"Please!" Gareth wailed behind them, sounding desperate. "Please free me! Please come back! I"m sorry! Do you hear me, brother? I am sorry I killed Father!"
They marched and marched, and Thor could see the ashen look on Reece"s face. He looked shaken.
"I had never thought to see my brother again," Reece said softly as they continued walking.
Thor looked all around and had a new respect for this place; he wondered what might come next.
They pa.s.sed small caves, recessed into the walls, similar to the one from which Gareth had emerged, and as they did, they were all on guard, wondering who else they might encounter.
There came another rattling of chains, this one more violent, and out of the darkness of one of the small caves there came a figure lunging toward them. They all jumped back and braced themselves, Thor raising his sword, ready to strike.
But the man was stopped by his shackles before he could reach them. He snarled, reaching out at them.
"Come closer," he shrieked, "and I will introduce you to h.e.l.l!"
Thor looked at the man, horribly disfigured, missing an eye, his face burned and covered in seeping wounds that seemed fresh, and Thor realized, with horror, who it was: McCloud.
"You are the one who attacked Gwendolyn," Thor said, as it all rushed back to him as if it were yesterday. "I had always wished I was there to kill you first. Now I have my chance."
Thor scowled and stepped forward and stabbed McCloud through the heart.
But McCloud stood there, still smiling at him as blood poured through his mouth, looking unfazed.
Thor looked down and saw there were already several swords piercing McCloud"s torso.
"Kill me," McCloud said. "You would do me a great favor and end this h.e.l.l that I"m in."
Thor looked back in wonder, and he realized at that moment that there was justice in the world. McCloud had hurt countless others, and now he was suffering, in his own private h.e.l.l. And he would suffer forever.
"No," Thor said, retracting his sword. "I won"t spare you from any h.e.l.l."
They kept walking, McCloud"s shouts a.s.sailing them as they went. Thor was even more on edge now, peering into the darkness, as one by one, figures emerged from caves on both sides of the tunnel, all shackled.
Thor pa.s.sed men he recognized, men he had killed on the battlefield, most of them foreign enemies. They all seemed to want to try to reach him, to attack, but their shackles held them just out of reach.
Suddenly Matus jumped back; Thor turned and saws his dead father and brothers from the Upper Isles emerge, reaching out for him.
"You let us down, Matus," his father said. "You betrayed us for the mainland of the Ring. You turned your back on family."
Matus shook his head as he stared back.
"You were never my family," he replied. "In blood only. Not in honor."
Reece walked forward, right up to Matus"s father, who glowered back at him. He still had the stab wound from where Reece had killed him.
"You killed me," he said to Reece.
"And because of you, the woman I was set to marry is dead," Reece replied. "You killed Selese."
"I would kill her again," he said, "and I would gladly kill you!"
He lunged forward for Reece, but he was stopped by his chains.
Reece just stood there and scowled at him.
"I would kill you every day if I could," Reece said, feeling fresh agony for Selese"s death. "You stole away from me the person I loved most."
"Why don"t you stay down here with us," Matus"s brother said to Reece, "and then you can."
Thor turned and led Reece away, yanking him along.
"Come on," he said to Reece. "They"re not worth our time."
They all kept marching, pa.s.sing an endless parade of ghosts. Thor saw all the men he"d killed in battle, faces he hadn"t seen in ages, as they walked deeper and deeper into this unholy place.
Thor suddenly felt a chill pervade his system, and he knew, he just knew, that some evil being was lurking in a cave up ahead, obscured behind a cloud of vapor.
Slowly, the figured emerged, stepping forward as the vapor pa.s.sed, and Thor stopped short, shocked.
"And where is it you march, my son?" came the dark, guttural voice.
Thorgrin"s hair stood on end as he recognized that voice, that voice that had caused him such heartbreak, that had caused him endless nightmares. Thor braced himself.
It can"t be.
Thor was horrified to see walking out of the blackness, chained by six shackles, his true father.
Andronicus.
Andronicus was stopped by his shackles, and Thor slowly approached, standing before him, staring him back in his face. Andronicus"s entire body was covered in wounds, much as Thor had last seen him on the battlefield.
Andronicus grinned back cruelly, seemingly invincible.
"You hated me in life. Will you hate me in death, too?" Andronicus asked.
"I will hate you always," Thor replied, shaking inside.
Andronicus smiled.
"That is good. Your hate will keep me alive. It will keep us connected."
Thor pondered his words, and he realized his father was right. The hatred he felt for Andronicus made him think of him every day; it kept them connected in some strange way. He realized in that moment that he would like to be truly free of him. And that to do so, he would have to let go of his hatred.
"You are nothing to me now," Thorgrin said. "You"re not a father. You never were. You"re not a foe. You"re just another corpse in the land of the dead."
"Yet I live on," Andronicus said, "in your dreams. You have killed me. But not truly. To be rid of me, you would have to conquer yourself. And you are not strong enough for that."
Thor felt a fresh wave of anger.
"I"m stronger than you, Father," Thor said. "I am alive, up above, and you are dead, trapped down here."
"Are you, who dreams of me, truly alive?" Andronicus asked, smiling. "Which one of us is trapped by the other?"
Andronicus leaned back and laughed, louder and louder, a grating noise, his laugh echoing off the walls. Thor looked back at him with hatred; he wanted to kill him, to send him to h.e.l.l. But he was already in h.e.l.l. Thor realized it was himself he needed to free.
Thorgrin felt a hand on his shoulder now, and he turned to see Reece, returning the favor, pulling him away.
"He"s not worth it," Reece said. "He"s just another ghost."
Thor let himself be pulled away, and they all continued walking, Andronicus"s laugh echoing in Thor"s ears as they continued to weave their way through the endless cave of horrors.
