Chapter Ten

Deimos arrived at the land of the Ice Spirit Medusa one month after receiving a vision from his ancestral god Hephaestus at his shrine. That by itself had taken Deimos two months to reach and had proven somewhat dangerous since Blood-Boars were known for colonizing the area around the shrine in abundance. He even took several of the younger ones that he had killed and used their fur to make a thick coat. And he didn't need the hero god telling him why that coat was going to come in handy: he was going into a realm of ice, after all.

"Be careful of Medusa when you see her: her greatest weapon is not her abilities with ice (which can freeze any one who gazes upon her should she choose) but her voice. So powerful is the charm of her voice that I am the only who has really managed to resist her. That's why she made her assault on me thus mothering the God of War himself," Hephaestus warned. "If I have any of your good luck, I'll be able to resist the voice too," Deimos said, assuring Hephaestus that he would figure something out if he didn't have the immunity.

"I sure hope so, you are the only one of my ancestors left alive and I'd hate to see you turned into another decoration in Medusa's cold hallways," Hephaestus replied before leaving him to get some sleep before the long trek west of the god's shrine. He knew he was approaching the realm when he felt a wind chill so cold that he doubted any Nightsister or Nightbrother presently alive had ever sustained it. It was at this time that he decided to take left over patches of skin he had collected from the Blood-Boars and turn it into protection for his thin boots. The Blood-Boar skin was said to be so durable and so insulating that even the wind chill could not penetrate it and unfortunately, he was going to have to test that theory in a short moment.

Sure enough, when his fur-covered boots came in contact with the first bits of snow, he couldn't feel a thing. He wondered how long this would last and if the skin was durable enough to withstand the extreme cold. It was at this time that he realized how smart it was for him to bring a flint and some firewood when he started running low on meat from the Blood-Boars surrounding the shrine of the god of his ancestors. The only problem he had now was finding a cave where the strong winds of the icy realm would not have the capability of rubbing out any fire he lit up.

But even that turned out not to be a problem when he saw several caves on the low end of the sheer glacier wall facing him. He had no doubt that more than a few of those caves were actually the entrances of tunnels that would lead to Medusa's throne. Another advantage of the tunnels that he faced was that if long enough, he would not have to deal with the harsh winds blowing in this accursed and forsaken place. It would provide for much more insulation than even the hides of the Blood-Boars could do, keeping him warm and warding off the effects of frostbite for much longer than the coat and boots.

Briefly turning his back towards the wind for the sake of protecting the flint, he lit up a torch by first taking one of the smoother and straighter shafts of wood, oiling a loose rag of Blood-Boar hide, wrapping it around the stick, then lighting it on fire. He repeated the process for another but this one would not be used to light his way: instead, it would be used to determine how deep a cave went into the ice. If it stopped a few meters in when he threw it, he knew he had a cave he could use for a shelter in an absolute emergency. However, if it went on and on for miles on end, he knew he had a tunnel that could potentially lead him straight to the throne room of Medusa.

Planting both torches on their pummels in the snow, he took his zhaboka that he had been carrying in his hand and broke it in half. Though this seemed like a stupid move, the ends were actually magnetized and had a button on each of them that allow the blades to fold into the hilts. Once he accomplished this, he also had a stick with magnetic ends that allowed him to carry the zhaboka in a more portable fashion than if he had kept holding onto it with his hand. After the zhaboka was packed in its scabbard across his left shoulder (opposite his regular vibroblade on his right), he took both torches and made his way to the caves with one in each hand.

He ran towards one that looked like it could be a tunnel and walked into the entrance until he was out of the path of the wind. Taking the torch on his right hand, he aimed down the middle of the cave and threw it, watching as the torch flew down the shaft and farther than would be qualified as a cave but far enough to be a tunnel. Smiling, he unsheathed his vibroblade and walked into the tunnel, following the light of the torch he threw until he found it again in time to prevent it from dying due to the cold temperatures of the tunnel. He restored it knowing full well that he was going to need to keep using a test torch to judge the distance of the tunnel so he threw it again to notice that this tunnel went even farther than where he had picked it up from.

