Pitchfork Read online

  This was not the pinnacle of the mountain as they had hoped. Instead, it was a massive plateau that stretched deep into the clouds until it collided with another upward expanse, its peak hidden in the heavens. Ancient walls covered the plateau, crumbling from an eternity of decay. Enormous boulders lay cracked and scattered amidst the sectioned walls, and untamed bushes grew in a maze around the stone, obscuring any path that may have once lain there. But it was not the overgrown maze that halted their breath. It was the men… stone men.

  “By the gods,” Alkaios muttered, eyes flicking from statue to statue until the overgrowth swallowed their ancient figures. If this many were visible at the mouth of the labyrinth, how many more awaited them in hiding?

  “How far is her reach?” Alkaios asked lifting his view to the mountain summit shrouded in the distant mist. If Medusa’s temple was on this ridge, then that is where he assumed it would be, yet men frozen in horror haunted this field; a distance seemingly too vast for one woman’s gaze to pierce. If this truly was home to Medusa, how far did her savage power extend?

  “Keep your eyes down,” Hades said, stepping forward. “If you see her, by the gods, do not look into her eyes.” And with that, Hades descended into the chaos. The beasts clung close on her heels, as did Keres and Hydra, but Alkaios hung back for a moment. Power seeped into the pitchfork, darkness overtaking both man and metal. He would allow no witch to turn his family to stone, and with one last glimpse of the silent grave of frozen men, he plunged into the fray. But as the group disappeared into the claws of branches and brittle walls, not one thought to cast a backward glance. For if they had, they would have seen the stone man standing guard at the entrance twist his head ever so slightly, his blank, hollow eye sockets watching as the bushes swallowed them alive.

  The silence held as they ventured deeper into the maze, and despite the men being mere stone and the only footsteps heard theirs, uneasiness gripped Alkaios’ soul. Yet Hades plowed forward, leading them onward as he brought up the rear, no trap unleashing itself.

  “Do you smell it?” a female voice suddenly crooned from nowhere and everywhere. It was rusty as if it had not spoken in ages, vile and cruel. “Fresh meat…”

  “Hades?” Keres whispered as her eye searched for the voice’s origin.

  “I hear it.”

  “We have not smelled fresh meat in so long,” a second voice groaned, the words sounding as if they were being dragged over gravel.

  “And one scent is different,” the first hissed. “I have not breathed that before.”

  “I want that one!” A third voice blurted in sharp graveled hisses. “Gives it to me…”

  “Where are those voices coming from?” Keres whispered.

  “I cannot tell,” Alkaios said as his eyes peered through the twists of impenetrable vegetation.

  “They are in our heads,” Hades answered. “They are speaking directly into our minds.”

  “No,” the first voice spat out harshly as if in answer to Hades’ discovery. “That one is mine... mine to eat… mine to killllll,” she crowed, dragging out the last word.

  “I do not like this,” Hydra thrust her arms out to her side. The veins beneath her pale skin began to writhe and bubble as the snakes of Tartarus clambered to break free. “Alkaios, can you locate them?”

  “Hades?” Alkaios said slowly, his voice stern as he ignored Hydra’s request.

  “I am trying to find them,” Hades answered.

  “Hades!” Alkaios’ harsh word cut her off, his tone a rumble not to be argued with. Hades flicked her eyes over her shoulder surprised by his sudden aggression, but the moment they met his, the realization that Alkaios was not looking at her but at something beyond felt like a fist seizing her gut. He parted his lips to breathe a warning, but Hades knew. The alarm in his eyes told her.

  Hades slowly swiveled on her heels, and there, far down the aisle of branches, stood a woman. She shuffled toward them with an unnatural gate, and Kerberos moved closer to the stranger, loosing a deep, guttural growl past three sets of massive fangs. Yet the woman continued her halting movement. She was thin, all angles and harsh lines, her body ageless. She was naked except for thick streaks of mud plastered to her frame and down her talon fingers. It matted her dark hair and face, yet that was not what caused Hades’ lungs to inhale a sharp breath.

