and it brought me face to face with one of the mutilated souls chained to the boat. It turned its head in my direction slowly, before it sniffed for this was the only sense it had left. Its skin looked burnt and puckered, and it was also stitched in ways that didn't make sense, especially when parts of its cheek had caught up in the stitching, forcing it to lift closer to the eyes. It moved its head around in quick little movements reminding me of old black and white movies where actors flickered across the screen. I quickly scrambled back to the centre, making sure I was well away from either side. Then I looked to see Nero who hadn't yet got on the boat but instead was staring at the opening as if waiting to take on the Hellhounds by herself.
“What are you doing, come on!?” This seemed to draw her into action as she followed me onto the boat. Then she blew on the palm of her hand and a coin suddenly appeared, after which she threw it towards the ferry keeper who caught it in her mouth and swallowed it whole. It was only then that the boat moved away from the stone dock to start its journey.
We both started to breathe a sigh of relief, that was until the first of the Hellhounds broke through the entrance with a leap. One snarl our way and it didn't take long for it to realise its prey was floating away. I thought that this would have been the end of it, that it would have had to have given up the kill and go back to the dying Harpy Queen without its prize. But then something unexpected happened as it leapt into the water and instead of going under, each step it made formed a black crust like cooling molten lava after it had started to roll down the mountain side. It began to stalk towards us, letting us now realise that even on this boat escape was not going to be an option.
We were dead in the water
I watched as Nero closed her eyes, at the same time she grabbed my hand and then she told me,
“Tell Vern I love his annoying ass and that I'm sorry I never kissed him that day,” she said, before standing up and just as I opened my mouth to ask what she was doing she ran the length of the boat and flung herself off the edge barely just making it back to the cave’s floor.
“NERO!” I screamed her name in horror realizing what she had done. She was sacrificing herself to draw the beast away and save me!
“It's been fun, Princess,” she said, calling me the name I'd asked her not to but giving me a wink and even from the boat I could see her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
“No!” The whispered plea came through my quivering lips, that I had to bite to stop from bursting into tears. We'd come so far and to lose her at this point was unbearable. Unbearable and utterly heart-breaking. But then the Hellhound turned its head away from the boat, now seeing easier prey stood waiting. It turned its back to me and then again to her, as if weighing up its options. A sob broke free the moment it made its decision and slowly stalked back to Nero's side of the River.
I looked back to see that we were nearly at the other end and would soon disappear through an arched tunnel. So, with nothing else to do, I called her name and threw my weapon through the air, swinging it as hard as I could so it would reach the other side. It fell with a clatter on the stone floor a few feet away, meaning the last sight I had of my friend was as she rolled on the ground to retrieve the sword, at the same time that the Hellhound pounced.
I closed my eyes as the darkness of the tunnel overwhelmed me and I could only breathe again when I finally heard the whining sound of death coming from the Hellhound,
Not of that of my friend.
Chapter Twenty-Two
A Boat to Nowhere
For a good while after this I found I could do nothing but hang my head in shame. I couldn't believe I had come all this way just to lose Nero. It was a bitter blow and all I could hope for was that she’d managed to