No one could safely stay in mortal form for long here.
Ortrera spotted a stream and turned her horse’s head towards it, the rest of the warriors following suit. We descended next to the water in a field of waving purple daisies. Like normal, before I could dismount, Cadmus was at my side pulling me from the horse. I felt his arms tremble as he held me, a tell-tale sign of fatigue.
I laid my hand against his cheek.
"Sweet, you haven’t yet taken nectar. You must or you will grow weak here. I need you strong."
He nodded, his jaw flexing, and I wondered at his apparent reluctance. But I didn’t remark on it. Instead, I watched him crouch by the stream and scoop it into his mouth. He swallowed with his beautiful eyes closed and his face tilted toward the sun.
While I watched, he transformed into the Cadmus from my memory. His muscles filled out, each individual striation in his biceps becoming apparent to the naked eye. His face quickly leaned down into that of a man, while still retaining his handsome, boyish good looks.
I sucked in my breath. My god, he was beautiful. With the sun shining onto him from behind and the stream sparkling next to him, he truly seemed unworldly.
He had the strangest expression on his face and I stepped toward him in concern.
"My love," I began hesitantly. "What is it? Does something trouble you?"
He nodded curtly, remaining silent as a muscle in his jaw flexed.
"Well?" I prompted. "What is it? Do you feel unwell?"
He sighed and shook his head.
"No. I feel fine. But, Harmonia, the nectar restored my memory. I was afraid of that. I didn’t wish to remember."
I was completely puzzled until a scant second later I realized what he meant.
"Your memories with Eris?" I whispered.
He nodded slowly.
"I don’t wish to talk about it," he said softly. "There is no need to trouble you with it, too.
Let us just remember that it wasn’t truly me. I was enchanted, I wasn’t myself. Shewe didn’t. But it was enough." His voice choked off and he grabbed me in a fierce embrace, clutching me to him tightly.
"You are the one, Harmonia," he growled into my hair. "It is you. It has always been you.
No matter what happened. Do you understand?"
The pain in his voice distracted me from my own dismay and I nodded silently. He was right. He could not help what happened any more than I could.
"Cadmus, do not trouble yourself with it. Put it out of your mind," I pleaded softly. "You are right. It wasn’t you. I know that."
He nodded and turned away, busying himself with filling his flask. I gave him the alone time. I knew him inside and out. He needed to regroup. And I needed something to distract me, as well. If I focused on it, it might well become my undoing.
I turned to Ortrera. "I want her head on a spike, sister."
I should have been ashamed of the venomous thought, but I wasn’t. Apparently, my goddess blood was colder than my mortal blood, something that could come in handy.
Ortrera nodded with a gleam in her eye and a smile.
"I don’t blame you. And I will give that to you, if you wish. Just say the word."
I smiled in appreciation as I let my anger simmer toward my ancient nemesis. Truly, this time she had gone too far. I would restrain myself for now, but her time would come.
The warriors finished tending to their horses and we again mounted and took off for the witches. It was as though even the horses could sense our energy and anxiety. They tossed their mighty heads and nickered from time to time as they flew. I watched the Pegasus to my right with amusement. She seemed to keep an eye on me, gauging my reactions, reading my face. I smiled and I could almost swear that she rolled her large eye at me.
The witches’ cave was on the edge of the Spiritlands and I kept my eyes trained for it as we drew closer. It wasn’t a typical cave, even though it appeared that way on the outside. It was rumored that inside, it contained a direct passageway to the underworld. And that made sense, since one of Hecate’s abilities was the ability to send demons to the underworld. Hades probably did grant her direct access.
I caught sight of it a few minutes later. I nudged Ortrera as I pointed and we aimed towards it, the formation moving as one. It was absolutely amazing- almost like the horses could communicate silently, coordinating each movement to match the horse to their side. For all I knew, that was exactly what they were doing. Nothing in the Spiritlands was impossible.
We landed soundlessly on the grounds right outside the cave, the horses’ hooves as silent as they were trained to be. Even still, I wasn’t surprised to find Hecate leaning against the cave opening, apparently waiting for us. Being the witch that she was, she had uncanny instincts.
"So, you came," Hecate drawled as we quietly approached her.
I nodded as I glanced inside. It was unlike any cave I had ever seen. Once inside the doorway, it opened into a massive cavernous room filled with sparkling white stalactites and stalagmites. Light bounced from each glistening crystal to the next, illuminating the entire cave.
It was almost ethereal and certainly not what I had expected from the queen of witchcraft.
"How could I not?" I answered grimly. "I trusted the Keres. And they have betrayed me. I feel like I can no longer trust my instincts."
"And your birthmark?"
I glanced down and noticed in surprise that the phoenix birthmark that had marked me as a Keeper for generations had grown more pronounced. It was now a deep crimson, not unlike the color of henna. My startled gaze flew up to meet hers. She was already nodding knowingly.
"It has been silent since we arrived here, yet it has grown more pronounced," I stumbled over my words.
She nodded again.
"It is all true," she muttered to herself as she gestured for us to enter.
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