The Pentagram Child: Part 2 (Afterlife Saga Book 5) (18 page)

“So if that door leads to Tartarus, then this door leads to…”

“Not all places in Heaven are safe to travel to. It’s not all divine power that keeps everyone in check…how do you think the first demons came to be?” She asked and it was obvious she was feeling superior having this knowledge over me.

“So you’re saying that the first demons came from those that went against the original Gods” I said which wasn’t a big shocker but knowing my weakness for gaining answers and knowledge into more about the supernatural, I couldn’t help myself.

“To want something different in your life than those around you doesn’t make it wrong, that is why not all Angels are good and all Demons are bad, we just all envy mortals.” I frowned at this but from my face alone I didn’t need to ask the question.

“Look around you, does this look like we have free will to you? No, if we want to make our own choices we must leave our home and be cast aside into your world, only to find we have even more rules to abide by there. But you mortals, the Gods gave you the world to do with whatever you chose and let you live your lives without limitations and after being created by the blood of my…”

“Eh, hang on a minute, there is a bit of a difference here considering
us mortals
, ones that
you
envy, have not even the same amount of power you guys hold in your little fingers!” This time I was the one stomping up to her as I continued my rant letting my anger bubble hotter. 

“So don’t talk to me about injustice when my people have to go through the pain of watching loved ones die or feel the pain and suffering of illness! Ever even had a cold Aurora, ever had a snotty, cracked nose, a throat so sore every swallow feels laced with razors or a cough that keeps you up all night? And that is just one illness everyone experiences at least once a year, I am not even going to talk to you about Cancer! So I think all things considered, immortal being that you are, we are more than even!” I finished and only then did I realise I had backed her into the door to Hell.

“Fine. Do you want to back off now?” She said and it was then that I recognised what I saw in her eyes…

It was fear.

That night quickly flashed back in my mind and it was the night I had almost killed her. I can’t believe I hadn’t thought about it till now. But in truth I put this down to how I would block out that part of my life as it was too much to bear thinking about. And that night was no different. That very moment I walked into Draven’s bedroom and saw her there it had been like a red cape to a bull. Something inside of me had snapped and what came out was a power of vengeance of the likes I had never known. I had in fact prayed for the very same power to come to me in the Temple with Alex but it was as if I had been running on empty.

“Aurora, what happened that night back in Lake Como, I just wanted to…”

“No!” She shouted, moving out of my way and when she took in my look of shock in the sight of her reaction she said,

“Please, let us not mention it again.” I nodded and left it as it was, feeling that no more could be said.

“Shall we go to Hell?” I asked instead, changing the subject for one definitely more dire and dangerous but without a doubt far easier to deal with. Because going to Hell was a piece of cake compared to having a heart to heart between two people who obviously hated each other.

“I think that would be best.” She said and it was the first time I got to see a glimpse that she did in fact have at least a slither of humour running through her serious veins.

She put her hand in the small pocket in her tight suit jacket and I had noticed her doing the same thing in the car before I nodded off. It almost looked a like a nervous habit as this was the third time I had caught her doing it. Only now I realised what it was and I had to wonder how many of those coins she had in her pocket, because this time she pulled out a slightly larger one.

Then she surprised me when she bent on one knee and my first thought was how she managed it in such a tight skirt. This wondering of mine was eclipsed by her next action and I watched with a raised eyebrow when she slid the coin underneath the door. Well what did I expect, a coin slot like on a fruit machine or if you wanted a can of coke?

Whatever she had done it was clear this wasn’t her first Rodeo, as the next thing I knew the door to Tartarus was opening and as I walked inside I received my next big shock of the day…

Tartarus was a Temple.

Chapter 61 –

Saving Mortals and Freeing Demons.

I looked round in wonder at what would have once been a magnificent place to see. We were in some kind of broken Temple that quite obviously had been a place to come and worship the old Gods. But it was hard to imagine why it would be down here in a place like this. So once again I found myself asking the question,

“What is this place?”

“This is the Temple of Lost Olympus.” She said stepping over the fallen remains of what were once great and mighty statues of her ancestors. If I thought the Temple of Janus was large then this was its older, bigger brother! The statues alone were like buildings left to rest on their sides. Huge severed arms still holding onto their weapons reminded me of Jurassic trees fallen after a storm.

“But why is it here?” I asked following after her and climbing over the smaller bits of debris. I could practically hear her rolling her eyes!

“Mortals
…” She muttered before she carried on.

“This temple used to be on top of Mount Olympus but after the last battle between the Gods, Zeus forced the remaining Titans back into this place. Once there he then used the last of his power to bring forth the greatest storm this planet has ever known, striking down his own Temple and using it as a prison, one that took them straight to the lowest levels of Hell.” She said this scowling at the statue of the God she obviously held responsible. 

“And this is what remains?” I asked looking back around the room.

