Rachel pulled out of my arms, turned around and kissed me softly and gently. “We should get some sleep,” she said. “It has been an eventful and very tiring day.”
No. She couldn’t be serious. I was not ready to let her go yet. She stood up, so I reluctantly nodded my head. I put out the fire then took her in my arms once more.
“Goodnight.” I kissed her deeply and her legs began to shake. When I let her go I started to head toward my tent.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she asked, grabbing my arm to stop me moving further away. I turned around and looked at her in confusion. Where did she think I was going? “I thought you said something about cuddling me while I slept.” She let go of my arm, took hold of my hand and led me to her tent. I can safely say I have never been so happy in my life.
Furies
It was still early when I awoke, but I felt more refreshed than I had in a long time. I watched Rachel for a while as she slept. She looked so peaceful I was a little disappointed when she began to stir. Until she got out her diary, that is. She began to update it, allowing me to read what she was writing. I made a few helpful hints in regard to what she should put in it. Well I thought they were helpful. She practically threw me out of the tent, so I guess she didn’t agree.
I kissed her, promised to make breakfast and left her in peace.
“Freshly baked croissants would be nice,” she called after me. She was joking, but I wouldn’t let that stop me giving her what she wanted.
I had the food laid out and was just about to call to her when she emerged from the tent, sniffing the air which was filed with the aroma of warm pastries.
“I thought you said this realm will only provide us with what we need,” she said suspiciously.
I shrugged. “Sometimes we need croissants.”
It was an enjoyable breakfast and nobody seemed in a hurry to be on the go once more. It was Rob who eventually announced that we should pack up our tents.
For once Rachel helped. “I guess you won’t be needing this anymore,” she whispered in my ear as we folded up my tent and stuffed it into my bag.
“I was hoping you would say that.” I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her closer to me. We were still kissing when Rob interrupted us.
“A good night’s sleep hasn’t made you two see sense yet I see.” He sounded angry, though whether at me or Rachel I have no idea.
I didn’t react to his comment, nor his obvious hostility. Instead I finished packing up our gear, shouldered my bag and took Rachel by the hand. “Come on, let’s get moving.”
We had not been walking long when she suddenly stopped and stared at something in the distance.
“What is that?” she asked, pointing at the black seething mass.
“Beetles. They have a colony nearby and go to drink at the river each morning.”
“There must be thousands of them.”
“At least.”
“What type are they?” Rob asked as we got closer.
“Dung beetles. Also known as scarab beetles.”
“Scarab beetles?” Rachel screeched and began to back away. “Next you will be telling us we are going to Hamunaptra.”
That statement had me really confused. “Isn’t that in India?”
“I think she means the ancient Egyptian city of the dead,” Rob said. “She’s seen too many movies.”
Rachel looked horrified as she watched him pick up one of the beetles and place it in the palm of his hand so he could examine it.
“They’re actually quite pretty,” he said and held it out to her to take a look. She shuddered and moved to stand behind me. I guess she doesn’t like beetles.
“They are perfectly harmless,” I said, but she still refused to take a closer look.
“Is there a way of avoiding them?” she asked.
“Sure.” It meant going a slightly longer route, but I would have taken a ten week detour if it meant keeping Rachel happy. “We have to go this way to cross the river anyway.”
It did not take us long to reach the bridge, but I stopped before we crossed. “I thought I should warn you. Across that bridge is the home of the furies. They are not often here, so it is unlikely we will meet them, but you ought to be prepared, just in case.”
“Furies?” Rachel asked. “Don’t they punish crime or something?”
“Yes. They have many different names, but you would know them as Megaera, Tisiphone and Alecto.”
“What are they like?”
“Complete and utter bitches. They punish crime, mainly murder, but also moral crimes, like unfaithfulness. They hound and torment their victims until they die of madness and once they decide someone needs to be punished they will never, ever give up.”
“Remind me not to get on their bad side,” Rob said.
“If it’s not a stupid question,” Rachel asked, “how do we recognise them?”
“There are a couple of things that give them away. The first would be their wings.”
“Angels or fairies?” Rob asked.
“Angels.”
“And the other thing?”
“They have snakes for hair.”
“Medusa was one of the furies?” Rob asked in surprise.
“No, she is a gorgon. Gorgon’s don’t have wings. And before you ask, yes she is still alive and no you don’t get turned to stone just by looking at her. She gets very upset whenever anyone mentions that vicious little rumour.”
“How did it start?” Rachel asked.
“Jilted lover I think. It happened a long time before I was born and nobody in the family talks about it so I may be wrong.”
“So,” Rachel said as we walked across the bridge. “All we have to do is keep an eye out for angels with snake fetishes and prey they don’t take a disliking to us.”
“You mean like that?” Rob said, pointing at a woman who was walking toward us. Her white feathered wings flowed out behind her and it looked like she had a full head of wavy red hair at first glance. Second glance told a different story.
“Kris, how nice to see you,” she said in an aggravatingly high pitched voice.
“Alecto.”
