Goddess of Spring (Goddess Summoning 2)

Chapter 14

Lina fel into a rhythm of hurry-up and slow-down. She managed to keep Eurydice's back just at the edge of her sight, while staying out of the reach of Orpheus' music.

"Doesn't he ever get tired?" She muttered to herself. When she considered the situation with a clear head, versus one fil ed with the compel ing notes formed by a magician masquerading as a musician, it hadn't been difficult to see the drug-like effect Orpheus' music had on everyone and everything that heard it. The dead paused in their pilgrimages to Elysia as he passed. Flowers and trees swayed toward him. Even Lina found herself smiling ridiculously if she got too close to his voice.

"Ugh. He reminds me of too-sweet candy. He seems great at first, but pretty soon he'l just make me want to puke." Lina talked to herself, taking comfort in the non-hypnotic sound of her own voice while nodding briefly to the surprised spirits that curtsied and bowed as she hurried past them. "I should have been wiser. I should have paid more attention to Eurydice than to that singing boy. And I shouldn't have been so damn cocky after that whole Dido thing." She bit her lip in frustration.

The sky ahead of her was changing and a chil of trepidation shivered through her. She knew al too wel that the fading light signaled the end of the bright, cheery part of the Underworld. She was retracing the path she and Eurydice had traveled from the upper world. Lina ordered herself not to think about the bad dreams and the darkness. If Eurydice was going through it again; so would she.

Ahead of her she heard maniacal barking. Then the faraway music grew louder and the fierce barks changed to puppy-like grunts and whimpers. Lina shook her head. What the hel  - she cringed at the unintentional bad pun - was Orpheus doing? Steeling herself against his compel ing song, she picked up her pace until she was jogging at a steady beat. Persephone's long legs carried her swiftly forward. Her breathing was deep and even. She smiled in satisfaction. Persephone's body wasn't just young, it was also in great shape.

The road angled abruptly to her left and she stagger-stepped down to a walk. Blocking the pathway directly in front of her was a humongous dog.

The creature raised its head and growled a menacing warning. Lina bunked, trying to clear her vision, but the image remained.

"The damn thing has three heads," she gasped.

The "damn thing" growled.

Lina tightened her jaw. It was just a dog. Sure, the biggest dog she had ever seen. And it had -

merda! - three heads.

The creature snarled a warning. Saliva dripped from its triple jowls. Jowls?

Lina's face split into a relieved grin as soon as her stunned mind processed what she was seeing. The dog was nothing more than a giant version of Edith Anne, complete with slobber and under bite - times three.

Her laughter caused three sets of stubby ears to perk in her direction. Lina hurried forward, speaking in what she liked to think of as her "doggie voice," (which was much different than her "cat voice" - cats didn't tolerate baby talk of any sort).

"Hey there you big, adorable thing!" she cooed.

Three tails wagged tentatively.

"Aren't you a wonderful surprise. And to think I was just missing my Edith Anne. Wel , I guess I'l just have to make you my big, bad Doggie From Hel while I'm here." She was within touching distance of the multiheaded creature.

"Arrwoo?" said the beast.

"Edith always liked her ears scratched. Bend down here and let's give it a try." She reached her slender hand up toward one of the six ears. The creature tilted its nearest head in her direction. Lina scratched.

One of the beast's heads sighed and leaned into her hand, almost knocking Lina over. The other two heads whined piteously.

"There's a good doggie." Lina grinned, patting the middle head's slobbery nose, causing the third dog to yelp like a needy puppy. "Oh, come here. How about a scratch under that chin?" While Lina cooed and petted and cajoled she searched her mind for a name. Cerberus -  Watchdog of the Underworld - his job is to eat souls that attempt to escape and stop living people who attempt to enter Hades' realm.

"Wel , you're fal ing down on the job, big boy," Lina said. The dog whined and al three heads gave her pitiful, big-eyed doggie looks.

"Don't feel bad, Orpheus fooled me, too."

