Dante Artorius Inferno
Day 75:
The following days we spent resting the past fatigue and being entertained by the servants of the court of Queen Penthesilea… well, Katalina more than me, since she was the heroine that killed the Brontes.
The supposed reward was a series of objects that had to be exchanged for a kind of priest in Thebes … He looked at us from point of view, took our objects and began to recite a litany to the gods, to make a sacrifice, read some tabas and bones , and other things that seemed witchcraft to finally announce that the gods were favorable to us and had immunized us against “the acid of the place where the one who was once beautiful lives” … As if we knew what the hell that was … Katalina and I looked at each other with disappointment as we returned to the palace …
In the afternoon there was a general audience with Queen Pentesílea, so I dressed as best I could (Katalina had already gotten a beautiful red robe and high-heeled sandals that were in fashion in those places) and together we went to the great hall of the palace…
When we arrived, we went to the area where the queen’s guests gathered and proceeded to hear a speech where there was talk of an evil being that lived in the south, on an island where once there were only Centaurs …
That being terrified the people of the island, and no one could approach it, since its gaze turned every living being that came its way to stone … I began to remember what my grandfather told me in his dusty library …
The Gorgons were three beautiful sisters: Steno, Euryale and Medusa, immortal … but one of them, Medusa, suffered a punishment from the goddess Athena, who turned her into a kind of Serpent-Woman with scaly skin and hair formed by a bunch of snakes … and worst: His gaze could turn to stone …
While thinking about all this, Queen Pentesílea got to the heart of the matter: A group of warriors was gathering, both Greeks and colonists from Entropia to go and finish her … The Haruspex allowed all those foreigners to help, obtain land and begin a moderate colonization of the area … if they survived …
In addition, there was another incentive: the legends said that the Medusa kept pieces of armor like she had never seen before … pieces that in the hands of an expert warrior would give her devastating power against all kinds of beings …
I was alert… incredible armor… sure would be worth a fortune at Calypso’s Auction House… We had to join the expedition. It was the perfect opportunity to be rich, and finally be able to have a land to settle down … I approached Katalina and whispered it into her ear …
The look she gave me could well be like Medusa’s: Petrifying … Katalina definitely wanted the armor, but not to sell it, but to wear it and show it off … How do I make her understand that it can be worth a fortune?
Well, we’ll see what we do with the armor assuming we get it, for which it is necessary to kill the Medusa and, above all, most importantly … if we survive …
The next morning, with weapons ready, armor repaired and plenty of ammunition stored (and my healing chip fully charged for the first time in my life) we set off to the lands where that terrifying being had his refuge… The hunt for the Medusa began.