Only one thick finger of the yellow-green stuff intruded between them and the sheltering blackness near the left wall. It grew out of the dense folds around the base of one of the cones that rose from the floor. Hades moved toward it, turning slightly to point at the far end of the growth so that Persephone could see his profile. She noticed the muscles in his jaw beneath his short, curly beard move with effort and did not need to wonder why. Not only did the chrusos thanatos blacken immediately but a sullen red glow showed beneath it. A moment later, flames began to lick up through the ash and crawl backward toward the living stuff. When they reached the unburned growth, there was a whoosh as fire ran over the surface toward the little pool.
“Come quickly,” Hades said, taking Persephone’s hand. “I do not think the whole cave will begin to burn, but the nearer we are to a refuge.”
Suddenly a gout of water flew from the pool to douse the approaching flames. It was not magic. Someone had scooped up and flung the water. A flicker of movement showed behind the largest boulder and before the hissing died, a voice shrilled from among the rocks near the pool.
“Burn me, will you? I know you, Hades! As you were ‘merciful’ to me, I will be merciful to you. Leave the woman and I will let you go. If you do not leave her and go, I will throw rocks at you, rocks covered with chrusos thanatos.”
Hades swept Persephone behind him so that she was sheltered by his body, but his eyes remained fixed on the rocks. He did not draw his sword. If the infected man came close enough to strike, likely they would be lost anyway and the sword would certainly have to be abandoned.
“I did not intend to burn you nor did I sentence you to die the golden death, whoever you are,” Hades said slowly, his voice steady and without anger. “If you know me, you know what I can do. Do not be a fool.”
“You exiled me for nothing!” the outlaw shrieked. “For using a woman! What have I to fear from anything you can do? It is your turn to fear me, so now I will use your woman.”
Howling laughter burst between the words. Persephone had clutched at Hades in her terror, which had been intensified when she felt the stiffening of his body each time the outlaw laughed. Still clinging to him, she backed away from the threat. To her relief he moved back with her. One step, another.
A glowing yellow pebble flew at them, blackening before it fell to the floor.
“I can throw faster than you can burn!” the mad voice yelped, howling between the words again.
A form rose from the rocks and Persephone sobbed with horror. It was all patched with the yellow-green slime, which had grown completely over one eye.
“Man!” Hades bellowed, “Turn your back and I will go my way and let you live what is left of your life.”
More pebbles covered with chrusos thanatos flew, a handful, but one cannot aim a handful of pebbles and most scattered wide. The two that showed a small promise of coming in their direction Hades blackened.
“You are the fool!” The thin shriek rose so high it hurt Persephone’s ears. “You cannot escape me. I can run faster than you can climb. As soon as I touch you, you are lost.”
The outlaw started toward them, shambling around the edge of the pool, and Hades stood still as if he acknowledged the horrible truth in the threat. Persephone drew breath to scream, but no sound could get past the iron grip terror had on her throat. Hades raised his head.
“Wish me strong, Dazzling Brightness,” he muttered.
Heat rose in Persephone, gathered between her breasts, and poured outward. She heard Hades cry out, but the words were lost in a terrible grinding roar as the ceiling of the cavern shook and spears of rock broke loose and plunged downward. She heard one dreadful shriek that rose even above the shattering crashes, and then Hades turned and thrust her back toward the wall behind them.
Her knees were suddenly so weak they nearly buckled, and she could barely keep her hand closed around the basket, but Hades did not let her fall. He lifted her off her feet with one arm around her waist and plunged along the wall in the direction of the black mouths that yawned near the roof.
Below them he stopped, letting her feet touch the ground but clutching her to him. She felt him gesturing with the hand that did not hold her, but she was shaking with weakness and did not try to turn her head to see what he was doing. The roar of falling rock had diminished to a distinguishable medly of individual sharp cracks and crashes as one and then another of the spears broke loose and fell. Persephone listened fearfully for cries or groans, but no sound of a human voice was intermingled in the noise.
“Can you stand alone, beloved?” Hades asked. “I do not know how to give back what you poured into me. I have made hand and footholds in the rock. Can you climb up?”
His voice was strange and when she lifted her head to look, Persephone saw his eyes were glaring, the pupils glittering with red sparks. His face was set, too, like a man fighting great pain, but before she could speak he turned her in his arms so that she faced the wall. She realized then that some of the noise she had heard were holes being broken out of the rock wall just as he had broken the boulder to expose the second flower.
“I have seared the wall and the inside of the central opening, so it is safe for you to go up and wait for me.”
“Wait for you?” Persephone echoed faintly, turning her head to look at him over her shoulder. “But where are you going?”
“I must burn this cavern clean.”
“Now? This moment?”
“Persephone, I must rid myself of the power you bestowed upon me or I will burst or burn myself. Go up.” He touched her forehead. “It will be light for you, but do not go too far into the tunnel.”
He pushed her forward, less gently than his usual handling of her, and she went, too bemused by what he had said to protest further. The power she had bestowed upon him? What power had she to bestow?
