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    Cynus
  • Cynus
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  • 11/11/2017
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Rivers of the Dead - 41. 4-10 - Unity

Don't forget to comment and react to this chapter! Also, special thanks to my Patreon Supporters: Michael, Bill, Charles, Amr, Don, James, Joe, Jos, Mark, Mark, Paul, Steve, John, Frank, Sam, Matthieu, Ben, Jay, Scott, Chris, Lachlan, Matt, and Haldon. Couldn't have done it without them. Email me at Samuel.D.Roe@gmail.com to be put on my mailing list! :D

The whole Underworld bore witness to the union of Death and his psychopomp, together at last beneath the world of the living. A human warlock, dead, then alive, then dead again, entered The Underworld to become a guide to lost souls, a fate he understood better than most.

A martyr, sacrificing himself for the cause of love, sat atop the seat of Hate, and ruled with a fair and just hand, knowing that should his heart ever begin to give in to the energies of hate, love was just a ferryman away to heal his wounds.

And the world of the living paid almost no heed, knowing nothing of what happened beneath their feet. Though to a young couple, young being a relative term as the father was either fifteen or thirty, depending upon who asked, the world didn't move on right away.

They mourned the death of their friends, never knowing their fates, though life gave them a blessing which allowed them to remember those they'd loved and lost. A boy was born, who carried the names of Death and his lover.

And his melodic cries earned him all the love he needed to heal his once broken heart. His parents said he made beautiful music.

Don't forget to comment and react to this chapter! Also, special thanks to my Patreon Supporters: Michael, Bill, Charles, Amr, Don, James, Joe, Jos, Mark, Mark, Paul, Steve, John, Frank, Sam, Matthieu, Ben, Jay, Scott, Chris, Lachlan, Matt, and Haldon. Couldn't have done it without them. Email me at Samuel.D.Roe@gmail.com to be put on my mailing list! :D
Copyright © 2017 Cynus; All Rights Reserved.
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Stories posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Cynus

If you have the time, please consider writing a story review. If you're really feeling generous, please consider using the same story review both here and at Amazon. :) The better the reviews are over there, the more likely I am for someone new to pick up the work! Thank you for coming with me on this journey, and I look forward to seeing you on my next project!

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drpaladin
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I'm not certain how to feel about the ending. I can't really see Liz and Jake letting it all drop and never know what happened to their friends. In the same way, I can't see Ethan not trying to tell them that everything ended up being alright. The epilogue is not the equal of the last chapter.

Edited by drpaladin
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Benji
2 hours ago, drpaladin said:

I'm not certain how to feel about the ending. I can't really see Liz and Jake letting it all drop and never know what happened to their friends. In the same way, I can't see Ethan not trying to tell them that everything ended up being alright. The epilogue is not the equal of the last chapter.

 

B).....................The whole point of the story was getting the reunification of Caleb to Ethan, and that was accomplished. I do think Ethan can contact Liz and Jake to let them know of the success.  Great story!

Edited by Benji
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glennish

While I wish that Jake and Liz could be told about what happened, I love this ending.  I can picture in my head what happened at the end of the last chapter.  When Caleb explained the "job" that he had to offer and what it entailed I can picture Ethan running across the veil and running into the arms of the boy he has loved forever.  At the time I don't even think that Jake and Liz even crossed his mind. 

 

This story was amazing, thanks for a wonderful ride!!!

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drpaladin
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8 minutes ago, Benji said:

 

B).....................The whole point of the story was getting the reunification of Caleb to Ethan, and that was accomplished. I do think Ethan can contact Liz and Jake to let them know of the success.  Great story!

 

Then it could have stopped at the last chapter, couldn't it? The goal was accomplished and they were together. Evidently, you looked at what was said in the epilogue without comprehension. "Without ever knowing their fates" is final and means exactly what it says.

 

Don't get me wrong. I loved the totality of the story. I just don't like the epilogue.

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Benji
2 minutes ago, drpaladin said:

 

Then it could have stopped at the last chapter, couldn't it? The goal was accomplished and they were together. Evidently, you looked at what was said in the epilogue without comprehension. "Without ever knowing their fates" is final and means exactly what it says.

 

Don't get me wrong. I loved the totality of the story. I just don't like the epilogue.

