《An Afterlife Odyssey》03. The Lucider and the Ferryman
Advertisement
The moment I fell, I suddenly started wondering about gravity. How does it work in a world like this?
My butt hit the ground before long, and I heard a thump. I looked over to see the Charon, so I got back up and ran.
The ground under my feet was still pitch black, but I could see where it ended. Above my head, the sky swirled slowly like liquid, and emitted a pale light in undefined colors. We were no longer at the entrance to Irkalla.
The Charon kept chasing, I kept running. It was like a silent cartoon. I didn't know where I was or where I was going; Erek gave me no further instructions except not to enter Irkalla. There were no stars to guide me, only a kind of hazy instinct.
The Charon occasionally yelled and cursed. Goddamn lucider, they called me. Must be refering to lucid dreams.
The way it felt, was indeed like a lucid dream. Maybe this had all been just a dream. Maybe Death was just a long dream. Maybe the whole universe was a dream, and I was God.
Once again I reached a dead end. A cliff. I could see in the distant, however, the other side, hiding in the mist. A swift, terrible current flowed between the two sides.
If this was a dream, I could make it to the other side. My feet bounced up from the ground, and I let myself float. It worked. I could try to fly.
"Yer aren't fool enough t' try t' cross the Styx by yerself, are yer?"
A figure, tall, hooded and ancient, emerged from God knows where. He sounded like an old man. He held out a yellow lantern between his bony, darkened fingers, scrutinizing me. A long stick in his other hand.
"How'd yer get to this side anyway? Are yer dead?"
I stared at him, a bit startled by the question. Should I admit I was dead?
Advertisement
"As a human, yes, I am living a new life."
The Charon caught up to me but halted and curiously looked at the old one. He turned and pointed the lantern towards the Charon. Then, totally ignoring them, he turned back to me:
"Good eyes. Yer don't look like yer dead."
"Oh but she is!" The Charon said, walking forth.
"Get back, puny puppet! This is MY water!"
The old one's voice was not loud, but menacing. The Charon seemed to gasp. They asked in frustration:
"Who are you, anyway?"
The old one lowered his lantern and stood straight up:
"Ah, yer know me. They called me Old Man Charon."
The other "Charon" was dumbfounded. They shook their head:
"You're not in the system."
"Didn't have a "system" back then. Didn't need no puppets. Five gold coins for the other side, young lady." Old Charon summoned a little boat. I fumbled to will five little gold coins into existence. They weren't pretty, but they passed for gold. The "young Charon" protested but the old man continued to scare them away.
"Didn't know you raised the price." I smiled.
"Naw. Still one gold for the way here, five for the way back. Always. But only for the good folks." Old man Charon pushed me onto the boat. "Sit tight."
The young Charon jumped up and down by the shore. They seemed to have been blocked by something.
The old man hit the shore with his stick and the boat flew slowly, slipped through the few gaps in the great current. The current felt terribly powerful, yet it made no sounds. I unconsciously sat as modest as I could in the middle of the boat.
"The Styx is merciless. She'd tear yer apart." The old man laughed. I nervously nodded.
"Living, dead. No one's got a thing against the rivers. They watch us. They watch everything. From Hell to Heaven. Everything. Keep them in check."
Advertisement
Old Charon sounded proud. I didn't understand much, but at least I'd know better now not to jump into currents. The Styx was terrifying up close.
"Excuse me." I decided to ask. "How do I enter the country of demons?"
"Demons!" The old man continued to steer the boat with the stick. "That's what they call them now, isn't it? Well, I wouldn't know. Why'd yer want t' go?"
"I'm... interested to see one of them." I said. Black smoke suddenly came out of the tablet I held - and completely forgot I was holding. The smoke formed a shape and the young Charon sat there next to me, disgruntled.
"Ah. Yer can't be away from the tablet, little puppet?" Old Charon laughed.
"Shut up." The young one said. "Give that back to me!" They demanded. I shook my head. No way.
"Yer'll probably find demons in the old land too." Old Charon suddenly returned to my question. "If that's what yer interested in."
"Not just any demon..." I confided, reluctantly. "I have one particular in mind."
"What gives?"
