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It was still dark when I woke, but I felt refreshed and ready to face the day. I entered Rob’s tent and shook him awake. “Time to go,” I said.
It did not take long to find Perceval’s cave and before entering I withdrew my sword from my backpack and handed it to Rob.
“Good luck.” I allowed Rob to go in first and silently followed him in.
“Is it here?” Rob whispered.
“I have no idea,” I replied, as quietly as I could.
“Which way should we go?”
“How should I know? It’s not as if I have been here before. Maybe we should split up. I’ll go this way, you start over there.” I headed straight toward the ‘bedroom’ Rachel would be in, sending Rob in the other direction.
“Scream out if you find the ogre,” I said.
“Somehow I don’t think that will be a problem,” Rob muttered as he started to move away.
I noticed Rachel as soon as I entered her sleeping quarters and put my finger to my lips, indicating that she should remain silent. She nodded and moved over to the ‘bed’, which was actually just a pile of furs.
“Are you alright?” I asked as I sat down beside her. Perceval had said that she was handling things well, but I wanted to hear it from her.
“Fine. Perceval has been a most gracious host.”
“Good. I take it he filled you in on why you were taken.” I already knew he had, but I didn’t want to let on that I had spoken with the ogre. Again, Rachel nodded.
Before I could ask anything more the entire cave was filled with a monstrous roar. I envisioned Rob’s legs turning to jelly as he tried to keep the sword upright and decided I had better take a look.
“Hide,” I said and couldn’t help but smile as Rachel looked around her. We were in a small cavern with nothing obvious that she could crawl into or under. Seeing her uncertainty, I pushed her back onto the ‘bed’ and threw a loose fur over her. “Stay still,” I whispered as I stood up.
I moved toward the entrance and had almost reached it when Rob ran in.
“I think I found it,” he said, panting. “And it seems very pissed off at being disturbed.”
“Have you found Rachel?” I asked, knowing full well she was close enough to hear the entire conversation.
Rob shook his head, so I continued. “Then it looks like we will have to face the beast.”
The sun had started to rise and lit up the cavern enough for us to see what we would be facing. Rob stood slightly in front of me, sword raised. His arms were shaking so badly he could hardly keep the weapon under control and I suddenly wondered if I had done the right thing by lending it to him. I did my best not to laugh.
“Come out where we can see you,” Rob called out, his voice shaking almost as much as his arm was. I was impressed. Rob was braver than I had realised.
A low rumble filled the cavern as Perceval chuckled. “Of course,” his voice boomed out. I could hear the laughter in it, but Rob was too scared to notice. “Anything to keep my breakfast happy.” The ogre was really enjoying himself.
Perceval’s reaction took Rob completely by surprise. “That thing can talk,” he hissed at me. “You could have warned me.”
“Why?” I asked, bewildered by the question. “What difference would it have made?”
Before Rob could answer, Perceval stepped out of the shadows, snarling viciously. I smiled at my friend. He was definitely having a good time at Rob’s expense. Rob yelped at the sight of the ogre towering above him, but he didn’t step away.
“Where is Rachel?” he shouted once he had regained his composure. I was beginning to wonder if I had judged him too harshly. Maybe there was more to him than the irritating, conceited personality he had displayed so far. “Tell me or I will gut you.”
Perceval looked at the sword Rob was brandishing. “With that little thing?”
“Now,” he growled.
“Over there,” Perceval said, indicating with his head toward a pile of bones on the floor. They were not large enough to be adult human bones, but Rob obviously didn’t realise that. I thought that was going a little too far, but kept my mouth shut. This was, after all, Perceval’s show and I didn’t want to spoil his fun.
“You will die you monster,” Rob screamed out and ran forward, his sword raised above his head.
Whether Rachel was worried for her friend’s safety or Perceval’s I don’t know, but I watched in surprise as she stepped out from her hiding place and shouted, “Robert, no.” I had noticed that she always called him Robert instead of Rob and I made a mental note to ask her about it sometime.
Rob either didn’t hear her or he ignored her as he slashed his sword at Perceval.
The ogre nimbly stepped out of his way, grabbed the back of his t-shirt with one of his huge hands and lifted him effortlessly off the ground.
Rob, ignoring the fact that he was now up in the air, continued to slash his sword at Perceval’s unprotected torso. Luckily he could not reach the ogre’s flesh as I am not sure how Perceval would have reacted if the blade had found its target.