 

B).................I got the epilogue, I should have said could and should and not 'can'. I didn't quite get the the human warlock, dead, then alive, then dead again spiel. I mean did Caleb kill Ethan?

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glennish

Was over at amazon.com (Leaving a review).  Started re-reading chapter one there.  Didn't realize that we came full circle in the story.  We started by kicking a pebble and ended by kicking a pebble.  Cool..

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drpaladin
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7 minutes ago, Benji said:

 

B).................I got the epilogue, I should have said could and should and not 'can'. I didn't quite get the the human warlock, dead, then alive, then dead again spiel. I mean did Caleb kill Ethan?

1

 

Caleb would have had little choice in the matter. He is now Death. When you embrace Death, you die. It was what Charlie and The Warden were warning him about when Caleb indicated he was going to the land of the living. Power has its privileges, but it also has negatives which go along with it.

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glennish
13 minutes ago, Benji said:

 I mean did Caleb kill Ethan?

I think Ethan is "dead" the same way that Caleb is.  He willingly crossed over into the underworld.  From what Charon and Orpheus said a psychopomp is someone who crossed over while still alive.

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Benji
3 hours ago, glennish said:

I think Ethan is "dead" the same way that Caleb is.  He willingly crossed over into the underworld.  From what Charon and Orpheus said a psychopomp is someone who crossed over while still alive.

 

B)..................Right, so that means Ethan is still alive: Or did just crossing over makes you dead?

 

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glennish
1 minute ago, Benji said:

 

B)..................Right, so that means Ethan is still alive: Or did just crossing over makes you dead?

 

It isn't very clear in the story. But I guess the question would be can you be "dead" without leaving a corpse behind?  Neither Caleb or Ethan would have left a dead body behind.  

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Cynus
6 hours ago, drpaladin said:

I'm not certain how to feel about the ending. I can't really see Liz and Jake letting it all drop and never know what happened to their friends. In the same way, I can't see Ethan not trying to tell them that everything ended up being alright. The epilogue is not the equal of the last chapter.

 

6 hours ago, Wesley8890 said:

Perfect ending! I loved the story the characters and the plots

 

4 hours ago, Parker Owens said:

You have made the mightiest tremble, and the exalted the humble. Beautifully done, and a wondrous tale.

 

4 hours ago, Benji said:

 

B).....................The whole point of the story was getting the reunification of Caleb to Ethan, and that was accomplished. I do think Ethan can contact Liz and Jake to let them know of the success.  Great story!

 

3 hours ago, glennish said:

While I wish that Jake and Liz could be told about what happened, I love this ending.  I can picture in my head what happened at the end of the last chapter.  When Caleb explained the "job" that he had to offer and what it entailed I can picture Ethan running across the veil and running into the arms of the boy he has loved forever.  At the time I don't even think that Jake and Liz even crossed his mind. 

 

This story was amazing, thanks for a wonderful ride!!!

 

3 hours ago, glennish said:

Was over at amazon.com (Leaving a review).  Started re-reading chapter one there.  Didn't realize that we came full circle in the story.  We started by kicking a pebble and ended by kicking a pebble.  Cool..



I have elected to make this a group reply, rather than responding to each point individually, as i figure I can clear up a bit more that way, heh.

By the way, none of this I'm about to say is meant to in any way attack anyone's position on the matter. I'm actually loving the discussion, and i'm grateful for the participation. I take it as a compliment that you are all dissecting the story like this, and I hope I can generate this much of a buzz in the future. :D

Okay, so, first things first . . . I see it in a number of different ways, and there are a lot of factors to consider here.

1) Caleb and Ethan are now operating on a separate set of rules than Liz and Jake are. Even though Orpheus touched the realm of the living several times through the story, there were rules for his appearance as well. He had to be called, for one. The first two times he shows up are both in the cave, and one is a direct inquiry by Liz and the other is a direct challenge by Ethan. The third time is during the seance, through which they open a channel to the realm of the dead seeking a lost soul there, and happen to contact someone Orpheus is monitoring closely, so when his name is invoked during the seance, he's able to slip into it and gain control.

In writing this, I took that as a rule for myself. Without invocation, the Officers of the Dead cannot stray into the realm of the living (without grave consequences, anyway). Ethan and Caleb, both being officers of the dead, have no means of reaching out on their own to contact Liz and Jake provided this rules is in effect and they wish to abide by it. So that would lead us to the second issue here.

