by Rae Magdon
“I want to be different. I want to be better.” And to be better, she needed her soul. With newly found determination, she turned to the spirits that were still half-obscured by the fog. “Take me to Cleopatra,” she ordered, letting go of Eva’s hand and stepping forward.
“Cleopatra?” Eva’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wait, didn’t she kill herself?”
Lilith shrugged. “An asp’s bite kills slowly. Perhaps she repented for her suicide while she was paralyzed, but not for the rest of her sins. Or maybe she didn’t kill herself after all, and the snake was only a legend. I never asked her. This is where Minos sent her, and his judgment is never wrong.”
“We will take you to the Queen,” the female shade said, her pale arm sweeping through the fog as she gestured into the distance. “It is the only way to Judecca. But she will not let you pass.”
The spirits turned as one, and when they moved, something glittered in the mist between them. “Wait,” Eva said, stepping forward after them. “What was that?”
“The crown of the kingdom that we destroyed.” The man’s voice was tortured as he turned to look at her over his shoulder, lifting his arm. His left hand was bound to the woman’s with twisted, blackened metal. It bit into their flesh, peeling it open in rotting strips between them.
“Our lust was the seed of its destruction,” said the woman. “After Arthur’s death, I retreated to a convent, but only out of shame. We ended his reign, but the one who betrayed him is in the Ninth Circle.” Lilith felt a shudder pass through her. She had betrayed the very Creator Himself, not just a mortal king. If she had not repented, surely she would have been buried deep for her sins.
“Arthur?” Eva started to ask beside her, but the two shades started walking, their bodies fading into the mist.
In the choking, grey-black smog, it was impossible to see the uneven rise and fall of the ground. They stumbled along, and Lilith had trouble finding her footing. There was no path, and the two damned lovers were their only guide, but occasionally, she caught glimpses of others in the darkness, countless naked bodies twisting and writhing together. “When the tornado comes, they won’t even realize until it’s too late,” she whispered.
“What happens then?”
“They get thrown back to the ground after a century or so, but it always picks them up again.”
Finally, the mist began to clear, revealing the edge of a great cliff. Like the first drop after the River Acheron, the cliff’s face hurtled straight down into blackness. A small, narrow footpath lined its treacherous side, but there was no other way to descend.
“Is that the Third Circle?” Eva asked her, looking down into the endless darkness.
Lilith ignored her. Instead, her attention was fixed on three more shadowy figures approaching them from the left. The thick fog blurred them at first, but their forms became clearer as they drew closer. Lilith’s eyes widened, and she was surprised to see Lady Godiva. Their guide was carrying Eva’s staff in one hand, as well as her travelling pack.
“It looks like we’ve found Godiva again,” she said, touching Eva’s arm. “And she isn’t alone.” Lady Godiva did not respond, staring straight ahead into the mist, almost as if she was looking through them.
Reluctantly, Lilith shifted her eyes to the woman beside her. She was absolutely stunning, with thick, lustrous hair and tanned skin, and even the slight curve to her nose made her seem more alluring. When she spoke, her voice was not distant. In fact, it seemed to curl around her like a caress. “Lancelot. Guinevere. Why have you brought a mortal into my kingdom?”
“She came with me.” Lilith stepped forward before the two shades could answer. “So did the woman next to you. Let the three of us pass into the Third Circle, and we won’t return here.”
Cleopatra’s dark eyes seemed to spark, and her expression was hungry. “You want to leave so quickly, without even giving me a chance to extend my hospitality?” She turned to the other figure beside her, a tall man with curly hair and a thick jaw. “Mark Antony and I are disappointed.”
“You and Mark Antony are none of my concern anymore.” Lilith’s breath came a little faster as Cleopatra took a step forward. Her body remembered her old lover, and something in the way she moved was almost hypnotic. Pressure throbbed at the base of her skull, and the edges of her vision began to fade. When she tried to turn her head and look at Eva, she found that she could not move.
