Because, as my mother told me of those horrific events that led up to the death of Judas, I took every word in and felt it like a slice against my soul… against my heart. And suddenly, the weight of the world that had once solely been on Lucius’ shoulders, I had now taken a piece of it upon my own, as I listened to the heart-breaking tale of the death of his child.
One I now knew was named after his mother's favourite flower.
Kala.
30
Souls Unite
I didn't know how long it was that we continued to walk, but by the end of it, both my mother and I were grumbling, vowing together that if we made it through this, then once it was all over, we would go to the gym more… as in, more than never.
“I mean, it's not like we don't have a good excuse, both Lucius and Draven have their own, although admittedly I much prefer to sit on the side-lines and watch your father topless, getting sweaty with a sword in his hand.”
“Mum! Come on, not a picture I need to see right now!”
“What, you think just because I’m your mum, I am immune to that man’s sexiness and raw hotness?” she said, making me shake my head.
“You spend too much time around Pip.”
“You can never spend too much time around Pip, you know that.” I smiled at her reply, and would have said something witty in return when suddenly my mum’s mouth dropped open, and she said,
“Forget Tartarus, I think we just found Mordor!” I turned my head to see what she was talking about, and she was right, it looked like we had just come across the entrance to Mount Doom!
It also looked as though it was some forgotten entrance into the very mountain itself or at least, what remained of it. We had just been travelling around a collection of fallen boulders the size of office buildings, which were massive chunks of stone that had clearly broken away from Mount Tartarus.
Behind this was a stone staircase carved into the base of the mountain and had, at one time, led across into an enormous open archway. In fact, it made me question if giants lived in the cave, as its entrance was certainly big enough to accommodate them. But how Matthias expected us to access it, I had no clue, as it was clear the bridge had crumbled to the ravine below when the mountain had fallen.
A massive structure framed the archway which had been carved into the rock, creating the appearance of giant pillars either side of the opening. These protruded from the rock face and rose up to the top of the arch, which looked covered in oversized cobwebs. This pale grey webbed blanket then bridged the gaps between the jagged rock and the smooth carved pillars. One side was completely intact, whereas the other had given way to the landslide, losing half of its design. This being the elaborately crowned mouldings, with Ram’s horns on top that curled down. Then, in the centre, was a huge statue of a demonic and monstrous face with its mouth open. Its long tongue hung down, with its top row of teeth, sharp and dagger-like, spread out in warning.
Above its head was something I recognised, as I had seen it before. A crown of serpents, that the Harpy Queen had once worn, sat above the head of this carved demon, telling me it had something to do with Matthias. Its face must have been the size of a house, for it sat above the very top of the arch. This was as if threatening all those who approached, silently warning them, that only death would find them should they be foolish enough to enter inside.
I wondered if this was Matthias’ own tomb and the place that I now knew Lucifer had imprisoned him for over 500 years. Well, I was soon to find out, as my mother and I followed him up the steps after we both looked at each other, reading the dread on each other’s faces.
I watched as Matthias stood at the very top of this stone staircase cut into the rock. Then he held out his arms, and I became amazed to see another glimpse of his immense power. It was the same that I myself could build up inside of me, as he too channelled it to his chest. Then when it grew too