HBH IV: Forges Of Hellfire

XII: Family Comes First

I closed the Scrying Mirror. I walked over to Rowan. "There's a hatch near the river, it leads to the Fir Bolg Camp, if you must- take Claudia and bring her there. Keep her safe for me." He nodded. Claudia tapped on my shoulder. "He'll be here soon." He opened the door and we began the chase to the river. I smiled kindly at him. He returned it with a tight-lipped smile. Claudia picked up an oar and threw it at me. "Looks like yours." I chuckled. I struck the bottom of the oar on the ground. It shifted into my sword. "Made a mistake giving me my sword back." I handed the glowing sword to Claudia. I raised my sword and cut the rope keeping the boat in place. The darkness began to spread. I could hear Gray bellow in rage. He ran towards the riverbank. Pandora leaned on him. She smirked. Gray looked around. "You'll all die! THE LETTER HAS BEEN SENT!" His voice slowly faded. "The letter to Mark?"

"Heck no, he hasn't written it."

"What about the letter he showed us?"

"It was fake."

"Why hasn't he sent it?"

"The paper letter basically disintegrated after the hawk left."

"So that's why it was never sent?"

"Not really, he's waiting for animal skin to dry to make parchment."

"Now that's pathetic."

"Exactly." He laughed. "He clearly couldn't find a better plan." I nodded. "What made you change?" He looked back as if checking if Gray was following us. "Saoirse." I looked up. "What about her?"

"She was my first friend."

"Really?"

"You might've never noticed me in camp."

"I probably didn't."

"Exactly, she cared for me and she showed me her mom's ship."

"She gave you a family."

"She did, she gave me hope that someone loved me."

"Then why, why did you leave them?"

"People do the craziest things for love, whether romantically or because they're the only family they have. I left to keep them safe. Or at least I thought I was."

"You did a great sacrifice."

"I know she won't forgive me, she never will."

"Because you killed her mom?"

"Exactly, it's just sad and it's so hard to deal with this."

"She'll forgive you."

"I'll probably run away from them." He looked down. He sighed. Claudia fell asleep beside me. "Gray is truly a monster." He nodded. "I've seen what he's done. I've seen him kill them." I nodded. "I was shocked with what he did with Claudia, really. I'm not joking." I sighed. "Anyone would've been shocked. Especially Claudia. One second you're seeing your best friend, the next you're falling to your death." Tears sprung to my eyes. "I wish I could keep her away from harm and from danger. I'd do anything for it."

"You have a lot to live for."

"So do you."

"I've lost everything, my pride, my home, my family all for that taste of revenge."

"You'll find new things to live for." He laughed. "Claudia is okay, she'll be fine." I looked up at him. "Really?"

"If you get out, tell Mark his sister is okay." I smiled. "Wanna see how the crew is?"

"You mean my family?"

"Yeah, I have a Scrying Mirror." He nodded. I opened the mirror and the image flickered into view. Saoirse stood over the sea cliffs. She sat on her father's shoulder. Her godly dad was Manannan Mac Lir. He pointed towards the horizon. He sighed knowing she was okay. Sadie was back on the ship. She was thin. She had sunken eyes filled with tears. "Sadie." A few months while on the quest with Claudia, Mark and Arin to retrieve old scrolls we had ridden on their ship. Rowan and Sadie were constantly beside each other. Sadie was basically attached to Rowan by a rope. I sighed. "What you did broke Sadie." He wiped his tears away. "I'd never seen her like this." Claudia turned on her side. I set down the mirror and stroked her hair. She slowly sat up. I hugged her tightly. "You okay?" She nodded. "Thanks Cynthia." Rowan stared at her. She froze. "I MEANT KENDRA!" I laughed. "I appreciate you seeing me like that." She sighed. Rowan chuckled before pulling out the maps. "So, we're in this volcano. We can find an empty chamber where the walls are thin and we can dig out from there."

"Okay, how do we dig out of there without drawing any attention from anyone? They're gonna hear us."

"News spreads slowly here."

"So what is your point here?"

"Most Fomorians if we get far away from Gray's office don't know I'm not anymore general."

"So they wouldn't suspect anything."

"Exactly."

"So we need proper digging gear, not a spoon."

"Or a bowl, luckily we have a drill."

"Hopefully you're right about the 'news spreads slowly here' part."

"I should be."

"Yeah." Claudia sighed. Rowan tucked the maps away. I could feel the steam of the river beginning to prick my skin. "Is it me or is it getting hotter?"

"Huh, I feel it too. Is the lake getting hotter?"

"I think it is." I looked below us. The stones were red and I could see a stream of lava below us. "That's probably because the floor of the lake is running with veins of lava." Rowan looked at the lake. "Magma, the blood that runs through the earth." I held my hand just barely above the water. The steam rose. "Yep, burning and will singe our skin off. Don't fall in." The boat hit the shore. We quickly raced off the boat and walked around. Even the ground is burning. "We only have one more direction to go."

"That's forward."

"The boiling lake is that way and certain death is the other way."

We walked until we reached a large chamber separated by the rest. It felt cold and like frost lined the sides. We entered the cave slowly. I looked up and saw a hatch. "There, a hatch."

"Where?"

"Up there."

"Huh?"

"Seriously?"

"Mind throwing my head in the right direction?"

"No."

"Then I won't look."

A/N

Books are now open for submission for the Watty2022. I won't be participating but good luck to all the ppl who enter! Have a great day or night.