My Kingdom, My Wife, and the Darkness

Part 2

 My realm has been referred to as Hell before. I do not like this. My kingdom is a rather drafty place, chill winds are more common that burning fires. And I do not enjoy watching the Prisoners. They are there out of duty. My brother has decreed their punishment, I simply make sure they are carried out. My wife and I avoid the Field Posts whenever we can. The Kindlys take care of most the business in that area. They dealt with most of the organization for the flood of newly dead as well and any other odd jobs I assign to them.

Never had the entrance been as backed up as this. Souls flitted about in crowds, blocking much of the entrance. It took some work to push past them and make it to the front. One spirit tried to block my way, but it was soon swept up with a few others. The room looked like swirling mud, cram packed but still in motion. Spirits heading this way and that, not with any destination in mind.

I made it past them eventually and up to the river bank. The boat was there and on it a lumped blanket that slowly rose at my approach. When I came up to the bow, it stood fully and turned to me. His bones looked brittle and some were missing. Behind him, the pole leaned against the boat in a comfortable position and I wondered how long it had been in that one spot. I wondered again how long I had been gone from this place.

As the skeleton looked at me it came closer to inspect and that's when I realized it wasn't who I thought it was. For starters, it was too large to be Charon, who had always looked small without the extra padding of skin and muscle. As I have said, it's bones were brittle and had a different texture than his did.

"Where is Charon?" I asked. The skeleton made a clicking sound in return and then there was a shriek as he pulled his sword from his scabbard. That was another thing; Charon never carried arms. The odd skeleton stepped onto the shore and made toward me. I grabbed the pole leaning against the boat and stepped back. Several spirits shot out of the way. A great number of the ghosts packed back, giving us room. The constant movement had ceased. All the spirits were watching.

The skeleton made a lazy swipe that I caught on my pole.

"Where-" I began. He made another swipe, quicker this time, and I stopped speaking to parry it. He gave several more in quick succession, each with increasing intensity. Very well. I swung the pole forward, knocking him in the jaw. It flew off, but the rest of him seemed perfectly fine as he jabbed again. I danced back, but the pole was heavy and he followed up. Leaping backwards, we did a kind of swivel around the shore, spirits backing up as we came near.

The spirits' breaths were in my ears as I moved back. The skeleton had tried a new tactic- slashing at my hand to make me drop the pole. He missed, hitting the middle of the pole and I took the chance to rush forward. The pole smashed into his chest and several ribs flew off. One struck me across the arm and drew shiny drops of blood. The skeleton quickly recovered and swiped at my head which I ducked. With a twist of my wrist I swung out the pole at him and it caught him in the hip, making him stagger backward. I rushed forward and stopped at the last second, making his swing catch on nothing, and then I brought the pole straight up. The strength it takes to lift a heavy pole straight up is a good deal more than you think. Even for me it was significantly taxing, but it worked. It smacked the sword clean out of his hands. As he turned and ran for where it was falling I launched the pole through the air where it smashed into his back. With a crunch, bone shards sprayed out. The spirits gurgled and danced around. I think they were cheering.

I hefted the pole back into the boat and used it to push off into the black river. Drops of blood from my arm fell into the dark water and swirled around before vanishing.