 

2) Why didn't Liz and Jake contact Ethan/Caleb? Well, I admit I didn't fully consider this one, though I did consider some angles of it, and those I'll address first.

 

a ) They had no means of knowing what became of Caleb, or that Orpheus had been removed as Ruler, meaning they wouldn't know that Caleb had become Ruler. For all they knew, Orpheus had won the day, and their friends were lost forever. Risking another seance would've meant putting themselves and their baby in potential danger, since the last time they'd attempted it, they only managed to beat Orpheus with Ethan's help.

 

b ) They had no means of knowing what occurred to Ethan (outside of him finding a means of contacting them). Going to the cave would've resulted in them finding no trace of him. Contacting him on the mortal plane would've yielded no results, and there's no way of knowing that they didn't try. The seance would've put them in the same predicament as above.

 

c) Both Liz and Jake let things go much easier than their friends did. Liz tried to move on from Caleb in a matter of months, and both knew the pains of obsession all too well. After all, to the best of their knowledge it had claimed two of their friends. They had a new baby, and were starting a new life, and even if they looked for awhile, they would've turned into a lot of dead ends first. Life would've called on them to move on, and they would've listened.

 

Now, I think I probably could've done a better job in spelling all of that out in the narrative, but this is mostly in hindsight. I didn't think of it at the time. I wanted it to be nice, fable-ish sort of ending, like the closing of an old fairy-tale. I can see ways in which I could've handled it better, and there were a couple of things I didn't consider at all. Despite mentioning it several times above, I honestly hadn't considered what would happen if Liz and Jake attempted a seance, or if they'd ever feel comfortable doing so. I also know both of them can be very resourceful, and I may have had them let go a touch too easily.

 

But at the same time, I think I felt I was being consistent to their characters at the time of writing the story, and I don't regret ending it the way I did. I'm glad the story was enjoyable over all, and I truly thank you for reading it and giving me your feedback. All of it will be put to use on future projects, and help me create even better stories in the future.

Though I do have one question though...

Did no one speculate on the identity of the baby? I know I was subtle, but . . . *sigh*

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Benji

Though I do have one question though...did no one speculate on the identity of the baby? I know I was subtle, but . . . *sigh*

 

B).................You mean the reincarnation of Orpheus?

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Wesley8890
14 minutes ago, Cynus said:

 

.


Though I do have one question though...

Did no one speculate on the identity of the baby? I know I was subtle, but . . . *sigh*

Holy fuck I didn't even realize that!!! So he'll be playing as lyre for the band?

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Puppilull

I don't find it strange that the contact is broken. The last time they contacted the netherworld, things came very close to disaster. Even if they know Caleb and Ethan would never purposely hurt them, they could have decided not to chance it anymore. If both are dead and therefore together, then Liz and Jake could have concluded they would be OK. 

 

Not sure how I feel about the baby being Orpheus reborn. I suppose reincarnation is a complete reboot. Still, all that hate... Will it simply disappear? 

 

Thank you for a different love story! I enjoyed it very much!

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Stephen

I like the ending, -including the epilogue, as much as the story itself. Logic dictates that Ethan and Caleb cannot be together if they're in

different realms. It must be one or the other and if Caleb returns to the world of the living it would be disastrous for everyone, and so Ethan

had to go back. I'm delighted that Liz' new little baby makes such sweet sounds, reminding us of Orpheus without the tragedy and conniving

bitterness that marked his reign in the underworld for so long.  This is an exciting and novel story that has made me think about death in a

different, entertaining  way. Thanks!

 

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Defiance19

Loved the ending.. I read your comment above, so I won’t question Liz and Jake. 

You told this love story in a brilliant, exciting and interesting way.  I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

 

Well done, Cynus... 

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drpaladin
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On 11/11/2017 at 4:06 PM, Cynus said:

 

 

 

 

 



I have elected to make this a group reply, rather than responding to each point individually, as i figure I can clear up a bit more that way, heh.

By the way, none of this I'm about to say is meant to in any way attack anyone's position on the matter. I'm actually loving the discussion, and i'm grateful for the participation. I take it as a compliment that you are all dissecting the story like this, and I hope I can generate this much of a buzz in the future. :D

Okay, so, first things first . . . I see it in a number of different ways, and there are a lot of factors to consider here.

