The Daughter of Death- *RAYOR*

Chapter 15: The Gorgon's Maze

I stood in shock, his words ringing in my ears, and felt my face redden in shame. I looked over at Aster, who looked remorseful; Willow, who looked shocked, and Arielle, who, upon catching my glance, looked elsewhere, afraid. The girl was always afraid.

"It's fine," said Willow. "At least you have closure."

Aster cleared his throat. "I'm- uh, sorry."

"It's fine," I said, very quietly. Aster didn't seem to hear, but upon seeing my expression got the hint. I looked down at my hands. I'd never felt as crushed as this. Death wanted to teach me a lesson. I knew that much. I gritted my teeth. My hands had once been so powerful.

"Aster-" started Arielle, but her words were cut off. I turned to see that Aster had vanished.

"Coward," said Willow.

I felt an unexpected touch on the shoulder. Shuddering, I saw Arielle. She looked even more beautiful up close, in an unearthly manner. "Don't worry," she said. "I don't remember my parents much, but I remember they were like him. Shouting. A lot of shouting."

In my peripheral vision, I saw Willow pale slightly, and remembered his flinch earlier. What had it meant?

"Thank you," I said, moving away from Arielle. Whether or not she was intimidated of me, I was a little scared of her. She had reduced me to this, made me do things that I would never have imagined. I'd been kind- or maybe, kinder than before. I'd changed, and not just in my form.

"Let's go," said Arielle. "Are the squirrels done?"

Willow nodded and set about taking them off the skewers. I pulled down the tarp and rolled up the mats, stowing them away, and Arielle, after helping Willow pack away the food, made a daisy wreath, settling it on her golden hair.

I could imagine Willow's smile as he said, "You look good, Ari."

Arielle gave a laugh like silver bells.

I swung a leg over the horse, feeling my rear scream in protest. Even Arielle looked uncomfortable.

"We're nearly there," I said. "Nearly there."

The next few days passed in a blur of greying skies, until coldness seeped into my bones. It wasn't until our tenth day of riding when it began to snow. I'd began talking more to Arielle. She obviously didn't know a lot about her past.

But one thing she remembered very clearly was the shouting. The words, she said, were screamed at her in her nightmares. "I remembered them," she said, "even if I didn't know what they meant."

The first snow started in the evening, as the sun was setting. It streaked the sky with golden zebra stripes, rosy clouds drifting above. I felt coldness in my nose, and touched it, before realising it was snow. I looked to Willow, who was watching Arielle.

She seemed to be painted in in the sunset, the magnificent ruby sky tinting her hair, giving colour to her otherwise pallid cheeks. There was snow in her hair and on her eyelashes. Both Willow and I reached out to dust it off at the same time. We exchanged a glance and looked away. Arielle was oblivious.

"Reminds me of home," she said, "and of Mama. I don't remember a lot. If she looked like something, though, it was a Russian winter. But I think she's gone." She talked about this quite blithely, as if she were describing someone else's problems.

"She is gone," said Willow.

"He isn't," said Arielle. "He came with the woman, you know. The one who said I was special. I remembered him."

"The one in your dream?" I said, at the same time as Willow exclaimed, "How did you remember?"

"What else did the lady say?" I asked.