Disenchantment 11

“Epiales!” came that same, surreal voice that I had heard earlier, that had drawn the snakes away from the fire, had them make a path for me toward this place.

The large-eyed creature looked me over, although I wasn’t sure how he could see without any pupils, but he did stop moving toward me, not immediately, but he slowed down some, came within about two feet of me, then stopped.

The voice continued, again in a different language, a language that cannot be human, as there were sounds that I don’t believe the human voice is physiologically capable of making. Not only was the language alien, the voice was inhuman to say the least. It was thin and metallic, but there was a certain dark beauty to it, something forlorn and wanting. It was definitely not a natural human voice but maybe something that could be created with the help of technology, like in a sci-fi film.

The creature looked me over, then suddenly turned and began walking away, into the darkness beyond the cold fire. As he was slowly enveloped by the darkness, I heard the far-off screech of one of the owls again.

As the unhurried crunching of his feet on the sand and soil faded, silence once again seduced the night. No crickets there. Quite conspicuously, the sound of the river had completely ceased at some point. It had probably occurred when that thing came into view, but I hadn’t noticed for the fear.

I walked over to the fire and realized something I should have noticed before, with the other fire. The flames were not making a sound. No crackling of wood as it was consumed, no hiss of gas emanating out of pipes, no flutter of flames as the wind shifted direction, there wasn’t even the slightest, faintest whisper of anything audible. Silence reigned supreme again.

“You shouldn’t be here,” the metallic voice sounded out again, breaking the stillness.

I couldn’t see anything. The light of the flame merely lit up a small area. “Uh... I’m looking for my wife.”

“We haven’t much time. The gate will close soon. You shouldn’t be here.”

“Yeah, I agree. I shouldn’t be here. I need to find my wife, then I will happily leave. Deal?”

“Oh ye of the deal-making persuasion, come toward the water,” the voice said.

“I can’t see the water.”

“Come,” and with that the rough sound of water flowing could immediately be heard again, as though someone had quite suddenly unmuted a television set.

I turned around to look behind me. I thought I saw the first fire, back off in the distance, but it was so far away. I even considered going back, momentarily. There were those strange snakes, sure, but maybe I could make it past them. Maybe they had left. It occurred to me that I needed to find Perry. I didn’t want to go back without her, yet I didn’t exactly want to go onward either.

Yet, I did. I began walking forward again, using the flashlight feature. I quickly glanced at the phone and saw there was only eight percent power left. I couldn’t go much farther with this artificial light to help.

It seemed like it was only sand and loose dirt I was walking on, no more strange plant life showed itself, at least in the limited glow of the phone. I passed the smaller fire and continued walking in the same direction that the creature had walked before me.

I probably only walked a couple hundred feet on relatively level ground, the sound of the rushing waters getting closer.

“I like the sound of the water,” came the voice. It was close, very close, as was the river that I had been walking toward. “Epiales doesn’t like it so much, anything in the overworld he seems to disapprove of, so he shut it down while investigating you. He normally doesn’t even venture outside. I would assume he had some business up here.”

I continued walking and then I was able to see the figure ahead of me, as I got nearer, I began to be able to see more of its appearance. He was tall, maybe even taller than the large-eyed monstrosity that had come toward me earlier. He wore a cloak of sorts, hooded like the little people, but his was black as a starless night. Once I got within about ten feet of him, I stopped. I figured that was close enough.

“You shouldn’t have come here. The gate is closing.” He remained passive, seemingly looking into the water. “You have never seen a river like this.”

“Sure, yeah, okay, it’s wonderful. Uh...have you seen my wife?”

“You’re not looking.”

I glanced at the river, intending only a cursory glance, as I had seen multiple rivers throughout my life, and it was dark, but we were in darkness. Yet, something was still off about it. It was too dark. I stepped closer to the waters, deliberately not getting any closer to the hooded figure, and shone my light into it, maybe a mere two feet away. The water was black. Water can appear black at night, but in the light emanating from the phone, this stuff didn’t just appear black, it was black.

“We make our vows here. This place is sacred. Did you know that even Zeus himself cannot break an oath taken here?”

“Zeus? No...I wasn’t aware of that. Uh...sir, I’m looking for my wife. She’s five foot two, dark hair, quite a looker. Have you seen her?”

The tall man seemed to laugh, but I’m not sure why I thought it a laugh, maybe it was the same rhythm as laughter, but when this thing did it, it sounded like someone grating two rough pieces of sandstone together.

“I just want to go home. I just want to find my wife and go home.”

“Mortals in the underworld want to stop their torture. Living men want wealth. Starving people want food. What of your wants? Your kind is never satisfied, by design.”

I didn’t say anything. I really didn’t know what to say even if I had wanted to say something. I did want to go home, but this thing obviously didn’t care.

“Do you play chess?” it asked

“No, I don’t have the patience for it. Maybe I’m just not very good at it.”

“I find it fascinating, the best game you could have possibly created. We play a different game, but I like to think of it as our version of chess. It’s not exactly the same, but I love the concept of a pawn. You are all pawns on our chessboard, and we can move you at will, if we choose to do so.”

“Who are you?” The question just came out. I’m not even sure why I asked it. Everything was over my head at that point. I felt like I was drowning and helpless and lost in an unfathomable darkness. Maybe I just wanted answers to all the shit that was happening. Maybe, if I got answers, all the things that happened would make more sense, make me feel comfortable and sane again.

