A/N: This is an edited version of my first take on Shadow Bonded. I feel after 3 years, my writing skill has improved some, and my direction will be a bit different from the first story, so I hope you all enjoy this version just as much, if not more than the original.
Under my mother's watchful gaze, my home flourished around me. Everything was ripe and everything bloomed. My home is in eternal spring. She was beside me now, with a brush making its way down my golden hair. She leaned in, and I breathed in her scent of earth and sunshine, I could feel her smiling into my hair, in that way she does when she is very happy. It was good to see her smiling again, after a week of seeing her stare into the distance with a worried look in her eyes.
The brush glided through my hair, guided by her graceful hands. My mother is beautiful, with dark hair and eyes as green as the meadow we sat in. Though she is always out in the sun, among the trees where she is happiest, her skin is untouched by the harshness of nature, the thorns and the dirt and the stones. Her skin is always perfect, unlike the other women who sometimes visit our cottage. They have grooves, deep like the bark, lining their faces and hands, and leathery brown skin. This makes me think that perhaps my mother is a forest spirit, a nymph. And so if my mother is a nymph, am I too one?
"Mother, would you answer a question for me?" I asked.
"Anything my precious Kora. What is it you wish to know?" My mother kissed the top of my head, halting her careful grooming to listen to me.
I paused, as I realised the foolishness of my question. How could my mother be a nymph? It is only a story, only a fairytale.
"Are you a nymph?" I asked, turning to observe my mother's reaction, sure that she would laugh. Instead she tilted her head to the side, a confused smile on her lips. Then the expression cleared like a storm that had given way to the calm blue sky.
"I had forgotten how little you know of the world." Her eyes became far away, into a world I could not touch nor see. I knew that my mother did not want me to go away from this cottage, warning of the cruelty that lay beyond our home. She never told me stories of the outside world but I saw the haunted look in her eyes.
"I am loath to tell you of it, but there are things you need to know. Will you listen to my tale? It is not a happy one, but it is time you knew."
I nodded, barely able to keep my excitement under control.
"Very well." She shifted, to a standing position, taking a step back while facing me. She did not like to tell tales while sitting, preferring to use her body, her hands and her face to tell a story. My mother always told the best stories, leaving me spellbound in awe.
"Long ago, when the earth was young, terrible and powerful beings existed, borne of the heaven and earth. They all fought among themselves, with sons killing fathers to gain their power. So too did my brother overthrow his father, only with the intention of freeing his siblings from repeating the cycle."
A feeling of recognition began to spark in my mind. This story, I have heard it before somehow...
"Though we were freed from the mindless slaughter of our own kin, and the earth began to grow with the freedom it had been given, my brothers and sisters do not always act responsibly. They are impulsive and at times, selfish. It is why I have sheltered you from the truth, because I know they lack the gentleness a girl needs to be treated with."
Her eyes were pleading with me to understand her actions, and though I still did not fully understand, I would always love my mother, and knew she only wished to protect me. I took her hand quietly, reassuring her that I did understand.
"I am not a nymph, sweet daughter. I am a Goddess, and so are you."
The sun was always too bright to my sharpened eyes. Above trips were always both refreshing and irritating. I missed the warmth, but being here always reminded me of the freedom I did not possess, because on my shoulders rested the heavy burden of being King of the Underworld.
When I was first given this responsibility, my blood seethed with rage and bitterness. But residing in the Underworld has changed me. I have listened to the stories of the living, their regrets and their joys. With every story, I began to understand both the cruelty of the world and the beauty of it. In a way, I am thankful I have not ended up as my brothers: drunk with power and allowing themselves to succumb to overindulgences of lust, greed and violence. I have lived on this earth a long time now, and I feel the years weigh me with all the knowledge I have gained.
I shifted my weight on my horse, and he pawed the ground, waiting patiently to begin his ride through the forest. I spurred him onward, following the smoky trail only I could detect. That sliver of darkness that did not belong in the living realm.
I was hunting a spirit that escaped the underworld's grasp. Under normal circumstances, this task would be taken by one of my faithful Shades, but I needed the excursion. In life the spirit was a man that was responsible for the death of many innocent souls, and for that reason he needed to be brought back before he did too much damage in the mortal realm.
