by Suzy Shearer
I knew I was going to die. I was surprised that I had lasted this long.
I screamed, “Dorian!”
For some reason, I also screamed, “Krisk!”
My final thoughts were that I definitely would never see Dorian again, never get the chance to fall in love. The world got hazy, then the pain seemed to go away as I passed out, finally succumbing to my blood loss and pain.
Chapter Sixteen
Without opening my eyes, I let out another scream. I couldn’t believe I was still alive. The pain had gone so I figured that meant I was so badly injured that I was beyond pain.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was gently shaking me. Now why didn’t it hurt? Should I open my eyes?
“It’s all right, Ellie. Ellie, open your eyes. It’s Maleos.”
What was he doing here? I didn’t know if I wanted to open my eyes, I didn’t want to see how bad my injuries really were. If Maleos was here, that must mean Adrian had been stopped.
Slowly I opened my eyes. His face was inches from mine and he was smiling. Now why on earth would you smile at someone who was dying?
I heard Krisk’s voice. “Missus Ellie! Missus Ellie, you is all good now, no more hurtings.”
“Hello Ellie. Welcome back.” Maleos smiled down at me and winked.
Shit, what on earth was going on? Maybe I was in the hospital, the bloody bed felt hard enough. I ran my hands down my body.
Weird! I couldn’t feel any bandages.
“Do you want to sit up, Ellie? Let me help you.”
Maleos put his arm under my shoulder and helped me into a sitting position. I suddenly realised I was at home and I didn’t hurt—anywhere!
“What the fuck is going on?”
“Can you remember what happened to you, Ellie?”
Maleos’s voice was full of concern. I felt a little weird. I looked down and saw I was wearing some sort of white dressy thing and I had been lying on the kitchen table. For a woman whose life had gone from strange to weird over the past month, this was even weirder.
“Yes,” I croaked. My voice sounded a little odd. I cleared my throat and started again. “Yes, what happened to Adrian? Why am I on the table? I was dying, I know I was, or maybe I was dead. How…Where…shit!”
“How about we sit on the couch? Let me help you to your feet. You might feel a little wobbly.”
That was an understatement.
I stood and practically landed on my head. Krisk grabbed one leg and Maleos quickly put his arms around me and helped me walk to the couch. The pair of them sat me down, then Maleos pulled up a chair to sit in front of me. Krisk jumped up on the couch alongside.
Maleos took my hands in his and took a deep breath.
“I have a few things to tell you.”
For the next hour or so, he and Krisk told me all that had happened. I found it hard to believe, except for the fact that I was whole and intact when I should be leaking like a proverbial sieve.
Maleos told me that the first time he knew that something was wrong was when he found Dorian awake. Dorian was screaming that he had to get to me.
Maleos had grabbed Dorian, trying to hold him back from wherever he was intent on going. He tried to reason with him.
“I said, ‘Dorian, what are you talking about? You can’t see Ellie, the Gods have forbidden it. You are supposed to be asleep.’”
But Dorian had tried to shake Maleos off. “Let me go, Maleos. It’s Ellie. I know she is hurt. I have to go to her!”
Dorian was shouting and Maleos was worried one of the Gods would notice. He shook Dorian, pulling him into an alcove.
“I was so worried that the Gods would kill him for disobeying them, Ellie. I asked him was he sure there was something wrong.”
And Dorian had nodded and answered, “Yes. Yes, I am positive.”
“So I told him I was coming, too.”
“We left Mount Olympus without being seen and materialised in Adrian’s office.”
Maleos shook his head as he described to me what they had found.
“It was horrific. There was blood everywhere. You were lying on the desk lifeless, covered in stab wounds. Adrian was in front of you, the scissors plunging downward, but he was frozen in time.”
I gasped with phantom pain when he told me. I could almost feel the scissors plunging into me again.
“Krisk was standing before Adrian, his arms raised. Dorian went to attack Krisk, but I held him back.”
