Moontide
Read Along Chapter 22
The Underworld
Panacea tracked Thema through several of the god realms until the Nereid stopped. She stepped from the mists. The air here was hot and made Pan’s nose wrinkle. It smelled like sulfur—the underworld. It was a good thing she travelled on the back of a vision and couldn’t be detected here.
Thema walked over to a wall of vertical iron bars that separated a recess just off of a dark stone wall.
“Show yourself, Bazor,” she said. “I bring news.”
A figure turned in the darkness and stalked forward from the back of the cave. Its lethal eyes burned blood red fire as it charged the bars. Snarling, it bared its enormous fangs. Thema shrank back, but just as the beast reached through the bars for her, it was slammed back by some unseen force. The nymph regained her composure quickly, but Pan saw her terror.
Incredible, she thought, she’d heard tales about the bloodthirsty creature that stood there in the dark, but she’d never seen one herself—a male Keres demon. The creatures were mostly thought to be female, but that was because the males of the species were kept in containment by their feminine counterparts. Their race craved blood, and flesh. They sent the souls of those they feasted on to the underworld. The males like this one were so powerfully ferocious that they would devour all in their path. They were only allowed out of imprisonment to mate or when the gods had special need of them. Even then, they were tightly leashed through enchantment. Pan could see that this Bazor’s wings had been secured. He must be especially strong. What was Thema playing at?
“I have no use of news nymph.” Bazor spoke the words in a low growl. “Why do you not bring me the stone?”
“Soon, soon I’ll have it my lord. I’m close to obtaining it.”
The Keres gnashed his teeth, looking like he’d gladly tear her apart if it weren’t for his restraints.
“I’d have it for you already, but Poseidon sent a feeble human after it and it was intercepted before he could get to it. When I come to power, that one will suffer worst of all the humans. He will pay for spurning me.” This last bit was said under her breath.
“That’s enough of your prattle!” Bazor snarled. “Until you release me, I cannot help you gain dominion. Bring me the amulet and set me free. Then we’ll control the sea god’s passages and you’ll have the bloodbath you desire.”
Thema’s dark eyes lit up.
“Yes, and I’ll relish the sight of you ripping Poseidon apart. After I set myself upon his thrown, we’ll annihilate all of his minions, and then the sniveling humans he protects!”
Bazor’s tongue passed over his teeth as she spoke. The Keres craved blood. The mere thought of it turned them into psychotic killers. No doubt, the imagined feast Thema spoke of was enough to set his mouth watering.
“You’re certain you know how to control the Tides once we have the stone?”
“Of course my lord, it will be easy to govern. Who do you think has been guiding demons through the portals all these years? The only difference will be that, with the stone, I won’t have to wait for a weak spot in the Tides to present itself.”
She’d also been ravaging the waters more vehemently than ever with violent storms, trying to weaken the vortexes herself, but no one was supposed to know about that. Pan had seen her activities from her astrals though.
“Yes, but to control all the portals at once…” Bazor asked, “Is the stone that powerful?”
“The amulet holds a binding power that is used for fusing souls together, but when it entered Poseidon’s realm centuries ago, it was used to seal a Tide portal from the underworld. It can open them again. With it, I’ll free you from this cell and find a way to send its power out to all the portals at once. I just need to obtain it first!”
Bazor’s black eyes narrowed, a look resembling doubt crossed over his demonic features, but the sound of someone coming drew his attention. Thema whipped around as a female Keres entered the hall.
“What is she doing here?”
The female demon bared her fangs at Thema. It was obvious her appetite for blood was barely restrained, she’d gladly eat the Nereid queen where she stood.
“She’s a friend,” was all that Bazor offered in Thema’s defense.
“Your queen awaits you, my king,” the female said.
***
Panacea waved her hand to erase the scene from her vision and strands of mist drifted apart as she reentered her own realm in the stars.
“So, the nymph queen has discovered some of the amulet’s secrets?” Panacea thought out loud.
Of course Thema would have remembered it. It had been brought to Poseidon long ago during the reign of the ten kings and combined with the great Fire Stone. It was sung about in the old legends even after Atlantis fell. The stone’s powers were celestial, derived from the moon and spelled by ancients. It had been created to maintain balance and order, but in the wrong hands…
What was Thema thinking, allying herself with the Keres king? Didn’t she know that he’d kill her as soon as she freed him? Unless she planned to use the amulet to bind herself to him; there was a way to use the stone to unify two souls inside one being, but the result could be horrific if the souls were struggling for dominion over one another. Eventually, one soul would prevail.
Thema couldn’t hope to win out over Bazor. This idea that they could open all the portals—no one had that power, not even Poseidon. He’d engineered them that way. Back when Atlantis was whole, he’d set his ten sons to rule the nation together with none of them able to rule the entire country alone. Likewise, the power of the Tides could never be controlled by one guardian all at once. That’s why the lost kings needed to be found.
“Send me Krav,” she called into the mist.
Immediately, Krav appeared dressed like Panama Jack with a ridiculously thick black mustache, lipstick tramp stamps all along his neck and both hands full—one held a shot glass, the other a lime.
“Are you always at play Krav?”
Pan shook her head at the picture he made.
He just shrugged his shoulders, unrepentant.
“I enjoy the earth realm’s pastimes, mistress.”
“Well, it’s time to work now demon.”
Instantly, Krav took on his serpent form.
“Yes, goddess, tell me what I must do.”
“I want you to follow Thema and report back to me. Don’t let them find you out though and don’t lead them back to me.”
“You know you can rely on me goddess. I’m a slippery serpent.”
Krav smiled at her cockily.
“You are impertinent, but I know I can trust you.”
He was one of the few beings in the universe that Pan knew this about for certain.
“So, follow the nymphs and don’t get caught, anything else P?”
He smiled when she winced at the abuse of her name.
“Yes, continue to keep an eye on the messenger Poseidon sent to earth and the woman he’s with.”
Krav blanched at this, looking down guiltily.
“What did you do demon?”
“I was only trying to help the captain,” he explained, “I thought if I could lead him and the woman to a portal they could make it back to the island before Thema’s curse killed him. They were intercepted at the last minute though.”
“Who,” Panacea asked, her face stricken, “Who has them?”
“No one,” Krav rushed to reassure her. “They escaped. But it was Melinoe who met them. There was a spell I was unable to detect. I thought the Tides were safe, but you know how those things have a mind of their own.”
The goddess blew out a strained breath.
“Krav, you don’t know how close you came to interfering with free will and in the earth realm too! Melinoe’s trickery walks a thin line.”
Krav hung his head in a rare act of remorse.
“I’m sorry goddess. I thought only to bring them closer to the end of this whole mess. First Xiearan and his woman, now this.”
Panacea reached out and brought his eyes up to meet hers with her fingers under his chin, a breath away from actually touching him.
“It’s alright Krav, it was a close call. Just keep an eye on the humans. And be patient. Their actions must be their own or else none of this matters.”
He blinked his golden eyes at her.
“Yes goddess,” he said, “I understand.”
“Don’t worry about the captain or Xieran… they are stronger than you know.”
*It’s good to know Panacea and Krav are in the background, alternately meddling and keeping an eye on things. What did you think of Bazor? Scary? When doing research for this book, I had to dig to find a creature of myth for his character. When I ran across descriptions of the Keres, I said, “that’s it!”. All mythical accounts of these blood thirsty monsters point to them being exclusively female. With Bazor’s character, I crafted a brand new male entity—because, why not? ;)
In book three of the Tides series, readers meet the Keres again on a much larger scale.
