He wasn't sure how long that the River Acheron pulled him along. He wasn't even sure if he was being pulled along truth be told. The souls of others who were doomed to the river constantly swirled around them, their screams deafening from their close proximity. The feeling of being nothing more than a spirit in a river of the spirits of murderers was unsettling in the most extreme sense of the word. Though they were in eternal damnation, Ryker could clearly feel that none of the murderers around him regretted their actions in the slightest. That distinction between him and them was the only thing that gave Ryker solace and let him hang onto his sanity, though only just.
Give up. Those around him crooned, their non-corporeal hands reaching at him from all sides. You belong here, you belong with us. Give up.
Those constant taunts and commands for Ryker to give up his own individuality to the river was what finally gave him the strength and presence of mind to escape the river. It wasn't easy. Breaking the surface of the river alone was borderline impossible. The water pushed against him at least as hard as he pushed against it, and every time that he was about to break free the souls of the damned would drag him back deep into the river and he would have to start the process again. But, stubborn as he was, Ryker kept trying.
His arm was what broke the surface first. The moment that his limb touched the rancid air of the Underworld the rest of his body was jolted as though a surge of electricity had passed through him. His head broke the surface next, though this was far easier now. Then his other arm. With a large amount of difficulty Ryker paddled over to the edge of the river, fighting off the hands of the damned as they fought to keep one of their own amongst them. But in the end Ryker would not be denied. He grabbed a ridged stone on the river's side and hauled himself out of the water, kicking out to detach the last of the damned souls from where they had latched onto him. He staggered several steps forward until he was well and truly free of the river when he fell forward onto his hands and knees and struggled to catch his breath. His skin tingled and burned with the memory of the pain it had been subjected to, but it already had begun to fade away.
"What have we here?" A hissing voice asked airily. Ryker could not bring his head up to look at what had spoken, but he heard the sound of leathery wings flapping in front of him until they stopped directly in front of him. Two birdlike feet ending in wicked talons came into his field of view and Ryker felt hot breath on the nape of his neck. "Someone escaped the River Acheron did they? Oh, the judges will not be happy about that. No they won't. I shoulds tell them and get a reward, yes I should. But what is the escapee's name?"
Ryker didn't bother answering. Even if he had been able to, he wouldn't have. He just focused on getting his breath back and quieting his shaking limbs. He felt something peck at the back of his neck and he scowled and winced simultaneously. "It doesn't want to answer." The bird-thing chirped, annoyed. "But it needs to talk so that I can tell the judges so that they will reward me for it."
Before Ryker's time in the River Acheron he would have killed the bird-creature without a second thought and zero hesitation. But after seeing and feeling the bloodlust and joy that murderers and their ilk felt while committing their atrocities, he found that he at least wanted to give this creature the chance to save itself. "You…. Need… to go away." Ryker warned. He managed to raise his head and fix the creature with a glare. It was an ugly beast, but that was common. It had bat-like wings, a very wickedly pointed beak, and its chest was covered in mottled red scales like that of a dragon. A long rat-like tail that was twice as long as the creature itself was. The thing was not very big however, no larger than a good sized chicken.
"No, I need to go tell the judges yes I do." The bird began to spread its wings as though to fly away. It then made its fatal mistake, it turned its back on Ryker as it began to fly away. The demigod grabbed the chicken-thing by the tail and dragged it backward with one arm. The chicken squawked out, "Let me go now dead demigod!"
"I'm not dead, not anymore." Ryker snarled. He momentarily released the creature's tail just long enough to grab both of the leathery wings. The chicken creature fought and squawked and threatened him even as Ryker dunked him beneath the river Acheron. Immediately the ghostly hands of the damned reached up and grabbed onto the chicken. They attempted to grab onto Ryker as well, but he had recovered to the point that he was able to dislodge them with little effort. The chicken however was not so fortunate. The last Ryker saw of it was its stricken and terrified eyes staring up at him as it was dragged ever deeper into the River. "But you are." He told the bird, though it clearly could not hear him.