“I yelled at him, telling him that Krisk was your friend, trying to get through to him to stop. Krisk had looked dangerous. His eyes were glowing fiery red and his teeth bared.”
I looked over at Krisk. Even when he had attacked me, he had not looked that dangerous. Krisk took up the story.
“This big ’un, he be asking me what be happening. I tell ’em Missus Ellie be calling me. I come. Bad man is stabbing her. I be stopping time.”
Krisk looked at me and shook his head. “Miss Ellie’s big man be angry and he be scared. He not thinking properly. He go to touch you!”
“Yes, I had to stop Dorian.” Maleos sighed. “I grabbed his arm and told him we couldn’t move you. He wasn’t thinking straight and I reminded him that time was frozen for you, but if he touched you, it would begin again, and you’d surely be dead.”
When Maleos said I would be dead, I let out a cry. I mean, I knew I was dying, but to hear it said was so scary. He continued telling me that Dorian and he could only stand there, watching and wondering if there was any chance I would still live.
“I told Krisk we needed to get mortal help for you. We could pass as humans, but there was no way Krisk could.”
Krisk was nodding his head wisely as Maleos continued. “Then Krisk dropped his bombshell.”
“Bad man was not him. Bad demons was in his head. They no could call mortal doctor.”
“What?” I was confused. “What do you mean?”
“Me was going to make bad man head explode, I be very angry. I went inside head but he is thinking bad things not from him but from demons.”
He looked around furtively, then whispered, “They was in there still because me stop time. They tell man must kill Missus Ellie bad. Mortal doctor no could save you. You be poisoned much from demons.”
Maleos ran his hands through his hair. “That threw a spanner in the works. What could we do? If we took you to Mount Olympus then Dorian would be in trouble, but we could not just leave you.”
I looked from Maleos to Krisk. They looked so serious, so frightened, recalling their choices.
“Dorian said he didn’t care. He told us we had to get you to the Mount to try and save you, regardless of what happened to him. Then Krisk gave us a better option.”
Krisk looked from me to Maleos.
“Me think maybe demon doctor help, best to take demon poison out. Told men no go to Big Mountain, we take Ellie to her house. See if demon doctor can make you better.”
“It made sense. Especially if the guy has been brainwashed by demons and had them inside him. Dorian asked Krisk if there was a lot of demon poison in your wounds.”
Krisk nodded sadly. “You be filled with it. Miss Ellie, you not be living, I think.”
I could feel tears pouring down my cheeks as the two immortals continued the tale.
“Then your big man, he be not thinking, he be saying, ‘By…’” Krisk looked around and whispered, “‘Hades…’ Why? Why do this?”
Krisk looked terrified at this point. “He called King, my big Lord!”
I must have looked confused at this, but Maleos explained.
“The King of the Underworld is the Lord er… H-A-D-E-S.” he spelt out the name. I gathered if you said it without thinking, there was a chance he would appear, especially when there was a demon nearby.
“So he came? Is that what you mean?”
They both nodded.
“My Lord, he be asking me to explain. He be pretty angry.”
“Yes and so Krisk bowed a few times, then
hesitantly told his Lord was had happened. When he said demons had invaded the mortal’s head and were still there, the God had looked furious.”
“He looked at the mortal and touched his head with a finger. Then he said the names Tzitzim and Focola, asking if that was who Krisk had found.”
Krisk stammered and finally managed to say, “Me be very scared but me say ‘yes.’”
So then, Hades had called their names loudly and Tzitzim and Focola appeared before him. He had asked them to explain.
Maleos said that he and Dorian dared not speak. He explained to me that, although Hades seldom involved himself with doings on Earth, or with the other Gods, as he maintained the relative balance between life and death, he was known as a God who held complete authority and was easily enraged. They had to tread very carefully.
The two summoned demons had quailed before their Lord. They told him they did not like that I had befriended demons and had even allowed one to live in my home. They felt I should have let Krisk be killed rather than save him, saying it was wrong to let me be friends with demons and they wanted me out of the way.
