The deathly growl of Cerberus was in his ears even before the light of the living world had faded. It warned him away without a word, but Orpheus would not be stopped.

Idly, Orpheus plucked the golden lyre his patron had given him so long ago. Child of a Muse that he was, he’d been born to Apollo’s favor, blessed from his earliest days to walk in the light of inspiration. Even there in the all-consuming shadows of Hades, a single note was all it took to illuminate his path. He plucked it time and time again, his eyes ever scanning for daemons and furious souls keen on forcing him from his course.

“From on high, I step below.
I come with Heaven’s holy glow.
Apollo’s light alights in me.
I come to set my lover free.”

Such idle rhymes came easily to his tongue, and he uttered them without thinking in hope of filling the silence. But every time the hound’s threatening snarl reached him, he wished the silence back.

“Why have you come here?”

Orpheus froze. “Eurydice?” he spoke into the darkness. But when his echo returned to him, it spoke not his beloved’s name, but the words he’d spoken in answer to her when he’d returned after their violent first meeting.

“I’ve come to see you,” he’d said that day, “to behold once more your beauty. Despite my unadorned approach, I am known across the land for the beauty of my song. And yet, I stand humbled before you. By your very existence, you surpass my art. Your every step, fair maiden, is poetry beyond my wildest reckoning.”

A faint smile graced his somber features as he recalled the sting of the rejection that had followed. Eurydice had not been so easily won back then, but he’d not allowed the challenge to deter him. Neither would he let the earth-shaking bark of Hades’ pet keep him from his beloved.

Brow furrowed, Orpheus quickened his pace, all too aware how close he stood to a terrible fate. His fingers plucked the strings of his lyre with greater purpose than before. He began to hum in harmony with his instrument. Cerberus snarled and gnashed its teeth in an effort to drown him out.

“Hear me, Hound of Hades, fearsome beast of Typhon’s seed.
Listen to this song of he who keeps Apollo’s creed.”

Cerberus barked all the more fiercely, accosting Orpheus with wave after wave of wind and wrath. His clothes billowed in the current and dragged him back toward the point of his entry. The bard clenched his teeth and soldiered on against the force. He plucked and strummed with greater fervor to counter Cerberus’ assault. He sang out again, and his gentle song proved greater than the mad cacophony of the beast.

“I stand alone in Death’s domain, and here, Death truly rules.
But Thanatos moves not alone. He walks with one less cruel.
So much like Death is blessed Sleep, but Sleep e’er blessed be.
For while Death binds men up in chains, Sleep’s gift sets all minds free.”

A quiet moment. Orpheus’ fingers maneuvered deftly over the strings of his lyre, carefully plucking out a succession of somber notes to soothe and sadden all who could hear. Cerberus, on the other hand, had settled down, though only for so long. The beast barked again and growled just after, but the fear it had inspired before failed to grip the bard’s heart again. Cerberus’ voice had weakened. Orpheus smirked and sang on.

“I sing a song of Death and Sleep, a song to bless the ears.
I bring not Death to Death’s abode, but Sleep, I summon here.
Be not disturbed as I step by. Be not aroused to ire.
Let Hypnos guide thee to sweet rest. Let Sleep flow through my lyre.”

Orpheus paused his playing to listen for a reprisal from the beast. When he heard none, he stepped forward with care. Mere meters separated him from Cerberus now, he knew. After a deep breath, he chanced a peek around the corner.

He sighed in relief as he beheld the hulking hound lying in repose. Pleased to see that his sung prayer had moved Hypnos to action, he rounded the corner confidently, resuming his song as he went.

“I sing a song of Death and Sleep, and Hypnos moves for me.
He guards and guides the steps I take to free Eurydice.
Stay thy brother’s hand, my lord, that I may brave the depths.
Let Thanatos not follow me, who comes to steal from Death.”