by May Burnett
“Of course not. I would know.” Under his breath, Jorge muttered, “That would be the last thing I’d need, another brat to get in my way…”
“I will see this girl. Lead me to her.”
Jorge and Diego turned in the direction of the house. Desperate to waste no more time, now that he knew of Melinda’s peril, Hell cast a golden, sticky net over Diego’s body, remaining invisible as he did so.
The young god stopped for a moment, and tore through the net with an impatient gesture. He did not notice the spider-thin golden thread clinging to his hands as he brushed away the heavier net.
Diego looked around angrily. “Who did this? Show yourself!”
To his dismay, Hell felt himself become visible.
“Who is that?” Jorge said, confused. “He was there all along?” As he realised that his perfidy had been overheard, he began to fidget nervously with his hands.
“I am like you,” Hell told Diego, “though a stranger here. You have abducted my girlfriend. I demand her immediate return.”
“Too late,” Diego smirked. “I’d be very surprised if she’s even still alive.”
“If she has died through your actions, my vengeance will be terrible. Take me to her now.”
Diego shook his head. “This is priceless. I will feed you to the Great Snake later, when I’ve dealt with this second Melinda – or was that you, in disguise?”
Hell realised it was best not to give this punk deity any more information. He shrugged. “You can try.” As Melinda’s brother was looking from one to the other of them in horror, he quickly froze Jorge to immobility with a gesture. The fewer witnesses the better. “How did you hook up with this human scum?”
Diego looked at his immobile follower thoughtfully, but did not immediately unfreeze him, though Hell had no doubt that he could have. “Scum? Aren’t they all? Once power and wealth are dangled before a human, almost all will succumb.”
“Melinda is not like that, and yet you have stolen her away. How do you justify that?”
“I am a god; I don’t need to justify anything. Surely you know how that works, if you claim to be like me? This is merely a game, and my rules are that I take anyone who is gifted to me by a close relative, as Melinda was given away by Jorge. That is the price I demand of my worshippers. A large percentage of this country’s elite have taken the bargain.”
Hell felt outraged. “One human does not have the right to sacrifice another against their will, and without their knowledge. It goes against any principle of justice and fairness.”
“Yeah, so? Those are just words. I make up the rules here. And we’ve talked long enough – now I will destroy you.”
Hell saw and even felt the bolt of lightning coming at him, almost as impressive as his father’s, he dispassionately reflected, as the energy dissipated harmlessly around him.
“This is childish,” he told Diego, “we must look like some comic book hero and villain, though at least we are not dressed in capes or ridiculous outfits.”
Diego, looking truly angry now, tried to engulf him with a cloud of poison gas, but that had no effect either. “Can’t you do any better than that?” Hell taunted his opponent. “You don’t seem to have a lot of practice at this. Probably because you confine your aggression to puny, helpless humans. Sissy.”
That last word drove Diego to a paroxysm of rage, which unfortunately lent his efforts more power. He manifested a gigantic python, which started to encircle Hell and press on his body with irresistible force. Unlike the previous attacks, this was dangerous. Expending all his power to hold off the snake’s vice-like grip, Hell slightly tugged at the string on his index finger.
Myra appeared at once, still disguised as Melinda, and took in the situation at a glance. She heightened her glamour to such an extent that Diego was momentarily blinded. While he was distracted, rubbing at his eyes, she cut through the snake’s neck with a laser ray that passed uncomfortably close to Hell’s own spine. The two halves of the animal fell to the ground and disappeared as suddenly as the creature had come into being.
As one, Hell and Myra turned on Diego and counterattacked. Hell had not properly appreciated the full strength of his sister – she rarely used her powers, but they must have been steadily growing, and of course she was his elder by two years. Myra must be stronger than this Diego, despite the alien environment.
With united effort they enveloped Diego in a solid glass cube, like a giant paperweight. He was alive and still powerful inside it, but the solid glass would contain him at least for a while.