  The mud obscured the grotesque disfigurement, but the closer she hobbled, toes dragging trails in the dirt, the clearer Hades could see. Both of the woman’s eyes were sewn shut with thick, coarse thread, rendering her blind, yet she seemed to know precisely where the intruders stood. Her mouth, too, was stitched together, the dark cord cutting bloodily into swollen lips.

  “Their scent is delicious,” she hissed despite her unmoving mouth as she hobbled forward, the words clear in their heads.

  “Alkaios,” Hades whispered, reaching her hand back. “Give me the pitchfork.”

  But before her husband could react, a strangled scream ripped from Keres’ throat. Hades whirled around in time to watch a second mud-clad woman surge from the hedges and tackle Keres. The bushes swallowed them whole as they barreled through the cracking branches. Hades’ heart barely had the chance to leap into her throat before she was moving, racing forward to plunge into the foliage after Keres. But a flash of movement ricocheted through the corner of her eye, and Hades slid to a halt, toes scraping over the uneven ground.

  “Alkaios,” she whispered, “behind you.” Alkaios turned to the sight of a third blind woman crawling toward him with alarming speed, her fingers clawing at the dirt foreshadowing their intent for Alkaios’ flesh.

  “Go!” Alkaios commanded, shoving Hydra into the bushes. Hades and the beasts tore through the thick after her, Alkaios hard on their heels just as the crawling witch leapt through the air in an assault.

  “Keres!” Hades screamed, branches whipping her face like starving fingers. A muffled cry seeped through the hedges, and a maniacal laugh of sadistic pleasure at Keres’ distress broke into their minds. Keres’ terrified gasps flooded Hades’ skin and sank into her chest with oppressive weight, and the dark queen batted thick thorns and dying leaves from her path is if her brutality against them could push the panic from her lungs.

  “Get out of the maze,” Alkaios commanded his wife. “I will find Keres.” Without breaking stride, he angled toward the screams, the third witch hard on his heels. Hades paused for a moment, desperate to remain at Alkaios’ side and rescue her friend from the clutches of madness, but Hydra seized her hand with a frantic grasp and hauled her in the opposite direction, the first witch thundering through the brush after them.

  “Chimera!” Hades screamed. “Go with him!” The lion surged after Alkaios, the intertwining vines snapping across his chest, unable to hold his sheer power.

  The branches stung Hades’ and Hydra’s faces as they plunged through, but Kerberos pushed them onward, his three skulls forcing them through the whipping onslaught. With a sudden jerk, Hades lunged to her right, yanking Hydra harshly behind her, and the two women burst onto the virtually non-existent path, their cheeks blooming with scarlet lashes. Their footfalls pounded the ground as they careened into the open air, but inexplicably the first witch barred their way, running toward them with a limping gate. Hades skidded to a halt with such force that Hydra collided with her spine. Her anguished gasp washed hot over Hades’ ear; the impact almost tearing Hades from her feet, but Kerberos was before his mother with a deafening roar. He slammed his ribcage into Hades’ thighs, urging her away from the charging witch, and Hades shoved Hydra’s wheezing chest as she scrambled to obey the dog.

  “How do they find us?” Hydra screamed, releasing a black snake of Tartarus from her vein. It dropped to the ground and slithered toward the blind pursuer. Its body heaved and rippled as its mass grew. Hades dared not glance over her shoulder, but the vicious crack that echoed through the maze told her all she needed to know. The witch had crushed the snake’s head with her bare heel, knowing exactly wher
e it slithered despite her sewn eyes.

  “I have no idea,” Hades panted as Hydra screamed at the loss of her babe, and her skin rippled and churned, birthing two more snakes. For every one killed, two took its place.

  Suddenly Hydra was ripped from Hades’ grasp, body thundering as she crashed to the ground. Her face slapped the dirt with striking force, her cry of pain suffocated by the lack of air in her lungs.

  “Hades!” she wheezed, and Hades stumbled to a halt, nearly toppling at the force of Hydra’s plummeting form, and bent to tow her friend back into a run. She heaved, but Hydra cried out in agony as her body refused to budge.

