Eros

Chapter 2

Three years later, when Andrew was sixteen, he lived peacefully in the forest. With his companion, the blue hawk known as Skiffin, they ventured through their new home but never dared go out of it, as Andrew had a bad feeling about meeting the other mortals. Andrew kept all of the memories of his parents and the old house with him including all of the myths his parents had told him. He was still grieving over their deaths, as they were the only ones that loved him- his mother told him she could not bear any more children after him. He never forgot when the neighbours nearby came to his house and broke the bad news to him, the ever so sad look on their faces. He could not bear remembering it, but it was always with him.

However, he tried to remain as optimistic as he could. The animals of the forest had a certain love for him and one that he could not quite understand. The first time he was hunting for an animal, he pointed his staff at a doe, in hopes of killing it, and when it realised his intentions, it only stared. Then, when he came charging for it, it ran into his arms, as if he was an old friend. He spared the doe and from that moment forward, he vowed never to eat an animal ever again. The animals all wanted him to go to the place, the place he knew that he needed to go to but also knew that he could never get to.

He remembered the first time he saw it when he was ill and trying to find the special herbs to cure himself. His parents always used to get them for him from this forest- they would venture for at least two nights and they would return with the herbs that would cure him, they were the only things that could. Now they were gone, he needed to do it himself. He could not see the herbs, so he stood on some tall rocks until he saw it- a giant waterfall that was so beautiful he did not want to take his eyes off it. He could just, for one moment, make out something behind the waterfall, a mountain of some sort, but then lost his balance and fell. He went up the rock again to see it, but this time he could not see the outline of the mountain.

Andrew and Skiffin were looking for some food to eat, they had been starving for many days on end as there was not an abundance of food that was not meat in the forest. Then, he felt something his shoulder from Skiffin, something was making him uneasy. He saw it- a doe that looked ever so familiar.

"No, Skiffin! You know me, I don't eat animals. Not anymore anyway."

He tweeted angrily, but Andrew halted him.

"Stop! I know you're hungry, I am too, but I don't eat animals, especially does. Remember the first time when I was hunting for one, and it just came into my arms? The animals are too nice here, I couldn't bear it if I killed it."

The doe came out and looked at him in a familiar way, so familiar that it was uncanny. Then he realised it wasn't just any old doe, it was the doe. The doe that loved him even if he was trying to kill it. The doe looked at him longingly and walked away but came back- and repeated this twice again. Andrew knew what the doe was trying to do, it wanted him to follow it. Thinking he would be led to a new, interesting place that the forest had to offer, he was excited. However, he then realised the path he was taking was quite familiar, and they knew that he was being led to the forbidden place.

"You know I can't go up there", he said to the doe, sadly, "many animals have led me here, but their journeys have all been in vain."

The doe stared at him as if it were trying to say, "Well, mine is not. You will go up there, I'll make sure of it".

"I'm sorry." The doe looked at him sadly, and then departed, or so he thought. The doe rammed its head into Andrew, plunging him into the air until he landed on the doe's back and the doe started running as fast as it could. No matter how hard he tried- both him and Skiffin for that matter- they could not get off the doe. It jumped over all of the obstacles that were in its way until it finally reached a wall. Then, he felt a drop of water pour onto his head and looked up to see the waterfall as it was stopped by a pile of rocks. Then, for the first time in three years, he saw the outline of the mountain, and never felt so certain in his life. He climbed up the rocks and found himself in front of the waterfall, and it was the best feeling he had experienced in a long time.

He knew, now, that the mountain was behind the waterfall. He could feel it. Now he had to get to it, which was hard, considering there was a waterfall in front of it. He tried to look for any other passage, maybe behind the waterfall, but there were none. He asked the animals of the forest for help, but they ignored him. Then, he realised that he must go through the waterfall to get to the mountain. Anxiously, he walked through and immediately saw a human in the water, or, something that took the form of a human, but was actually water. He thought it must've been a figment of his imagination, but the thing pushed him back. He found himself on land again and was determined to get through. He went through again, Skiffin on his shoulder, but they were both pushed back. This time, as he was about to push him back, Skiffin went in front of the figure, and that's when Andrew realised the figure was the same height as him, and the outline of his hair and body were exactly the same as his. The figure stopped. Andrew walked up to it and realised they were one and the same. The figure hugged him and it warmed Andrew's heart. It then transformed into a sphere of water and went into Andrew as he and Skiffin slowly transformed into water figures which, to their relief, was good as they were just short of breath. He walked through the waterfall and came out, to find that he was human again, and at the foot of the mountain he knew was always there, but he knew that this wasn't any old mountain, it was Mount Olympus, the mountain of the gods.

Stay tuned for the next chapter, coming next week!