Read Underworlds #1: The Battle Begins for Free Online Page A

“We’re pretty sure you took her.”
    I was glad she said it, so I didn’t have to.
    Hades’ eyes turned as black as the river we had just crossed. He allowed himself to look at the lyre for the first time. “I see you’ve got Orpheus’s old noisemaker. I won’t ask where you found it.”
    “It’s the real one,” said Jon.
    “Oh, I know it is,” said Hades. “Do you have any idea of the power it possesses?”
    I swallowed. “We’re here, aren’t we?”
    Hades’ eyes narrowed. “Except that it’s far easier to enter my Underworld than it is to leave it. In fact, in the whole history of my kingdom, only a few ever made the return journey. The entrances to the Underworld are many. The exits are few. You’ve been lucky enough to find an opening that is both. Yet, this is the Underworld. It’s like the name. Your friend has gone under . She’s lost to you.”
    It felt like my heart was trying to beat its way up to my throat. “Dana isn’t lost. She was kidnapped. She shouldn’t be here —”
    “Kidnapped!” Hades boomed, standing to his full terrifying height. “I run a tidy ship, little humans! If someone has fooled with the entrances and exits of my world, I shall discover it! If anyone has violated my laws, I shall take action!”
    His words echoed around and around the arena. When they finally drifted away, Sydney raised her hand. “Sir, the Valkyries told us something was going on. And we saw a wolf. Fenrir —”
    Grrr … grrrr … grrrrr. Several animals growled behind the giant throne.
    Hades looked down suddenly and sat again. “Ooh, did the dogs hear a name they don’t like?” he said. “ Hmm? Fenrir is not here, my little friends. Come out. Come out!”
    A hideous, black-furred head emerged from the darkness behind the throne. It was the size of a garbage can. A second head swung out after it, its fur silver white. A third ugly head lolled between the first two, nearly furless, with swollen eyes, its red snout battered and scarred. The heads were connected.
    “Cerberus,” Sydney whispered, tapping the cover of Dana’s book. “He’s in here, too. The three-headed dog. The lunch ladies said to look out for three, fifty, and a hundred. Could this be the three ?”
    Hades gave us a cold grin. “I call the poor middle one Anger, because the other two take his food. This makes him lean and hungry. Beware all three of them, but most of all beware Anger. He is slow to eat but quick to fight.”
    I couldn’t believe I was standing in the Underworld, talking to Hades. I couldn’t believe I was standing in front of his three-headed dog.

    I couldn’t believe I was standing.
    Then I remembered Miss Hilda’s question. You fight for what’s right, don’t you?
    “Dana,” I repeated. “We want to bring her home. We have to. Now.”
    Hades looked directly at me with his flaming eyes. “If your friend was brought here illegally, I will know it soon. In the meantime, a little bargain …”
    I remembered Dana’s words. Beware Hades’ bargains.
    Hades rolled an object nearly as tall as himself from the shadows. It was an ancient hourglass. Black sand poured from the top into the bottom.
    He tapped the glass and stared at me. I tried to hold his gaze. “I’ll let you take your friend back. But there are rules: You have to find her first. You have the lyre. It worked for Orpheus … more or less.” He looked off into the distance. “Your friend is not far, being held like all newcomers. There’s a plain. A big mud hill. A tower. You have an hour to find her. Let’s see what you’re made of.”
    “So this is a test?” Jon said.
    Hades’ eyes burned white. “Everything is a test! The question is, have you studied? Now go! GO! GO!”
    Suddenly, the arena erupted with angry voices. “Go! Go!” chanted the millions of hooded figures all around us. Their voices roared louder and louder as their bony hands pointed beyond the arena.
    Cerberus’s three heads growled at us and