“Stay, Lilith.” A warm hand caressed the side of her cheek, and Cleopatra’s face hovered in front of hers. Her lips were parted just a fraction. Lilith blinked, trying to focus on the faces of Lady Godiva and Mark Antony, but the two of them had almost faded into nothing.
“Remember how we ruled Egypt?” Cleopatra’s voice was hypnotic. A warm body pressed flush against hers, hands running down along her sides. The hunger became a piercing ache, sending heavy throbs of want directly between her legs. Fingers caressed the small of her back, sliding beneath the hem of her shirt to find bare flesh. “Hundreds of thousands bending before us... countless servants, all begging you to feed from them. Stay with me, and we can build a new kingdom.”
Fingers slithered along the back of her neck, drawing her forward, and Lilith could not tell if it was Cleopatra’s fingers or some invisible force. Hunger burned in the pit of her stomach. It would be so easy to take…
A hand curled behind one of her horns, jerking her head to the side, and hot lips collided with hers in a bruising kiss. At first, Lilith froze, unable to respond. Then, she relaxed, allowing a firm, insistent tongue to swipe along her lower lip. It was followed by a sharp nip, and the red haze behind her eyes began to dissipate. Instead of Cleopatra’s face, Lilith saw Eva’s. The points of her cheeks were dotted with pink, and a mixture of arousal and anger tightened the muscles of her jaw. There was an undeniable possessiveness in the action, and Lilith’s mind cleared.
An unholy scream shattered the bond between them. Cleopatra’s head snapped back, and black smoke billowed from her mouth, rocketing up into the air in an inky column shot with fire. The choking, cloying smell of brimstone made Lilith cup a hand over her mouth. She turned away from Cleopatra’s jerking, writhing body, trying to shield her face. With a violent scream of rage, she collapsed onto the ground, limp and lifeless.
Eva stared at her in horror. “God... she was...”
“Possessed,” Lady Godiva said, speaking and moving freely. She hurried over to stand beside them. “That was not Cleopatra. Thank goodness you did something. The power controlling her was strong, and she was using it to keep me silent.” She turned to Lilith. “Are you all right?”
“I...” Lilith put one of her hands on Eva’s shoulder, using it to support some of her weight. Her legs felt weak. “He is angry. I felt it. This is the second time He has tried to seduce me and failed. The first time was the morning after I repented.” She gave Eva a guilty, pained look. “I’m sorry you witnessed that.”
“It wasn’t your fault.” Eva cupped the side of Lilith’s jaw, tilting her head up to kiss her again. This time, their lips met softy. After a brief moment, both of them pulled away, although Eva’s hand lingered on her face. “Come on. The three of us need to get out of here before she wakes up.”
Canto VII:
Cerberus, monster cruel and uncouth,
With his three gullets like a dog is barking
Over the people that are there submerged.
“You must be more careful in this Circle,” Lady Godiva said as they descended the side of the cliff, picking their way along the footpath. It had widened as they left the Second Circle behind, and the downward slope started to ease off. The stone beneath their feet softened to mud, and they left faint footprints behind them as they walked. “That tornado was nearly the end of you both.”
Eva blushed. This was the second time in a matter of hours that Lady Godiva had caught her in a compromising position. She was g
rateful that their guide had saved their lives, but she could not help being embarrassed as well. “I’m sorry. I suppose something just... came over me...”
“It wasn’t your fault. He manipulated us,” Lilith murmured just ahead of her. She had shifted back into her human form and taken the lead down the path. “The uncontrollable lust you felt and Cleopatra’s seduction were deliberate attempts to stop me. Shaitan is very powerful and very clever. He will try to tempt me in the Circles I am most familiar with.”
“That means he’s afraid of you,” Lady Godiva said. “Why else would he be trying so hard to keep you from reaching the Ninth Circle? He considers you a threat.”
The words did not appear to offer Lilith any comfort. Her lips stiffened, and Eva saw her shoulders tense. “If He is afraid of me, that only means He will try harder to stop me. He is manipulative. He preys on your weaknesses until you think you are broken...and he knows all of my weaknesses intimately.”