“Put him down, please,” I said, deciding that Rob had done enough to prove his bravery. Rob braced himself as though he expected Perceval to just open his hand and drop him, but he didn’t. Instead he placed him gently onto the floor and Rob fell in a heap as his legs gave way.
Rachel rushed over to him. “Robert, are you alright?” she asked anxiously.
“No,” he replied. “What the hell is going on?”
“It’s a test. Hades wanted to test your bravery.”
“And you were in on this?” he asked in an unpleasant tone. Doing my best to ignore the discussion, I asked Perceval how he thought the charade had gone. He seemed quite pleased with his acting.
“Not when I was first taken, no,” I heard Rachel assure Rob. “Not until Perceval explained it all to me.”
“Perceval?” Rob asked.
“The ogre. Kris knew all about it though.”
I overheard the comment and winced. This was not going to go well.
“You bastard,” Rob shouted, looking to where I was talking with Perceval. “I thought she was dead. Do you think it’s funny playing with people’s emotions like that?”
He quickly got to his feet and strode toward me, sword in hand still. I wondered how I was going to disarm him without making him look like a complete idiot and without him harming himself.
“Robert, don’t do anything stupid,” Rachel said. “I’m sure Kris was only following instructions.”
“I bet he was,” Rob said as he jabbed the point of the sword toward my throat. I have been in this position a number of times when practicing with Ankou and expertly stepped out of his way.
“Put the sword down,” I warned.
“Or what?” Rob asked as he slashed the sword across were my throat had been seconds before.
I prepared to make my move, but before I could, Rachel ran forward, grabbed Rob’s free arm and attempted to pull him away. Rob acted instinctively and whirled around, slashing out with the sword as he did so.
I watched in horror as the blade sliced through the flesh on her cheek, cutting it to the bone. She screamed and dropped to the floor, her hand automatically moving up to her face to cover the wound. She pulled it away, saw it was covered with blood, then screamed again. She looked pale and faint and must have been in a lot of pain.
Rob dropped the sword on the ground, shocked at what he had done. I ran over to her and gently moved her head to the side in order to get a better look at her injury.
I didn’t panic. I knew what needed to be done and calmly issued instructions. “I need water,” I said. “And a clean cloth.” Perceval responded immediately and moments later handed me a stone bowl and a piece of leather.
I began to wash her cheek, turning the water in the bowl a deep red. Anger at Rob welled up within me and I had to force it down so I could concentrate on what I was doing. Rob could only stand there and watch as Rachel gritted her teeth in order to cope with the pain. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she did not let herself cry.
“Rob,” I shouted at him, bringing him out of the daze he appeared to be in. “I need needle and cotton. My bag. Now.” I could have just created them out of thin air, but I wanted to keep up the pretence that it was the realm creating what was needed not me. Also Rob needed something useful to do to take his mind off what he had just done to Rachel.
He sprang to action and easily found the required objects that I had just made materialise in my bag. He threaded the needle and handed it to me.
“This is going to hurt,” I warned Rachel. I could have done something to reduce the pain, but I didn’t want to delay sewing up her wound. And I definitely didn’t want to give myself away, even if it did mean making Rachel suffer a little more than was really necessary. She took a deep breath and held it, bracing herself for what was about to come, but before I could start sewing she suddenly stopped me.
“Hold on,” she said, trying to pull away. “Aren’t you supposed to heat the needle in order to sterilise it or something?”
I moved her head around so that I was staring straight into her eyes. “Not in this case. Trust me.” She nodded her head and I began to sew.
By the time I had finished, tears were streaming down her face, but she didn’t cry out. If she was tough enough to cope with that, then she might survive the rest of the journey after all.
Seeing her glance away I followed her gaze and noticed she was looking at Rob. He, too, was almost crying. “It’s going to leave a scar,” he muttered. “How could I have ruined such a beautiful face?”
I could have let him know that I could heal her so there would be no scar, but I didn’t think he deserved to be put out of his misery. “She will be fine,” was the best I could do.
Hoping I would be able to explain myself later, I placed my hand over her stitched up wound. My hand was soft and warm and it wouldn’t cause any pain when it came into contact with her injured face. She looked almost disappointed when I took it away a few minutes later, but maybe that was just my imagination. She did not ask why I cradled her cheek the way I did, for which I was grateful.
“She should get some sleep,” Perceval’s voice sounded out from somewhere behind me. “Make her drink this.”
