Free My Tattered Bonds by Courtney Cole

better and she examined the countryside in front of us.
    “I have to admit, this is not what I thought the Underworld would be like.   Which way do you propose that we go?”
    “That’s a very good question.”
    As we studied the horizon, however, a cloud seemed to descend from the distance.   White and jagged-edged, it seemed to drift toward us, continually changing shape as it moved.
    “What’s that?” Aphrodite pointed.  
    I squinted.   “I don’t know.”
    It got closer and as it did, we saw that it was made from butterflies…thousands of white butterflies.   They fluttered in a huge circle above us before they floated down around us.   They seemed to gravitate more toward Ortrera and clung to her arms and legs.   She stayed frozen as she turned slightly toward me.
    “What is going on?”
    I shook my head slowly.   “I have no idea.”
    I reached out a finger and a butterfly landed lightly upon it, followed by another and then another.   They seemed to be everywhere- all around us.
    Ortrera was almost covered with the insects. They were pretty little things, but they were tangled in her hair, clinging to her arms and fluttering around her legs.   And then suddenly, they weren’t.   They formed a cloud once again and hovered directly in front of us.  
    “It’s almost like they want us to follow them,” Aphrodite pondered.   At her words, they moved forward a bit.
    “I think you’re right,” Cadmus agreed, taking my hand and swinging my knapsack onto his shoulder.   “I think that’s exactly what they want.”
    “So we should just follow a big swarm of bugs?” Ortrera asked incredulously.  
    Ares rolled his eyes.   “Daughter, you should know by now, nothing is what it seems in the Underworld.   Or anywhere else, for that matter.”
    He looked down at Aphrodite’s scratched up legs.   She had thin streaks of blood from a few of the deeper scratches running down her slender calves.  
    “Do those hurt?” he demanded.
      But before she could even answer, he had snatched her up and slung her onto his back, as easily as Cadmus had swung my knapsack.   She rested her face against his stout back, clearly exhausted.   I felt sorry for her. This was not something that my mother was accustomed to.   But then again, neither were the rest of us.
      “Let’s go!” he called over his shoulder as he began marching up the next hill with Aphrodite on his back and the butterflies leading the way.    
    Cadmus looked to me.   “Would you like for me to carry you?”
    I laughed wearily.   “I wish.   But no.   You need your strength, too.”
    He looked at me in mock outrage.   “You think I’m so weak that I can’t carry you?”
    “Of course not. I know you can. But we don’t know what is coming and I want you at your best when we face it.   Raquel needs you.”
    That thought sobered him up immediately and he nodded.   “Raquel needs us both.   And we’ll be there.   I promise you that, my love.”
    I leaned up and pressed my lips to his, savoring the warm, familiar kiss.   The unknown was scary, but facing it with Cadmus made it more palatable.  
    “Ready?” He raised a dark eyebrow.  
    “As I’ll ever be.”
    He wrapped his arm around my waist and we followed the others into the fields of the Underworld.

 
    Chapter Five
    Erebus was such a neutral place that it was easy to forget where we were as we traveled.     This part of the Underworld wasn’t foreboding in the slightest.   It was breezy, earthy and seemingly normal.  
    It was also very large.   The flower dotted fields were so vast that we seemed to walk forever.   One strange thing about the Underworld was that there was no sun to gauge the passage of time.   The strange muted light that surrounded us stayed the same.   It didn’t fade or brighten, so time seemed to run together.
    Finally, after walking the steep hills for hours, I couldn’t take it anymore- at least not today.   My calves were