Cry of the Moon

Chapter 10: The Sorceress

For you to understand the following sequence of events, I must play the role of narrator to a different tale first - the one of Medea.

Once upon a time, there was a sheep named Chrysonellos. He was the son of the god Poseidon and a beautiful princess (please don't ask) and had a luxurious fleece made of pure gold. Eventually, as happens to every magical creature, he was sacrificed to the gods and his golden fleece, which granted health and prosperity to the land it was home to, was hung in the highest branch of a large oak tree in the island kingdom of Colchis.

The fleece stayed in Colchis for nearly a decade and was protected by the might of the king, a son of Helios named Aëetes, and his sorceress daughter Medea.

The goddess, Athena - the one who had been borne from Zeus' forehead after he swallowed Metis - decided the fleece had benefited Colchus for long enough and it was time for it to be moved to a new city. She sent the hero Jason to steal it from Aëetes and bring it back with him to the northern kingdom of Iolcus. Jason arrived in Colchus to an unfriendly king who refused to give up the thing that had brought his country prosperity all these years.

However, little did he know, his daughter Medea had made a secret deal with Jason; she would help him steal the fleece if he would let her escape with him and his crew. Unbeknownst to Medea, Eros, god of love and sex, had struck her with an arrow passion, causing her to fall deeply in love with Jason.

After fleeing Colchus, Medea began to go insane with her newfound freedom and the curse of love for Jason. She was so devoted to him that she was willing to do absolutely anything to make him happy, including murdering her own brother when he tried to prevent their flight from Colchus.

When they reached the kingdom of Iolcus, the king refused to grant Jason sanctuary from the Colchian ships still pursuing them, so Medea tricked the king's daughter into chopping him into pieces, under the impression it would make their father young again. When they discovered chopping their father into tiny pieces didn't in fact make him young again and instead killed him, Medea and Jason were chased out of Iolcus.

The pair finally found sanctuary in the small kingdom of Corinth after sailing all around the known lands fleeing from the ships of both Colchus and Iolcus. By that time, Medea had borne Jason two songs and was still deeply infatuated with him. Jason, on the other hand, had grown disturbed by the sorceress's lust for blood and destruction. When they arrived in Corinth, he took the crown princess as his bride.

Filled with hatred and a thirst for vengeance, Medea coated the inside of the poor princess's wedding dress in a powerful poison of her own making. When the princess donned the dress on her wedding day, she was killed instantly. When Jason heard the news, he suspected Medea instantly and rushed to her home, only to find their two songs murdered and Medea gone without a trace.

Lovely story, right? I do hope you haven't just eaten. Mortal stomachs can be so easily upset, which makes all the horrible stuff you come up with that much more ironic.

But now you know enough to go on.

One night, as I was driving my chariot across the sky, a force seemed to slam into my bulls. It was as if they had hit an invisible wall in the middle of the sky. I yanked on the reins, trying to guide them around whatever they thought was blocking the path when my chariot began to slide backwards, pulled by a powerful magic not even my powers could counter. In fright, I cut my bulls free and allowed them to fly into the night sky, hoping they would finish our path without my guidance and find their way safely back home.

I'm pulled all the way down to a small hill on Earth surrounded by dark forests. Once I've gotten my bearings, I notice a long figure shrouded in a black cloak standing at the edge of the trees.