BURN IN HADES Read Online Free

in his life and death flooded into his mind, and rage stroked the fire in his heart.
    “I didn’t ask for your help, Skullface,” he scolded the tree. “I didn’t need your help. You sent me into the garden. And now…”
    “Cottontail should be with you.” The skull’s skeletal jaws clunked happily together as it spoke and its eye sockets bloomed with a white hot glow.
    “You don’t get to say her name!”
    “If I had lips I would smile at the sound of her name. Where is Cotton—?”
    Cross grabbed the bottom of Skullface’s jaw and held his boney mouth open. Unexpected moisture wet his hand. At first he thought it was some kind of sap, but its watery consistency was that of spit.
    Dry bark grew over most of the skull’s bones giving the skull an appearance of having incomplete flesh; there were tribal markings tattooed all over the exposed portions of the skull; and some deep scratches made Skullface look as if he had gotten into a fight with an angry bird, but nothing indicated that the skull produced any saliva.
    Cross released the skull’s jaw and wiped his hand on his shirt.
    “That was very rude of you,” said Skullface. “And dangerous. You must never do this again.”
    A branch whacked Cross over the head. It stung. He massaged his head and then checked his palm again. Still no sign of Cottontail’s second death. There was still a chance he could save her.
    “How deep do those worms go?” he asked.
    “Sometimes they go deeper than I can sense.”
    “How deep is that?”
    “My roots reach so far into the bowels of the underworld that I can feel the vibrations in the Inferno many sleep cycles before it erupts. By the way, expect a rather large eruption soon. If you stick to your sleep schedule, you should expect it to happen in your 119th period of sleep.”
    “Can sense any of those worms around right now?”
    “Currently, there are approximately one hundred eighty-two in this vicinity. But they come and go.”
    Cross needed an object of the dead to rescue Cottontail or a miracle from the Great Goddess herself. Even with digging tools, he’d never be able to find the exact worm that ate her. No way could search the stomachs of one hundred eighty-two worms without getting eaten himself. If he had known her true name he could have tracked her. Now she was lost forever.
    Cross sat down in the dirt, facing the tree and mumbled to himself. “Every time I bring someone with me they don’t last so long.”
    “What is all this about?” The skull’s voice clattered in a panic. “Where’s Cottontail?”
    “She’s on her way to paradise.” Cross chose to spare the skull’s feelings. It seemed happy to hear good news about Cottontail, and he didn’t want to break its heart—if it even had a heart.
    “Gone to paradise?” The bark peeled upward from the skull’s eye sockets and the glow inside them bloomed in surprise. “All by her lonely? I had hoped she would go along with you. I told her all about your scheme to leave her behind, and I promised that I would not allow that to happen. That’s why I lead you into the garden.”
    “The only reason I even told you is so you could feed her while I was gone.” Cross sprung from the ground and snapped a branch off the tree.
    A limb grabbed him by the arms and dangled him in front of the skull. Its glowing eye sockets dimmed.
    “Since the wars,” said Skullface, “no one would visit. I’m here all alone. Then you came. And you brought Cottontail.” Skullface’s eye sockets glowed white hot again, and the bark curled up the corners of its mouth. “I cherished every day you both spent here with me. Very much so. The three of us really make great companions. But I knew you couldn’t stay. And sorely, I am unable to move from my spot in this here ball court. This is my onus. But this inability to join you on your quest is what inspired me to do something nice for you. I only wished that you two would partner up at least. My true