“Who am I? I am the last thing many people see before they leave your world. I am to be feared. Yet, all those who come to the underworld would much prefer to see me because the alternative is worse.”

He had stopped talking for a time, so I assumed that he had answered all that he was going to answer. “Okay.”

“I am what has come to be known recently as the Grim Reaper. That mythology was loosely based on me. My true name is Thanatos.”

“Uh...nice to meet you.” I still had not seen the face of the one speaking to me. He had not turned to look at me and as every second crept by I feared more and more of what lay on that dark countenance.

“We can read your thoughts as easily as you read words on paper. Do you know why we choose not to read your thoughts on most occasions?”

“No.” I didn’t know who the we he referred to was, but I was beginning to think that he was a god. Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but just imagine yourself removed from all that you know, all that you believe to be reality, stuck in some fucked-up, psychotic acid trip.

“It’s boring,” he said and then remained unspeaking for several seconds before starting again. “It can almost be a curse to know all. It leaves no mystery, nothing to ever learn again. I don’t believe you can truly understand what it is to know anything and everything. To be made with this ability might seem to you to be an unimaginable gift, but it gets boring. We, all of us, rarely read the thoughts of mortals, so that we can amuse ourselves with the ability to learn slowly, to grow as a result, by listening.

“We are almost out of time. You really weren’t meant to be here. The gate is closing. I will make you a deal, if you agree. I will ask you a question, then I will allow you to ask one of me. I will answer honestly.”

“Great, I agree. Let’s do it.” What did I have to lose? I already knew the question I wanted to ask.

“What is it to be human, to have a limited time before your death?”

Yeah, that was some tough, existential shit. “Uh, great? Bad sometimes. Challenging?” I really didn’t know how to answer it.

“That’s your answer?”

“Yes, sorry.”

“I understand that your mind doesn’t enable you to answer that question so easily. It probably requires much thought on your part. You haven’t thought of this before. You mortals take everything for granted.”

“Can I ask my question, or was my answer too shitty?”

“I’ll allow it. However, you must make a pact by the River Styx to answer mine in due time. I will meet you again before I meet you for the final time.”

I was not at all excited about seeing that guy again, but I needed to find my wife. “Yes, of course. Agreed. The River Styx?”

“Right in front of you. Please be aware that all vows here are eternal, unbreakable, tying into the very fabric of the universe, of all existence.”

“So I just make a vow?”

The Reaper nodded, or appeared to. His hood shifted in a way that led me to believe that he nodded. I absolutely did not want to see his face, but I was beginning to feel that it was inevitable.

“I solemnly swear to give much thought to, then be able to satisfactorily answer your question at a later time.”

“Ask your question.”

My initial question was floating around in my mind: Where is my wife? I almost asked it, but all the strangeness that had happened to me gave me pause. If this guy knew everything in the world, or had the ability to, like he claimed, then he might give me an answer that I didn’t really like. I wanted a resolution to my problem, so I altered my question: “Can I take my wife home with me?”

The grating, rock-grinding laughter resounded again. “You can have answers about the very existence of heaven and hell, all the mysteries of the earth, of life, and you ask this question? How typically human of you.”

I just shrugged my shoulders, not that he could see. I don’t know, he claimed to be omniscient of sort.

“No. You absolutely will not take your wife home tonight.”

“Why not?”

“Your answer was pathetic, so I would be within my rights to leave it at that.” The Reaper stood absolutely motionless for a few seconds. “I like you, and if it weren’t for your wife, I think the master would like you as well. You only get one question.”

Just then, the very earth began to shake. An awesomely loud sound of thunder echoed throughout the world, it seemed.

“The gate is closing,” he said. “Prepare yourself for what all mortals see upon their demise.”

“What?”

Before I knew what was happening, he had suddenly grabbed me under the arms and we flew off into the sky. Great black wings had erupted from his back, feathery, scary and magnificent. We throttled into the sky and then back down to the earth again, in all but a fraction of second that seemed an eternity.

I saw his face. I don’t think that words can describe it. It was within inches of mine. White, so white as to be brilliant and wonderful and held all the terrors of everlasting hell. Just imagine, a light so bright, so awesome, that it blinds you instantly with horror and ecstasy and everything in between.

It shook me to the core of my being, of my existence. I was stunned and I was scared. I was also temporarily blind when I found myself standing on my own two feet again. The absolute brilliance, the undeniable horror, it lingered in my mind as I saw the very soft shell of sanity crumble. I don’t know how else to explain it. I know I wasn’t myself for hours after the shocking experience.

“Two moons time,” the metallic voice crept out into the night, as of then, I still couldn’t see. My eyes were open, but all I saw was a bright, white light.

“I want Perry. I want my wife.”

“Again with your feeble wants? Your pathetic desires? The lord of darkness also wants her, and he is rarely denied his wants. When a man and a god disagree, who do you think is the victor?”

“I...need her.”

“You are allowing your emotions to interfere with your vocabulary. You merely want her.”

“Please...” I begged

“Two moons time. Four shall come. Bring coinage. My question needs a significant answer as well.”

“But—”

“Farewell.”

And he was gone. I couldn’t see it, but I knew it. I’m not sure how long it took, but my sight came back. I was at the very place I started, right next to Perry’s car. Things began to unblur enough with my troubled sight, that I was able to use the phone.

That’s when I actually called nine-one-one.

*****