“No, this is only half of what remains, the other half…well I guess only Dominic knows what that looks like…this way.” She said and I knew enough by this comment what she meant. After making our way across the vast room she came to what appeared to be a hidden door. I frowned and said,

“Is it not that way?” I pointed to the large door at the end, next to the only statue that remained mostly intact and you could tell it was the main man himself…Zeus, the one Aurora clearly detested.

He was sat upon a huge throne as if looking over his domain and now I guess he was forever to be punished also, considering all he had to look at now was the result of such a war.

“No, Dom went this way. I can feel his presence as if he walked these very steps.” Once again I found myself frowning that she could ‘feel him’ and I knew it was irrational, but I didn’t even want her thoughts to feel him, let alone her jealous hands. Not only that but it annoyed me that she made out she could feel his presence when I had the strongest urge to go the other way.

In the end I didn’t say anything but just followed blindly as we went off in the opposite direction to what I felt was right. The entrance to the next room was half crumbled away and I passed it as quickly as I could in fear that it would all come crashing down on me. I let out a sigh of relief when making it through and growled under my breath when I heard Aurora chuckle because of it.

We walked into a dismal looking space that reminded me of what a tunnel to Hell would look like, which wasn’t surprising considering where we were. It was made from a kind of mosaic style only instead of using tiles, it was clad in black rock that looked like shattered glass. It was as if someone had smashed a massive slab of it and then tried to piece it back together again.

Once again I was worried about the light situation, or lack of it more like but in the end I didn’t need to worry. Aurora’s dark shadow walked over to one wall and lit something that was hanging down, almost like a giant match. Once it was lit she picked it up and put the end to what I could just make out was a small hole in the curved wall. I heard the sizzle and then it was like a tiny bomb went off as the flames must have travelled behind the walls.

One by one small windows carved all along the tunnel lit up and provided us with enough light to be able to see how far down it went. Well one thing was for sure, I would certainly be getting my wish of being dry again long before we got there.

I couldn’t tell you how long we walked, but two things I was thankful for. One, I was now mostly dry and two we didn’t have to see the bottom of the tunnel before reaching our destination.

As we had been walking down I had noticed there had been plenty of arched doorways to choose from and it looked to me as though these could have been different cell blocks. Well it was a prison after all so it would make sense.

It was hard being down to here to get an accurate scale on how big the place was without actually seeing what was through those doors. But one thing I was sure about, if they had all been cell blocks, then that meant we were utterly surrounded by the most dangerous demons ever known.

“I can assure you it’s this way.” Aurora snapped impatiently over her shoulder and this was getting old pretty damn quickly. I felt like I was being rounded up like cattle and having such a thought in this place sent a shiver through my body.

We entered yet another corridor and I had to wonder how many were in here as the movie Labyrinth sprang to mind. At least this one was slightly less depressing than the last. It actually reminded me of a gallery from a castle only void of the family ancestry on the walls. It was a wide, tall walkway that only had one slatted door at the end. Above sat a scary looking statue that almost looked positioned there to guard the place. It was of a winged creature that was sat in an awkward position, all bent and scrunched up so it could fit on this small plinth above the door.

“Wow that is one ugly looking Gargoyle. I mean I have seen scary at Afterlife but this one takes the biscuit.” I said the closer we got and after catching up to Aurora.

“That’s no Gargoyle.” Aurora whispered in vain as the creature started hissing at us. It was obvious it had heard us and only when it jumped down did I realise it wasn’t an ‘
it’
, no, ‘it’ was a
she
and she was not happy.

No wonder I thought she had been a statue, considering her skin was like rough old stone, weathered by nature. Her wings were a combination of an injured bat and a bird after having all its feathers ripped out. It was almost painful to look at and the long finger bones that ran through the wings crawled through me like nails on a chalk board. Her face was no better and the snarling didn’t help as her elongated jaw stretched further to allow for her many rows of teeth to snap at us.

“Eosss!” The creature hissed what sounded like a name and it was one I was sure I remembered hearing before.             

“Podarge” Aurora responded angrily and I gathered it was the creature’s name. It became obvious they knew each other when it finally clicked where I had heard that name before...

Eos was Aurora in Latin.

I mentally went back to only days ago when Draven had told me who Aurora really was. She was the Goddess of Dawn and the painful thought of such beauty clogged up my throat so I couldn’t speak. I tried to focus more on the truth and that was just because someone had a beautiful name and the title to go with it didn’t make them a beautiful person inside. I knew this and knowing her, boy did I really know this! And evidently so did Podarge if the way she was snapping her jaws at Aurora was anything to go by.

“Why are you here?” The creature snarled with venom as she looked from her to me.

“That is none of your business Harpie you know who I am so you would be wise to have respect when speaking to me!” Aurora replied standing straighter as if the sight of greater posture was something to be feared.

