"Celia, this way." Deo called gently to the girl as he looked back. Their travels had taken them down a rough mountain pass and they now traveled by foot; their horses left at the closest town. The tension between the two hadn't faded and Deo was finding the distance quite lonely. Now he held his hand out to her trying to move faster so they could get to covering before night fall.
She tried ignoring his hand as she climbed over the large rock in her way, but wound up slipping and grabbing his hand out of reflex. Deo pulled her up and helped her descend before following. They had been walking for two days already and had left Delphi four days prior to that. It felt like they would never reach their journey's end. Celia adjusted the sack Deo had given to her with a few supplies in it before following after, hoping they would reach a stopping point soon.
As the sun set they came across a shallow cave in the mountain face. It was just large enough for them to easily camp out in it and have a fire to keep them warm. Deo set to work on the fire right away before pulling some dried meat from his own sack and offering some to her. They sat in silence munching on the meat until she finally sighed and tried making conversation.
"How far away are we? Do you know?" She didn't look up at him as she spoke, and did her best to seem indifferent about the answer.
"I'm not sure. I've never traveled this route…" He paused as he tried to think. "Well at least I don't think I have."
Of course. The blind was leading the blind. It was easy for her to forget he had no memory with how easily he lead her about. For all she knew they were no where near Olympus. She never heard Deo ask for directions and it wasn't like she knew the way. As those thoughts settled in her head she began to get nervous. What if they were trekking out into unknown land? What if they could not find their way home?She tried to conceal her panic, but did poorly as her chest rose and fell faster.
"I know we're close, don't worry." She looked up to see an unfamiliar look in his eyes. He seemed confident as always, however this time he gave off an air of worry and sorrow. Shaking her head to dismiss this she looked to the mouth of the cave. "I asked the man we left the horses with. He said it was only a short journey so we should be seeing it soon."
"Alright." She took a deep breath to calm herself before standing and walking to the mouth of the cave. Deo didn't need to follow after her. She wasn't able to climb the large rocks that closed off this path by herself. It was also much too dark and wild animals were sure to be out looking for an easy meal. Once outside she took a few deep breathes and thought back on what the Oracle had said. No matter what her fate was twisted with his and the chance of returning home seemed slim even after this journey. Her brother's face flashed in her mind. Orion… She wondered where he was and if he was still following them. Could he have followed them? After their run in with him Deo had taken great lengths to make their path erratic.
As she thought a low rumble fell upon her ears causing her to look around the darkness. It could have just been thunder, however the growl sounded very much ferral and close. She looked back at the cave and noticed she had walked a good distance away from it. Slowly she tried to walk back. Her heart quickening as she heard the low growl once more; this time from multiple locations. Something moved just beyond her sight causing full blown panic to set in. Hiking up her chitin she tried to dash forward and to the safety of the cave. But before she could take more than two strides a dog like creature cut off her path. Looking about she noted more than five snarling beasts. Their muzzles seemed to be decayed and the lean muscle on their body was covered in thick black fut. They were much bigger than any wild dog she has ever seen with the larges looking about the height of her bosom.
Celia froze. Running now would mean a painful death. Instead she prayed to Artemis. Begging to be saved. Tears pricked at her eyes as the beast circled her. Her honey brown eyes snapped to the cave once more, praying Deo would come to check on her. She should call out. She should scream. Something to get his attention. Would he save her? Would he risk his own life for her? He had before.
Before she could make a move one lunged towards her, gripping her forearm in its jaws and pulling her to the ground. A blood curtling scream ripped from her chest as stabbing pain shot up her arm and down her body. The animal shook its head lightly as if toying with her. As if saying it could tear her limb from limb right there, but wanted her to suffer first. Another dog bounced on her chest, causing all breath to leave her in a violent gust. It snapped its teeth inches from her throat and dug its claws into the flesh on her stomach. Celia squoze her eyes shut, painfully silent sobs escaping her as the two creatures tore at her flesh. The others watching in the dark.
"CELIA!" Deo's voice pierced her ears moments before the dog on her chest lunged towards him. She tried to look to him but was dragged screaming into the darkness.
