Hot and Cold!!…

*I don't want to love you, but I don't want to lose you either!!...*

**Hades**
'A barren desert! A disturbing scream! A rotten root transformed and mutated into the stuff of nightmares! Its fibres turned into spikes like daggers! Lifeless people impaled on those spikes. It was covered in so many dead bodies that it was hard to determine where it began and ended. The most grotesque sight I've ever seen. But the most disturbing thing was the scream of a man. His whole body was wrapped with these deadly roots, but his face was not. The face was screaming at me to run. Then, just as I started to run, I looked back at that person. He spoke one last time,
The blood of the king must survive."

After narrating bits and pieces of my nightmare, I was lost. I have never felt so vulnerable. Some unspoken trust and deep understanding between us make me so unguarded in front of Kora. And all I know about her is her name.
I tried to act my usual self, an arrogant dickhead, but she hushed me and made me sit beside her with a support of a big rock behind us. I was taken aback for a second but decided to give in to her care. She wiped my tears with her quivering fingers as if questioning her actions. And that was when I realized I was crying, the emotion I had deserted long ago.
"Do you know that man?" She asked, shifting back the few strands of hair stuck on my face.
"No...never seen him," I answered in a whispered ramble.
"Okay, now just be calm!" She then kneeled by my side, took one of my clammy hands in hers, and whispered, "My mother said to me, 'Nightmares held a deep connection to either your past or the future. Once you understand that connection, they will stop haunting you. Till then, stay strong and fight. Don't let them control you." Her voice sounded thick with emotions, and I could only nod because her scent, closeness, and touch were the only connection affecting me.
The connection that Cerberus craved!
The connection that I was struggling to break!!
The connection that was going to ruin me!!!
Moments passed, and we sat holding hands. I saw her eyes flicker in the same pain I was going through. I was sure that the nightmares haunted her.
Then she wrapped her hands around me and hugged me gently. Although the temperature was freezing, the air around us heated with a strange feeling lingering. Her hands were all over my back, from my shoulders to my hip bone. I felt a lump in my throat the entire time her hands were on me. There was nothing sexual in how she touched me, but it affected my emotional side. It seemed as if she was also struggling in the feelings department.
It was at this point I couldn't stand any longer.
"I'm...sorry. I shouldn't have told you these things," I mumbled, feeling a tear creeping out from under my closed eyelid.
"Hey," She spoke as she caught the tear and wiped it from running down my cheek. "You should never be sorry for sharing your feelings...okay?" I nodded, feeling foolish and hating what we had between us. It was a line we both wanted to cross, but we were holding ourselves back and unsure why. One minute I was freezing; the next, it was like my blood was boiling beneath my skin.
Cerberus was already going wild beneath my skin, growling like a starving beast, desperate to lock her in his arms and make a soul-ripping love. But I must move away from her and focus on the escape route.
"Alright, Kora, we need to leave this place." I struggled to pull myself up, but Cerberus pushed me under my skin, and I fell back.
Kora touched my shoulder, asking, "Hades, are you sure? I think you should go on easy."
I sucked in a sharp breath and said, "Kora...you need to listen to me, for I'm serious now. We're not yet out of danger. This place may look dormant, but I've got this gut feeling that we need to hurry up...yeah."
"So, where will you go after you drop me safely into the Dark woods? You don't seem to be the one who settles down easily. Any plans?" She asked, making me release a frustrated sigh.
"Do you always ask so many questions?" I complained.
"Not at all." She smirked. I cocked my brows at her response.
The next part of the cave got considerably steeper, and there was more drop in temperature and pressure. I almost had to double my strength to walk. I was unsure if we were going the right way. But then, one look at the ground, I knew we were in the right direction. It made me feel like I'd just walked through a different time. I had been to the worst places while training with Vlad and my father, and I don't give a damn about those dumb shadowy creatures, but the same can't be said about Kora. I could sense her panic as she took cautious steps forward. She had a primal fear of darkness and shadows.
"Are you scared?" I asked the obvious question.
"This darkness and cold are depressing for me." She spoke, trying to calm her quiver by pulling her hood over her head. I was about to say something, but her leg slipped on the damp floor, but thankfully I caught her.
"Your grip is unbelievable. You remind me of the deadly predator who hunts and tears the prey with sharp claws." She spoke, adjusting her hood.
"You know nothing about me!" I winked, guiding her through the gravel path, dodging the sharp edges of the cave walls.
"I don't suppose I would get water down here?" She asked.
"Nope, but if you mind dragging your ass a bit faster, then maximum 2-3 hours," I spoke, straining my senses for the incoming sound.
"Will we reach Dark Forest in 2-3 hours?" She asked hopefully, increasing her pace.
"Nah...I didn't say that...we'll reach freshwater resource in a couple of hours." My answer suddenly dropped her energy levels. But she looked as if she was intrigued.
"Now you are scaring me? How do you know about water? Are you by any means a dark black cat shifter with heightened senses that ugly witches fancy?" She was now irritating me with each passing second.
I sucked in an irritating breath before replying, "It has nothing to do with supernatural shit. Just common sense that you lack. Can you carefully look at the path we're walking?" I pointed her at the wet path of gravel.
"How is this wet?" She asked in surprise.
"This is the basin of river Styx. Can you hear the sound of water gushing?" I asked, pointing to her at the ceiling of the cave. She took a moment to concentrate on the sound of water flowing. And before she opens her mouth to reply, I beat her.
"Yes, my Raven, we are beneath the river Styx. I hope now you realize how deep down we are in here." I smirked, looking at her shocked face.
River Styx was at a dangerously low altitude that it was impossible to see it from the high points of the Northern Palace. It was one of the deepest rivers in the world, and we're below that river. So it was a shocking fact how deep those caves were. They had their own fucking ecosystem.
"Are we moving towards River Styx? I doubt anyone ever has stepped into it," She asked in a dreaded tone.
"Except for me, remember my name is Hades. Hades has a deep connection to Styx." I winked at her.
"Yup. You and your dog Cerberus guarding the underworld, but do you seriously think it's time for mythology lessons...I am fucking scared. This river is a monster. Its high current can swallow the whole house, and I'm not sure about you...but I'm fucking human!" She was almost screaming at my bad comic timing.
"Don't worry; we have got through the worst. I promise I'll drop you safely at the Dark Woods, and that too asap because this cave and mighty Styx don't scare me, but the fact that you are slowly eating away my brain from your weird questions."
Her face was worth looking at my outburst, but she came again with the dumb question, "Isn't the water of Styx acidic?"
"Just drink it up, and if you start melting, then...yeah!"
She rolled her eyes, thinking that silence was much better than hearing my shitty answers.
There were rumours that this river belonged to the vampires in ancient times, and anyone caught drinking or stealing water from it drowned or melted in its acidic water. But as I said, it was just a rumour. We were already stepping on its wet gravel without our feet burning.
We walked through the large cavernous space, following the Styx basin for the next couple of hours, hoping it would take us to the surface. We could hear the wet, crunchy sound at each footstep and the deafening sound of Styx like a death drum. The soft gravel replaced the hard crust, and the climate turned humid.
And now we stood facing a strange thing. Well! It was more of a scary thing.
"Oh no...this is bad, this is very..." Kora was panicking beside me.

*I get that everything happens for a reason, but like...what the fuck?!!...*