The Third Camp Trilogy: The Chaotic End

Chapter sixteen: Carrie

I struggled against his grip, which only made it worse. His hands were tight on my throat, his nails keeping it anchored. I clawed at his hands, trying to drag him off of me, but he continued to hold fast. Soon, the blood flow and oxygen flow would be cut off from my brain and I would pass out... Or worse.

My legs flailed uselessly beneath me, until I swung them forward and kicked Siopilos in the chest. His nails retracted from my throat and I dropped to the ground, trying to breathe after he had attempted to crush my windpipe.

I almost wanted to ask why he attacked me, why he had tried to rip out my vocal chords, but there was no point. He would give me the normal response to that question: A variation of "Because you're alive."

I coughed and glared up at Siopilos, who was holding his ribs and giving me the evil eye.

"You must learn to be silent," He whispered, sounding dangerous as his hand shot forward and grabbed me by the neck again. "And if you don't, I will make you be silent... Forever."

Swinging my legs back, I prepared to kick him again and run when I hit the ground, but instead he let go of me and disappeared, his form seeming to fold into the darkness.

My throat burned and I could hardly breathe. My hand, the one that grasped my neck in pain, was sticky with my warm crimson blood. I was dizzy from the blood loss, and the cut off of circulation, but I managed to stumble to my feet and clutch my head with one hand.

The landscape spun around me, making me dizzier by the second. But I continued onward, stumbling through hell in a daze.

Hours upon hours later, I was still bedraggled and feeling half-dead as I climbed a steep cliff. I forced myself to climb the mountain in front of me, dragging my body up the vertical slope, my chest heaving and my muscles trembling with the shockingly painful effort of climbing.

'Curse you, Ares,' I wanted to yell. 'Curse you for falling into the pit, curse you for being an idiot!' But I had to save my breath. My throat still burned, dried blood stinging my skin from where Siopilos' nails had punctured my scarred flesh. Breathing hurt, and yelling would only make it worse.

You're almost there, I told myself. Just keep climbing. You're almost there.

Looking up the cliff I climbed, I began to doubt my mental stability.

It would take me another hour to reach a ledge where I could rest. And after that, I would have to climb for another half-mile of vertical rock until I could rest again.

So... Why am I trying to encourage myself to do this again?

Oh, right.

I don't have a choice.

"Of course you have a choice, boy." I voice spoke above me. "There's always a choice."

I looked up at Janus and frowned. "What do you want? I'm busy trying not to fall here."

Almost on cue, a small cascade of pebbles scattered out from under my foot as I tried to continue climbing, and fell into the misty darkness below.

My knuckles were white from the grip my calloused, scar-littered hands had on the less than inch-wide ledges I had to hold on to. If I fell, my mission would not be complete, and my afterlife-punishments would be a lot worse. So I clung to the sheer rock like it was fly paper.

"I only want to speak with you. After all, you are very close to my daughter, and I—"

"Grace? She has nothing to do with what I'm doing right now. Unless you are going to open a door to the location of Ares, then I'm not listening to a word you say." I tried not to wince as my throat's fire began to burn again.

Janus sighed. "Alright. Fine. If you do not want what information I have to offer, goodbye."

And when I looked up to question him, he was gone.

But the rest of the looming cliff, to my disappointment, was still there. So I continued to climb the cliff until I reached the ledge above me.

My chest heaved with the effort of pulling myself up onto the ledge, just barely wide enough for me to sit on.

I held my shaking, aching hands up to my face.

My fingers were coated, slick with blood, and caked in rubble from the crumbling cliff I was attempting to climb.

My skin stung from the acid in the toxic air around me, the toxic air my lungs had adapted to over the years I had spent down here.

My arms felt sore, like I had just climbed three miles straight up on a slick surface... Which I had.

My legs were still trembling from the effort of climbing, of holding myself up on those less-than-an-inch-wide ledges.

I wanted to take a deep breath and try to relax, but there's no such thing in hell. You don't breathe deeply, you don't relax, you don't rest, and you don't eat or drink. My stomach grumbled and I sighed.

"Onward and upward," I breathed, causing my throat to burn, I winced and got to my feet and faced the cliffside.

As I brushed off my bloody, dirty hands, I reached up and dragged myself up on another tiny ledge.

Sweat dripped off my chin and down into oblivion below as I continued to climb. My hands had gotten clammy and shook with every move I made. Every few ledges, when I went to grab on, it would crumble away to dust, leaving me to try and find a steady ledge to pull myself up on.

I'll advise you now; Do not try this at home. You will slip and fall and die. Don't say I didn't warn you.

By now, I was panting and in horrible pain. Sweat was drizzling down my back, over the scars that still hadn't healed yet, and causing stabs of pain with every move. With each stab, my hands would spasm, and I would almost lose my death-grip on the mountainside.

Unfortunately for me, I didn't fall.

After another five hours, and another ten miles straight up, I finally hoisted myself onto the top of the cliff. I rested on my stomach, looking out ahead of me at the landscape.

There will be no resting, boy. I felt my dog tag buzz against my chest.

Please, I sat up with a wince and began to tap back to Lady Athena. Let me rest for a few minutes, please.

You may rest when you are done with your mission. You've been down there for two weeks, hurry up. Athena ordered.

I sighed and closed my eyes, before opening them again and getting to my feet.

"Another two weeks of my life, stolen by the Pit." I whispered to no one, then my slow procession through hell continued.