The ogre passed a stone cup to me and I placed it in Rachel’s hand. She looked down at it and grimaced. The contents were green.
“Drink,” I said softly, moving her arm up so that the cup was almost touching her lips. Reluctantly she did so and she must have liked the taste as she drank the entire cup, then asked for some more.
“Not a good idea,” Perceval said. “It is a sleeping potion. Drink too much and you will never wake up.”
“I’ll carry you to bed.” I slipped one arm under her legs and cradled her against me with the other.
“I’ll take her,” Rob said, somewhat forcefully.
Unable to control my anger any longer, I glared at him. “You have done quite enough already,” I snapped as I picked her up and carried her back to the cavern in which she had spent the night. I placed her on the sleeping furs and covered her over. An overwhelming need to protect her surged through me and without thinking I kissed her forehead. Her eyes began to close and she was asleep before I left her side.
Spotting her bag, I moved it beside the bed so that she could easily reach it should she want anything from it when she awoke.
I wanted to stay, but I shouldn’t, so I forced myself to leave the cavern. I walked straight up to Rob.
“Are you a complete idiot?” I said through clenched teeth, keeping my voice low so as not to wake Rachel. “How could you be so stupid? I can understand you being angry with me, but how could you lash out at Rachel like that? A sword is a dangerous weapon in the right hands. It looks like it is just as dangerous in the wrong hands. Trusting you with it was obviously a huge mistake.”
I expected Rob to retaliate, to verbally defend himself, but he didn’t. Hurting Rachel had shaken him up badly and he didn’t know what to say. Instead he stormed out of the cave, heading who knew where.
“You should be more considerate of his feelings,” Perceval advised me once we were alone. “He has been through a lot. The poor guy was scared out of his mind when facing me and on top of that I let him believe that I had eaten his girlfriend.”
“She’s not his girlfriend,” I snapped.
If he had any, Perceval would have raised an eyebrow. “That was said a little forcefully,” he observed.
“Sorry,” I said in a calmer tone. “They are just friends, nothing more.”
I noticed that my sword was still on the floor where Rob had dropped it, so I retrieved it and cleaned it before returning it to my bag.
“Got any coffee?” I asked once I had finished.
Perceval shook his head. “I don’t understand how you humans can drink that stuff.”
I thought about pointing out that I wasn’t actually human, but decided not to waste my breath. Instead, I took a mug from my bag, held it in my hands and stared at it. Immediately it began to fill with a hot, black, steaming liquid. I sat down on a bolder, took a sip and sighed. It had been a stressful morning and it felt good to relax.
“I presume you are not doing things like that in front of the visitors,” Perceval said as he watched me create coffee from thin air. I had already warned him that I wanted to keep my identity secret for as long as possible so he had been surprised to see me using my power.
“Only when I have to and when I do I make sure I have some reasonable explanation. So far they have not asked many awkward questions.”
We talked for a while and I was just starting to think about food when Rob returned.
“How’s Rachel?” he asked, his voice still full of anger.
“Asleep.”
“Why are you so mad at me?” Rob asked with real interest. “Why should you care if Rachel got hurt?”
It was a good question and I was not sure what the answer really was. “While you are in the underworld, I am your guide. That means I am responsible for your actions. I knew that I would need to protect you from some of the creatures that live down here, but it never occurred to me that I would have to protect you from each other. My mission is to get you to Death in one piece. Your idiotic behaviour is making that task a lot more difficult than it should be. To say I am pissed off right now is an understatement.”
My words were harsh, but I didn’t care. I had absolutely no sympathy for Rob and was glad when he walked away and sat at the entrance to the cave, staring out.
I left to go hunting and soon returned with a small buck over my shoulders. While I cut off one of its legs and prepared it for roasting, Perceval and I reminisced about old times.
It was mid-afternoon by the time Rachel finally emerged from her slumber. Rob was the first to notice her approaching and jumped to his feet.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, causing me and Perceval to stop our conversation and look over.
“Not great,” she said, “but I will live.” He looked at her cheek and winced. “Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t your fault.” She didn’t hear me grunt in response to that statement. “I’m sure it isn’t as bad as it looks.” Her hand moved to cover up her wound. “What’s cooking?” she asked, trying to change the subject.
“Deer,” I told her. “Perceval will not eat meat, but other ogres do and the pelt will be useful to him. He has graciously allowed us to use his cooking facilities on the promise we leave whatever we don’t eat for him to share with his friends.”