“He was the one who stole Melinda away?” Myra asked, slightly out of breath, when they were done. “What is Jorge doing here?”
“Jorge betrayed his own sister to this local deity; apparently he promises his followers power and wealth in exchange for sacrificing a family member.”
“Melinda’s family is already one of the richest in all Colombia; that was not enough for him?”
“Greed is limitless.” The siblings regarded Jorge with disgust. Hell remembered Melinda’s unease about her brothers. He should have taken her words more seriously. “Have you any suggestion how we should punish him?”
“Melinda can decide, once we have rescued her. That must be our priority. However –" Myra murmured a phrase under her breath, and the immobile young man turned into a blue and yellow parrot. “That should keep him out of trouble in the meantime.”
The newly created bird was looking at its feathers and squawking in distress and protest, as it moved about uncertainly on its clawed feet. Myra frowned. “He could get eaten by a bigger animal.”
“Doubtful, and the loss to the world would be small.” Hell quickly told Melinda about Diego’s claims that Melinda was in an inaccessible realm, about to be eaten by the “Great Snake”, if she was even still alive. Though the glass should prevent Diego from listening, they spoke in ancient Greek, just in case.
“Diego is our only chance to find her there. I guess we must free and then follow him.” Myra immediately concluded.
“Yes, I have a thread connection that should allow me to go after him. But if he guesses our intention, he’ll stay away from the place till it’s too late for Melinda, if it isn’t already.” Hell would smash that foreign realm to dust if she had come to harm.
“Well, no time to lose. Come away.” They left the trapped Diego and the unhappy parrot there in the rose garden, and turned back towards the house.
“I’m weakening the structure of the glass,” Myra said in a low voice. “It should not take him more than a few minutes to get free. Less than that and he won’t be furious enough to go straight home.”
“Will he be able to turn Jorge back into his human form?”
“I don’t think so. I used an ancient formula Pallas taught me, that he cannot possibly know.”
Hell reflected that with enough power you could undo anything, but most likely Diego would prefer to save his powers for more immediate needs. “I wonder how many others have accepted Diego’s diabolical bargain.”
“Yes, it does remind one of the Christian devil.” Myra sighed. “When I felt your sign I suddenly vanished from the breakfast table. Her family may have noticed something was amiss.”
“Let them. Much more than that is amiss in their family, and they have no idea.”
“Pedro is all right, and the grandmother and parents,” Myra said. “I haven’t met the third brother.”
“They may seem nice now, but the father bulldozed an area that was destined as a wildlife refuge while the grandmother was deathly sick, behind her back,” Hell pointed out. “Business makes brutes out of people who seem perfectly pleasant in a family environment.”
“I can tell that you and Melinda have discussed this,” Myra observed. “She is an idealist, but many humans grow out of that when they get older, succumb to temptation and peer pressure. Most eventually become selfish and greedy.”
“Not Melinda.”
They were silent then, thinking of her
desperate circumstances and that they only had the one chance to find her.
“You’ll rescue her,” Myra said at last. “This must not be allowed to stand.”
“If – I mean, when - I do find her,” Hell said, his voice sounding strangely different from normal, “I’ll make sure she can never again be victimized. I won’t go through such hell a second time.”
“I understand.” Myra smiled ruefully. She’d only recently set her own boyfriend free, and was now waiting, with far more patience than Hell would have been able to muster, to see if he moved on or remained loyal to her. “Good luck. You have my support, whatever our parents may think.”
16 Melinda
I talk and talk. The snake goddess has many questions, some really strange and fanciful. She clearly operates on a logic very different from my own.
Eventually my voice gives out. My throat is raspy and raw and my tongue feels thick and dry.
Yila does not give me any water, but simply touches me with her hand. I have to steel myself not to shrink back from her touch, it is cold and impersonal. My voice comes back then, but she did not alleviate my thirst, and a fierce headache is starting to affect my concentration. I hate her with all the fibre of my being, but I have to swallow my feelings and keep my wits about me.