"I don't know." I shrugged. "Some stories. Some dreams. Before I knew it I just wanted to see them."
"Some love-struck girl yer are!" Old Charon laughed again. "Bet yer make things like songs and statues. Crafty folks are always like that."
"Is that how it was? You were in love with a demon? More like the idea of one?" The other Charon leaned toward me, trying to snatch the tablet again but failed. "You didn't even have a proof of connection. Talk about being delusional."
"Delusional or not, I couldn't be locked up in there. I'm sorry." I said, scowling. "Where are we going anyway? I just wanted to get away from Irkalla..."
"To yer Mother." Old Charon said. "There she is!"
We had arrived on the other side. I could see right away that it was a vast land. I shuddered because something felt different. The winds. The winds brought smells. I was breathing for some reason, and my heart was beating.
"What is this place..." I uttered.
"Used t' be called Earth." Old Charon shrugged. "Welcome back t' life. Try not t' lose it again!"
"Lucider. The tablet." The young Charon stayed on the boat, holding out their hand. I'd come to like the nickname they gave me. I held out the tablet to them, but stopped halfway.
"Are you sure about this?" I asked.
"Sure what?" They frowned, or that was my impression.
"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?"
The Charon froze. "What nonsense-..."
"You don't have a proper name. You're overworked. He called you a puppet and you didn't even retort. Come on, you've never set foot out of Irkalla, have you?"
Not that they had a foot. My bad.
The Charon gazed at me for a bit, then said:
"I'm not like you, Lucider. I don't have choices."
They floated onto the ground to reach for the tablet in my hand, pausing for a few seconds, staring at the brown-red soil, then looked up:
"Go find your demon."
As soon as the tablet left my hand, the Charon faded away. The old Charon tapped the shore with his stick again and steered the boat back into the mist.
The young Charon's words somehow lingered in my head, and tugged at my heart.
Advertisement
On the Road to Elspar (Book 1)
The year is 1329. The Huntress' War has entered its tenth year, inflaming competing nationalisms and pitting the Confederacy of Caldrein against one of the continent's superpowers, the Tenereian Union. Desperately outnumbered, the Confederacy has relied on the prowess of its famed Caldran mercenaries, with highly-trained and experienced warbands returning from foreign conflicts to the defense of their homeland, and it is on their backs that Caldrein has successfully mounted a valiant defense for a decade. But they are losing, and day by day, with all the grace of a sledgehammer, the vast Tenereian armies take one more bit of Caldran territory, one footstep at a time. Sixteen-year-old Neianne from the village of Caelon has submitted herself to Faulkren Academy, one of the centuries-old institutions established to train the next generation of Caldrein's elite soldiers of fortune, to learn the ways of wars for three years before embarking upon the defense of her country. Her dryad family once hailed from reclusive woodland communes isolated from Caldrein's complicated mainstream society, and her upbringing leaves the shy village girl unprepared to suddenly train alongside other apprentices from backgrounds as low as the dirty slums of Caldrein's cities and as high as the halls of aristocratic power. Yet the war is eroding the norms and traditions that the Caldran people have long considered part of their national mythos, and the tensions within the confederacy that have long simmered under the surface - race, class, community, identity - are slowly but surely dividing its people, and Neianne must grow and discover who she really is, even as the war that she is steadfastly training for comes to its inexorable end... On the Road to Elspar is a fantasy quest - a work of interactive fiction wherein readers get to vote on what happens next at critical junctures - that is the first entry in a story that follows Neianne of Caelon, which first began on July 20, 2016. Originally a three-part in medias res prologue to a larger story titled On the Elsparian Road, it was eventually decided that this section - which covers Neianne's three years at Faulkren Academy - become its own independent story due to length, structural, and accessibility reasons. Despite this being a reader interactive work of fiction, due to logistical and verification concerns, voting will only be counted on its thread on the forum Sufficient Velocity, where this story originally began. As such, the content here on Royal Road serves as a story-only archive. You are, of course, entirely welcome to enjoy On the Road to Elspar as a conventional work of fiction, just as you are welcome to comment, discuss, and provide critique. But if you would like to participate in the voting, then I would be honored to welcome you on Sufficient Velocity. To facilitate accessibility and to ensure the best reading experience, this story-only version of On the Road to Elspar will be updated at a periodic pace, even though further content exists, so as to not overwhelm new readers on Royal Road. If you enjoy this story, wish to binge it, and/or want to participate in voting immediately, you may of course read all additional content via the link provided above. This paragraph will be removed once the content on Royal Road catches up with what has already been posted in its original thread. Cover artwork by DreamSyndd.