I then put my hand beside my mouth as though I was whispering, but continued in a loud enough voice for the ogre to hear. “Personally I think he just wants to impress the nice young female that lives in the next cave.”
Perceval punched me gently on the arm, almost knocking me over, and blushed bright red.
“It will not be ready for a while. Why don’t you go and bathe? The steam will help speed your recovery.” I was lying to her again, of course, but I needed something to explain how she would heal so quickly and completely. I didn’t think either she or Rob would buy that explanation, but there was no harm in trying.
She agreed to the suggestion and Rob said he would go with her, for protection. I bit back my reply of ‘it’s you she needs protecting from’ and was pleased when she turned down his offer.
“I’ll show you the way,” I said, despite knowing that she already knew where to go, and before she could refuse me too I had headed off, grabbing a lighted candle as I passed it.
Rachel followed. I glanced behind me and saw that she was using the cave walls for support; her legs must have still felt a little weak. I slowed down so she could catch up, but didn’t offer to help her, sensing that she did not want me to.
“I can find my own way,” she said and made to grab the candle, but I moved it out of her reach.
“I know, but I want to remove the stiches and the bathing pool will be a good place to do it.” Any place would have been good, but for some reason I can’t explain I wanted to be alone with her when I did it. Maybe it was so that the less people who saw what I was doing the easier it would be to keep my secret. Then again, maybe not.
“Already?” she asked in surprise. “How long have I been asleep? Days?”
I laughed. “No, only a few hours. You will find you heal fast down here.” Another lie; it had nothing to do with being in the underworld. I am usually a very truthful person and am not used to being so deceitful so I was concerned at how easy I was finding it.
We walked to the bathing cavern in silence and when we arrived I made her sit on a rock and hold the candle above her so that it didn’t cast any shadows on her face. Using a small pair of scissors I carefully cut each stich, using the blades to remove the cotton. Other than bracing herself in anticipation of pain, she showed no reaction to my ministrations.
“All done,” I said when my task was complete. “It looks to have healed well.” I took hold of her chin and moved her head from side to side as I inspected my work. She remained silent as I placed my hand over the wound once more. I kept it there longer than I needed to, not wishing to take it away.
“Don’t be too long,” I said when I removed it. “If you’re not back by the time the food is ready I will send Perceval to get you.” She would be more comfortable with Perceval walking in on her while she was bathing than myself, but if it came to it I wasn’t sure I would be able to send the ogre. I suddenly wanted nothing more than to stay with her.
“Alright,” she said.
Before leaving I placed the candle on a rock beside the pool.
“Don’t you need it to get back?” she asked.
“No. I can find my way in the dark.” Before she could ask how, I left. I didn’t tell her that I can see in the dark, letting her believe that I just knew the way well enough to not need to see.
Perceval and I continued to catch up, the way old friends do, and Rob made no attempt to join in the conversation. I don’t even think he was listening in; he seemed lost in his own thoughts.
The food was cooked and I was carving the meat when Rachel returned from her bath. I looked up and smiled at her. “Perceval was just about to go and get you.”
“Then I have saved him a trip,” she said.
I noticed her eyeing the three plates and the loaf of bread in front of me. “Venison sandwiches. No butter I’m afraid.”
“What? You couldn’t get any out of your bag?” she asked sarcastically.
“Sorry, didn’t think of it.” What was wrong with me? Why did my mind keep straying back to Rachel instead of focusing on what I was doing? Yes, she was pretty, very pretty, but I had seen lots of pretty girls before, so why couldn’t I get my mind off this one? “Probably tastes better without anyway.”
Perceval made his excuses and left before the meal began. Before leaving he hauled the deer carcass, minus one leg, onto his shoulders and said he was going to visit some friends. He said warm goodbyes to me and Rachel and made us promise to clean up after ourselves before we departed. Rob he completely ignored.
As we ate I regaled Rachel with tales of some of the things me and Perceval had gotten up to as we grew up. I didn’t explain how I had grown up in the underworld, but I could see that she was curious. She didn’t ask me about it though, thank goodness. I had no idea how I could explain myself without revealing who and what I really am.
Rob appeared to be sulking. He remained silent throughout the whole meal and even refused to sit with us. The only words he spoke were ones of astonishment and relief when he noticed Rachel’s scarless face.
It didn’t take long for Rachel to get fed up with his mood and confront him.
“Just what the hell is wrong with you?” I ignored the use of that word again.