Eva stopped. She reached out and put her hand on Lilith’s shoulder before she could continue forward. Lilith turned, staring back at her with an unreadable expression. “You’re not broken, and he won’t seduce you again. I won’t let him, no matter what form he takes or what magic he uses.”
Lilith gave her a weak smile. “Thank you for saving me before. Lust was one of the most dangerous Circles for me to pass through. At least this one should be simpler.”
Eva thought back to the Circles that Lilith and Lady Godiva had described earlier. “The Third Circle’s gluttony, right?”
Lady Godiva sighed. “More bad weather.” As if she had spoken a prophecy, a spattering of rain spilled from the blank sky. Lady Godiva scrunched up her face in displeasure, shivering slightly. “It’s times like this that I doubt my decision to go without clothes most days.”
“I might have something in my bag,” Eva said. She balanced herself with her staff, swinging her pack over her shoulder so that she could dig around inside. Finally, she pulled out a small but serviceable blanket, which she passed back to their guide. “Here you go. I only brought the essentials. Clothes, blankets, matches, and a First Aid kit.”
Lady Godiva wrapped the blanket gratefully around her shoulders. “A very wise decision. The cold is only going to get worse, especially when it starts snowing.”
“Snow? In Hell?” Eva asked as she closed her pack again. So far, they had encountered cliffs, orchards, castles, and strange weather patterns, but nothing like the cartoonish depictions of Hell that she was familiar with. “I guess I was expecting fire and brimstone or something.”
Lilith laughed. “Wait until you see the Ninth Circle. It’s carved entirely of ice, and the cold is worse than any fire.”
The rain came down faster, and Eva flinched as the chill seeped through the thin fabric of her shirt. The drops were cold and heavy, and the runoff congealed into a foul slush at their feet. “Perhaps I should have brought sturdier shoes,” she said mournfully as they picked their way through the slimy puddle. “Ugh, wet socks are the worst feeling in the world.”
“You can clean up later, at the River Styx,” Lilith said.
Eva came to a stop just before the water reached her knees. The path ended a few yards ahead, and instead of continuing down along the side of the cliff, it spread out into a wide, foul-smelling lake. There was no current, but the downpour of rain churned up the surface, making it hiss and splatter. “I thought you said the Styx wasn’t safe?”
“Not safe to drink, but safe to wash in. Its waters put mortals to sleep.”
“Well, if it’s anything like this, I don’t want anything to do with it,” she muttered. The stinging, icy sludge rose up around her calves, and the rain kept poured down in sheets, obscuring her vision. It was difficult to move, and her pace slowed despite her best efforts. Something brushed alongside her leg, and she jerked her foot away, letting out a yelp of surprise as she tilted her head down to peer at the murky water.
At first, she could only make out dark, moving shapes, but then, the pieces became clearer. An arm. A leg. A gaping black mouth set underneath white, empty eyes. There were bodies submerged beneath the surface of the lake, twisting and writhing as they tried to escape the rain. They were appalling to look at, and their slimy grey skin and bulging limbs made them resemble frogs more than humans. They used each other as stepping-stones and covers, shielding themselves as best they could from the downpour.
“This is terrible!” she shouted, straining to be heard above the sound of the rain. “They don’t even seem to notice each other.”
“Why should they?” Lady Godiva asked. “This is the punishment for gluttony – a cold, empty eternity of isolation. Not so different from their lives on earth.”
Eva couldn’t bear to look at them anymore. She turned away, pulling the collar of her shirt up to protect her mouth and nose a little, but her clothes were already soaked through. She let the wet fabric slap back against her chest and brushed away the water streaming down her face with her hand instead. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
She fought her way through the storm just behind Lilith’s silhouette, staying as close to her and Lady Godiva as possible. She tried using her staff to make the going easier, but found that it was little help. The mud threatened to suck it down, and more than once, the end prodded something spongy and fleshlike beneath the surface.
“There!” Lilith shouted at last, gesturing in front of them. “We’re almost to the other side!”
“Thank God,” Lady Godiva said, shivering violently beneath the blanket.