1) Caleb and Ethan are now operating on a separate set of rules than Liz and Jake are. Even though Orpheus touched the realm of the living several times through the story, there were rules for his appearance as well. He had to be called, for one. The first two times he shows up are both in the cave, and one is a direct inquiry by Liz and the other is a direct challenge by Ethan. The third time is during the seance, through which they open a channel to the realm of the dead seeking a lost soul there, and happen to contact someone Orpheus is monitoring closely, so when his name is invoked during the seance, he's able to slip into it and gain control.

In writing this, I took that as a rule for myself. Without invocation, the Officers of the Dead cannot stray into the realm of the living (without grave consequences, anyway). Ethan and Caleb, both being officers of the dead, have no means of reaching out on their own to contact Liz and Jake provided this rules is in effect and they wish to abide by it. So that would lead us to the second issue here.

 

2) Why didn't Liz and Jake contact Ethan/Caleb? Well, I admit I didn't fully consider this one, though I did consider some angles of it, and those I'll address first.

 

a ) They had no means of knowing what became of Caleb, or that Orpheus had been removed as Ruler, meaning they wouldn't know that Caleb had become Ruler. For all they knew, Orpheus had won the day, and their friends were lost forever. Risking another seance would've meant putting themselves and their baby in potential danger, since the last time they'd attempted it, they only managed to beat Orpheus with Ethan's help.

 

b ) They had no means of knowing what occurred to Ethan (outside of him finding a means of contacting them). Going to the cave would've resulted in them finding no trace of him. Contacting him on the mortal plane would've yielded no results, and there's no way of knowing that they didn't try. The seance would've put them in the same predicament as above.

 

c) Both Liz and Jake let things go much easier than their friends did. Liz tried to move on from Caleb in a matter of months, and both knew the pains of obsession all too well. After all, to the best of their knowledge it had claimed two of their friends. They had a new baby, and were starting a new life, and even if they looked for awhile, they would've turned into a lot of dead ends first. Life would've called on them to move on, and they would've listened.

 

Now, I think I probably could've done a better job in spelling all of that out in the narrative, but this is mostly in hindsight. I didn't think of it at the time. I wanted it to be nice, fable-ish sort of ending, like the closing of an old fairy-tale. I can see ways in which I could've handled it better, and there were a couple of things I didn't consider at all. Despite mentioning it several times above, I honestly hadn't considered what would happen if Liz and Jake attempted a seance, or if they'd ever feel comfortable doing so. I also know both of them can be very resourceful, and I may have had them let go a touch too easily.

 

But at the same time, I think I felt I was being consistent to their characters at the time of writing Did no one speculate on the identity of the baby? I know I was subtle, but . . . *sigh*

9

 

There are some perceived inconsistencies in the rules. When Caleb said he was leaving, Orpheus told him he couldn't. The reason he gave wasn't that it was impossible, but because he wouldn't allow him to leave.  We can speculate that leaving might have had consequences since Caleb was an exchange, but we can't rule out that it was possible. We do know that Caleb could leave after Orpheus was gone, but was that only because he assumed the powers of Death or because no one could stop him? Caleb is still a novice ruler. We can assume he still has no full understanding of how everything works. He had to ask questions of Charlie and The Warden. Even they may not know the actual rules. Since Ethan entered the Underworld willingly while alive and he wasn't an exchange, couldn't he return just because he wanted to?

 

I think you missed a chance at ROTD Book Two.  :P

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FormerMember4

I love the story. Epilogue, not so much. Ethan is where he belongs. There’s just things unfinished. Maybe that was purposeful. Leaving things unfinished. 

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Cynus
On 11/11/2017 at 3:14 PM, Benji said:

Though I do have one question though...did no one speculate on the identity of the baby? I know I was subtle, but . . . *sigh*

 

B).................You mean the reincarnation of Orpheus?

Indeed. :)

On 11/11/2017 at 3:21 PM, Wesley8890 said:

Holy fuck I didn't even realize that!!! So he'll be playing as lyre for the band?

LOL. I suppose so!

On 11/12/2017 at 9:31 AM, Puppilull said:

I don't find it strange that the contact is broken. The last time they contacted the netherworld, things came very close to disaster. Even if they know Caleb and Ethan would never purposely hurt them, they could have decided not to chance it anymore. If both are dead and therefore together, then Liz and Jake could have concluded they would be OK. 

