10. UNDERWORLD

Marcus gently floated through the waters with the beautiful nymphs. He was not sure how much time had passed but it didn't seem to matter. They sang him beautiful lullabies that brought him peace of mind. They decorated his long dark hair with white water lilies. His clothes were gone now but he didn't seem to notice. He was just floating through along with the rest of the maidens who had enchanted him.

"Marcus, you are so beautiful." One of them whispered to him.

"You belong with us, Marcus." Another sang as she swirled herself around him.

"Thank you." He said back to them. "I feel like I belong here." He pulled out one of the flowers in his hair and weaved it into the black hair of another nymph. She was very fair, even for a nymph. Her name was Lethe. She had explained to Marcus that they were Eleionomae, a type of water nymph that lived in the marshes. With Marcus' gift, he noticed that all of the nymphs seemed particularly strongly bonded to Lethe, as if she were their leader. Marcus could also feel himself becoming bonded to her and all the other nymphs.

Once the flower had been placed in her hair, Marcus looked down at his fingertips. They felt strange. He noticed that the skin had pruned up and become wrinkly. He giggled. He had not seen his fingers like this since he could remember. After all, he was a vampire and his body was marble hard. No amount of water had ever had this effect on him. How peculiar. What was happening to him? Why was his skin changing? Then he suddenly remembered.

He looked down to see the necklace of blue light floating against his chest. It had become much dimmer than he had remembered it being. What was it for? Ah yes, it was a measure of his immortality. The dimmer it got, the closer Marcus was getting to death. Death…. Didyme… DIDYME!

"Didyme!" Marcus shouted. "I have to go! Where are my clothes? Where is my cross? I need Didyme's cross! Please Lethe, you have to help me!"

His sudden outburst was a cue to all the nymphs to swim in around him. "No Marcus, please don't leave us. We love you… We need you…" Their alluring voices begged him to stay.

"Give me back my cross!" He shouted at them. His anger surprised them. They were not used to seeing that emotion.

"Egeria," Lethe called out, "Give Marcus back his cross." At Lethe's command, a white haired nymph swam up to Marcus and returned his red jeweled cross reluctantly. He took it and began to march out of the water.

"What's the use? You'll never be able to tame the green flame any way!" Egeria called after him.

Marcus didn't know what she meant but ignored her and kept moving. The nymphs began to weep and their cries for Marcus pulled at his heart. He so very much wanted to turn around and go back into the waters to be reunited with them but he forced himself to think of only Didyme. She needed him, and he was running out of time. Once out of the water he suddenly became aware of his nakedness but knew that if he went back looking for his clothes he might very well never find the strength to leave again. Some tried to follow him by walking up to the water's edge but they didn't dare go any further.

Marcus had no idea where he was going as he trudged through the unfamiliar woods but he was certain that if he went in the opposite direction of the marsh that he would be just fine. It was quiet and dark. It always seemed dark here. After all, there was no sun which actually made it extremely difficult to keep track of time. However, there were sometimes passing lights in the sky that could seem like sunlight but Marcus was unsure of their composition. The twigs and dead leaves crunched beneath his bare feet. It was somewhat uncomfortable but still manageable. He held Didyme's cross tightly in his hand, he would not lose it again. As he walked, he glanced down at the glowing necklace several more times but it didn't seem to be changing. He truly must have been in the water for a very long time if it had faded so much while he was there. Marcus kicked himself for allowing the seduction to occur.

While he wasn't paying attention (or his senses had been dulled) an arrow shot through the air and went directly into his arm. "GAAHH!" He cried out. The pain was excruciating. Marcus hadn't felt physical pain for more than a millennia. He looked down at his bicep and saw a small stream of blood trickle from the wound. Blood? How could he be bleeding? He reached up to pull the arrow out and hollered as he did it. He noticed that the arrow had a few strands of what looked like red hair tied to the end of it. He tossed it onto the ground and reexamined his wound. More blood came now and he pushed his palm against it to keep it from bleeding out. He looked all around him to see who had shot him but he didn't see anyone. Then he heard a gentle roar, like a thousand voices shouting from very far away. Slowly and carefully, Marcus went towards the direction of the sound. He saw an army of people in the distance.

Marcus had two choices. He could stay hidden and remain lost in this realm or he could go to them in peace and ask for directions. He swallowed his pride and decided on the second option.

"Excuse me!" He called out. Before he even had a chance to get their attention, a dark figure hurled at him and tackled him to the ground.