Three tails beat the air.

"Okay, here's the deal. I'm going to fol ow the shyster musician and Eurydice. You just be sure that Mr. Golden-tongue doesn't get past you again." Lina tried to meet al three sets of eyes.

"Understand?"

Cerberus squirmed and woofed.

"I've seen enough Lassie reruns to know a doggie 'yes' when I hear one. Be a good boy, ur, boys. I'l see you on my way back." With a final ear scratch Lina left the Guardian of the Underworld wriggling and yapping like a happy puppy(s). She hurried so that she was soon jogging with a quick, but steady pace.

"I should cease being surprised by her actions," Hades murmured to himself. He watched Persephone bespel Cerberus as she had his steeds. Safe within the Helmet of Invisibility, he had fol owed the Goddess closely enough to hear her berate herself about al owing Orpheus's music to sway her judgment. She was much wiser than she knew. Hadn't he felt the pull of the mortal's words, too? And he was a mature god, experienced in commanding his realm. True, she was a goddess, but she was real y just a child. Even so, she continued to show amazing insight and maturity. For instance, his instinct was tel ing him that Iapis would report that Aeneas had indeed just entered Elysia. How had Persephone recognized Dido's deception when al he had observed was a lovely feminine soul unaccustomed to being in the presence of immortals? And then she had stood up to him, not with the blinding temper of an irate goddess, but with logic and insight and, he chuckled remembering the bet she had proposed, wit. Before she had come to his realm, he would have never believed it of Persephone, but there was definitely more to her than a shal ow young goddess.

Persephone fondled Cerberus and Hades felt a sudden surge of jealousy for the attention she was lavishing on the slobbering, three-headed creature. The God ground his teeth. He wanted her to touch him. It shocked him, but he could not deny it. He was beginning to wonder if what Iapis had said was true, that perhaps it was better to experience even a smal bit of happiness than none at al .

The very thought made his hands sweat.

As she jogged down the road, Lina decided that she'd have to come back and visit the threeheaded dog. Maybe she'd bring him a treat. Edith Anne loved Bacos. Surely Hel 's kitchen could fry her up a little bacon snack. She thought about the creature's size - okay, maybe she'd have them fry up a big bacon snack.

The road took another abrupt turn and Lina slid to a halt, scrambling back from the edge of a lake that seemed to want to swal ow her feet. Its waters were thick and black, almost oily. She looked to either side. Darkness surrounded the lake so that the water seemed to stretch endlessly before and beside her.

Lina shivered.

She was Goddess. She thought each word carefully.

Light the recesses, her mind whispered.

With a gasp of relief she raised her hand and commanded, "I need light!" The bal of bril iance popped from her palm and hovered expectantly above her.

"What is your desire, Goddess?"

Lina jumped and made a squeaky sound she was sure wouldn't qualify as goddess-like. Out of the darkness beside her a skeletal man materialized. He was wearing gray robes that dragged on the ground. He carried a long, hooked staff that reminded Lina of the rods gondoliers used to push their boats down the Grand Canal. But that's where his resemblance to anything mortal or romantic ended. This man was a grim being whose large, amber-colored eyes glowed with a strange luminescence. Lina did not have to delve into her memory to give him a name. He could be none other than Charon, the Ferryman of Hades.

"I want to fol ow Orpheus and Eurydice. Did you take them across the lake?"

"Yes, Goddess."

"Then I want to go, too."

"As you command, Goddess." He made a sweeping gesture and suddenly a boat appeared nudging the bank at their feet.

Tel ing herself not to think about sinking boats, bottomless lakes or the scary stuff that might be lurking just below the surface, Lina climbed into the little craft, taking a seat near the middle of it. Charon stepped into the boat and leaned forward to touch his staff against the bank, but he stopped mid-motion and stood very stil as if he were listening to whispered words. He nodded his head with the briefest of motions, paused and then he final y pushed them away from the shore.

"The passage is not long, Goddess."