To my surprise, my horse began to slow, head turned away from the trail. This was strange behavior indeed, I thought as I tried to urge my horse onwards. My horse stopped completely now, looking to the left. I sighed wearily and dismounted, deciding to discover what caused this delay in my hunting. I moved through the trees silently, like the shadows I called home. With the Helm of Darkness on my head, I was completely invisible which I intended to use as an advantage should I come across some monster lurking around.
And then I saw her.
In a meadow, surrounded by flowers the color of sunshine sat a little maiden. She was exquisite, with golden hair and the purest green eyes, laughing with a carefree joy that made something stir in my ancient heart. I began to take off helmet, ignoring the warning message in my head. She still did not notice me straight away, but the Nereids watching her did. They froze where they stood, eyes glancing toward each other, and the maiden, perhaps fearing her safety.
Finally the girl looked up, and my world stopped, and shifted. Was the world ever so colorful? I was lost in her eyes, unable to move, speak, blink, and breathe. It was as if I was seeing with new eyes, and a feeling of warmth enveloped me for the first time in my sad existence. For the first time, I was truly, utterly, confused and struck dumb.
Then the girl smiled at me trustingly, and my knees felt weak. That smile was the unfolding of roses, more perfect than the purest stars. She broke me apart and put me together with that smile. Oh sweet maiden, no more! I begged silently, afraid that her words would stop my heart altogether, if it were possible.
"Are you a prince?" She asked, her honeyed voice slowly unfreezing my body. Finally, I was able to breathe once more.
She continued, coming closer to me, "In my fairytales, a prince is supposed to be very beautiful and kind." She examined me, putting a tiny finger to her lip.
"Will you play with me?" She asked earnestly, smile becoming arrestingly lovely.
I kneeled before the girl, remembering finally my mission, and the peril I put mortals in by staying here.
"I cannot. I am sorry. What is your name?" I asked, thinking if I at least had her name, perhaps I could find her again one day, when she is older.
"Kora, daughter of Demeter. And yours?" But by the time she finished her sentence, my helmet was back on my head, and I was invisible.
Demeter's daughter!
The horse was right there waiting for me, as it would wait for eternity had I never returned, for my horse was of the Underworld, bred by shadows and smoke, and born to serve me for all time. The horse noticed my arrival, even with the helmet on. This was because they were made to notice the mark of the Underworld, which made them excellent hunting companions.
Demeter's daughter?
The trail became stronger, and soon enough we had found our target: a village in smoke, blood soaking the earth and villagers fleeing a man engulfed by shadows. My time with the maiden had cost me precious time, but I found myself not regretting stopping to meet her.
I shook my head, attempting to free myself of those thoughts and charged to meet the escaped soul. He was a dreadful sight, his eyes crazed with madness, and blood stuck to his teeth. His hands had elongated to claws and his hair was beginning to fall out. By consuming the mortals in this village he was able to gain more power, and if he was left to continue like this he would become another monster, with the fault resting squarely on my shoulders.
He did not see me step forward, within swords reach, for I was still invisible. I tore off my helmet and roared, "Nikomedes of Thebes, I stand as your Judge by my right as King of the Underworld. For escaping the Lower Realm and the slaughter of innocent mortals you are sentenced to spend eternity in Tartarus, where your crimes will be deposited upon you, every day."
With my final judgment spoken, I leaped forward to sever his tie to the mortal realm by destroying his body once more. My sword tore through his body, slicing through his heart and his chest.
He did not even see me coming. His face was frozen into a mask of fear that is as familiar to me as the lines on the throne I sit at while I judge the souls coming through.
Black blood burst from what was once Nikomedes and then his essence condensed and solidified to a floating dark red orb. I pushed the orb into my soul collecting bag and made my way back to the land of the Dead, away from the burning villiage, and the blood. A hand gripped my cape and I turned to see the half-eaten child, staring with pleading eyes, that then rolled to the floor. The hand loosened and fell away, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.
I did not regret sending that one to Tartarus.
My horse sought the new entrance to the Underworld, the ever-moving gate that took me to a place that replaced sunlight and laughter of young maidens with darkness and the faraway screams of tortured souls. I doubted I would see the girl again, even if she was a child of my sisters.