“To what do we owe this honour?” she asked, ignoring my unfriendly tone.
“Just passing through. And we are in a hurry, so if you don’t mind we would like to be on our way.”
Alecto laughed. It was not a pleasant noise.
“You don’t really think you can avoid introducing me to your friends do you?”
I sighed. I really did not want to do as she asked, but there wasn’t an easy way to get out of it. “This is Rob. He’s on his way to rescue a woman from Death and this is Rachel, my girlfriend.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth I knew I had made a mistake.
Alecto hissed. So did her snakes. “You’d better hope Megaera doesn’t find out.”
Rachel raised a questioning eyebrow at me and I shook my head. Now wasn’t the time for an explanation. “How many more times do I have to tell you this? There never has been and there never will be anything between me and your sister.”
“That’s not what she says,” Alecto said. She beat her wings and levitated off the ground. “You may be lucky. She may not even know you are here. Then again, maybe not.” With that last comment she flew away.
“We might have a little problem here.” I removed my arm from around Rachel’s waist and took hold of her hand. “Megaera is going to be pretty pissed when she finds out about you.”
“As Alecto said,” Rob offered, “we may be lucky and she may not find out.”
Was he really that stupid? “Where do you think that little bitch has just flown off to?”
“Oh,” was all he said.
I squeezed Rachel’s hand. “Stay close. We will be safely out of their territory soon.”
“Why did you introduce me as your girlfriend if you knew it was going to cause trouble?” she asked as we walked.
“I didn’t really think about it. It felt so good saying it I don
’t think I engaged my brain properly.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “We’ll be fine.” I wished I could agree with her.
“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Rob said, pointing ahead of him. In front of us, hovering a few feet off the ground, was another of the sisters. This one had green snakes instead of hair, all of which were standing out straight and displaying their fangs.
“Don’t do anything stupid Magaera,” I said as I positioned myself in front of Rachel.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” she said with obviously fake innocence. “Why should I do anything stupid? It’s not as if I am jealous or anything.”
“Doesn’t her name mean jealous?” Rob whispered to me, making me wince. This guy really doesn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.
“Please don’t remind her.”
“I’m just here to see your so-called girlfriend,” Magaera continued. “I wanted to see the woman who would make you be unfaithful to me.”
“Magaera,” I said in a threatening tone. “Don’t even think about it.” I had no idea what exactly she was planning on doing, but it would somehow involve harming Rachel.
Magaera laughed. “Don’t worry. I won’t lay a finger on her.” She smiled sweetly down at us. “After all, why do I need to when I have a sister to do it for me?”
As she spoke I felt Rachel’s hand wrenched from mine and I turned to see Tisiphone rising into the air, Rachel held tightly in her arms.
“Drop her Tisiphone.” My voice came out cold and harsh.
“My pleasure,” Tisiphone called down to me. “From what height?” She rose higher and higher until, had I normal human eyes, they would both have appeared no more than birds flying above us.
I had to make Tisiphone release Rachel, but was unsure if it was safe to do so. I knew just the way to do it, but was worried that she would drop her. I would be able to catch her before she hit the ground, but needed to reassure her that she would be alright. Taking a deep breathe I spoke directly into Rachel’s mind. “Stay calm. I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. I’m going to talk with Tisiphone now. I’ve never spoken to her like this before so be prepared in case she drops you in fright.” I winced as I said the last sentence. If that didn’t terrify Rachel nothing would. When had I stopped being able to think before speaking?
Unable to see an alternative I locked my mind onto Tisiphone’s. “Bring her back down and I promise you that you will not be harmed.” I kept my voice calm and steady. She had no idea how powerful I really am and I didn’t want to have to demonstrate, but I would if I had to. “I even promise not to tell my grandfather what you have done.”
That did it. She screamed and covered her ears with her hands, oblivious to the fact that Rachel was now hurtling toward the ground.
Amazingly Rachel didn’t scream as she fell neatly into my arms.
“Thanks for the warning,” she said as though she had not just faced almost certain death.
“My pleasure.” I kissed her forehead before handing her to Rob. I didn’t want to let go of her, but there was something I needed to do.
“Look after her,” I said. “I have something to take care of.”
I calmly walked up to where Megaera was still hovering, jumped up, grabbed her by the throat and made us both disappear.
We materialised in my grandfather’s study, making him jump up in surprise. I threw Magaera onto the floor, where she curled up into a ball and began to whimper. She had met Hades, as Rachel likes to call him, before and was terrified of him. She knew that he barely tolerated her and her sisters living in his domain and that banishment was the least of the fates she was now facing.
“What is going on here?” he demanded. He was looking at me, not Magaera, knowing that I would tell him nothing but the absolute truth.
“That little bitch and her sisters just tried to kill Rachel.”
“Dare I ask why?” he asked me, barely reacting to my statement.
“Does it matter?” Now wasn’t the time to start telling my family that Rachel and I were an item.