“You have got to be kidding,” he replied. “First I thought you were kidnapped and I had to rescue you from a vicious monster. Then I thought you were dead. The next thing I know I am hearing that it is all some stupid test designed to amuse Hades and our guide over there. To make matters worse, I accidently hurt you. Badly. What do you think is wrong?”
I watched as Rachel took Rob’s hand in hers and stroked it gently. “I cannot begin to understand how you feel, but please realise that this is not all some big joke. Nobody is laughing at you or being entertained. Kris is only doing what he has been instructed to do. There may be many other tests we will need to face; hopefully together next time. This could end up being a long and tiring journey and it will be a lot less unpleasant if we can all get along. Holding a grudge against Kris is not going to help matters.”
Rob grunted and pulled his hand away. “All I will say is that it is going to take a lot on his part for me to trust him.” I ignored the comment, not really caring if Rob trusted me or not.
He glanced over to where I was tidying up the plates, pretending not to listen in on their conversation. “Can we go now?” he called out.
‘Sure,” I said, as though I had not heard a word of what he had said to Rachel. “Just let me get my bag.” Rob was already wearing his, so Rachel retrieved hers from the sleeping cavern and we all left together.
The sun had passed its zenith and was beginning its slow descent when we walked out into the fresh air. Perceval was not in sight as we departed his cave, Rob leading us in the direction we had been heading before Rachel’s ‘kidnapping’. He set a fast pace, but Rachel was well rested so had no trouble keeping up this time.
We saw no sign of any other ogres as we travelled and the day passed uneventfully. As the afternoon wore on we headed away from the mountains and toward a large forest. Rob kept ahead of us the whole time, only allowing us to get close to him when he needed instructions from me as to whether to enter it or not. Not that I was complaining.
I indicated that we should walk around it for a while and Rob headed off again without speaking.
The sun was beginning to set by the time I called out to him that we should make camp for the night. I expected him to protest that we could continue on for a few more hours, but he didn’t. Whether this was because he was tired and hungry or he just didn’t want to speak to me I didn’t know and didn’t care.
Rob put up the tents while Rachel hunted for firewood and I started preparing food. We were camping next to the forest and while she was still within earshot I called out to her, warning her not to enter it.
“There are dangerous things in there. It is best to only enter during the day. This is the reason we are stopping early. Tomorrow we will go through it. Hopefully we will be out the other side before the sun sets.” I could have given her details on exactly what was in the forest, but I didn’t want to scare her.
I made sure there was enough firewood laying around for her to find without getting too close to the trees and we soon had a small fire going. I put water on to boil and added ingredients for a vegetable soup. I noticed Rachel head toward her tent, but she was way-laid by Rob.
He took her to his own tent and, despite the temptation, I decided not to eavesdrop.
I have no idea what Rachel said to him, but when they emerged from the tent, Rob came up to me.
“I’m sorry,” he said, taking a seat by the fire. “I know none of this is your fault and I should not have reacted the way I did. I have been behaving childishly and you deserve better.”
“I agree,” I said, but not unkindly. “You need to start thinking before reacting if you wish to survive this journey.”
“I will try,” Rob said, then asked if he could do anything to help with the cooking.
The meal was eaten quietly with none of us having much to say and Rachel and Rob retired to their tents almost as soon as it was done, despite the hour not being late. I stayed by the fire until I was sure they would not be coming out again, then disappeared.
I went to see grandfather first, to let him know how his test had gone.
“He didn’t abandon her then,” he said, somewhat surprised. He had not had any confidence that Rob would really try to rescue Rachel, despite what I had told him. It was not that he doubted his bravery, it was the delay in rescuing Tammara that he thought would have been the deciding factor. He was quite pleased to have been proven wrong.
“No. Rob surprised me. He actually threatened Perceval. He was shaking like a leaf at the time, but he still did it.”
“It all went well then?” grandmother asked.
“Not exactly,” I admitted as I was passed a glass of wine. “There was a slight accident and Rachel got hurt. I had to stitch her up then make sure it wouldn’t scar.”
“How did you explain that one away?”
I shrugged. “I said that people heal quickly in this realm and they believed me. I suppose being exposed to things they thought were just myth makes them willing to accept almost anything they are told.”
I spent a few hours relaxing with my grandparents before heading to Death to give him an update. Nobody was in sight when I returned to the campsite and I went straight to my tent to get a few hours sleep.