  “My ankle,” Hydra gasped, and Hades flicked her gaze down her friend’s ivory legs. She lay sprawled on her stomach, a stone man frozen in time at her feet… her ankle in its hand. Hydra kicked and twisted, desperate to wrench free as the witch bore down on them, and Hades watched in horror as three more statues moved their hands to grasp her friend. Hydra’s skin turned blue as the statue’s fingers choked her circulation. Two snakes, surging in size, coiled around the status’ forearms and attempted to shatter their wrists, but to no avail. The sculptures, immobile save their arms, scooped the writhing beast into their unforgiving palms and crushed their skulls.

  “Hades!” Hydra cried as four more god-killers ripped through her flesh, and Hades summoned her darkness to the surface. Black smoke wove from her skin, enveloping her in their powerful embrace, and with a bellow that shook the mountain, Hades gripped the stone men. Her fists constricted with unnatural strength, shattering them to dust. Limbless, the statues bucked toward their prey, but Hades seized Hydra and heaved her bruised limbs as Kerberos shoved his snout against his fellow god-killer, launching Hydra to her feet.

  Whack! Hades’ vision blurred, and the breath abandoned her chest as she plummeted to the earth. The witch’s impact sent ravenous fire curling up her spine, and as Hades gulped air into her empty lungs, the crushing weight of the blind witch caved in her rib cage. The witch’s claws drew blood as they raked through Hades’ pure skin, but just as the crazed woman lifted a hand for a devastating blow, her body shot through the air like a blade of grass on the wind and slammed against the stone wall, the curve of the pitchfork’s prongs encircling her throat. Alkaios was above Hades in a flash, hauling her to her feet as Keres helped Hydra, and the six of them bolted past the witch, pitchfork still embedded in the wall trapping her neck.

  “I want that one!” the witch screeched into their minds as she struggled against the weapon, her tongue licking Hades’ blood off her talons through corded lips. “Gives it to meeeee!”

  Her two wailing sisters rounded the corner and were on her like sharks in blood-infested water. The travelers took advantage of their distraction and charged onward as Alkaios reached out to the pitchfork, summoning it to his fist.

  Blood seeped from her cheek, but Hades wiped it away as she raced through the rubble. A cluster of effigies littered their path, and as the group drew closer, their stoic heads shifted rigidly toward the onslaught of pounding footfalls.

  “Hades!” Alkaios bellowed from the rear. “The statues…”

  “We know!” both Hades and Hydra interrupted as they barreled forward, closing in on the waiting stone hands.

  “Come back!” One of the witches sped around the debris, her pace alarmingly fast. “Come back!” Hades glanced over her shoulder as the witch clambered for Alkaios, and with a surge of the inky tentacles, she lowered her head. The stone men groped for her, but Hades surged through with a deafening crash. Their bodies shattered, crashing to the floor just as the witch launched herself at Alkaios, but with a single mighty swing, he raised the pitchfork and collided it with her skull. The crack clanged like a rung bell as her lithe body catapulted through the air, and he dove through the falling dust, all that remained of his wife’s stone victims.

  “Alkaios!” Hades called, and as he burst through the particle-laden air, he saw a witch bearing down on his wife. Without hesitating, Alkaios launched the pitchfork, and with a grace only a true queen of death could wield, Hades snatched the weapon from the air and crashed it into the witch’s skull. The hideous creature screamed, her voice an invasion of their minds, and plunged into the bushes. No sooner did she fall, her sister collided with Hades’ chest with such violence they both tumbled into the brush. The force wrenched the pitchfork from Hades’ grasp, and her hands flailed unsuccessfully to retrieve it as the sharp branches lashed her face. The witch clawed at Hades’ eyes, talons dug viscously into soft skin. What evil were these blind monsters that they could tear Hades’ flesh so?

  The tangled women slammed to a jarring stop as they crashed into the base of a statue. They rolled over the earth, arms and legs clamoring for purchase. With a harsh elbow, Hades cracked the witch’s jaw. The bones crunched as her head snapped backward, and using the momentary freedom, Hades disappeared in dark smoke only to appear above the witch a heartbeat later. Her eyes searched wildly for her companions, but this path was an entirely different section of the maze. She opened her mouth to call to Alkaios, but the witch’s talons ensnared her ankle with an unyielding grip, barring the blood passage through her veins, and yanked. Before Hades could brace herself, her feet were snatched from beneath her, and the queen’s spine landed in the dust with an unforgiving thud.

