The world changed in an instant. James was still in a cavern, but this one was much, much larger than the one carved out of the heart of Mt. Issabella. There was light in this cavern, enough for James to see comfortably, but which seemed to have no distinct source. The pale red light seemed to emanate from the rock walls. When he looked behind himself James was not surprised to find himself alone, and his companions gone. The passage in that direction was sealed.

James noticed a small stream flowing through the lowest portions of the cavern about 100 yards down a gentle slope. Stalactites hung from the ceiling of the cavern, and a few stalagmites grew up from the floor. There seemed to be several routes and pathways leading towards the stream. James wondered what to do.

Suddenly, a man’s head peered around the corner from the middle passage, and he strode into full view. James began to hear distant voices from the same passageway.

“Young man, you must come with me,” stated the handsome fellow with dark blue robes, and sporting a remarkable white hat decorated with a pair of large dark feathered wings. “Please join our group, and I will guide you to the ferryman.”

James started off down the passage, which angled downwards, and as he approached the bend the voices grew more intelligible, “Please sir! I beg of you! Allow me to return to my family! I cannot leave them now!”

There were many voices, several of which were simple cries and wailing. James rounded the corner and was able to see the source of the commotion. A dozen or so people of mixed ages and appearances were in the cavern ahead of James. All appeared emotional and as the blue robed young man made his way through the middle of them, they clutched and grabbed at his robes. There was even a child, who seemed disoriented amid the confusion.

The man in the winged hat seemed intent on calming them down and insisted that they must follow him down the passageway. Eventually they all agreed to his request. Downwards they journeyed, staying close together while the group negotiated the cave route, ever downwards and always lit by the red glow from the walls. All the way, members of the travelling party complained and begged to be returned to the “upper world”. Everyone was greatly distressed.

Presently the corridor began to expand and the unlikely group of travelling companions emerged into a vast underground space. Natural pillars held up the roof of the cavern here and there. He also noticed a dull roar coming from ahead. As James followed the distraught travellers they eventually arrived at a steeply descending section of the route where he could finally view a good proportion of this underworld. Much larger than any underground space should be, this place had many notable features. Most obvious was the source of the roar, much louder now; a huge waterfall tumbling down into the city sized cavern. The water was odd in color, almost black. James found it difficult to understand how a waterfall could be black, even in the relatively dim setting he found himself.

The waterfall seemed to be falling from above, almost as if a large lake or the ocean itself was draining a portion of its volume into the underworld. The flow created a bowl-like pool of roiling black water which turned into a river flowing right to left below James’s viewpoint. James soaked in the scene wondering exactly what sort of place he’d gotten himself into. One of the Sisters had described her journey into “The Land of the Dead”. This place must be it!

The blue robed guide and his companions descended towards the black river, so James followed. ‘I descend into the Land of the Dead’ he thought to himself as he plodded along. They were headed in the direction of a large crowd on the edge of the river. A dark boat, powered by a single oarsman was pulling out from the shore headed towards the far bank, full of people. ‘A ferry of some sort?’ wondered James.

As they approached the ferry dock, James scanned the crowd for a sign of Oakleaf Gilderwood. The variety of clothes and costumes was immense but there was no sign of a green robed magician. His task completed, the blue robed guide extricated himself from his wailing companions and he began climbing back up the hillside, presumably to gather up further new arrivals to the underworld.

James’s eyes continued to search, further and further along the river bank until there! Perched on top of a large stone halfway up the slope, sat a green robed man, looking quite alive and intact with the exception being the absence of his signature scythe bladed staff.

James continued towards Oakleaf, working his way through the gaps in the crowds. Everywhere, it seemed, people milled about in a state of confusion. With determination he reached the Emerald mage, and as he approached he commented, “At least a ten sailing wait.”

“Indeed Sir James! Although you fortunately will not be amongst the delayed passengers!” spoke Oakleaf Gilderwood, matter of factly, almost as if there was nothing unusual about their situation . “I’ve been waiting for an interminable long time for your arrival. You have no idea just how tempting it was to board the ferry!”

“Will it be necessary for me to convince you to return to the land of the living Sir,” asked James, half in jest.

“Indeed, young James, it is usually I who have to do the convincing, and if the perished in question has already arrived at the River Styx, I am seldom successful.” explained Oakleaf Gilderwood. “Even for someone as well versed as myself in the mysteries of the Underworld, I would be unable to find my way back to my beloved homeland without a guide. The compelling nature of death would cause me to choose wrongly at every turn.”

Stolen story; please report.

“Must I act as your guide to return to life, Sir Gilderwood?” asked James, completely confused as to what his next step in this adventure would be. James wasn’t even sure that he could find his own way back up the complex trail network to where he had begun his descent.

“Oh no, no, no young James! If we did that you would never be able to return to your home in England. That would not do at all.” replied the Emerald Wizard. “And my death would have accomplished nothing! I had to perish in order for the summoning spell to be reversed. It was the only way,” added Oakleaf.

“My guide will be your ring. The Ring of Resurrection was meant to allow you to operate freely in the Realm of the Dead. I will accompany you to your exit from this world, and then I will use the ring to return to my companions inside Mt. Issabella,” explained Oakleaf Gilderwood.

“Please sir! Do you have any coins to spare for me and my son?” insisted a middle aged man, interrupting the reunion conversation James was having with his mentor. “The ferryman insists upon payment for the crossing, and without coins we are stranded here for all eternity. Please save myself and my son from our miserable fate! I plead with you”.