They marched and marched, for what felt like moons, twisting and turning their way through endless tunnels, forking more than once, getting endlessly lost in this maze beneath the earth. Thor felt as if they had crossed a desert of blackness, as if he had been marching his entire life.
Finally, they reached what appeared to be the end of the cave. Thor paused, puzzled, as did the others, staring at a wall of solid black rock. Had they reached a dead end?
"Look!" O"Connor said. "Down below."
Thor looked down, and he saw, on the ground at the end of the cave, a wide hole in the earth, a tunnel sloping straight down into the blackness.
Thor walked up to the precipice with the others and looked down; the tunnel seemed to disappear into the earth"s core. A warm draft rose up from it, smelling like sulfur. Thor heard a moaning sound echoing deep below.
Thor looked at the others, who all stared back, apprehension in their eyes. He could tell none of them wanted to enter the tunnel, to go sliding straight down into the blackness. He was not sure he did, either. And yet what choice did they have? Had they made a wrong turn somewhere?
As they stood there debating, suddenly, there came a horrific shriek behind them, one that sent the hairs standing on the back of Thor"s neck. It was like the roar of a lion.
Thor turned and was horrified to see, standing there, facing them, the most grotesque monster he had ever seen. It towered over them, three times Thorgrin"s size, and twice as wide. He looked like a giant, but its skin was bright red and scaly, and in place of fingers it had three long claws. It had hooves for feet and a tall, skinny head, with three eyes at the top and a face that was entirely made up of its mouth. Its mouth was huge, with jagged yellow teeth each half a foot long, and its entire body rippled with scales and muscles, like armor.
"It looks like something that escaped from h.e.l.l," O"Connor said.
"Or that wants to send us there," Indra said.
The creature threw its head back and roared; then it stepped forward and swiped at them.
Thorgrin jumped out of the way just in time, the beast missing him by inches.
But O"Connor was not so lucky. He screamed out as the beast"s long yellow claws slashed him, leaving three slash marks across his bicep, sending him flying through the air and tumbling to the stone. O"Connor, to his credit, rolled as he hit the ground, and, despite his pain, grasped his bow and fired off an arrow.
The beast was too fast; it merely reached up and s.n.a.t.c.hed the arrow from midair. It held it up, examined it, and chewed it, swallowing it as if it were a snack. It leaned back and roared again.
Thor broke into action. He charged forward, raised his sword high with both hands, and brought it down on the beast"s foot. With all his might he plunged down, piercing through the skin, through its armor, and down into the bedrock, pinning it to the ground.
The beast shrieked. Thorgrin, exposed, knew he would pay the price, and he did. The beast swung around with its other hand and smacked Thor in the ribs. Thor felt as if all his ribs were cracking as he went flying through the air and crashed into the rock wall on the far side of the cave.
The monster tried to charge after him, but it was still pinned to the ground; it reached down, grabbed Thorgrin"s sword, and yanked it from the bedrock and out of its foot.
The beast turned and charged Thor; Thor rolled around, eyes blurry from the collision, and looked up, bracing himself for the attack. He couldn"t react in time.
The others broke into action. Matus rushed forward with his flail, swung it wide, and smashed the beast in the thigh.
The beast, enraged, turned, and as it did, Reece attacked it from the other side, stabbing it and making it drop to its knees. O"Connor landed another arrow, and Indra let off several shots with her sling, her stone hitting the beast"s eyes, while Elden rushed forward with his ax and brought it down on the beast"s shoulder. Conven leapt forward, landing on top of the beast"s head, raised his sword high, and brought it down on its skull.
The beast shrieked, beleaguered by all these a.s.saults. It roared, and in one quick motion it rose to its full breadth and height, throwing back its arms and sending Conven flying. It swiped and kicked the others, sending them, too, flying in every direction, smashing into bedrock.
As Thor"s vision cleared, he lay there, looking up at it, and realized the beast was impervious. Nothing they did would ever kill it. Fighting it would mean sure death.
Thor realized he had to take charge and make a quick decision if he were to save everyone"s life.
"To the tunnel!" Thor commanded.
They all followed his lead, and they looked and saw what he was talking about-the tunnel was their only hope. They sprang into action, grabbing their weapons, racing as the beast charged after them, following Thor as he raced to the tunnel.
Thor stopped before its entrance.
"Go!" he commanded, wanting the others to escape first.
Thor stood there, holding out his sword, blocking the beast"s way so that the others could enter. One at a time, Indra, Elden, O"Connor, and Reece entered, jumping down feet first and disappearing into the blackness.
Matus stopped beside Thor.
"I will hold him off for you," Matus said. "You go!"
"No!" Thor said.
But Matus would not listen. The beast charged the tunnel, aiming right for Thor, and Matus stepped forward and slashed down, cutting off two of the beast"s long claws as they reached for Thor. Thor slashed down at the same moment, ducking and slicing off the beast"s other hand.
The beast shrieked, and Thor and Matus stood there and watched in horror as the hand and claws immediately regenerated themselves. Thor knew that defeating it would be a lost cause.
Thorgrin knew this was their only chance.
"GO!" Thor yelled.
Matus turned and dove into it, and Thor followed, diving in head first, preparing to slide down.
But as soon as he began to slide, Thor suddenly stopped. He felt the beast"s claws digging into the back of his leg, puncturing his skin, and he cried out in pain. It was beginning to yank him backwards.
Thor turned and saw the creature yanking him back quickly, right toward its gaping mouth. He knew that in moments he would die an awful death.
Thor mustered his final reserve of strength, and he managed to turn just enough to reach around and slash backwards, chopping off the beast"s wrist.
Thor shrieked as he suddenly began to plummet, headfirst, down the tunnel. He tumbled end over end, hurling faster and faster, down into whatever lay beyond.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE.