Chapter 21 – Cerberus #2
A blade hits my throat, but I roll. I roll away from them all. Only, the earth is suddenly gone, and I’m falling and falling. A painfully terrifying minute passes, and then I hit the ground, hard, the vibration of the hit ringing through me.
Lying at the bottom of the deep hole, I can’t find the strength to get up. My blood coats my fur, and I know my ribs are cracked and my bones are broken.
But I refuse to succumb to my injuries in this dark place alone. If they’re going to kill me and send me back to my father, they’ll have to look me in the eye and do it.
They’re above me. I can hear them. There’s no room for their wings, I hear them say. They could get stuck. Or trapped with me.
And suddenly, my hellhound can’t do it anymore. She lies inside of me, broken and defeated, and I feel like a coward to leave her feeling this pain. She deserves better.
Closing my eyes, I shift. It’s so painful to take on my human form that my vision goes black for a minute. And I hear a cry of pain come from my very human mouth.
Opening my eyes, I stare up into the rain, tears and blood running down my face.
The gargoyles are above me, arguing. My head lolls to the side.
And I feel it. The change in the air.
Out of the shadows, a woman shimmers into existence. No, not a woman, a Shade. I have known many Shades in my life. They’re minions of Hades. Prisoners like me, that don’t completely understand that that’s what they are.
She’s naked. The air around her is deeper and dark, and light purple lights dance around her. She looks at me with wide, innocent eyes. A child to this world. A creature born of violence.
And I know now that I cared too deeply for these men. She wouldn’t be born from enemies attacking. But lovers? Friends? Yes, she’d be born from that.
Our eyes lock, and I know the men can’t see her as she comes closer.
“I’ll avenge you,” she whispers.
Shades are born of violence. Compelled by an instinctual desire to punish those that commit the worst of violent crimes. This Shade will kill the gargoyles and carry their souls to Hades to be tortured for eternity.
And again, I can’t allow them to be hurt. No matter how much they’ve hurt me.
“No,” I tell her, and the word is choked with tears.
“No?” she repeats, and I can see her warring within herself.
“You have freewill,” I whisper. “You do. So don’t punish them.”
Her eyes are wide as she reaches down. Her finger brushes my face, and she lifts it to show the blood on the end for a moment before the rain washes it away.
“I know, I—I know they hurt me,” I say. “But your freewill won’t last long, so listen well.
Follow the pull you’re feeling to the Underworld.
” I cough, and my ribs scream in agony. But I know now.
There’s no saving me, but she can still be saved.
So I force myself to keep talking, even though every word has to be pulled from my soul.
“You’ll see a cord attached from you to the gate that surrounds the Underworld.
Sever the cord. Run. If you don’t, the connection will be solidified, and you’ll forever be his slave. ”
I hear one of the men swear from above me. A light suddenly flashes on, painfully bright. I blink into it until I can see Soren holding a flashlight.
He stares down at me. “Cerce?”
His tone is terrified.
All the men look down, and suddenly, their entire demeanor changes.
And I know this is it. The moment they’ll kill me. The moment I’ll make them look me in my human-like eyes and end my life.
“You lied,” I say, and I think the words are loud enough for them to hear.
Thunder crackles overhead and lightning flashes. And then, I’m somewhere else. No longer a broken pile of flesh on the ground. I look to the person dragging me along. It’s the Shade.
My head swims. It’s impossible. A Shade’s freewill is weak. She’d have to go straight to the Underworld. She wouldn’t understand enough of death and pain to know to help me.
And yet, she is.
“Impossible,” I murmur, and the words sound slurred and wrong, even to my own ears.
And the air around us suddenly explodes. Rain falls hard and fast, so cold it’s like claws digging into my body. Lightning flashes in all directions in the sky, and the thunder roars like a thing of violence and anger.
In the sky, I swear, just for a moment, I see the Furies. And it’s as glorious as I imagined. Even if I’m still a broken creature looking up at women I envy.
The world flashes away again, and I’m surprised yet again to realize she’s teleporting us. Usually Shades only teleport the souls of the people they kill in vengeance. This woman defies everything I know of her kind.
But then I remember something. Shades form a connection to the people who bring them into this world. To me. But what does that mean?
Suddenly, we’re out of the rain. I can’t tell if we’re in a small cave, or something dug out from a large animal, but I see roots above our heads. I slide from her arms onto the floor, and she stands over me, looking confused.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
She looks in the distance, and I know she’s hearing Hades’s call.
“You can go,” I say. “But remember to sever your rope. Remember to run.”
She looks down at me, the purple glow of her eyes softer and gentler than the Shades I’ve met. “Will you… be safe?”
I smile, feeling blood run from the corner of my mouth. “Go.”
In an instant, she’s gone.
Curling onto my side, I try to pull my knees up to my chest, but the pain is excruciating. I cough out more blood onto the ground, and then begin to cry. I’m hurting too much to think about all the many beatings I’ve taken where no tears fell. All I can do is cry.
Not just because of the pain. But because of my loss.
Soren promised they’d never hurt me.
He lied.
Draven said he liked me.
He lied.
Kage said I was special.
He lied.
All of it was a lie. A trap for a lonely hellhound. And I fell for it.
I’m the greatest of fools.