8 334Beyond The Worlds[BTW]
Would you like to travel to another world? Crossing different dimensions and realities? reach a power that no one has ever reached? Shin Akash did not know that he had started his journey to reach the ABSOLUTE. Finding companions along his journey and forming an invincible team, he climbed step by step. From student to team leader. from an ordinary human being to the Absolute. ------------------------------------------------ - ----- Warning! The characters in this novel will have an extremely high power level, so the protagonists will have some big power boosts throughout the series; however, this will not be frequent and they will grow up "healthy". I guarantee you will understand why in the end. This story will not be focused on the Harem. The protagonist will not be the full focus of the story. All the main characters in the story will have their highlights 1- English is not my native language, so I apologize for the spelling mistakes; 2-the whole story is original; however, there are some minor references to other works. 3-All worlds are fictional (including our protagonist's world), so don't use the "common sense" of our world in this novel Chapter words: 800-1500 ATTENTION THE COVER ART IS NOT MINE; HOWEVER, I HAVE NOT FOUND THE ARTISTS' NAME YET, IN IT I OFFER MY FULL CREDIT TO THE BEAUTIFUL ARTS. Book cover: pinterest
8 191What the Green Bird Sees
On a lovely tree with vibrant leaves that welcome the dawning spring, sits a little green bird. Like all of the humans it watches, the small creature is just as ordinary yet just as unique. Some days, it spreads its viridescent wings to survey a rooftop. Other days, it puffs up its fluffy feathers and takes a nap. What lives has the little bird flown by? What stories has it witnessed? This is the tale of the little green bird's adventures, its journey through the skies. This fiction updates every day, with each new story involving a word with a beautiful meaning. Cover art credits to lx!
8 210Echoes of Ruin
Ruthven is a soldier that works under the Defense Squadron of Carlisle. One day when he encounters a demon upon beating it realizes his wounds were fatal and will kill him. Faced with the choice to live and accept a curse or die and leave everything behind, he decides to live. Once the curse is afflicted, however, there is no turning back. This is a tale of Ruthven, a normal man, through his own desperation becomes The King Of Ruin.
8 118Dark Desires (MxMxMxM)
Book I: Their Baby BoyBook II: Dark Desires (mxmxmxm)Iris Scarlatti Volturion is moving away from Creatures academy.His parents are finding it hard to accept their baby is growing up so fast.Iris is cold,ruthless and a killing machine when it comes to a threat on his friends or family.He is a powerful hybrid, with a vampire,demon, Lycan Wolf.He is the heir of the vampire throne so he has a lot of challengers,the elders didn't agree that a hybrid should take over the vampires so Iris built his own empire,his own kingdom. The final kingdom of hybrids.Hybrids all over the world came together and lived in Iris's kingdom.Millions of hybrid packs and clans,covens and groups were formed and hybrids came out of hiding because of Iris's kingdom that began its reign.Iris's kingdom was the strongest in the 15 kingdoms.The vampires,the werewolves, the demons , dragons, angels , fallen angels, the nymphs, witches ,warlocks, fairies, mermaids and serpents,the dwarfs and the hybrids.Griffin shifters,hellhounds and Death Wishes served the hybrid king and were the loyalest creatures he had saved.Now,a meeting was set up upon the 15 kingdoms to figure out a growing threat of human hunters.And upon this meeting,Iris discovers his 'mates'
8 183DEVIL IN ME ▹ supernatural[1]
DEVIL IN ME| "human's make mistakes all the time, but the good ones don't run away from their problems, they deal with them". [SUPERNATURAL SEASON 13][DISCLAIMER; I do not own supernatural or anything from the show, all rights go to the creators and owners of everything. I only own my OC and nothing else]
8 153912