3. Kalistratos

Iam in the underworld.

At least, that's the first thing that comes to mind to explain this bizarre place. I've been given a set of odd robes and am made to sit in a stone box behind a metal gate with other captives. Some of them look lost, like they're awaiting death.

"Jesus, I'm tellin' you, I didn't do shit!" a man shouts at the guard sitting behind what appears to me to be a block of perfectly transparent ice, though it shows no sign of wetness or melting.

I'm shocked at what I heard. "What did you just say?" I demand, grabbing his tunic. "Say it again!"

He looks at me with wide eyes. "Yo, man, I don't want any trouble."

"That word," I say. "Cheesus. How do you know that word?"

He shakes his head. "Jesus, everybody knows Jesus. I don't understand your accent, man."

I release him and push him away. He falls onto the bench. The other prisoners move away and glare miserably at me like I'm some kind of monster.

Cheesus is Tyler's word. Does that mean…?

What I remember is Tyler defeating the soul reaver on the hill outside of Athenos, and the appearance of a new, more powerful presence. The monster's master? Their aura was different from the reaver. Dark, but without the empty coldness found in shades. There was something oddly familiar about them. In the brief moment they appeared before us, though they kept themselves obscured in shadow, it was as though I was looking into a deep, glassy pool. Like I was looking at myself.

And then the world had folded around me, swirling like a terrible whirlpool. I'd watched as Tyler was dragged into the maw, and when I reached for him, I felt myself lifted from the ground—or maybe the world was sucked away from beneath my feet. My powers were useless, blocked by an unknown force. My body was separated into grains of sand blown into oblivion, and all of my memories, too. When I came to, it felt as though I was waking up from a thousand-year sleep. Everything was a haze—and then I found myself staring up into the face of an Erpetosi frog man trying to rob my lifeless body.

I'd reacted immediately by sweeping their legs from under them and locking them down by straddling their body. They were oddly furry, not slippery and slimy like every other Erpetosi. I'd reached for a dagger and found all of them missing—in fact, the entire top of my chiton had been ripped from my body, leaving just a scrap of orange cloth barely wrapped around my waist. Without wasting a moment for a counterattack, I punched the Erpetosi in the nose and, to my surprise, knocked his head off.

Except, it wasn't his head at all. It was a strange, soft helmet, and there was a terrified human underneath shouting incomprehensible words at me.

That was when I realized where I was. A world of stone, chaos, and deafening noise. There were humans everywhere, and it seemed as though every single one of them was staring at me like I'd alerted my presence to a den of starving ghouls.

A nightmare. Or hell.

When two men had tried to pull me away from the imposter frog, I put them both onto the ground with force. Others were shouting at me but seemed afraid to approach. Then, a terrible howling filled the air, and some kind of large chariot arrived at a speed and force much greater than was possible from even the fastest flier cart or horse-drawn wagon from my realm. Two men emerged from its gleaming belly, and before I knew it, I was on the ground, my body struck by some kind of crackling energy. My phoenix powers were depleted or blocked. I had no way to defend against their magic.

"Hey! Settle the fuck down in there," a guard shouts through the bars of the cage.

"Take it easy, fella," a bearded man says to me with an easy smile. "We're all gonna be stuck in here together for a while, so we best play nice. What are you in for? Impersonating a Greek god?" He laughs. "Yeah, you were on the news, right? Naked guy assaults Kermit the Frog."

"I'm falsely imprisoned," I grunt.

He chuckles. "Yeah, you and everyone else here."

I stand and walk to the cell's metal bars and give them a test shake with my hands. Solid. I walk around the room, examining the space. Some of the men glare at me as I pass, others move away or look at the floor. I've escaped from my fair share of prison cells, but none like this. It's a much easier task when I have Alyx around to help me steal the key.

"You look like a cat testing its cage," the bearded man says. "Good luck. I think we've all had that delusion our first time in. Not gonna happen, buddy. Not unless you're fuckin' Superman or Houdini or something."

I ignore the man's incomprehensible raving and observe as two new prisoners are brought into the room just outside the cell. I watch the routine of the guards—where they go, how they open the doors, where they keep the keys to the cage. First step is to take the keys without them realizing it. Easy.

They open the cage and usher the two new men inside. It's my time to act.

Or…it was my time to act. My powers are still useless. I can't access them.

The gate shuts with a heavy clang.

The bearded man cackles. "So, what do you have planned? Let me in on it. I want out."

"Just tell me one thing," I say, sitting down on the bench across from him. "How do the guards open that door?" I point at the door to the room outside the cell, which doesn't appear to have a keyhole or handle, and yet is obviously locked.

He looks at me like he's humoring a child asking ridiculous questions. "Well, you see that desk there with the buttons on it? One of those opens the door. And another opens the other door to get out into the hallway."

"Bahtuns. Is it some kind of key?" I ask, looking in the direction he's pointing. I see the desk, but nothing that resembles a key. I do, however, see the guards touching what look like finely cut gemstones jutting out from its surface.

