Seasons of Love: an Underworld Story

WINTER - PART ONE

"Have you thought about using me to change your form? I could make you look like me, and then I could look like you, and she would never know! OR I could change you to look like one of the centaurs and you can gallop out of here!" 

Kore laughed at the emphatic nymph, delighted at the way her eyes lit up as she danced around the forest. 

"Ptelea, I don't think any of that would work. You know how my mother is; she has her spies everywhere." Kore gazed over the rolling hills of wildflowers and moss, looking for her mother. "Grab your lyre and we will go find her. I'm ready to go home." 

Ptelea looked into Kore's eyes for a moment, searching for something. Finding what she was looking for, she nodded and bowed, backing away to pick up her instrument. 

"You stay here," Ptelea urged, her eyes sparkling in the midday sun's rays. "I will find Demeter and bring her to you." 

Kore nodded and smiled; her best friend knew her well. She knew that she wanted some time alone in the field, preferring to use her magic without any leering eyes. 

Ptelea skipped off, her chameleon-like skin changed and blended with the flora as she leapt and danced away. Her iridescent skin refracted rainbows of light. Her body moved with a grace that Kore had always envied. 

Kore cast her gaze over her mother's land as she called forth her power. She could feel it building; the tingling in her fingertips, the heat in her palms, and a restlessness in her soul that begged to be set free. 

She took a deep breath and held her palms out on either side of her, horizontal to the earth. Walking forward, she willed the earth to be bountiful. The flora shifted and multiplied. New trees sprang from the ground, growing taller than herself in less than a moment. She breathed in air and light, and expelled pure magic. 

Feeling spent after what felt like hours, Kore took a deep, cleansing breath and studied her work. 

"I wonder where Ptelea is with my mother," she thought aloud, looking in the direction of where Ptelea had vanished. It was completely covered in trees and brush now, blocking off her view. She hadn't realized that she had created a dense barrier between herself and her mother's guards. It cut her off from the safety and protection they provide. A shiver crawled down her spine. 

The wind grew and blew, growing colder and more bitter, biting her nose and cheeks as she stood amongst the trees. The hairs on the back of Kore's neck stood on end and her heart rate increased. She felt a shuddering ripple spread across the earth. She whipped her head towards the center of the ripple. Behind her a hole was pulsing and growing, black fog spilling forth. Kore gasped and took a step backwards, terrified. Two daemons crawled up through the earth. Their glowing yellow eyes pierced her soul. Sharp black claws cut trenches in the mud and muck. Their skin had a sickly orange hue that looked too tight on their bodies. It appeared as though they had stolen bodies too small for them, only for it to mutate with misuse. 

Kore screamed, an icy chill gripping her spine. She couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. She could only watch, wide-eyed in terror, as the two daemons make way for their King to emerge. 

A dark pewter crown adorned with rubies and garnet gemstones came first. Then long black hair, sharp silver eyes, and a long black beard over a square jaw awoke her gaze.  He dressed in all black, with gold and pewter belts and accessories. Kore noticed a leather whip hanging from his belt, her breath catching in her throat. He carried a scepter with confidence, as though it was a part of him. 

The man's icy gaze cut through her like glass and she could feel her entire body quiver with anticipation of what she felt was to come. 

Kore heard a voice through the fog of her mind. It clawed and scratched at the back of her subconscious, competing for her attention away from the God before her. 

"KORE!"

Her mother. Demeter's voice broke through the murk of her mind. 

"Stay away from my daughter you bastard!" she shouted. Many sets of footsteps got closer - Ptelea and the guards must be with her. Kore could hear her mother shout a curse. The newly-lain flora around her withered and turned to ash. The sky turned dark as storm clouds formed. Thunder rolled in from the distance with a swiftness that put even the mightiest of stallions to shame. 

It was too late. Kore was in the God's arms and felt herself lurching downward, back into the chasm from whence he emerged. She took one last look towards her mother and her friend. Her heart broke seeing the expressions on their faces. Her mother was furious, alongside Ptelea, who looked grief-stricken. She didn't know where she was being taken, nor the identity of the old God that grabbed her. 

The power emanating from him was staggering. His arms around her felt like steel, hard and unmoving. Kore had never met a man before, let alone one this powerful.

 She watched over his shoulder as the two daemons in his company followed suit. They snarled and growled at her mother and the guards, daring them to advance. 

Kore's vision turned black as she sunk into the earth. She clawed at her captor's back and shoulders, screaming until her throat turned raw. A sudden light behind her, as though they were going through a tunnel, grabbed her attention. She turned as best she could in the God's arms, stretching to see above his head, but all she could see was light. 

The pair burst through the entrance and she had to blink to adjust her eyes. As her vision became clear, she was able to view the city surrounding them. Her captor brought her downward, cradled as if formed from glass. He placed her on her feet in front of a large wooden doorway, adorned with metal and gemstones. She peered beyond it and gasped. The mountainous palace in front of her beckoned her inside, it's call unbearable to ignore. 

Despite her sore throat, she whispered, "Where am I?" 

The God behind her chuckled and placed his arms on her shoulders, his hot breath on her ear. 

"The Underworld, my lady. You are home." 

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