Trying to wrestle her arm free she called out. "DEO!" taking in the air she needed to call out sent sharp pains through her but she mustered the strength to call out again. "Help me! Please!" The arm still trapped in the jaws of the beast was shaken violently as if telling her to shut up. She watched as all the other monsters lunged after Deo. It almost seemed like they had planned this. As if they were after him and she was only means of getting him. Tears streamed down her face as she slumped, hoping the wild dog would release dead weight, it didn't. In the distance Deo struggled to fend of the beasts with a burning branch from their fire. She had trouble making out details through her tears, however it seemed he was already wounded.
A melodious laugh trickled to her ears. Snapping her head around to peer into the darkness she questioned her sanity. That sounded like a female. Yet what woman would be in the mountains by herself? And who would laugh at such a sight. If Celia had run across such a scene she probably would have screamed and ran as fast as her legs could muster. The sound came again. This time it sounded more wicked than the first and further away. If it truly was a woman and not a evil spirit she was a cruel mistress. The animal that had hold of Celia finally released and dashed to the brawl with Deo. From what she could tell he was being pinned beneath at least two of the hounds while other gnawed on his limbs. Earth shattering screams were escaping him. Celia stumbled to her feets, pain surging through her and blood soaking her chitin. Her head felt like it was spinning as she desperately searched for something to throw at the animals. Anything that would do damage. Her hands came across a large rock. It would do any real damage, but she hoped it would at least scare them off. Moving so not to be noticed she got as close as she could before hurling the stone at one of their heads. The rock landed roughly on the ground behind the beast and did little more than get it's attention back on her. The one she had aimed for released Deo's right arm and stalked towards her, a vicious snarl ripping from its muzzle. Just as Celia was resigning to her fate something flew from the darkness and pierced the beast's heart. It let out a pitiful yelp before collapsing to the ground with a thud. An arrow? Another shot out peircing a second hound in the shoulder. The animals looked out to find the assultant. Yet another arrow this time striking on directly between the eyes. As that one fell the others rushed off, barking and whimpering as they went.
Celia stood dumbfounded for a moment. Where they really gone? And who shot the arrows? Finally she collapsed to her knees, shaking violently with tears streaming down her face. She didn't move until she heard Deo moan out in pain. Urged by his voice she crawled over to his body. Deep gashes showed off raw muscle. Flaps of flesh were hanging from him, holding on by only thin pieces of skin. Blood gushed from every inch of him. Tears stained his bloodied face as he weakly looked over at her. Compared to him her wounds were nothing. "Deo?"Her shaking hand moved to his chest, hoping if she touched him she'd wake up from a bad dream.
"Don't...worry…." He forced a weak smile as his eyes traced from her eyes to the gaping wound on her arm. In an effort to hid the damage she covered the hole with her other hand.
"Don't worry. We'll be fine." Her voice betrayed her as she spoke. She feared that this was the end of both of them. Even if she survived her wound he wouldn't make it through the night. Without him she was trapped in this mountain pass. She shook her head to chase those thoughts away before sending a quick prayer to Thanatos to leave their souls for a while longer. She then stood and hurried into the cave grabbing her sack and his and going back to his side. They had a change of clothes and some basic medical supplies. And the stick he was using as a weapon was still burning with embers. She had to try to stop his bleeding if they had any hope of surviving the night. She ripped a piece of her chitin and balled it up before placing it in his mouth. "Bite on this."
Before he could prepare himself she was using the burning stick to cauterize his larger wounds. The burning pain searing deep into his body. She then used their change of clothes as gauze and wrapped them as tightly as she could with one arm around his arms and legs. Deo bite down as hard as he could on the cloth in his mouth, hoping it would ease the pain. He tried to leave this pain behind, but her voice kept pulling him back. It seemed like an eternity before the tugging on his body stopped. Between the blood loss and the horrid pain that filled him, Deo was ready to give up. He felt weaker than he has ever felt before and wondered why anyone would subject another person to this kind of torture. By the time Celia was finished and working on her own wound dawn was breaking. They had made it through the night, but just barely. Weakly Deo lifted his arm and grabbed ahold of Celia's good arm. She eyed him, but didn't fight as he pulled her to him. Her head came to rest on his chest and the quiet thumping of his heart somehow calmed her. What was going to happen to them now?