"Uh, yeah," he says. "The buttons are like a key. Where are you from, anyway? Are you European, or something?"

I'm now watching those gemstones with a close eye. Some of them seem to glow with an inner light. This world has strange magic.

For a while, nothing happens. The guards are entranced by small pieces of polished stone or metal that they hold in their hands and sit poking at them with their fingertips. One of the prisoners is shouting something at the top of his lungs, but no one is paying him any attention.

"My name's Nelly. What's yours?" my unwanted bearded companion asks. "At least tell me that."

"Why?"

"Can't a man make friendly conversation? Kids don't know how to act these days. Jesus."

"Cheesus," I repeat. "Is this a common word here?"

"A common word?" he says. "Buddy, where in the world are you from where they don't have Jesus?"

He pulls up the front of his tunic and shows me his ribs. There's a rather gruesome tattoo there of a man being tortured. "Jesus," he says, patting the tattoo.

This only leaves me more confused.

"Kalistratos," I tell him. "My name is Kalistratos."

"I knew it. European. Nice to meetcha."

I sit on the bench and return to my thoughts. I keep seeing Tyler being swallowed by the darkness.

Where was he taken? To this world, or some other realm?

The thought of my mate imprisoned somewhere I can't reach him is excruciating, worse than any physical wound. To think I'm supposed to be some kind of "Guardian of Fate." I was completely powerless to prevent him from being taken. I'd failed. If the Great Phoenix selected me for this mission, then perhaps he chose poorly. Perhaps I'm not worthy of finding him.

But I will not give up on Tyler. It doesn't matter if I'm in the underworld. I will defeat the titans of hell and swim the River Theoheles to whatever realm he's been taken to. I will burn through my life force to keep him safe if I have to.

And then I will find the one responsible for tearing us apart.

"Hey, John Doe!" a guard shouts through the bars. "Miss Piggy! I'm talking to you, Kermit Beater!"

I turn around. The guard gestures for me to stand up, and there's a loud buzzing noise. Several of the guards enter and shackle my hands behind my back.

"You've got a visitor."

I'm unable to get a clear look at the table when they use the magic gemstones to open the door, and when they escort me out through the hallway, I'm too overwhelmed by the barrage of everything to make any useful observations. I'm inside some kind of labyrinth. There are no windows, yet there is a blinding light that shines from slashes overhead. It's not sunlight. It's cold and lifeless, like the light of the underworld.

Left, right, down a long corridor. I catch a glimpse into a room where several guards are gathered around what appears to be a long glowing window or some kind of portal. They're observing something that I can't understand or explain, a view into an even more bizarre world. Everything here is chaos and madness. Sounds and noises are floating from every direction. Shrill bells ringing impossibly fast. A disembodied voice booming from above, but no one around me seems to notice it or care. And all around, these guards are moving prisoners shackled like I am. I've not seen a single member of any other clan other than Anthropos. Everyone here is human.

The guards stop outside a door. One of them stares at me in an unspoken challenge. I glare back. If it's a battle of wills he wants, he is going to lose. He's a big man, but I know he's no alpha. There's fear and uncertainty in his heart, and I can see it in his eyes. I've dealt with plenty of stronger beings, in even more limiting circumstances.

There's a loud buzzing squawk, and I hear the door mechanism click. The guard blinks and looks away.

"Get inside," he grunts, pushing me by the shoulder.

The room is small, with empty walls except for another door, and a table and chair sitting in its center. It's similar to the room they put me in when I was first brought to this place. The chair clatters loudly against the floor as one of the guards drags it out for me to sit. Almost everything here appears to be forged from impossibly featherweight metals.

After removing the bindings from my wrists, both men disappear and leave me alone in the room. I close my eyes, trying to recount the pathway I took from the cell to get here, and any clue to escape. This place could be as vast as a city, for all I know. It could be underground, or under the sea. The only chance I have to escape is with my powers. The risk is getting stuck somewhere, depleting my energy and losing consciousness in the process of escape, which would certainly mean being held even deeper in the bowels of this place. I need to be certain. I cannot be hasty.

When I was first brought to this place, I was interrogated for a time by a man who was dogged in learning my name and origin. My fear was he would learn I was Phoenikos, but he never once showed any interest in my clan. All he cared about was something he called an eyedeh, and whether or not I was a citizen of Mehrika.

I'd not answered his questions. Now, I assume I'm going to pay for it. Whatever torture they have in store for me, I will weather it.

That terrible sound, like the deafening hum of some monstrous insect's wings, blasts into my ear again. I hear the door's lock turn.

"Alright, remember the rules. No physical contact except for a brief hug and kiss and the beginning and end of the visit. Physical contact beyond the aforementioned is considered excessive and may result in immediate termination of the visit."

"I understand."

My eyes fly open at the sound of his voice. I can't believe what I'm seeing. It's Tyler, but he's wearing the same odd set of clothes he'd been wearing when we first met. Is this some illusion or trick?

His smile is one of wild relief, and I immediately know that, no, this is real. He's alive, and he's here. He's safe.