with more determination than I felt and stepped through thegate and into hell.
Thelandscape was barren of everything except dust. Red rocks littered red sand beneatha red sky. Rivers, that had been apparent on the map, were trails of liquidfire leading northward.
"Whichway do we go?" Jimmy scanned the horizon.
"Followthe river," I answered him.
"Whichone?"
"Anyof them. They all lead to where we're going."
"You'rethe navigator." He tested the trail with a foot with a shrug. "Seemssafe enough. Just red dirt."
"Didanybody bring any water?" Mother passed me and followed Jimmy. It wasgoing to be a long walk.
∞∞ ∞
Itturned out to be longer than I'd imagined. We ended up camping for the night,even though the sky never changed from its brilliant red hue. We were exhaustedfrom walking, and for the first time in my life, I agreed with my mother. Weshould have brought some water.
"Maybewe can shadow walk," I suggested after we were rested.
"Iwould think not." Shea looked around and dusted off his overcoat.Thankfully, the fiery realm was fiery only in appearance. The temperature wasquite chilly actually. I didn't, however, wish to dip my hand in the burningfire of the river.
"Why?You don't think the shadow realm extends to Tartarus?"
"Lookaround, Lady. Do you see any shadows?"
Ispun in a circle, looking for the shadow of myself that should have been thereunder the bright sky, but there was nothing. I wasn't half as creeped out beingthere as I was at that moment.
"Nevermind. Good call." Another thought quickly nagged at my brain. "Fidget?"I called his name softly and looked at the sleeve of my sweater. A full minutepassed before I accepted that he wasn't there. "Shit. I hope he's okay."
"Iam sure he is. He was probably left in the mortal realm when we passed through."
"Areyour tattoos still lit?"
Hepulled his collar away from his flesh and I sighed in relief when it lookedlike he was hiding a blacklight under his shirt. "Yes."
"Good.If you notice them dimming, let me know."
"Why?"
"Becausethey're our ticket home, I think. Best to keep the lines of communication open."
"Wise."
Weset out and continued our trek over the sloping hills. Two hours later, and thefiery mountain was finally visible in the distance.
"Ifeel like a hobbit," Jimmy murmured. "Nobody said Mordor was inTartarus. Who has the ring?"
Dennischuckled beside him.
"Youdoing okay?" Chief bumped my shoulder with his.
"Yep.How you doin'?"
"Thirstyas hell."
"Idon't see how there can't be any water anywhere. How could anything survive here?"
"Lookaround. Do you see anything surviving?"
Hehad a good point. "Anybody have a bag or something waterproof?"