Persephone staggered the few steps to the wall and began to climb slowly. She felt less weak, but it still required a far greater effort than she expected to raise a hand and foot and then the other foot to rise from one set of notches to the next. The basket, to which she still clung, hindered her too. If the wall had not slanted somewhat so that she was more crawling upward than climbing, she could not have progressed more than a few feet.
Her sudden weakness puzzled her. She thought at first it had been caused by fright, but then she remembered that she had felt strong enough to pick up Hades and carry him backward with her when the outlaw had first threatened them. She had not felt drained then… Drained!
The word brought back to mind the knot of heat between her breasts, heat that had run out of her and into Hades. But that was not a Gift. Or was it? Her mother said she had no Gift except her link to the Goddess, and it was true she could not initiate any spells; she had tried hard enough in the past, hoping to find a niche of life for herself that did not leave her a simple alter ego of her mother. Yet did she not remember when she went with her mother to bless the corn that a kind of gentle warmth flowed out of her? She had to pause and cling as a wave of distress washed over her. Her mother would not lie! Not to her!
Then Hades bellowed, “Burn!”
The sound filled and echoed around the cavern like a physical force and struck her a violent blow. Worse, it was followed by a roar that all but flattened her against the wall. Next came a blast of heat that seared her back and drove out of her every thought except that of a need to escape. She mounted upward again at a pace she would not have believed possible, hardly aware of reaching the tunnel mouth and creeping forward into it until the searing heat on her back and the red glow of fire that glared from the tunnel entrance were lost in the cool, dim twinkle of the crystals lit by Hades’s magic.
The near dark calmed her fear of the holocaust behind her and simultaneously renewed her fear of the chrusos thanatos. She stopped abruptly and stared around at walls, ceiling, and floor. All glittered with little sparks, but none had the sick yellow-green tinge of the deadly growth. That fear dispelled,
another seized her and she jumped to her feet, whirled around and started back toward the burning cavern, screaming, “Hades!”
“I am coming,” he shouted.
She heard him running and in a moment he was beside her. He clutched her to him just as the tunnel went almost black. Behind them was the faintest red glare; ahead, Persephone could see nothing no matter how she strained. Then the crystals lit again.
“You went farther than I told you to go,” Hades said, his voice sharp. Nonetheless, he gently took the basket, which had begun to feel like the burden of Sisyphus, from her numb hand.
Despite the kind gesture, fear and relief demanded an outlet and Persephone protested indignantly. “I was blown half the way, and it was too hot to stop at first.”
“You were a little overgenerous in your giving,” Hades snapped back. “I asked for strength, not to be filled with the power of a volcano.”
That remark came so uncomfortably close to answering her own thoughts that Persephone was struck dumb. Hades made an indeterminate wordless noise, as if he were choking back words—or was about to speak again—but he said nothing, simply starting forward. When they had walked about fifty paces he stopped and killed the light again. Now it was black as Persephone had never seen blackness before—and she did not mind a bit. Black was clean, and the strong arm around her made it safe and comforting.
When the crystals lit again, Hades was smiling. “We are safe now,” he said. “This tunnel is pure stone, no black rock, and the ponpikoi will not come through that chamber.” He uttered a snort of laughter. “Nothing will. It will be years before it cools.”
“Will that not be dangerous to…to those who travel through your realm?”
“No, the smell of burning will warn men as well as beasts, but it was kind of you to think of my people.”
He started onward, helping her when the passage narrowed or flattened or the footing became rough and uneven. Most of the previous passages had been smooth, like rocks long washed by water, and they often had a layer of soft sand on the floor, which made for good footing. In this one, the sand was pierced by ribs of rock—hard crystal, Persephone thought, because each rib glowed. But though she tried to concentrate on the passage, her mind kept going back to the subject of power. And, in spite of the last few pleasant words they had spoken, the new silence between them was not comfortable.
At last Persephone asked, “Are you sure the power came from me? Could it not have been your own desperation…”
Hades looked down at her as her voice drifted away, then sighed and shook his head. “You know now. It is too late to go back to unknowing. But you are still tired and we both need to eat. I am almost sure there is another chamber ahead where we can rest—and talk, if you wish.”
She nodded wordlessly, less because she wanted to rest, although if not for Hades’s supporting arm she might have slid to the ground, than because she did not know what to say. They walked in silence for some minutes more until Persephone became aware that the light in the passage was growing brighter. She hesitated, but Hades reassured her, explaining that the rock was changing and there was more crystal in it. The chrusos thanatos appeared only where there was earth mixed with black burning-rock.
Soon after, Persephone heard running water and hesitated again, but Hades drew her on, smiling rather wryly this time. “You need not fear to travel the caves when I am with you.”
“Oh no?” she answered smartly. “Was it not you who led me into that yellow-lit garden of delight?”
He laughed but his lips had a wry twist. “What you have seen is not the kingdom I wished to show you. I had hoped to enchant you with the beauty of my hidden land before I warned you of its horrors. I had also hoped you need never actually meet or see any of those, but you had to go your own way.”
“If you had not abducted me—” Persephone had begun, and then stopped speaking as they came to a dead end.