"Are you insane?!" A harsh voice whispered. A dark haired man with a long skinny beard clamped his hand over Marcus' mouth. He waited a moment until things seemed to get a little bit quieter. "What's the matter with you? Do you have a death wish? And why the hell are you naked?" The man seemed quite annoyed and a little disgusted.

Marcus pushed him off and pushed his knees to his chest while sitting so as to cover himself up somewhat. "I want to know who the hell shot me with an arrow!" Marcus shouted back.

"Shhh!" Another low voice came from the trees. "Griffin, you need to shut your girlfriend up!"

Griffin chuckled at his friends joke. "Admit it Ebson, you're just jealous that I saw him first!" Another bought of hushed laughter came from the trees before he refocused his attention back to Marcus. "Look, I don't know who you are but you obviously don't belong here. I suggest you start moving and stay away from the Cruentus."

"The who?" Marcus asked.

Griffin shook his head in disbelief. "Were you hit in the head? What's the matter with you?"

Marcus groaned. "Stop asking me that! Look, I just need somebody to tell me how to get to the underworld."

Griffin cocked his head to the side and looked at Marcus as if he were the strangest creature he'd ever come across. "Uh, you're in it."

Marcus was confused more than ever now. "This is where the souls of the dead are kept?"

The man from the trees stepped out to join them. He was bigger than Griffin but had the same long dark hair. "Oh, he must be talking about Tartarus. That's a city in the underworld where the dead are kept. Why the hell would you want to go there?" Now the two men were both staring at Marcus like he was crazy.

"I don't have time to explain. If you could just point me in the right direction." Marcus was determined to get moving. He stood up, again not caring that he was naked.

"Oh you're bleeding." Griffin said, noticing for the first time.

"Good work, detective, thanks for letting me know." Marcus said sarcastically.

Then Ebson turned back to the trees and called out "Danowyn, there's someone that could use your help."

Marcus was annoyed. "I don't need any help; please just tell me where to go." He heard the steps of another approaching from behind him but he ignored them. "It's a matter of life and death, you have to help me."

"Wow, nice butt."

Marcus' eyes widened as he realized the person who had approached from behind was a woman. Griffin and Ebson chuckled. "Meet Danowyn." Ebson said with a wink.

Marcus looked over his shoulder back at her with an uncomfortable smile. "Hi."

"Hi." She said back with a nod. She had dark hair as well and was obviously dressed for battle. She was beautiful in her own way and didn't need the enchantment of nymphs to draw in a man. She walked up to Marcus and seemed unbothered by his nakedness. "Let me take a look." She put her hands on Marcus' bicep and rubbed some of the blood away to see the wound.

"Ouch!" Marcus shouted.

Danowyn laughed. "Don't be such a baby. Geez, you act like you've never been hit with an arrow before."

"I haven't." Marcus stated. "In fact, this is the first time I've been hurt since I can remember."

"Well then you are very lucky." Danowyn now focused on the wound with her hands over it. To Marcus' amazement she seemed to draw out a dark energy from the wound, it almost looked like smoke. The energy built up against her hands as she pulled. After a few moments the wound was closed and a wisp of smoke in her hand was all that was left.

"How did you do that?" Marcus asked.

"She's a healer. Surely you've met one before?" Ebson asked.

"No, never." Marcus was rubbing his bicep and looking at where the wound had once been.

Griffin's eyes narrowed. "You are not from around here, are you?"

Marcus sighed. "I don't have time to sit and chat. Please, just tell me how to get to Tartarus."

Griffin and Ebson exchanged glances. Then Griffin spoke. "Tell you what, we'll lead you there and on the way you can tell us all about yourself."

Marcus thought about it for a moment and then agreed. "Can I get some clothes though? This is a little embarrassing."

Ebson chuckled. "Follow me."

Marcus followed them back into the trees. After a few minutes of walking, they came upon what looked to be a battlefield. There were countless dead bodies as far as the eye could see.

"What happened here?" Marcus asked with horror.

"The Cruentus happened." Griffin spoke. "Now you understand why I told you to stay away from them. You really don't know who they are?"

Marcus shook his head no. Ebson was scouring the ground of bodies, looking for something.

"Fine, I'll tell you everything, but first you must tell me about you. Who are you, what are you, and where do you come from?" Griffin's face was stern.

Marcus sighed, and then began to tell them everything.