“Oh I know who you are and of your traitorous ways.”

“What is she talking about?” I asked turning to face Aurora wondering what I was about to hear.

“Nothing!” Aurora bit out at me and what I now knew was a Harpie just laughed in response with a high pitched cackle.

“You call betraying your master nothing?” The Harpie informed me and my mouth dropped before I shouted,

“Draven...? Why you…”

“She’s talking about Zeus.” She said cutting me off before my murderous rage could build.

“Oh…well that’s alright then I…uh…I mean, how could you do that?” I said looking accusingly at Aurora and changing my tune when seeing the angry Harpie taking a step towards me. Aurora just rolled her eyes and then quickly diverted her aggravation to someone other than me for a change.

“My business with that ruthless bastard is my own and does not concern the likes of you and your abhorrent kind.”

“Eh…yeah good one.” I said sarcastically when the Harpie looked even more enraged and started to go into attack mode. She crouched low and opened her frail looking wings as if she was about to pounce. Aurora looked at me sideways a second before sighing as if she was about to do something she really didn’t want to do.

“You die traitor and with it I will cook the flesh of your mortal over your burning corpse to share with my sisters!” I grimaced as she said all this just having images of them all singing Kumbaya whilst waiting for me to roast over a Goddess fire with an apple in my mouth. Actually one more look at this winged Diva and it would be more like them all singing ‘Hell ain't a bad place to be’ by AC/DC whilst waiting for Scouser Al a carte to cook!

“Seriously though, do you have any friends?” I asked which she ignored by focusing on our main problem. 

“Zeus should have killed you!” Aurora shouted making Podarge charge at us. Aurora pushed me out of the way just in time before the Harpie could dig her talons into my shoulder to no doubt fly off with me. I fell to one side stunned that Aurora could have possibly just saved my life and watched in shock as business chic turned into office deadly. She spun on her heel and ran at the Harpie that had landed on her hands and one bent knee. As soon as she saw Aurora running at her she pushed off the ground with her toes and started matching her speed towards her.

I had to wonder what they were expecting would happen when they just collided with each other but it became obvious that only one of them had a plan.  As Aurora continued to run towards the Harpie I saw her put one hand behind her back just before she reached her target. The flash of metal only caught my eye for a split second before she was coating it with blood. She sidestepped at the last second and spun on her heel once more only this time she held out her blade for a single purpose. The razor edge sliced into the Harpie’s neck and as Aurora continued spinning around to the creatures back it slit half of its throat open.

The Harpie stumbled back holding her gaping neck in shock but Aurora didn’t give her chance for much else. No, she tripped her up till she was on her back looking up at Aurora with pleading eyes and reaching hands. What the heavenly Aurora did next was shocking because without any care or mercy she brought her knee up before hammering it down and stomping on the Harpie’s face. Her thin stiletto heal first impaled her eye before travelling through to her brain, killing her instantly till Podarge was no more.

Aurora wasn’t even breathing heavy and for someone who thought it wasn’t correct for a lady to fight, she was bloody ruthless at it!

She looked down in disgust, smoothed her hair back and pulled her foot free taking the impaled eyeball with her. Then she walked past me, pulling down her jacket saying,

“Fucking Harpies.”

After the Harpie incident we were both quiet as we walked what I hoped was the last stretch to wherever Aurora was taking me. I still couldn’t get over the shock of Aurora saving me from getting mauled to death by Podarge. It would have been the perfect opportunity to have gotten rid of me once and for all. So did this mean we had her all wrong…was she really here to help Draven?

I wanted to think so. I wanted to think the best of people and give them a chance without my own personal issues with that person getting in the way of my judgement calls. I had little choice in trusting her when it came down to it as this was literally the only option we had left and honestly, there wasn’t a second thought in risking my own life if it meant saving his. So who knows, maybe we would both die trying. These thoughts made me break the silence as we came to another slatted door that looked the same as the previous million it felt like we had already come through.

“That Harpie could have killed me.” I stated using this as my only chance to plant the seed.

“Yes, it could have.” She said looking back at me in all seriousness.

“Could you have still freed Draven?” Aurora stopped walking at my question. Her hand automatically went into her jacket pocket where her fingers played nervously with something I couldn’t see.

“It wouldn’t have mattered.” I frowned at her response thankfully making her elaborate.

“If you die, then bringing back the King would only mean my own death, one I would have no choice but to forfeit for his own.”

“Wait, I‘m confused. Why would you die if something happened to me?” I asked coming to stand in front of her and stopping her from storming ahead which was something she was obviously good at considering I had spent most of this trip staring at her tailored back.

“It’s simple. If you die and Dominic comes back to find you gone then, like you and everyone else, he would merely believe I had killed you for my own gain. Therefore I would not live out the hour upon his return.” I contemplated this for a moment and then thought now was a good a time as any.