kill the two beasts that were after us. After that I had no idea how she was going to get back home.
I went through every possibility in my mind. Asking myself how many coins she had, and if there would be another boat headed her way. If not, would she be able to make her way back up the spiral staircase and find another way out? I wondered if there were any portals and if not, whether she would brave using the gateway in the Lost Temple of Olympus and enter the mortal realm.
I don't know how long I sat on this old Chesterfield with my head in my hands trying to ignore everything around me, like the haunting sounds of two whips lashing out and cutting through the air before hitting the flesh of those that powered the boat. I wanted to drown it all out, every single minute of it. Simply put, I wanted to go home.
But the truth of the matter remained that I had no idea where I was going, and I had nothing to guide me. It wasn't as though anyone on this boat was going to start being chatty anytime soon. And well, the one who seemed to be in charge of whipping people didn't exactly look like the approachable type, despite the eternally creepy smile. No, my only hope was that this boat was headed to another dock somewhere and where there was another dock then surely there would, hopefully, be a point to it, meaning a town of some sort.
Of course, another hope I had was that I didn't starve to death or die of dehydration before I actually got there because for all I knew, I could be on this boat for weeks. After all, it wasn't as though there were many mortals in Hell who required basic needs and when you were dead, you didn't really need to eat. Embarrassingly enough I was also desperate for a pee and was regretting not using the wooden bucket in the cell after killing the Harpy.
Gods, but it had been one fuck up after another and now being on this boat I wasn't even sure if Lucius had any way to track me, even if he did discover that the Harpies were the ones that took me. The only saving grace for this thought process was that if Lucius did turn up at the ruined castle, then he might be able to track our scent enough to find Nero, if she was still alive. After all, I had to pray for something and what better than the life of my friend.
I lifted my head when I heard a different noise ahead, other than the brandishing of leather on skin. it seemed as if we were heading through a wasteland of some kind. It was a swampy landmass of black lakes and brown moss-covered stone. The river snaked through it, a flickering blue flame as far as the eye could see, telling me that we had a long way to go. The boat wasn't exactly fast, which surprised me considering the motivation was pain. Hell, but by the time I got to wherever it was we were going, I would have tortured myself from my bitter thoughts and these guys would be sick of me.
I didn't know how long it was until the scenery started to change and we left the swampy wastelands behind us. The sky had started to darken, no longer a red hue to dust the clouds. this time it was all dark greys seeming as if there was a storm about to roll in, which was when my day went from bad to worse as the rain started.
“Well, at least it will wash the blood from my clothes…small pleasure and all…not that you guys know anything about pleasure anymore…poor bastards.” I muttered this last part as I lifted my hood up to at least make a slight attempt to keep my face dry. Something that lasted all of about ten minutes due to the heavy downpour. Forget about starving to death, I was going to freeze to death before that happened.
As darkness started to overtake the grey, the mottled glass lanterns suddenly lit as if someone had clicked their fingers. These were situated around the boat, dangling over the water from foot long poles. What encased the glass of each lantern was a wrought iron snarling mouth with the teeth holding the glass square in place, making it look as