Where is Hell, will he be able to find me? Does he even know yet that I’m missing? Maybe time passes differently here in this dark cave, and what seems like many hours to me were just a few minutes back home.
I resolutely shove my doubts away and paint a thrilling picture of Hell’s abilities. This woman has never even heard of the Greek gods, so she’s sceptical.
“Through a bargain with him you can gain a great deal,” I try to encourage her thoughts away from devouring me. “Including a much more pleasant environment.”
She frowns. “He cannot even find you.”
“He will,” I state, stifling my doubts. “He is very powerful.”
“So be it,” she finally declares. “If he finds you before you faint from thirst and hunger, I will bargain with him for your life. If not …” She does not need to spell out what the alternative is. I nod, hiding my trembling. With a derisive snort she leaves, but I know she’s still nearby, watching to see how quickly I succumb. I cannot see anything, as the dim light the cast is also gone. The darkness reflects the despair in my soul.
Hell, if you come through now, I’ll be yours for life. I swear it.
My own strength is important too - what if I faint and she devours me minutes before Hell finds me? I would no longer be in a position to appreciate the stupidity of such an outcome, of course, but I am determined to hold out as long as possible.
To conserve energy, I sit down on the floor in a semi lotus position, after first sweeping the space I need with my hand, removing a few small bone fragments and pebbles. The cool earth is only separated from my skinny rump by the thin silk of my nightgown, and I can feel it leaching warmth from my body.
I imagine Hell holding my hand and transferring energy and warmth to me, the way he did at the ball. The coldness seems slightly less uncomfortable. I force myself to breathe regularly, deeply. The musty air of this cave holds less oxygen than I’m used to.
Could this snake goddess be a relative of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl? Despite the similar form, I rather doubt it. That much more glamorous deity would hardly dwell in a dismal bone-strewn cave. In fact, any god worth his or her salt should be able to do better than this; her ugly surroundings are most likely due to Yila’s lack of imagination and desire to improve.
Hardly the most encouraging reflections, so I quickly pass to another subject. Who among my family has “gifted” me to this evil goddess? Jacinta may be the most likely, as she’s supposed to be engaged to the false “Diego”, but I have a niggling feeling that it might be someone closer to me. Does this have anything to do with the inheritance? Diego himself referred to that when we were dancing at the ball. The memory of his arms encircling me so painfully sends a shiver of horror and disgust down my back. And like an idiot, I forgot to mention the incident, and my instinctive fear, to Hell when he visited me afterwards. He may not have a clue where to look, given the large number of people at the ball. Diego was staying at a hotel in the closest city, not even at the house. Hell would have no reason to suspect him.
Again, my thoughts lead to a dead end. I start to sigh, suppress it at the last moment. The snake goddess probably could hear it, and I will not give her the satisfaction.
Yila is clearly ancient, but I wonder if Diego is as young as he looks. Did she find herself with divine offspring after many generations of lonely exile? She seemed extremely interested in the unexpected appearance of Hell and Myra, so maybe there is a parallel. Did Diego crawl from a snake egg? Snakes tend to have more than one egg, so maybe there are more Diegos out there. If so, I wonder what other mischief they are causing. Any of them turning out good would be a miracle with a mother like that. And are they more powerful than Hell, here in their own region? From what he told me the other day, it seems at least possible.
This time I cannot suppress my sigh, but if the snake goddess has heard me, she gives no sign.
17 Hell
It took eighteen long minutes for Diego to free himself from the glass block, and Hell nearly went out of his mind during the last ten of them. Myra had gone back to the breakfast room to check whether anyone had noticed her abrupt leave-taking and hypnotize anyone inclined to question it, as was their family’s usual practice.
