River Styx

The river was wider than any sea he had ever seen.

Its waters were black.

No moon reflected upon them.

No stars.

Nothing.

Only darkness.

The boy stepped toward the shore.

The water moved.

He felt it reaching for him.

The trident began to glow.

He raised it.

The river recoiled.

For a moment, the darkness parted.

A path appeared.

He stepped onto it.

The Styx whispered beneath his feet.

Voices rose from the water.

Thousands of them.

Some begged him to stay.

Some called his name.

Some sounded like his mother.

He kept walking.

The further he went, the colder the air became.

Behind him, the path disappeared.

Ahead, enormous gates appeared from the darkness.

The gates of the Underworld.

He stopped before them.

There was no guard.

No army.

No ancient power waiting to challenge him.

Only a single inscription carved into the stone.

NO SOUL RETURNS UNCHANGED.

He looked back.

There was nothing behind him.

He looked forward.

The gates opened.

He stepped through.

And for the first time, he understood.

He was no longer searching for the Underworld.

He was inside it.