Kat blurted out an unmistakeable chuckle but instantly covered his mouth, as if clearing his throat of a nasty bug called humanity.
"Pass it here!" Harmony demanded, snatching it from the permanently pale knight.
"My dear!" he gawked. "You, you smoke?"
"Of course not!" she exclaimed. "But I will be part of this ceremony!"
Inhaling, Harmony revealed her wish for divine forgiveness then returned the pipe to the Apache, who enjoyed its last few whiffs of tranquillity. Fine company was indeed a rare blessing.
"Will you come with us?" I asked. "There's room for another. Who knows, you may even find your peace along the way."
"Adventure!" promised Eddinray. "Pearl too! Marvellous pearl!"
"And a way out of Hell,” I finished. "Kat will lead us."
"Yes!" Urged Harmony. "You will travel with us! It's settled then."
Packing away his pipe and pouch, the Apache stood creakily from his crossed legs, securing the longbow over his shoulder. "Is this true?" he asked Kat, genuinely interested. "You truly found a way out?"
The idea of escape was something I assumed Kat would take care of, that it was all in his good hands — until he dropped this bombshell. "That route is now impossible. I know of no other way out of Hell."
Staggered, and with no further explanations from Kat, I could not contain my anger and frustration. "That was the task Newton set you!" I yelled at his cold face. "To escort me to Hell and back, Harmony and Eddinray now included! I don't understand you Kat, how can there be no way out? Tell us your route? Go on! How did you escape this shit hole in the first place?"
All of us doubting his legend now, Kat didn't care about our opinions, or our questions.
"My way," he said, agitated; "was one way. I will not discuss the matter."
"Then…we are stuck here?" whimpered Harmony. "There must be a way. Why, there must!"
"There is,” spoke the Indian, our fear and desperation somehow dissipating before his calm aura. I hoped his joining us would add this much-needed virtue to our group. "The Gauntlet,” he said, stretching a finger far beyond the labyrinth. "Every soul who ever attempted the run has found their flesh ground against its teeth. I have never come across this trial of trials myself, but if you do, remember that your body is precious — it is all we have left now."
"Then the Gauntlet is our way,” I said, resolved. "How do we find it?"
"The Kat found his way," the Indian returned; "if it is God's wish, you will find yours." He then approached the labyrinth steps.
"Come with us!" I called to him.
"Thank you for the water,” he stopped to say, his smile followed by a final, courteous nod.
Kat and the Apache had two prominent things in common: both were leaders of men, and both were lost in Hell. We watched the mysterious Indian continue barefoot down the steps and toward the labyrinth, his potent smoke lingering long after.
***
No trace of skylight penetrated the labyrinth floor. It was narrow down here with damp walls easily beating thirty feet. We started through a corridor of considerable length, occasionally passing robust iron grates a body in length, and wafting up a volcanic heat. These grates held our weight over them, and looking down through the pattern of iron bars, one could see the mixing cauldron at this realm's very core.
"Ghastly,” said Harmony, rubbing the burn from her bare arms.
Surprisingly, the labyrinth did not keep us long before offering a choice in direction. We had reached a fork, with stone curving right and an identical corridor curving left. Customarily, Kat made the decisions, and going against the advice of Virgil, he settled for a right turn.
"We've passed twenty seven grates now,” said a weary Eddinray, some time later. "Am I the only one expecting some awful beastie to leap hungrily out from each?"
"This is nothing more than a garden maze,” returned Harmony, face perspiring. "Imagine Godwin that you are attending a grand tea party held by Louis the 14th. The palace of Versace awaits us!"
"Better the awful beastie!" he remarked. "That pompous king of yours would stretch my English neck on site!"
The journey continued through this complicated meander, and there would be no arguing with Kat over direction. Randomly he chose now — left or right corridors, whatever took his fancy. The labyrinth was all the more difficult to navigate as there was not a single distinctive feature to guide us. Nothing but Kat's fickle instinct.
"I spy with my little eye," said Eddinray, drowning out the eerie click of our footsteps over the grates, "something that begins with?" (Thinking) Nope. My mind is barren!"
"Oh, can I have a go?" asked Harmony, enthusiastically. "I spy with my little eye, something that begins with R. R for rabbit!"
"Is it a rabbit?" said Eddinray.
"Nope,” she grinned back.
"A relic?" he guessed, waggling a thumb to Kat's back.
"Nope."
"Is it a rock? A rapscallion perhaps? I'm right, aren't I?"
"Nope!"
"A radish then?" he said, frustrated. "It must be a radish!"
Harmony rolled the eyes in her head. "Godwin, I can scarcely imagine a radish in Hell! I won't play with a silly person!"
"Rigmarole?" he quipped. "Certainly feels like it."
"Shush!" yelled Kat, turning to stop the pair on their toes. "Enough of this…jabber! Enough of it!"
Eddinray and Harmony sheepishly shrunk to appease the infuriated samurai, who after an alignment of the topknot, resumed his quiet lead
***
We had been long in the labyrinth, like zombies through the monotony. I attempted to keep spirits up during this march by recounting the various cases I had worked on as a detective in 21st century Earth. The memories came to mind with a crisp freshness, but hardly one worth remembering — crime prevention was a dirty business after all. One particular story however seemed to spark their interest — the adulterous case of a husband who butchered his wife. "What drives one to kill?" Harmony pondered.
"Such violence boggles the mind."
After an awkward silence from us men, I felt obliged to answer. "In my experience Harmony, two things drive people to murder: love and money. Or in most cases, the love of money."
"Defending ones life!" added Eddinray. "Sometimes my dear, one is left no choice."
Harmony had little time to consider the subject, for Kat jogged ahead to a smudge of something new. With volts of excitement, we rest upped the pace, hoping to see the end of this tiresome conundrum.
"Well done Kat!" Harmony exclaimed, delighted. "Your instincts are second to none! How did you know?"
He didn't. All hope was lost as we arrived at the foot of many steps, the very same we had descended several hours ago. "Knew it!" I moaned, holding an accusing eye at Kat. "We should have stuck to the left! Like we were damn told! Shit!"
I stepped back to control my temper, as a deflated Eddinray slumped to one knee. It was now Harmony's turn to raise group moral. She tried, but didn't have the words or the heart for it
***
His grating voice spirited us from our bleak dejection. An alien voice.
"Lost your way?"
A humped figure was hobbling down those steps behind us. His entire form was concealed under a damp hanging cloak, and his left arm supported all his weight on a staunch looking spear. I thought it was the Ferryman at first, but only at first; there was no coiling snake around this man's hand, and no rattling bones as he walked.
"Who are you?" demanded Kat, standing to arm himself.
The twisted form remained silent as he took a fragile step and limp down the last remaining steps.
"Move no closer!" Kat warned him, the katana blocking his path. "Who are you?"
The creature's fingers curled and clung for life around the spear, his flesh of his hand a grassy green and prickly with hair. "I seek a favour." he said, drained and ancient underneath his cloth. "My name is Wisp — merchant in Hell-fire. I trade blades and bows, the rarest and latest weapons. I see the man there has a very unusual blade by his thigh. May I have a closer inspection?"