James thought for a moment and realised that he indeed did possess some coins in his long ignored wallet. Nothing else had accompanied James with his summoning to this strange world except the clothes he was wearing and his wallet, which contained a few quid. James pulled out his wallet from the clothing concealed by his green robes, and extracted two one pound coins, handing them to the man, “Will these do?” asked James.

“Indeed they will, young man!” exclaimed the man. “I have been begging for ferry fare forever and you are the first to help us! A thousand thank yous!” With that the ecstatic man made his way to the ferry dock built out from the bank into the black waters of the Underworld river, dragging his crying son along with him. The ferry was returning empty from the far bank and just about to arrive.

“Charon returns to fill his boat with passengers,” observed Sir Gilderwood. “His work never ends.”

Charon made his arrival at the dock, tying up his wooden ferry boat to the ancient pier, surprisingly nimble despite appearing to be of advanced age. At the front of the line James’s new acquaintance paid the ferryman the two coins and he bid the man and his son to take their seats. The fellow happily waved back to James from his dearly desired places in the row boat.

“What awaits them on the far bank, Sir Gilderwood,” asked James.

“That depends on how their souls are judged by the Gods. Eternal strife, eternal happiness or anything in between is possible. Some even return to life in the Upper World to lead new lives in new bodies,” explained Gilderwood. “The Underworld is a large and complex place.” As Oakleaf finished his thought Charon untied his boat and began another crossing to the far bank with his boat fully loaded. Despite his advanced age and apparent frailty, Charon handled the boat in expert fashion amidst the black rapidly flowing water.

“I am imagining that you must now be eager to embark on the next phase of your journey, young James,” commented Oakleaf Gilderwood. “Time does not flow in the Underworld as it does in life, but surely you are ready to return to your family and friends.”

“Yes sir!” replied James.

“Many years ago, sitting on this very vantage point I made the discovery which allowed me to find your world, young James,” described Sir Gilderwood. “Do you notice anything special in the scene that surrounds us?”

Everything seemed unusual to James as he surveyed the situation. The black river, the ferryman, the total lack of vegetation in the dim light. Stalagmites, stalactites, volcanic vents emitting dark smoke upwards into the mist covered ceiling of the Underworld. The red glow which might be the result of lava flowing in the distance. Just past Oakleaf, the bank of the river rose upwards to form cliffs overhanging the flowing waters.

“Yes! There! Do you notice it?” asked Oakleaf Gilderwood. He pointed to a ledge formed in the complex arrangement of fractured rock that formed the cliff side. There was a slight green staining visible on the rocks.

“The green area?” replied James. “Is that important?”

“Vitally important Sir James!” exclaimed the Emerald Wizard. “Let us climb up there and I will show you what I mean. You will have to forgive my slowness as the malaise of the Underworld affects me greatly. I will be much energized once you are able to pass the ring on to me but first you must reach the exit from this place. That exit is upon the ledge. Please follow me.”

With extreme exertion Oakleaf Gilderwood began the ascent up the side of the hillside. Under normal circumstances the route would have been swiftly negotiated by the Emerald Wizard but these circumstances were not normal. Each step seemed a challenge. It took about an hour to make the climb, with regular breaks for Oakleaf to regain his breath and compose himself. James felt no such exhaustion and felt quite comfortable completing the straightforward rock scramble up the slope. As they arrived at their objective Oakleaf asked James, “Do you see it?” and with that the Wizard pointed at a green, roughly textured stain on the rocks. “This is Goblin’s Gold, Sir James. It should not exist in the Underworld, and yet here it is. Nowhere else in the Underworld does this plant live. When I discovered this patch of moss I realised that it must have entered here from the world above us. Look here,” explained Oakleaf as he directed James’s attention to a gap between the fractured rocks.

James peered into the darkness and realised there was a passageway, inside of which contained faintly glowing patches of yellow light. It took James a moment to understand that the light was being produced by the patches of moss growing inside the cave.

“One of the properties of this unique plant is the light it produces. This light will be sufficient for you to negotiate the way up to the surface. Once you have reached the surface you will have to cross the Valley of Infinite Possibilities. Or at least, that is my name for the place. The pass on the opposite side of the plateau is the entrance to your Earth, Sir James. You will need to remain strong throughout your journey as there is no telling what you will encounter. To the best of my understanding the plateau represents the barrier between our two worlds. Your Earth and mine are stable configurations but an infinite number of unstable Earth’s exist between here and there. Once you have emerged from the cavern, identify the pass between the mountains and make your way towards it. No matter what you see or experience, stay strong and focus your efforts towards reaching the pass. Your world lies just beyond it.”

James listened intently. This was going to be difficult, but returning home represented a goal worth struggling for. A question came to mind, “How was I able to pass this way to get to your world?” asked James.

“I carried you Sir James,” explained Sir Gilderwood. “The summoning spell required me to bear you the entire route because of your extreme disorientation. To you, it must have seemed like a momentary dizziness or dream. But from my perspective it was a difficult and lengthy journey. Alas, is my current state of……. hmmmmm….. well, death, I am unable to repeat this task. You will have to return to your Earth on your own, Sir James. As soon as you enter this cave, you will have exited the Underworld. You will no longer require your ring, and I would greatly appreciate the use of it to make my return to Mount Issabella.

James considered his situation and agreed to the plan. He stepped into the cave illuminated by “Goblin’s Gold” (They sure had crazy names for plants in this world) and turned back towards Sir Gilderwood. “Sir Gilderwood, I appreciate everything you do. It was an honor to have spent time with you,” stated James respectfully. James removed his ring and placed it into Oakleaf’s hand.

“ I feel the same way about you James. Your service to our world will be long remembered,” replied the Emerald Mage. “Godspeed!”