Then he found a seat-shaped bit of ice, planted the one in his hand and decided to make several more torches that he would oil and light up when he needed them. He finished them and reached the test torch just in time to see it dying and he decided that it would be best to just discard it. It had helped him enough in determining that the tunnel went for miles into the thick ice. But instead of discarding it, he decided that maybe it was best to just break off the small burnt off end and keep the rest as an additional stick of firewood when he needed to stop and rest.

Picking up his sword and torch again, he made his way down the tunnel some more. He was amazed that on first try he had picked a tunnel that went far enough to possibly lead him to the throne room of Medusa without any turns or angles to travel down. But something began to worry him: while he was the type of warrior who would appreciate a diplomatic end to a mission, he had seen no Frost Giants or Jotuns. One would think that this tunnel would be crawling with beasts considering that darkness is their ally and ice is their element Deimos thought to himself.

He knew that the light hurt the eyes of the Jotuns and Frost Giants but the darkness surrounding the torch was more than thick enough for them to launch an attack that took out the torch. Then he figured out what it was: Medusa was expecting him and had been expecting him for quite some time. Probably since his mission had begun and he had set out to his ancestral shrine to consult Hephaestus, the man she had lusted over and as a result, produced Nag. And if she was expecting him, it could mean she was either planning a trap or wanting to see if he was anything like his ancestral god when it came to matters related to the bed.

Kycina had to make yet another stop and rest her stomach but she didn't want to let on to anything being wrong with her just yet. She had been keeping up this diligent performance ever since she found out she carried Mathayus' child in her womb thanks to the Enchantress herself. However, Mathayus became increasingly worried that something was wrong for she never needed to stop for anything before their romantic night three months ago. One day, shortly before the beginning of the fourth month of their quest, Mathayus decided to stay behind yet again with Kycina whilst the Enchantress and Mercury went on ahead.

"Kycina, what's going on? Three months ago, you could beat any of us in a race but now you have to rest every few miles like some old lady way past her prime! Are you hiding something from us or from me?" he asked. "Mathayus, don't ask me to do this," she answered.

"Do what? Reveal why you've been slow as hell when you weren't three months ago. I didn't want to ask it like this but now I know I have to ask straight out," he pressed. "Mathayus, I didn't know how to tell you this nor was I sure I should but… I'm pregnant," she said, finally giving in to the pressure. "Is it mine?" Mathayus asked after several moments of heavy silence.

Kycina nodded and unfolded the cloaks she had put over her belly to reveal three months of fetal swelling. Mathayus swallowed a hard gulp and could not believe his own eyes. A child in Kycina's belly and he was the father… He didn't know how to respond to the incredible feeling he developed as a result of knowing that Kycina was now the mother of a child of his blood.

"I… I don't know what to say," he admitted. "Then say nothing. Feel him growing within me Mathayus, feel our son growing within me," she replied with tears slowly rolling down her eyes. "How do you know it's a boy?" he asked her.

"I had the Enchantress tell me shortly after I found out I was pregnant which she was also kind enough to tell me," she answered. "You know what this means for us, do you not?" he asked. "If he turns out to be Force-sensitive or at least more than you, a normal Nightbrother destiny would be too little to give him," she answered with a nod. "I was going to say something else but sure, okay," he stated.

"Let's go before Mercury and the Enchantress start wondering if we're having sex again," she said to him with a quick wink. "You're pregnant and yet you still like my charming nudity, don't you?" he asked rather jokingly. "No, what's between your nude legs; of course, I like the whole thing!" she answered. "All right let's go, I don't want to give Mercury a mini-heart attack if you know what I mean," he agreed.

"How far are we from the Domain of Exiles now? The baby isn't liking all of this travel and it's making sure I know all about it," she asked. "If the Enchantress is telling us the truth and no longer trying to get us killed, we should be there in another two months. Not to worry though if she's telling the truth then that also means our appointment with the All-Seer is secured and we don't need to worry about being attacked unless we insult him in his domain," he answered; and both man and woman, for the child's sake, were both hoping that they did nothing to insult the great King of the Exiles.