259. Back in the Forest of Silence
Back in the Forest of Silence
It was so quiet here
that the sound of her sobs
echoed around us mournfully.
‘She is at the centre,’
Styx grimaced.
I knew this, and yet
I had hoped
she would be closer.
But Hades was clever.
He knew that someone
would come looking for her,
and no one survived this forest.
Well. Almost no one.
Styx and I walked to the edge of the trees
and we heard the tendrils,
the serpents, before we saw them.
But Styx was ready,
and from her hands
came the poisonous waters
even the Gods feared.
I stood back as she bore a hole
through the forest,
killing murderous roots
of poisonous tree-mockeries
and chasing snakes away.
If I had thought walking here
with Thanatos was safe,
Styx made me feel invincible.