Eva tried to look in the same direction, but a sudden, dark movement to her left distracted her. She turned her head, and itt took several moments for her to comprehend what she was seeing. A giant, hulking black shadow rose out of the water. It was covered in bristling fur, matted and tangled by mud and water, and rain spattered across its ridged back. She choked on air as the unmistakable scent of wet dog filled her nose. As the thing turned towards them, she saw that it had glowing red eyes and sharp, gleaming teeth: six eyes and three sets of teeth, all embedded in its three giant heads.
The beast did not seem to notice her. Instead, it charged into the water, baying like a hunting hound as it plunged through the writhing mass of bodies beneath its feet. It tore at them with teeth and claws, rending them apart, occasionally grabbing and shaking its prey in a death-bite. Eva’s heart lurched painfully in her chest. She remembered the way the lion’s teeth had shredded Lilith’s shoulder in the forest. How were they supposed to fight off a giant dog with three heads? “What is that thing?” she whispered, afraid that if she spoke any louder, she would draw the creature’s attention.
“Cerberus,” Lilith said. “Passing him might be... difficult.” She took a step away, bending forward as she began to transform. Her horns curled up from her head, and her wings unfurled from between her shoulder blades, sprouting through the jagged rips in her shirt. She stared at the three-headed monster with glowing black eyes. “I will take care of this.”
“How are you going to fight that thing if it comes after us?” Eva asked, gripping her staff tighter. Suddenly, the rain did not seem like much of a bother anymore.
“The same way I fought the leopard and the lion.”
“Lilith! First of all, I fought the leopard, and second, it has three times as many teeth!”
“Cerberus can’t leave the Third Circle. If I can’t fight him off, we’ll run for it. The bank is just over there.” Lilith gestured at the dark shoreline, which Cerberus seemed to be patrolling as he chased after the wriggling souls in the cold, gray slush.
Unfortunately, the movement of her arm seemed to catch Cerberus’s attention. He whirled around, and his tail straightened behind his large, scarred haunches. His jaws hung loosely, revealing his jutting, slime-covered tusks. His jowls shivered, spattering droplets of drool as he began to bark. The sound reminded Eva of the end of the world, a
nd she felt an ancient, primal fear that was impossible to describe. Her breath caught, and all of her instincts screamed at her to run.
Lilith did run, but in the opposite direction, right toward Cerberus. Once the great dog saw her charging at him, his threatening barks became a howl. He gave chase almost immediately, with three sets of fangs and three lolling tongues spilling from his gaping mouths. They collided with a great splash of water, and at first, Eva couldn’t see anything through the spray. Then, she made out the shape of Lilith’s wings just above Cerberus’s giant back. She was riding on top of him, clinging to the scruff of his middle neck as he tried to shake her off.
“Lilith, you idiot!” Eva shouted. She tried to slosh forward through the lake, but Lady Godiva caught her arm in a bruising grip, practically dragging her toward the shore.
“Come on, she’s giving us time!”
Reluctantly, she turned away and sprinted after Lady Godiva, knowing that Lilith would follow as soon as they had enough of a head start. Hopefully, she would be able to hang on that long.
Water splashed around their ankles and knees as they sloshed through the freezing rain, not caring when they accidentally kicked aside the damned souls beneath them. Despite the constant hiss of the downpour, she could hear rage-filled barks and howls coming from behind her, and she resisted the temptation to look back.
A loud, sharp cry that was clearly from Lilith and not the dog made Eva stop in her tracks. She turned around, clutching desperately at her staff as she watched one of the heads latch on to Lilith’s torso, paws and teeth scrabbling for a grip as it began to shake. Suddenly, Cerberus stumbled back, letting go of Lilith and yelping as he toppled into the water. He whimpered in pain and covered his eyes with a large, thick paw.
With a crushed wing and an obvious limp, Lilith ran towards the shoreline. Eva tried to reach for her, but Lilith motioned for her to keep running. “Go!” she screamed through the mixture of blood and raindrops running down her face. “He’s still got four other eyes!”