The Ghosts of Herak- Part 3

There were no other volunteers, even among the able-bodied men,. We understood how they felt as they wanted to make sure they were with their family if anything happened.
 
Our young men were away. They had gone to join the soldiers of Rome to fight against invaders and to invade. All that were left in the Village of Herak were older men, women and children.  
 
We had no choice, so the three of us prepared for the journey. I actually didn’t want to have Pandora with me, but she insisted on coming along, pouting and stamping her feet, so I had to give in.  We dressed up in short tunics, just above our knees; our legs were sheathed in breeches to our ankles. We were given a talisman or a lunula to hang on our necks, a crescent moon pendant filled with sulphur.
 
We were given a sword each, sheathed in a scabbard tied on the waist. It felt cumbersome, but I liked the freedom of the short tunic as compared to our ankle-length toga.
 
We then opened the northern door, breathed hard, whispered a prayer to Athena and ran with all our might towards the thick forest. The howling mass of gossamer spirits were milling around in the front yard, so we were lucky to reach the forest before they became aware that there were humans outside.
 
We ran. The wan ethereal light was enough to show us the small path that led to the north where we should meet Orcus. We trusted our instincts although we were mere girls hardly out of our teens then. We followed Ameria who was the faster one, her long legs pumping as she ran.  
 
I felt my stomach cramped up but tried to ignore it. Pandora, my lithe little sister who was almost elfin physically was faster than I was.  
 
The sounds of the spirits diminished as we ran further and further into the forest. The eerie greenish wan lights seemed to end, and the darkness of the forest engulfed us in earnest.  
 
We didn’t slack off our pace until we felt that we had run as far as we could. We came upon a glade and stopped. Not because we actually stopped, I actually slipped and fell face first on the ground, forcing Ameria and Pandora to stop. They ran back to me and pulled me up. I was gasping for breath, my stomach cramped and my knees could not hold me up.
 
We sat down together on a rock, holding one another. We were scared but it was too late to turn back. We had to look for Orcus, whoever he was. We looked around and what we saw was so wondrous, we stared mouth agape.
 
It was the most beautiful glade we have ever seen; flowers of all colours were everywhere, and strange insects flew everywhere. The bushes were lush and fruit trees bore all manner of fruits, most of which we have never seen before.
 
There was a blue pond with flowers floating on it that seemed to catch the twinkles of the setting sun.  
 
Suddenly a bright light flashed and we stood up immediately unsheathing our swords. We have never held swords before but we held it out as if we knew how.
 
To be continued…