Morgan Rice - A Rule of Queens

“But we haven’t,” Indra said. “Not yet, at least.”

They continued marching toward the sounds, deeper and deeper into the cave, the sounds getting louder as they felt themselves enveloped in this other world.

“GUWAYNE!” Thor shouted again.

Again, his voice echoed, this time followed by mocking laughter coming from somewhere deep inside, bouncing off the walls. There came a dripping sound, and Thor looked up to see small drops of lava dripping from the ceiling, sporadic drops, like rain, hissing as they landed.

“OW!” O’Connor shouted and jumped.

Thor saw him jump out of the way and wipe a smoldering flame off his sleeve, slapping it out. They all banded together more closely and hurried down the center, where there was less dripping.

“They said no one leaves,” Matus said. “Maybe we will die sooner than we think.”

“Not here,” Reece said. “As crazy as it sounds, I don’t want to die in the land of the dead. I want to die above ground.”

Conven stepped forward, looking relaxed, as if he were comfortable here.

“It might just save us a trip,” he said.

They marched and marched, the red vapor rising and disappearing, Thor peered into the darkness, some portions of the cave lit by greater flames than others. He looked everywhere for Guwayne.

Yet everywhere he went, there were no sign of him.

Thor heard a sudden rattling, and he looked over and was shocked at what he saw. At first he couldn’t process it. But then, the mist cleared and it came clearly into view. He was not seeing things.

There, but a few feet away, Gareth, Reece’s brother, appeared out of the darkness. Chained to the wall with iron shackles about his neck, he stared out at them with a gaunt face and hollow cheeks. His arms and legs were shackled by silver shackles, and he had a dagger protruding from his chest.

He smiled at them, blood dripping from his mouth as he did.

“Gareth,” Reece gasped, stepping forward, holding his sword out before him.

“My brother,” Gareth said to him.

“You are no brother to me,” Reece said.

“Do you recognize this dagger in my chest?” Gareth asked. “It is the one I used to murder Father. It has been plunged back into me. For all eternity. Would you take it out for me?”

Reece backed up in horror, staring at his brother, horrified.

Slowly, Reece backed away. He turned, and Thor could see the fear in his face, and then he continued down the tunnel.

The others joined him, all turning their backs on Gareth, leaving him there, chained to the wall, doomed to live out his hell for eternity.

“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 passed 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 hell!”

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 hell 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 hell. And he would suffer forever.

“No,” Thor said, retracting his sword. “I won’t spare you from any hell.”

They kept walking, McCloud’s shouts assailing 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 passed 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, passing 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 passed, 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.”