Hell felt the tug of Diego’s movement and followed by means of the spidery thread he’d attached to his enemy. He had turned invisible again, and Diego did not spot his presence, but the first destination was a bitter disappointment. Diego went to a temple-like building on the outskirts of Bogotá, deserted except for an elderly man cleaning the floor with mop and broom.
“Lord,” the man said, bowing deeply. Diego ignored him and passed through a side door that led to a lavishly furnished apartment, like something from an old Playboy illustration; an enormous black bed decorated with erotic carvings immediately caught the eye.
Diego bypassed this monstrosity and headed to the bathroom for a prosaic shower. At least he did not seem aware of Hell following him. After the shower Diego magically changed into fresh clothes and looked indecisive for a few moments, as though weighing options.
Then, at last, he jumped again, and Hell could feel that it was not just a jump in place, but to a different dimension. If the thread had not been magical and unbreakable, he’d have had no chance. As it was, he arrived immediately behind his quarry, still invisible.
The place stank, and Hell hastily reduced his still heightened sensitivity to scent. It was also dark, but that was no obstacle to his eyes. Anxiously he scrutinized the huge underground cavern, several kilometres wide by a conservative estimate.
And there – far off, but unmistakeable – he caught the flicker of Melinda’s life force. Hell’s relief was indescribable. He rushed to her side, and found her squatting on the dirty floor with closed eyes. Without a moment’s delay Hell put his hands on Melinda’s shoulders and poured his love and energy, as well as a portion of his divine immortality, into her slight body.
Melinda jerked slightly in surprise, but did not speak; but only her hand reached out and clasped his, warm and strong.
Before Hell could speak to her, Diego appeared in front of Melinda, still unable to see Hell, though he shed a weak light around him.
“Still alive? I’m surprised. Your boyfriend was making a great fuss about your absence.”
“He will find me,” Melinda said. “You miserable excuse for a deity are no match for him, either in brains or strength.”
“You dare to defy me?” Diego looked more surprised than angry. “Since Mother does not seem to care for your taste, I’ll finish you off myself.”
“Not so fast,” Hell interjected, dropping the veil of invisibility. “Thanks for leading me here. We’ll be leaving now.”
&nb
sp; “No,” another, deeper voice said, and the snake goddess appeared, as tall as an elephant. Hell stared at her huge fangs and repressed a flinch. “You are this girl’s friend, Hell, the scion of the Greek Gods?”
“Indeed,” Hell admitted. He tried to pull Melinda away and vanish, but found he could not. While he himself might have left, a powerful force was anchoring Melinda to this dark place.
“Ah, you find you cannot take her,” the snake hissed. “She proposed a bargain, and I’m holding you to the terms.”
“Mother – surely you cannot bargain with this vermin?” Diego exclaimed. “I brought her to you as an offering to devour, not to bargain with!”
“Be silent,” the snake hissed with a glance at Diego. He turned ashen and shut up.
“It is true,” Melinda said, “as I was waiting for you to find me, Hell, I told Yila all about New Olympus, and we discussed the possibility of your co-operation to create something similar for these local gods. They are displeased by the way our earth is overrun with humans – “
“Not just humans, they are just animals like any other, but their ugly buildings and roads,” Yila interrupted. “Your own family recently destroyed one of the last forests left in this region.”
“Yes, and I’m sorry,” Melinda said. “This cave is a different dimension, but something better than this should be possible, don’t you think? With old trees and sunshine and water and varied vegetation?”
“Like the Wildlife sanctuary your Grandmother had planned?” Hell had to smile. “We seem to be coming back to that.”
“Yes, but much bigger, and safe from logging.”
There was a silence as the snake and Hell stared at each other. Melinda rose to her feet, still clasping Hell’s hand.
“That is your condition for restoring Melinda?” Hell asked. “You had no right to take her in the first place.”
“Are you even a god, to talk of rights to me?” The snake hissed contemptuously. “We follow our own rules. Her family gave her to us.”