“Not really,” he said. “Leave her with me. I will find a suitable way to deal with her. Then I will track down her sisters.” Hearing this Magaera started to scream. Grandfather glared at her, instantly making her go quiet. It was a good thing for her that she did. ‘If looks could kill’ is not just a saying when it refers to the god of the underworld.
He turned his attention to me. “You had better get back to Rachel and Rob. Let me know when you reach your uncle.”
I promised I would and disappeared once more.
They were alone when I returned; Tisiphone had flown away to hide. I walked straight up to Rachel and took her in my arms. “Are you alright?”
She nodded her head. “I’m fine. You told me you wouldn’t let anything happen to me and I believed you. How did you speak to me by the way?”
I pulled back and grinned at her, relieved that she appeared to be unfazed by what had just happened. “I’m a demi-god remember.”
“Shouldn’t that be demi-demi-god?” she asked.
“Don’t get technical. We still refer to ourselves as demi-gods whether it is correct terminology or not.”
“Am I the only one wondering where you hid the body?” Rob asked.
“What body?” I honestly had no idea what he was talking about.
“Megaera’s.”
I stared at him, momentarily speechless, then burst out laughing. “I didn’t kill her you idiot. I took her to see my grandfather. This is his realm after all so he can deal with her.”
Rachel shivered. It wasn’t cold so maybe she wasn’t handling things as well as she seemed to be. Getting her away from there as soon as I could was probably a very good idea.
I took hold of her hand and led her away, Rob following close behind. We talked while we walked and Rachel asked about my history with the furies. I don’t really like talking about myself usually, but with Rachel I don’t seem to mind. I would happily tell her anything she wanted to know.
“I made the mistake of being nice to them. Everyone else shunned them, but I like to make up my own mind about people so I ignored all of the warnings. It had been a very long time since anyone had treated them as people rather than creatures and Megaera took it personally. I tried to explain that I wasn’t interested, but she wouldn’t listen and decided that we were a couple who were destined to be together.”
“No good deed goes unpunished,” Rachel said with a smile.
“Something like that. I try to avoid coming to this area, but sometimes needs must.” I smirked as a memory surfaced. “I brought Ankou with me once in the hope that her affections would transfer to him. It didn’t work though.”
“That was cruel,” she said, though it was not clear whether she thought I was being cruel to Megaera or Ankou. I decided not to ask.
“I never said I was perfect.” I pulled her closer to me and kissed her.
“No,” she said. “You didn’t. But you’re close enough for me.”
“Will you two pack it in,” Rob said in exasperation and we pulled apart, but I didn’t let go of her hand.
The sun was beginning to set when we reached the banks of a river and we decided to camp for the night. As usual I pulled poles and canvas out of my bag and started to assemble them.
Rob looked confused. “Why are there only two tents?” he asked. I pretended not to have heard the question and watched Rachel out of the corner of my eye, wondering how she was going to answer.
“Why do you think?” she said, looking meaningfully toward me. That wasn’t quite what I expected her to say, but it did not surprise me as much as Rob’s reaction did.
A look of absolute fury crossed his face. “I can understand you seeking comfort in Kris’s arms,” he snarled at her. “Especially after what we have been through, but when I brought you down here I never expected you to spread your legs for the first man you set eyes on. You are going to ruin everything, you lit
tle slut. He’s not even human for god’s sake.”
Rachel reacted before I did, slapping him hard across the face. I desperately wanted to go over to her and check that she was alright, but this was something I had to stay out of.
For a moment he just stared at her, stunned by what she had done. Then the anger drained out of him and he pulled her close to him, enveloping her in his arms and burying his face in her hair.
“Rachel I am so sorry,” he said so softly I would not have heard it had I been human. “I don’t know what came over me. It is none of my business who you sleep with and I had no right to talk to you like that. Please forgive me.”
I felt slightly insulted that Rob could believe that Rachel would sleep with me so soon or that I would put pressure on her to do so, but this was between Rob and Rachel. If she wanted to tell him that we had not gone that far yet that was up to her. Personally I thought it was none of his business and Rachel must have thought the same because she made no comment.
Our meal was eaten in silence and as soon as it was over Rachel and I went to our bed. We didn’t talk; we didn’t need to. I just put my arms around her and she was soon fast asleep. I thought momentarily about giving my uncle an update, but I could not bring myself to let her go, so I closed my eyes and drifted off.
Confessions
Rachel was still asleep when I awoke and I could not resist kissing her neck. It did not take long for her to wake, but she kept her eyes firmly closed so I didn’t stop kissing her.
“I know you are awake,” I said after a while.
“How?” she asked as she rolled over to look at me.
“Your breathing changed rhythm.” I kissed her on the cheek then pulled away from her as she tried to grab hold of me and pull me back toward her for more. It’s not that I didn’t want more, but I was having trouble controlling myself around her and didn’t want things to go too far before she was ready.
“I’m going to go to the river to bathe. Sleeping with you is like sleeping next to a furnace. Not that I am complaining,” I added hastily. “But I have been sweating all night and I probably don’t smell too good.”
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