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Last of the Fae Chapter 26: Mythology
🕑 Added 2024-08-18 17:15:30 +0000 UTC“What is that?” Hermione asked with a trembling voice though hardly anyone could hear her over the beastly sound echoing through the air.
“Nice doggy, nice big three headed doggy,” Ron slowly backed up into the tunnel but his eyes never moved from the terrifying creature that was still out of sight. That changed as the ground shook as something massive stood up and started to walk across the earth.
The first thing that came into view was a massive forelimb covered in slick black fur with a paw the size of a dinner plate and three inch long talons. A dangerous preview of what was quickly revealed to be a massive three headed dog standing at least ten feet tall at the shoulders.
“It’s a Cerberus,” Hermione whispered breathlessly as her legs started to tremble.
“A what?” Harry asked in a quiet hiss as he slowly started to back away.
“Cerberus, a magical beast that takes the form of a three headed dog, and is said to be the guardian of the gates of hell in Greek mythology. It’s classified as an XXXX Beast by the Ministry of Magic, however the only reason why it’s not XXXXX is because it can be domesticated if raised from a pup,” Thane replied calmly as he stared down the still growling dog.
Still trying to back up, Ron flinched as he ran into Thane who hadn’t moved an inch since Cerberus’ appearance, “What are you doing mate, now’s not the time to make a stand.”
Thane rolled his eyes as he brushed past Ron to stand in front of the three headed dog who despite having ample room to fit in the passage hadn’t made a single move to do so, “All of you can relax, Fluffy here is no danger to any of us so long as we don’t try and nab whatever he’s been trained to guard.”
“You named it Fluffy?” Hermione asked waspishly still not taking her eyes off the Cerberus.
“No, but I’m assuming that Hagrid did,” Thane replied, as calm as ever.
“Why do you think Hagrid would name a dangerous magical beast Fluffy?” Harry asked which made Thane glance at him from under raised eyebrows.
“Have you met the man, he would absolutely do something like that. And I’ve only talked to him twice during my morning runs,” Thane stated confidently before turning back to the Cerberus, “Also there’s a dog tag with the name Fluffy etched on the front with ‘Property of Rubeus Hagrid' on the back.”
The silent deadpan was almost comical and Thane couldn’t help but grin, “Not to worry though as I said before Fluffy won’t lay a hand on us. As long as we stay inside the corridor.”
“Oh, is that your brilliant solution?” Ron asked scathingly, “We just sit here on our asses hoping that the three headed mutt doesn’t eat us alive!?”
Thane sighed, “Of course it isn’t. Hermione you recognized what Fluffy I’m assuming from the Greek myths.”
Hermione nodded, “Capturing Cerberus was the last of the Twelve labors assigned to Hercules by Eurystheus, the king of Tiryns.”
“Correct, but not the myth I was talking about.”
Hermione’s brow furrowed in thought before her eyes widened in realization, “Orpheus!”
“Give the lady a prize,” Thane replied with a smirk.
“W-what are you two talking about?” Neville asked from his position still prone on the floor.
“Orpheus was a Greek bard who descended into hell to retrieve his dead wife Eurydice. According to the legend he managed to get past Cerberus by putting him to sleep with a song,” Hermione explained with a glimmer in her eyes as she put together the puzzle.
“You’re telling me that all we need to do is play Fluffy here some music and we can walk out of here scott free?” Ron asked skeptically, “Even if that’s true do you see an instrument on any of us?”
“Weasley one day I hope you learn that people can think before they say something. Now observe.” Thane chastised before touching the side of his neck and muttering under his breath, “Cantus Seraphicus.”
Fluffy’s constant growl deepend at Thane’s use of magic but before the cerberus could become even more irritated Thane opened his mouth and began to sing. There were no words, but that didn’t lessen the impact and beauty of the sound coming from Thane. It was as if heaven itself was conducting an angelic choir and using him as its conduit.
Almost instantly Fluffy’s growling stopped and the cerberus stumbled back unsteadily on swaying feet as its heads drooped and its three pairs of eyes drifted closed. A second later Fluffy collapsed shaking the ground as deep rumbling snores filled the air.
Closing his mouth Thane cut off the spell and took a deep breath filling his oxygen deprived lungs, “Alright that should do it, now let’s get out of here.”
---
“Well that certainly was an eventful night,” Thalion commented as Thane appeared before him, “Never would have expected you to encounter a Cerberus this soon though.”
“A complete waste of my time, even with the time dilation I only have a few hours with you tonight.” Thane complained regretting the very moment he interacted with Ron, “So let’s skip the pleasantries and get right to it, I believe we were discussing the art of negotiation during times of war?”
Thalion raised his hand, “The lessons will have to wait for tonight we have something far more important to discuss.”
“Will you finally tell me more about how the end of the world might be coming?” Thane asked sourly.
“No, but you came across something today that will greatly increase your chances of success,” Thalione replied, making Thane perk up and drop his spiteful attitude, “Really?”
Thalion nodded, “When you escaped from the Cerberus you no doubt noticed the trap door in the back of the room.”
Thane nodded but didn’t speak up, letting Thalion continue, “Well I detected a very subtle but potent magical signature from the trap door. I believe the item Fluffy is tasked with guarding is a Philosopher's stone.”
Thane’s eyebrows rose in surprise, “Are you positive?”
“Completely,” Thalion responded almost immediately, “Philosopher’s stones give off a unique aura of concentrated life essence that is almost impossible to find anywhere else.”
“You talk as if you’ve seen a dozen of them?” Thane asked.
“Of course I have, it was one of the basic requirements to become a Fae Alchemist.” Thalion replied off-handedly, “I thought Solara would have covered this with you?”
Thane shrugged, “I brought it up once, and she got rather upset. Something about it being a mockery of true alchemy and nothing more than a fool's gimmick.”
“Well from a Faerie point of view it is, we have no need for gold and our life spans practically make us immortal so the elixir of life is useless,” Thalion grunted in agreement, “It also resource intensive, the amount of life essence required is staggering meaning there are only a few ways to make one without slaughtering a large town.”
“So if the stone is useless why bring it up?” Thane asked, confused.
“I said it’s worthless for Fae, not for you,” Thalion corrected.
“But aren’t I a Fae?” Thane asked even more confused and a bit worried.
“Technically right now…you only have the soul of one,” Thalion replied a bit sheepishly.
“What?!”
“It’s not that big of a deal really, the soul is what really matters. All you need to do is perform a ritual to awaken your inert bloodline and everything will be right as rain!”