  “We wants a taste!” the witch’s voice hissed as she clawed up Hades’ body, but Hades kicked. Her heel savagely connected with a blind eye, and a soft pop rang out as one of the stitches snapped. Yet the witch progressed unaffected as her talons dug deeper into Hades’ calf muscle. Hades’ teeth punctured her lip as she bit down in pain. Blood ran hot down her scratched and dusty skin, and she twisted her torso, fingers braced to seize the attacking witch by the hair.

  “Hades?” Alkaios erupted from the bushes, leaves exploding about his body. In one fell swoop, the king kicked the witch in the face, and her head snapped backward with neck shattering force. Without breaking stride, he bent and seized his wife by the arm and hoisted her off the ground and down the path just as the second witch burst after him. She stumbled over her fallen sister, and in a tangle of limbs, they scrambled to regain their footing.

  “Where are the others?” Hades panted as Alkaios pulled her behind him, damaged leg limping.

  “I do not know. The third witch separated us when I came after you.” Alkaios saw the panic in her eyes. “They will be fine. Kerberos is with them, but I have to get you out of the labyrinth.” He dropped her arm like a hot coal and whirled around. He lifted the pitchfork and slammed it across their pursuer’s head, but the creature merely stumbled at the impact, her pursuit unrelenting.

  “How do they continually locate us?” Alkaios huffed between gulps of air as a witch bolted out of the maze to bar their escape. Alkaios raised the bident aiming it at her heart, but Hades suddenly snatched it from his grasp and brought it down hard on a group of stone men reaching out from the overgrowth. Their lifeless, grasping hands clattered to the soil as she shoved the weapon back to her husband, and as the witch leapt through the air, Alkaios plunged the two-pronged metal forward, driving their attacker into the ground.

  “I am not sure!” Hades glanced over her shoulder. “I know not what they are nor why they will not stay down.”

  Alkaios reached out and seized his wife’s hand, and together they shot a torrent of dark tentacles backward. The inky smoke twisted around the witches, forcing them back as both god and queen of the Underworld burst through yet another wall of stone statues.

  Hades choked on the dust and coughed violently as Alkaios dragged her along. Her eyes watered with debris, eyelids blinking rapidly to clear her vision as she looked behind them, anticipating a pursuer chomping at their heels, but they had vanished. The queen whipped her sight back to the path before them expecting it to be blocked, yet no obstacle barricaded their flight.

  Sudden laughter ripped through their head. Their eyes roamed through the overgrown debris for any sign of their predators, yet
not a bush moved, not a single whisper of wind.

  “Where…” Alkaios began.

  “Alkaios,” Hades interrupted, squeezing his hand, but he knew. He had already seen it. There in the distance, suspended high in the air at the middle of the maze, was a towering stone pillar. The hovering clouds had concealed it, but as their feet thundered, carrying them deeper into the labyrinth, the post rose for all to see. Its height loomed, watching the chaos below unravel, but it was not its sheer size that captivated their attention. It was what perched atop it, full and unblinking.

  “An eye,” Alkaios said with sudden realization. “That is how they are finding us.” As if in answer to his discovery, a witch surged from the maze before them, unleashing a curdling scream into their brains. Hades winced in pain, the sound exploding within her skull, and she fumbled for Alkaios. Her fingers clutched his massive bicep as her body shifted trajectory. Their forms plunged into bushes, but a hidden wall behind the vegetation rose before them to deny their escape. Hades and Alkaios’ eyes met for a split second, the same thought passing between them, and heads down they barreled headlong into the barrier. Its archaic strength no match for death and his queen, it crumbled upon impact.

  “We have to get the eye!” Hades’ pace did not slow as she brushed debris from her face. “But these paths will not lead us there,” she said, as they closed in on another wall. “What better trap than a maze that leads nowhere?”

  Alkaios shot out his hand and braced his broad palm across the small of her back. With a powerful force, he launched Hades through the air, and she landed hard on the wall’s ledge. In a flash, Alkaios was beside her, and both witches chasing them snapped their heads upward, their sealed eyes tracking their movements.

  “I think you are right,” he agreed as they surveyed the winding maze. Not one of the haphazard paths led remotely close to the pillar, confirming their suspicions.