They had decided that if I were dead, no more demons would “go soft,” be friends with mortals and play with cats. Hades had looked back at Krisk and asked, “You live there, other demons visit, and this woman befriends you all?”
“I be scared talking to my Lord but I be saying ‘Ye–yes…You be…my…our friend.’” Krisk looked over at the Daemon and bravely continued, “I be telling him you be say–saying your house be neutral. That you not letting anyone be hurt there. I tell him you be good mortal.”
When Krisk had explained, Hades had nodded his head and then waved a hand. The two demons he had summoned from inside Adrian had shattered into thousands of pieces. He had touched Adrian’s head again and Adrian slumped to the ground, unconscious.
“It was then he turned his attention to Dorian and me. He spoke to Dorian and asked if he was to be mated to you. Dorian nodded and the Lord continued, ‘You do not have permission to see her any longer.’”
“Dorian could not deny it. He just nodded again. The God turned back to the mortal Adrian again telling us that when he woke he would not remember anything that had happened. He cleansed the room, waved his hands over you, then he just picked you up and just disappeared.”
“We had no idea what was happening but because Krisk was a demon he would know where his Lord was taking her.”
“I be telling them they be at your house.”
So the three of them instantly disappeared, only to reappear in my family room. Hades had laid me on the dining table. He was looking down at me when they appeared. Hades then called his wife. With a loud “pop,” Persephone had appeared. The two Daemons had bowed low to her, remembering not to speak her name while Krisk prostrated himself on the floor.
“It was so wonderful, Ellie. Persephone looked at her husband, then at you. She shed a tear at the sight of your bloodied body. Hades caught the tear on his fingertip and placed it on your lips. When Persephone shed two more, he placed them, one on each eye.”
Maleos smiled at me as he continued. “The Lord took his wife’s hand and kissed it tenderly, saying, ‘Thank you, my love.’ She smiled at him and then disappeared.”
Krisk said there was nothing for them to do but wait after that.
Hades had thrown himself onto a nearby couch and looked around the room. Krisk stood, but admitted he was still bowing each time he looked in his Lord’s direction. He was flustered when some of the cats arrived, knowing he was in the house. He tried to ignore them but they wound around his legs, purring and demanding his attention.
Hades had roared with laughter. He pointed at Krisk. “Come here. Bring your friends.”
Krisk told me he was bent double trying to keep bowing and walk at the same time. He reached Hades’s side and sat down on the floor near his feet. The cats immediately clambered onto him and some jumped up onto Hades, who began stroking them.
“Dorian was getting edgy.” Maleos admitted. “He knew nothing could be done to save you while the demons’ poison was in your body. He was pacing up and down and I was worried he would soon explode. I thought to pull him aside and remind him who was there when another ‘pop’ signalled the arrival of another immortal.”
This time is was Theos.
Theos was sure to tell Dike and Dikaiosyne that Dorian was where he should not be and sure enough, he had looked at the two of them and, gloating, he began to yell.
Maleos did a great imitation of Theos. “‘Dorian, what do you think you are doing? You will be permanently put into sleep for this!’” He had smirked as he continued, “‘That is, if they don’t kill you!’”
Dorian had just shrugged. Maleos told me that Dorian really did not care as long as I was saved. It was then that Theos saw me sprawled on the table, covered in blood.
“You should have heard him, Ellie. He started yelling again. ‘What’s going on? I hope you don’t think you can interfere. You got away with it last time, but I will make sure you don’t this time!’ He looked so pleased with himself as he went on, saying no one has the right to interfere with mortals.”
“You should have seen his face when Dorian pointed at the Lord and said, ‘He does.’”
Theos had practically fainted on the spot, but instead, he disappeared. Just as suddenly as he went, Dike and Dikaiosyne appeared along with Anteros, Eleos, Bia, and that damned Theos. They all bowed to Hades, Theos glared at Dorian and Maleos, and the others walked over to where I lay. Theos was grinning smugly at Dorian.
