The Search for the Red Dragon - James A. Owen [58]
“Yes,” agreed Bert. “Remember the Cartographer said not to judge even Mordred too harshly.”
“Exactly my point,” said Charles, “but the reverse is also true, and even the best of intentions…”
“…can pave the road to Hell,” finished John, who had just approached them, cradling the Geographica. “I think I’ve translated all of Dante’s notes. The solution to opening the portal to the Underneath is a riddle.”
“Jamie couldn’t simply tell us the words to open the portal?” Jack said.
“I don’t think it’s as easy as all that,” said John. “There must have been some reason that we needed the actual Geographica here. And I think that reason is what the answer to the riddle will reveal.
“Dante wrote a lot about Autunno here,” he went on, indicating the annotations in the atlas, “but he also included bits and pieces from his own writing, so he obviously expected whoever followed him to be familiar with his work.”
“Typical author,” said Charles.
“He refers to the portal as ‘Ulysses’ Gate,’” John noted. “Does that mean anything to you, Bert?”
“Of course,” said Bert. “Ulysses was in The Divine Comedy, remember? In it he told the story of his final voyage, where he left his home and family to sail to the ends of the Earth.”
“I think this would qualify,” said Jack.
“Indeed,” said Bert. “Ulysses valued nothing more than his belief in the pursuit of knowledge, and he thought that attaining knowledge was limited only by one’s efforts.”
“Admirable,” said Jack. “So what happened to him?”
“God sank his ship outside of Mount Purgatory,” Bert answered, “and he ended up in the Pit.”
Charles raised his hand. “Anyone else thinking this is all a bad idea, and we should just focus on repairing the boat? No?” He lowered his hand. “Don’t say I didn’t bring it up when we get to the running about and screaming part.”
“We already did that,” said Jack, “when we escaped from the tower and I rescued Aven.”
“Not that I’m not grateful,” said Aven, “but I wish you’d stop bringing that up. I was perfectly willing to sacrifice myself so the rest of you could carry on.”
“And what good would that have done?” Jack said indignantly.
“For starters,” Aven told him, “the Indigo Dragon wouldn’t have been wrecked. And you’d already have been halfway to Paralon to bring more help.”
“And you’d be dead,” said Jack. “I just couldn’t let that happen.”
“And I’m appreciative,” said Aven. “But if our positions had been reversed, I’d have done the same.”
Jack smirked and shook his head. “There wasn’t time.”
Aven stared at him. “What’s that supposed to mean? You had time to save me.”
“Of course I did,” said Jack matter-of-factly. “I’m a man. We’re made to think more quickly.”
Bert had just enough time to exclaim, “Oh, dear,” before Aven swung her fist and clocked Jack square on the chin, knocking him backward into the balloon, which was still under repair.
“Wow!” said Laura Glue. “You sent him ass-over-teakettle.”
“Language,” warned Bert.
“Sorry,” she said.
Aven rubbed her knuckles and looked at the others. “Sorry about that. I might have stopped myself from hitting him, but I didn’t think of it quickly enough.”
“Not a problem,” said Charles.
“If you’re finished with the fisticuffs,” John said, “can we please see this through?”
“Sorry,” said Aven.
“Ulysses wasn’t the only Greek hero mentioned in The Divine Comedy,” said John. “In what Dante described as the eighth circle of Hell, he and his guide, Virgil, met Jason, the leader of the Argonauts, who had commissioned the building of the ship the Argo—”
“Which Ordo Maas rebuilt into the Red Dragon!” Charles exclaimed. “Brilliant, John! Well done!”
“That’s another piece of the riddle, but it’s not the whole picture yet,” said John. “Let’s assume that every reference Dante makes here that involves Jason or Ulysses