 

Not sure how I feel about the baby being Orpheus reborn. I suppose reincarnation is a complete reboot. Still, all that hate... Will it simply disappear? 

 

Thank you for a different love story! I enjoyed it very much!

According to the rules, I believe that hate is consumed by Styx as he consumes Lethe, but I could be wrong...

On 11/12/2017 at 2:46 PM, Stephen said:

I like the ending, -including the epilogue, as much as the story itself. Logic dictates that Ethan and Caleb cannot be together if they're in

different realms. It must be one or the other and if Caleb returns to the world of the living it would be disastrous for everyone, and so Ethan

had to go back. I'm delighted that Liz' new little baby makes such sweet sounds, reminding us of Orpheus without the tragedy and conniving

bitterness that marked his reign in the underworld for so long.  This is an exciting and novel story that has made me think about death in a

different, entertaining  way. Thanks!

 

Thank you. I find this take on it quite validating, and I'm glad you felt that way. :)

On 11/13/2017 at 8:08 AM, Defiance19 said:

Loved the ending.. I read your comment above, so I won’t question Liz and Jake. 

You told this love story in a brilliant, exciting and interesting way.  I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

 

Well done, Cynus... 

Thank you, my friend!

On 11/13/2017 at 9:07 AM, drpaladin said:

 

There are some perceived inconsistencies in the rules. When Caleb said he was leaving, Orpheus told him he couldn't. The reason he gave wasn't that it was impossible, but because he wouldn't allow him to leave.  We can speculate that leaving might have had consequences since Caleb was an exchange, but we can't rule out that it was possible. We do know that Caleb could leave after Orpheus was gone, but was that only because he assumed the powers of Death or because no one could stop him? Caleb is still a novice ruler. We can assume he still has no full understanding of how everything works. He had to ask questions of Charlie and The Warden. Even they may not know the actual rules. Since Ethan entered the Underworld willingly while alive and he wasn't an exchange, couldn't he return just because he wanted to?

 

I think you missed a chance at ROTD Book Two.  :P

I realize it's been a long time since we had this conversation, but I think it comes down to Orpheus not having all the answers either, despite pretending he does. In a sense, he's an unreliable narrator for the state of the Underworld, because it is as he wishes to to be, since he is the Ruler... but I do like your points nonetheless.

I did have two different sequels planned, one following the Underworld and one following the living world, but they would've taken different paths than simply following the characters presented here. This book was more to set the stage than to be book one of the adventures of Caleb and Ethan. Although I do like my boys...

2 minutes ago, BlindAmbition said:

I love the story. Epilogue, not so much. Ethan is where he belongs. There’s just things unfinished. Maybe that was purposeful. Leaving things unfinished. 

It was. There are/were intended sequels, and I also wanted to leave some uncertainty to death. But I understand and respect your opinion. :)

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Himmin
On 11/11/2017 at 3:58 PM, Cynus said:

If you have the time, please consider writing a story review. If you're really feeling generous, please consider using the same story review both here and at Amazon. :) The better the reviews are over there, the more likely I am for someone new to pick up the work! Thank you for coming with me on this journey, and I look forward to seeing you on my next project!

Thank you for the story! It took me a while before I truly connected because of Ethan since I felt very distant from him at the beginning, but I loved the story as a  whole, and the threads you wove throughout it. Thank you! ❤️

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Will Hawkins

   This was a difficult series for me to read. To assimilate all the author's writing skill requires an intimate knowledge of both Ancient and Renaissance Mythology which I admit I do not possess. If I had that depth I am sure I would have been able to follow the author's pattern more closely.

   On the other side of the coin: the writing is excellent. It is a real pleasure to read an entire series without being inundated in grammatical error and spelling mistakes. The grammar here is perfect, the characterizations are excellent and the pace is appropriate to the subject matter, even with the 1,000 word limit for each chapter. All in all a superior effort, Cia. Congratulations and a resounding 'well done'.    

Mister will

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drpaladin
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2 hours ago, Will Hawkins said:

even with the 1,000 word limit for each chapter. All in all a superior effort, Cia. Congratulations and a resounding 'well done'.

Tour first comments were spot on, until the end. You put that one in the wrong story, Will.

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