Hades And Persephone: Curse Of The Golden Arrow
Page 33
Suddenly, he felt a dark presence; a malevolent shadow that was watching him. He turned slowly; the room was empty but he felt the insidious, malignant wraith. Hades. His name echoed through the chambers, like a cursed whisper, like a warning.
He peered once more into the darkened corners but he stood alone in the shadows. He moved quickly, locking the compartment his sword was hidden in. Turn around, the voice whispered.
“Who is there?” Hades demanded. “Show yourself!”
Did you think it would be that easy?
Suddenly, he fell to the ground, writhing in pain as he grasped the wound over his stomach. The sensation was shocking and he gasped, crying out as a burning agony moved through his body, travelling from the wound to his head, and he began to convulse, his limbs seizing. His anguished cries turned to laughter and his coherent mind was reminded of Ares as he had stood on the cliff, but that thought was ripped from his head and he lay blank and empty in the hall of ruby. He stood abruptly, a smile on his face as he grabbed the helmet of invisibility and exited the room.
Chapter 28 - Villain
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Persephone lay on her bed, her mother reclining next to her. The snow and ice had vanished and already the pink and white buds of spring were covering the barren trees of the temple. The rivers ran freely once more, bubbling merrily in the meadows, and birds’ songs echoed across the forests. Persephone had never felt more miserable.
Demeter picked up her daughter’s hand, her eyes moving sadly over her daughter's face. “Can you forgive me, Persephone?” she asked quietly. “It was never my intention for you to lose in all of this.” She had told her everything that had happened, that she had sought out Aphrodite, enlisted her help; that it had been her who had shot Hades.
Persephone threw herself into her mother’s arms. “Of course,” she cried. “Everything you did, you did to protect me. I cannot say the same of Aphrodite.” She finished, drawing back to look at Demeter. “Did she get what she wanted?” she asked bitterly. “Did Ares fall in love with her?”
“That part of the story is still unwritten. I do not know what happened after you and Hades vanished. I took your bow, which somehow has disappeared as well, and when I returned to the temple, it was empty. Since then, I have been righting the wrongs that I brought to the land.” Demeter’s eyes lowered. “That is a burden I will always have to bear.”
“Mother,” she said softly, “we have all been a part of this sick game, though we knew it not.”
“Are you alright, Persephone? Truly alright?”
“I miss him,” she said, “I feel like half of me is missing, that I am incomplete in every way. I love him. No matter where I go, I am always leaving someone I love behind,” she whispered.
“Oh daughter, forgive me for the part I played in this.” Her hands tightened over Persephone’s and then she stood. “You should rest now if you can.” She bent, kissing her daughter’s forehead. “Goodnight, my love, I will see you in the morning.”
Persephone turned on her side, staring at the half-moon through the window. “Alone again,” she whispered.
Persephone.
She sat up suddenly, peering through the moonlit shadows. “Hades?” she breathed. “Are you there?”
He was standing over her, the helmet of invisibility held at his side. She jumped from the bed with a shout of joy, wrapping her arms around him. “What are you doing here?” she cried in a hushed whisper.
His dark eyes moved over her. “Breaking the rules. I needed to see you.”
She pulled him close, pressing her face against his chest. “Would you love me even if I was wicked, Persephone? I am the villain in this story.”
She moved back to look at him. “I love every part you,” she replied with a confused smile. “And you are not the villain. That role belongs to another.”
“How sweet your words are,” he whispered. He raised a finger to his lips, and took her hand leading her from her room, moving through the quiet halls to the just blossoming garden outside.
“Let me have you, one last time until you are back with me. I have to taste you one more time. Will you let me?” His eyes burned at her and when he began to pull her dress from her slim arms she did not stop him.
He pressed his lips against her neck and he lifted her gown higher, pushing her up against a tree, and she wrapped her long legs around his waist. He pushed himself into her tight entrance and she gave a small gasp of pain, but his lips were there to swallow it and then she was throwing her head back as he began to move. A strange lassitude was stealing over her and she wondered if this was merely a dream. He whispered words to her, dark words she did not comprehend and then he leaned forward murmuring in her ear. “My power will grow inside you.” And he reached between her legs as she shattered into oblivion. “When the first snow moves over the meadows,” he promised. Darkness consumed her and she felt herself falling as strong arms wrapped around her.
Chapter 29 - Pawn In The Game
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Persephone woke from a nightmare; the first she had had since Hades had cleansed her in the sea. She was alone in the shadows, but something was watching her. It felt like that shadowed wraith from the Underworld, but worse -- far more deadly, far more malevolent. It whispered horrible truths to her and she shivered, crying out in the darkness. She woke with a small scream as something moved against her.
The game is just beginning, Queen, I am coming for him.
She pushed herself from the bed, running to the window gulping in the fresh morning air. It was just a dream, she assured herself, just a dream. It was only natural on her first night back on Earth. She turned suddenly and gasped. A single black rose had been placed on the ground by her bed.
She bent, lifting the rose to her face. The scent was bittersweet. Hades had been there. And he had taken her in the garden; she felt the evidence between her legs. Why could she barely remember it? Why had he left her without saying goodbye?
“Six months,” she whispered to herself. “I will ask him in six months.”
Hades sat on his throne, silent and still as he stared ahead of him. He stood suddenly, walking down a long hall that led to a pool of still water. At the edge lay a grave, a pomegranate tree bowed over a lonely tomb. Stone steps descended into the glassy mere and Hades walked down the stairs, into the cool waters of the lake. He moved through the water, towards the mountain that bordered one side and there located the stairs that led into a cavern within the stone. The heat was oppressive, and he could feel it pulsing through the massive iron doors that were carved into the rock. He lifted his hands, and the golden blade appeared; he studied the engravings on the sword and smiled. “The game has just begun.”
End