Page 48 of Orpheus
“Youthink so?” he repeated back to me. “What do you mean, youthink so? Do you not remember the way you came to the castle?”
I failed to mention to Eurydalos of the exact manner in which I arrived at Hades’s castle. I only told him that I crossed the River of Styx by mesmerizing Charon and then how I was able to use my musical abilities to convince Hades and Persephone to bring Eurydalos back to me. I had completely forgotten to inform him of everything that had happened in between.
“Well, you see, I didn’t exactly walk all the way from the entrance of the Underworld to get to Hades’s palace. In fact, I barely stepped foot past the River of Styx before I became entangled in a bunch of vines. Before I knew it, many of Hades’s cloaked henchmen captured me, put me to sleep, and then brought me all the way to the castle,” I revealed.
“Oh. I see. So then, I presume we may get lost along the way?” Eurydalos questioned me with a lack of confidence in his tone.
“Possibly. But I know where the entrance lies at least. We may get slightly off track, but we will eventually get there. You can be certain of that,” I enthusiastically declared, hoping to alleviate any worry my lover may have had.
“I’ll just have to take your word for it and trust you, just as I always have since the very day we met.”
Eurydalos’s remark made me reminisce on our first encounter back in Iolcus at King Jason’s coronation feast. I remembered how bold and determined Eurydalos was to drag me to the main floor of the dining hall to dance with me. I admired him and his bravery from then on ever since. My heart warmly melted over the thought.
We continued to journey across the Underworld. I wanted to turn around to look back at the castle to see how far we’ve come and if we were headed in the right direction, but I knew that would be a terrible idea and it would mean risking taking a peek at Eurydalos, which could never be an option. So, I just had to go with my gut instincts and hope that we were proceeding onward correctly.
I could tell we were getting so close to the entrance. We had been hiking for a few hours now. Yet no obstacle stood in our way since then.Navigating across the Underworld was proving to be less tedious than I had anticipated, I thought to myself. But I soon realized I had spoken far too soon.
A vehement snarl was heard around the corner from us. It caused me to stop dead in my tracks. The growl sounded as if it came from a monstrous beast, one that was colossal. I peered around the edge of the large boulder that separated us from the creature to get a better look at what it was.
My eyes bulged, shocked at what I was witnessing. It was a gigantic dog of sorts. But not just any dog. This one had three heads attached to its body. Its fur was black. The eyes on each of the dogs flared with a ruby glow to them. Their razor-sharp fangs were exposed as massive drops of drool poured from the corners of their mouths.
Instantly, I knew what this hideous beast was. Its name was Cerberus, Hades’s guard dog that roamed near the entrance of the Underworld. It was just as my former tutors had described to me.
The stench of their breath wafted over to us. The smell was vulgar, making me cover my nose and mouth with my palm to avoid having to expose myself to the putrid air. The lingering foul odor was enough to make me sick. But I could not falter now. We were so close to the entrance. I could practically taste it.
And the three-headed dog was what stood between us and our escape route. There was no way to bypass it. Eurydalos and I would have to find a clever way to sneak around the beast. I remained facing forward, away from my lover, as he whispered from behind me. “What do we do now?”
“The only thing I can do when brought face-to-face with a fierce animal,” I answered.
“Which is what, exactly?”
“You will see,” I simply stated, drawing my lyre out from my tunic. I began strumming the cords of it effortlessly, evoking the most pleasant sound likely ever to grace the desolate Underworld. As I continued to play the most melodic of tunes, I watched as Cerberus began to yawn. Soon, the heavy joints on its legs seemed to give out. The massive creature fell to the ground on its stomach. All three of the heads closed their eyes, snoring loudly, but not enough to override the music from my golden lyre.
Cerberus was sound asleep. Seeing as it was knocked out cold, I stepped out from behind the boulder and proceeded to walk right in front of it, not daring to pull my fingertips away from the delicate strings as I continued to play the soft lullaby. I could hear footsteps following me from behind, letting me know Eurydalos was right on my trail.
As we slid by the monster, I found myself being unable to stop the music until we were at a far enough distance that left me with little concern that the three-headed dog could potentially chase after us. We were far enough ahead now that I had absolutely no worry in the world of being followed.
And when I stopped playing my song and placed the lyre back within my tunic, I glanced up, spotting a light just atop the hill in the distance. This was it. The main entrance to get to the surface. Just beyond it was the River of Styx, and then we would be home free.Finally!
I could not contain my elation. I was beyond overjoyed. I had done the impossible. A living mortal who traveled about in the Underworld and made it back out alive to live to tell the story. It would be a narration that would make history. It would boggle everyone’s minds to know that I was the one that attained such a miraculous feat.
I had Eurydalos to thank for this newfound fame I would likely acquire on top of being the world’s greatest musician. If it wasn’t for his love and devotion, I would have never had the motivation to make this adventure and come out of it alive.
And here we stood, just a mere walking distance away from our salvation. I began sprinting up the obsidian hill, the light above it became brighter and brighter the more I ascended it. We were so close to the end. Almost home-free.
As I strode up the steep slope, the smile on my face disintegrated into a stern expression as I noticed a figure approach and stand before me. His face was pure gray and weathered. Pure white snowy hair extended from his head, with a matching pair of white wings accentuating from his back. My heart sank as I became aware of who this man was.
“Calais!?” I called out to him, as I came to a halt just several feet away from him. “It cannot be.”
But it could, I thought to myself, correcting my own statement. Calais was dead, after all, and one with the Underworld. I never considered that I could potentially run into him here. The possibility of it happening never even once crossed my mind.
I wanted to turn back to glance at Eurydalos, knowing he likely had an uncomfortable look on his face. But I knew to do such a thing would be the end of us, so I withstood the temptation to do so.
The icy figure that was Calais just stared at me, almost grievously. He did not utter a single word, but I knew this was Calais. Although it wasn’tentirelyhim. The Calais I knew was positive and full of life. This creature, although he had Calais’s body, seemed cold and disconnected from the world around him. I wondered if spending months here in the Underworld altered his personality and diminished his liveliness. Evidently, it must have, based on his bleak features.
A sudden sorrow overcame me. My joy of escaping this Underworld was now crushed, seeing Calais right here in front of me. I realized I had abandoned him when I found out he had died. I mourned him for a little while, but not to the extent of how I lamented over the loss of Eurydalos. I gave up on Calais, yet I never once let go of Eurydalos. The dichotomy was so apparent to me now that I felt ashamed of treating Calais in this way.
Could I have come to the Underworld to recover him, too? Perhaps I could have. But I now had a different life and a new love. One with Eurydalos. “I’m sorry I could not protect you, Calais,” I softly spoke to him. “Forgive me. I was so new to love and heartache, I did not know what to do after I lost you. But I did manage to move on and find someone else to love,” I explained.