He got slowly to his feet and took stock of his surroundings. The river had brought him into the very depths of the Underworld, though as to where he was Ryker did not have the slightest clue. He turned in a slow circle and then sighed. The air was hot and heavy around him, pressing against his flesh like a physical object. His limbs still felt heavy from his time in the Acheron, but at the very least the river had somehow restored to him the clothes he had died in. His faux hand was missing, but then again so were the rest of his weapons. In the gloom of the Underworld his cloak melted against the darkness. It was almost difficult for even Ryker to see his arm against the dark background.
He glanced back to the river and suppressed a shudder. His time in the Acheron had been, by a large measure, the absolute worst time in his life… or afterlife. The phantom memory of those who were doomed to the river and the pleasure that they took in killing, torturing, and causing others pain left a sick taste in his mouth. Even killing the creature who had threatened to expose him to the judges was weighing heavily on Ryker's conscience. If the purpose of the river was to make those trapped inside of it to look back and repent upon their crimes, it was certainly an effective tool.
Ryker had just set forward when a soft laugh came from behind him, right where the creature had gone into the River Acheron. He slowly turned back around, uncertain of what he was about to face. Sure enough, he was not alone. Standing right by the river's edge was a woman with a long dark grey dress and two lanterns held in her hands. "You know, that is the first time I have ever seen anyone able to escape my spell." She told him, her tone slightly annoyed. "Do you know how upset Zeus will be with me if he learns that one of the souls condemned to the Acheron escaped? Especially you. I imagine that he would be quite upset."
"So you came to put me back in, right?" Ryker challenged her. Orion had warned him of this. The Underworld had countless measures to protect itself from any potential soul who sought to cause trouble. Many of those measures had been in place for so long that they had been forgotten. Ryker desperately wished he had some sort of weapon, or at least a way to protect himself from the goddess. "Who are you?"
"I suppose that you wouldn't recognize me." The goddess sighed. "My name is Hecate. And yes, I am here to put you back to where you belong. Before I do so, I don't suppose that you would be willing to tell me how you managed to break through? My enchantment on the surface of that River was strong enough so that even Titans or Giants would have issues breaking through. Even the most powerful of demigods would find the task impossible. And you would not have held a candle to Hercules or Odysseus."
Hecate. The Goddess of Magic. Ryker took another deep breath and very slowly let it out, watching her intently. This was a very bad matchup for him, even if he had been fully armed. From what he had been told by Hazel, this goddess did not fight with conventional means. Magic was not something that could be overcome by force of will, which left Ryker with no other choice. He feinted at her and she brought up her lanterns, the flames blazing brightly before her. But Ryker had expected that. The second that the lanterns had obscured Hecate's vision he turned on the spot and dashed off deeper into the Underworld.
He relied on the darkness of his clothes to help meld him into the shadows and gloom of the Underworld and when he was satisfied with the distance he had traveled he slowed to a walk and checked over his shoulder. "Looking for something, dear?" Hecate asked curiously, emerging from the air in front of him with a confident smirk. "I suppose that you were expecting to give me the slip. Sorry, while those clothes of yours are lovely…" She brandished one lantern as if in explanation. "You can't hide from me."
"I wasn't trying to." Ryker snarled at her. He was still lacking his usual ferocity in the words, but they served their purpose nonetheless. "I just wanted to get as far as I could from that River. Can't throw me back in if we aren't near it."
"Oh, you haven't noticed have you?" Hecate laughed and the lanterns glowed brighter for just a moment.
The sound of running water had Ryker whirling around and staring confusedly at the River Acheron which was flowing behind him. It was as though he had not run anywhere; he was exactly where he had emerged from the river. That left only one option. He had to fight the goddess, on her own territory where she was most powerful. A familiar, comforting, sense of recklessness rose up inside Ryker and he let out a soft laugh. "Fine." He said eagerly. The recklessness had replaced the uneasiness that the river had left him and he now realized the futility of running away. "Let's play."
"Interesting, you aren't the slightest bit afraid of me are you?" Hecate asked, swinging the lanterns at her sides in a back and forth motion. She seemed rather unhappy about the general lack of fear that Ryker was displaying. "I am more than the goddess of the crossroads you know. Magic, witchcraft, entrances,-."
She kept talking, but Ryker had stopped listening. The goddess of entrances could be of great use to him. "Well then, let's make a deal shall we?" Ryker grinned at her with a wild ferocity.
