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Kindle Edition
Amazon
Available in paperback and on the Kindle
Touche Publishing
R.C. Berry's Website
Category:
Fantasy
Publisher: Touche Publishing
ISBN-10: 0984453229
Type: Fiction
Pages: 290
Copyright: January 6, 2013
ISBN-13: 9780984453221
What happened after Medusa was beheaded by Perseus? What indeed!
Medusa is perhaps one of the most intriguing characters in all of Mythology. She is also the most mysterious. Everyone is aware of the serpent-headed monster, whose very gaze turns men to stone. But how did she come to that? How did a being of such power meet her end decapitated by a mere mortal man?
And, what happened next?
Death is only the beginning in the 2nd book of the Set In Stone trilogy. Left without a proper burial, and doomed to spend 100 years on the edge of the underworld, Medusa thought her worries were finally over.
In her wake, lives hang in the balance and the fates of mortals and immortals alike will be changed forever. And when Zeus wants her returned, and Hades is reluctant to let her go, she begins her journey of self discovery, and of uncovering the secrets of the underworld.
Fall into a story of love, jealousy and betrayal. Discover the secrets of the Gods, immerse yourself into the lives of the Immortals and into the afterlife of one very special woman.
Excerpt
Sudden clamoring brought Medusa’s mind to the present. She looked over and saw a large boat approaching the shore. She decided to ignore it, once again closing her eyes.
“Medusa, you are called!” a deep voice called.
Gasping, Medusa shrank back, hoping not to be noticed. The ferryman departed the boat, and was immediately set upon by the dead. He continued calling her name, as they beseeched him.
“I am the Medusa you seek,” one woman replied.
“You are not, madam,” he answered simply.
Medusa began to panic. The ferryman denied the woman’s claim, with unwavering certainty. He must know who he‘s looking for. How can he know me? She wondered. Rising, she tried to weave through and blend into the crowd. She must escape anyway she could.
Standing easily a head taller than the tallest man in the throng, Charon had no trouble making his way through the masses, straight to her. Cutting off her escape, he grabbed Medusa’s wrist gently and, tugged her along.
“You are to come with me,” he said.
Whimpering, Medusa dug her heels in, trying to slip his grasp, unsuccessfully. All around her, more and more of the deceased pressed in close to them, begging to be taken off the shore. Nearing the boat, Medusa panicked and fought harder against Charon.
Suddenly, the crowd began to riot.
“She does not want to go, take me instead!” one called out.
“I have been here longer, I deserve to go!” another yelled.
Men and women alike, clawed to separate the two. At once, Medusa was released from Charon’s grip and tossed to the ground, where she was immediately trampled. She crawled, trying to make her way to safety, but more and more waves of people came, resolved to board the boat.
Drawn to the ruckus like a kindred spirit, Alexander set his eyes to the melee all around them. “I know she’s here,” he growled.
Julius also peered closely at all the faces in the crowd, when something caught his eye, like a flash of light in the distance. “There! She is there!”
Charon jumped into the boat and, reaching down, pulled out his oar. He held it up, where it glinted in the light. The oar, six feet in length, and made of steel, had been forged in the fires of Lemnos, by Hephaestus himself. The edges were razor sharp, and its sting was not soon forgotten.
Those who had been on the shores the longest wisely halted. A few of the newer ones, foolishly pressed forward, and were met with a warning lash.
From her position huddled on the ground, curled to protect herself, Medusa heard a roar. Soon, hands were upon her, dragging her from the crowd. She felt herself being lifted into the air violently.
“Demon whore!” Alexander shouted, before slamming her down to the ground.
Stunned and confused, Medusa tried to catch her breath, only to have it knocked out of her on the unforgiving shore. Gasping, she tried to speak before a large hand closed at her throat. She looked up into a face filled with malice, and tried to make sense of it all.
Once the more violent of the revelers subsided, Charon once again exited the boat. This time, the crowd parted for him and, he finally spotted Medusa, at the center of even more trouble.
Alexander lifted her and shoved her towards another man, who caught her. Still slightly dazed, she watched as several men made their way back towards the boat. Gaining her senses, she struggled against the man at her back.
Medusa swung with all her might and caught him unaware, knocking him to the ground. As she scrambled away, he reached out and grabbed her ankles, dragging her beneath him.
Julius put his full weight on Medusa. “No, you will not get away that easily.” Julius twisted her arm behind her back, and pressed her face to the ground. Medusa looked up to see the crowd disperse in panic, as the other men set out to attack the Ferryman. She felt Julius’s lips against her ear.
“I would see you impaled upon the staff of Hades. Every man you’ve claimed will ravage you; torture you in the flames of Phlegethon. I begged for my life, now I will watch as you beg for yours.”
Before he could continue, Phillip brought a rock down upon his head with all his might. Feeling the load at her back lighten, Medusa turned and looked up into the face of the man she’d seen earlier. He was like her, without a body, just another soul waiting to begin eternity.
He looked her over, to see if Julius had hurt her, and finally, reached out a hand to touch her cheek, a look of wonder on his face.
Finally, Medusa recognized him. He had died just that way, reaching out to stroke her cheek, as he looked into her eyes. She felt a soft whisper against her face, almost like a gentle breeze. It was so different from the cold, hard stone she had pressed her face against, in those dark caves long ago.
Medusa had claimed his life, and the lives of the men who’d attacked her. They all used to belong to her, in those dismal caves. She was the reason they were there. She was the reason he was here.
And yet, he’d saved her from them.
Medusa opened her mouth, but no words would come. What could she possibly say? She felt her entire world crumbling, and her sanity along with it. “Come, you must go with the Ferryman!” He urged her upward.
Charon had made short work of his attackers. With each man given his chance to defeat him, but upon their failure, one by one, the sand opened up and swallowed them, an eternity in Tartarus their reward.
He approached Medusa and Phillip and, with one hand still gripping his oar, he bent and, scooped Medusa up with his free arm. Lifting her completely off the ground, he cradled her to him, shushing her, while she trembled.
“I have you, do not fear,” he whispered. He angled his oar toward Phillip and slightly raised his brow in an unspoken question. Phillip lowered his head in a gesture of acceptance, his eyes never leaving Medusa’s face.
Turning, Charon strode through the crowds, as the cowered before him. He jumped in the boat and deposited Medusa gently on the deck, before casting away from the shore. Even as the boat moved away, people still plead for entry, though less enthusiastically than before.
It took a few moments for Medusa to calm herself. She looked back to the shore and still couldn’t believe everything that had happened. Those men had wanted to kill her, and they were only a fraction of the men she’d sent to the underworld, men she’d sent to wander the shores for 100 years before they could be judged.
Her mind reeled at the thought. Her eyes searched the people at the shore’s edge, until she came upon the face of the man who’d saved her. She remembered that night, remembered him. How many nights had she stood there, her cheek placed in his cold, rough hands, with the moon shining on her face, trying not to feel completely alone, if only for a moment? She didn’t even know his name.
Before long, he, along with everyone else, faded from sight. Finally, Medusa found her voice. “Where are you taking me?” she asked. The ferryman was silent, and she thought he might not answer.
“…Domos Aidaou…” Charon said simply.
The domain of Hades? She thought. This is all the domain of Hades.
“I have no coin to pay you,” she said quickly. Maybe he would take her back.
“No coin. You are summoned,” he answered.
“Summoned?” she asked. “By whom?”
“By Lord Hades.”
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