TAMING APOLLO | completed

45. ear to the serpent

45. ear to the serpent

G A Y L E

"WHERE exactly are you taking us? We've been walking for hours." I whine again for the umpteenth time as the three of us tread through the rocky underground passage Poseidon has forged for us.

For several hours now, we've been marching along an underground river, following a direction unknown to me through a rocky landscape.

My eyes follow the enormous stream of clear glistening water besides us and my throat dries. I watch it longingly as we continue to follow Poseidon's instructions and walk besides it.

"I don't get how it's my responsibility to watch the goat." Ariel's whines are interrupted when she tightens her hold on the leash around the goat's neck.

The black goat treading before her bleats in response, but continues on its path. "The goat has a name, and it's Gary." I reply to her, hurrying forward to pet my new best friend.

Oh, right, I forgot to mention; we have a goat now.

We found Gary trapped under a giant boulder just as we descended underground. Poseidon conjured up a leash for him and told us to bring Gary along.

"Explain to me again, why we didn't just leave this stupid goat under the boulder?" Ariel asks, hurling the leash at me before picking up the pace to catch up with Poseidon.

I amble to catch the leash before Gary can get away. He bleats once more, glaring at me through his emotionless black eyes and continues to march along the path. "Would you stop being so rude? He can hear you..." I state, turning my gaze back to the goat with a comforting smile.

Ariel rolls her eyes at my words and crosses her arms over her chest. "He can't hear me, he's a goat!"

Childishly, I stick my tongue out at her while Gary and I proceed forward with our heads held high. "Come on, Garold... we don't need to be around this negative energy."

I can hear Ariel groan in the distance but I pay her no mind. "What kind of stupid name is Garold?" She huffs under her breath.

Poseidon sighs at our childish bickering. "Firstly, remind me to never allow you to name anything again," his words are directed at me but I try not to take offense. "Secondly, Garold came to us because I summoned him," he turns to Ariel as if to explain himself to her. "The goat is a sacred animal, we'll need him to appease Ceto."

Ariel's eyes widen in realization at his words. She screeches to a halt. I notice goosebumps begin to prickly at her skin. "Ceto? That's who we're going to see?" Poseidon nods. "World serpent, Ceto? Mother of treacherous sea creatures, Ceto?"

"That very one." Poseidon retorts nonchalantly, as if he didn't just confess to taking us to see a flesh-eating monster. "Ceto is a primordial serpentine goddess. She's the mother to most sea monsters and one of the oldest beings that still roam the earth. It's said that she is so big that her body stretches across the entire earth and she can bite her own tail." That explanation alone causes chills to race down my spine while I shared a horrified glance with Gary.

"I think I would have noticed a giant serpent encircling the earth by now," I answer, feeling this overwhelming urge to check my surroundings suddenly. If I were indoors, I'd close all my windows in fear.