Hades had spoken lazily, a cat asleep in his lap. “Three tears from my wife are working on her body. In a few hours, we will know if she will survive the poison from the demons. If she does then we can heal her wounds.”
Then Dike nodded to him and mused, “This woman is certainly creating interest. She defends demons over her beloved, creates a neutral territory for them.” She had looked at Dorian. “She has a Daemon who has been banned from contacting her and sent to sleep, awake and at her side. And now, the Lord of the Underworld tries to heal her. I do not understand it at all.”
“She has honour. I like that,” Hades had announced. “Maybe you should rethink your judgement.”
Dike started.
“We all held our breath as she answered, ‘I would have considered it, but he has now disobeyed the Gods by coming here. I cannot.’”
Chapter Seventeen
Dike had spoken quietly to Theos. Maleos said he looked ill at ease with her words, but he disappeared.
Two hours passed.
Eleos and Bia had checked on me a few times, but Krisk said their faces remained grave. Dike and Dikaiosyne had returned to Mount Olympus while Anteros had walked over and joined Hades. Dorian was getting more and more stressed with each passing minute. Several times Maleos said he had pulled him aside and warned him to keep his emotions under control.
Suddenly, they all saw a black cloud rise from my mouth to dissipate in the air. Dorian went to rush to my side, but at a look from Hades, he stopped.
Hades, Eleos, and Bia began to examine me.
Bia had spoken softly, saying, “Her strength was there, she fought hard to stay alive, but I do not know if it will be enough, Lord Hades, her wounds are fatal for a mortal.”
Hades had nodded. “The demon poison is now out of her system. I should like her to live. She is refreshing. We need Asclepius or least Aceso here if she had a chance to survive. I dare not remove her from stasis.”
Bia nodded her head and she and Eleos disappeared.
“The Lord told us if Asclepius didn’t agree to help, you could not be saved. The wounds were too many for your body.”
Maleos’s face whitened as he looked at me. “We all feared the worst. A cry tore from Dorian’s lips at the Lord’s words. He went white. He went to step toward you, but hesitated. But when the Lord nodded, he moved to your side.”
There were tears in Maleos’s eyes as he continued. “He
brushed his fingers above your lips, careful not to touch you and break the stasis. For only one of the primal Gods could touch you in safety. We all saw his eyes fill with tears as he looked upon your ruined body. The Lord briefly touched his shoulder, then went to sit down again. Dorian stood beside the table. He told me he would stay beside you until they dragged him away.”
“Bia returned and told us all that Asclepius is coming.”
Then there had been an almighty loud “pop” and two figures had appeared—Asclepius and, surprisingly for all, Zeus.
All but Hades bowed low. Krisk said he had flattened himself on the ground and admitted he was whimpering.
“Me was trying to hide Ellie, was very scared.”
Maleos had snuck a look at Dorian, who looked as stunned as he felt.
“Brother.” Hades had nodded to Zeus.
“So this is the mortal who has Mount Olympus in an uproar.” Zeus had stepped to the table where I lay. Dorian stood rooted to the spot.
“Clearly we all heard Zeus say, ‘I believe you were supposed to be sleeping off your anger, Dorian,’ and I held my breath.”
So Dorian bowed again and spoke humbly, “Your pardon, my Lord. I heard her cry for help.”
“Even though you slept?”
Zeus had shaken his head in puzzlement. Beckoning to Asclepius, he asked, “Can she be saved?”
“Not as a mortal. The wounds have penetrated her vitals. If she had not been put into stasis, she would be dead.”
“I be very scared Miss Ellie. I be whimpering louder. I be terrified that Big God Zeus would kill me just for being in the same room.”
Maleos gave a little laugh, “Zeus looked over and said, ‘For goodness sake, Hades, keep that demon quiet! I have no intention of harming him, but if he keeps up that infernal whimpering I may change my mind!’”
Hades had kicked at Krisk, who immediately froze, too terrified to do anything but breathe.
“Me was so scared,” Krisk repeated and gave a little shiver.
Zeus had then turned back to Asclepius ordered, “Save her.”