They opened
just enough for me to slip through.
I was distracting him with food
and my magics, I knew this.
But all creatures respond well to trust.
Even monster dogs.
Advice From My Mother
When my mother and I were on the run
I remember her telling me,
‘Always bring a guide with you
everywhere you go.’
At the time I thought a guide meant
another immortal like us,
or even a mortal who knew
where to go.
But my years under the earth’s surface
in a strange unland forbidden
to earthly mortals and sky-dwelling
Gods had taught me that a guide
could be made from parchment,
darkening ink, a sense of adventure,
the power of observation and
a knowledge of stories.
How to Navigate the Underworld
My makeshift map told me everything I needed to know. I was to cross the Stygian Marsh, the acrid, quicksand marsh Styx’s river left just before the Asphodel Meadows. Here I had confidence, as I had done this countless times before with the help of carefully laid stones across the marshes. At the end of the asphodel flora and the lavender were three nameless mountains. The one in the centre would give way to Hades’ vast orchards of blackened and golden fruit. Just beyond the orchard was his palace guarded by the Gods in Grey. So I would take the mountain to the right instead. If what Charon had told me of this place held true, I would have to cross a long, uneven drawbridge over Lethe, the river of oblivion, to get to the cypress tree, which protected the entrance to the Elysian Fields, the realm of the righteous where all the heroes went. It was dangerous, but if I wanted to see the three Fates, it was less dangerous than the path through Hades’ orchard, for I was sure to get caught by the Gods in Grey there. Crossing the Elysian Fields would give me safe passage towards the Realm of Night, ruled by Nyx, the Goddess of the Night, and her darkling children. It was from here I would need to request safe passage to guide me into the Palace of Hades. There is no Goddess in the world quite like Nyx. Whether Titan or Olympian, every God fears her. But Goddesses have always been welcomed into her realm. At least according to Styx’s stories and Charon’s legends. I hoped, for my own sake, that they were true.
The Beginning of a Quest
As I slipped past a sleeping Cerberus
since he ate the meat I gave him,
and treaded the stones over
the Stygian Marsh past the door,