The passage was so full of crystal that it was as bright as day, and she could see Hades smiling down at her. He pointed to a narrow crack in the rock. “On the other side is our haven. The wall is not more than an arms-length thick. I do not wish to break it, so I will carry you through.”
“Through the rock?” Persephone breathed.
“Are you afraid?” he challenged.
“Of course I am afraid. Do you think me an idiot? What if we get stuck?”
“I never have yet,” Hades said, grinning. “And if we do, I have enough left of what you gave me to turn that wall to dust.”
He took her in his arms, one behind her back and the other under her knees so that she touched nothing but his body, and told her to set the basket into the curve of her belly and hold it there as he advanced on the wall. She watched in mingled horror and excitement as Hades’s arms flowed into the glittering rock, darkening it where they touched. As her body came into contact with the wall, pressed forward by his behind her, Persephone drew herself in, expecting to feel crushed. To her amazement, she felt only the slightest resistance, as if she were slipping into mud. Nonetheless, when her head touched the wall, she cringed, drew a deep, deep breath, and buried her face between Hades’s neck and shoulder.
In fact, it seemed she did not need to breathe while they were in the rock, which was fortunate because the passage took much longer than she expected from the slight resistance she felt. After a time she grew more curious than afraid and lifted her head. It was not hard, but she could not see. It was not dark, but there was before her eyes only that kind of light one sees with one’s lids closed. Later she thought she might have unconsciously kept her eyes shut, but Hades told her he could not see with his eyes either, only with the Gift that let him sense almost everything in or below the earth and carried him slowly toward any goal he set.
She remembered as they passed that this was the way he had abducted her, and she honed one or two remarks to finish the sentence she had begun. However, when Hades came into the open and set her on her feet, she just stood, open-mouthed. If he had not abducted her, she would never have seen the wonder that opened before her eyes.
Chapter 6
Olympus was beautiful, with its wide, tree-shaded streets and its glorious, shining white buildings, Persephone thought. But this—this was fairyland, lit with a white crystalline light that came from a myriad of glistening white lacy nodules attached to the low roof and from several stone pillars, down which ran many, many, thin, coruscating ribs of light. A clear, narrow pool lay on one side of the cavern, fed by a tiny tinkling waterfall that burst from the far wall. And the rock that made up the wall! Persephone stared, scarcely breathing, at cascades of stone that ended in billows of frozen foam, all glowing and rippling as the power that lit them ebbed and flowed.
Hades moved and Persephone was able to tear her eyes away from the marvel of stone carved into lacy billows and streamers. The next thing she saw was that near the pool were large, flat, knee-high rocks. If they had had backs, Persephone would have sworn they were chairs set deliberately to allow comfortable viewing. She looked suspiciously at Hades only to find him looking at her. He seemed to read her face because he shook his head, laughing.
“No, I did not first bring you through all the horrors and then try to make you forget them by bringing you here,” he said. “I have never seen this chamber before. As I have told you, I did not mean to come this way.”
He wriggled out of the rolled sheepskins, which he had replaced on his back after they escaped from the cavern of the chrusos thanatos, and untied them. Doubling one, he laid it on the largest of the flat rocks, one large enough to seat them both, then gestured her to join him and took the basket from her hand. When he lifted the cloth that covered the food, Persephone’s mouth began to water. She sat down at once, took a meat roll, and bit into it hungrily. Hades took one too, but he did not sit. He wandered toward the end of the cavern, staring down one after another of the tall, thin cracks in the wall behind them.
Persephone paid no attention. She could not rem
ember ever having been so hungry in her life. By the time he returned, she had eaten two more rolls, had a cup of wine, and was eyeing the small loaf of bread and a little covered pot, which she thought might contain fruit preserves.
“I left you two meat rolls,” she said, “but all that is left beside those is some wine and the bread and that pot of something.”
“That was supposed to serve for breaking our fast.” Hades chuckled. “I thought I was capturing a delicate lady who would be too terrified to eat much. I did not expect to need to fill the equal of a farmer in reaping season.”
Persephone sniffed loftily. “Some people eat when they are sad or frightened to comfort themselves.”
Hades burst out laughing. The sound leapt merrily from wall to wall and Persephone found herself laughing too.
“Very well,” she admitted. “I suppose I should be frightened to death, but all I feel is hungry. And I do not see why you are laughing. Unless you expect to reach your home caverns tomorrow, we are going to starve.”
“I had other caches of food, but I have no way to reach them from here,” Hades said reproachfully. “And we have two days more of travel than I intended too. I will have to hunt or fish.”
“Not hudorhaix,” Persephone wailed.
Hades cocked his head at her. “There may be fish in the stream. I have not yet looked. That might do for tonight and for a midday meal tomorrow, but after that it will be hudorhaix or something you might find even less inviting to look at, although I swear that most things I can catch are tasty when well cooked. Unless—”
“Unless?”
“Unless you will stay where I put you and not try to run away while I hunt in the open. I swear you will be nowhere near Olympus and that the reason I want you to stay is that you will be in danger in the wild country, not because I fear you will find your way home.”
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