Page 9 (1/2)

It takes a week to walk to Landulf&039;s aerie, which stands in the heights of Monte Castello, in southwest Sicily, where, Dante tells me, the Oracle of Venus, the Goddess of Love, once stood Dante knows a trey He is in to understand that one of the reasons Landulf kept hi abilities Even the evil duke loved a good tale, and when Dante starts on a story, his whole dereat eloquence But the moment the tale is over, he reverts The sudden personality changes are disconcerting, but I am sympathetic to him be?cause he has obviously been warped by his exposure to Landulf I feel guilty that I a hi him several times a day, am I able to persuade hiht of the place fills his continue to carry him in that direction

Yet he doesn&039;t seeenuine; it pains me to use him so And it is obvious that he is more concerned about s me to turn back The hu commonplace at the castle fill me with doubt It is hard to believe there could exist such evil as he describes Of course that is Dante&039;s point Landulf is no longer human He has become a beast he invoked The devil lives and breathes on a peak once considered sacred in ancient Roht, Dante recites the entirethe day in the wooden brace that supports his leper&039;s stu at his sores, and his suffering weighs on my heart Only a devil, I think, could have cursed him so

Yet I still do not believe in his Christian demons

But what draws ic, whether it be white or black

Although I know for a fact it will be black, that I have visited the cruel wizard already But what I re day The dirt paths of old Sicily are uides I reine her face At night, though, I stare for hours at the stars, trying to convince myself that I was once there, in a mysterious ship, with creatures froods of ancient myths

Dante wants to tell y, of course, having lived in ancient Greece for many years But Dante insists I have not heard it properly, and it seems to be one of his favorite stories, so I let hi as he walks is a luxury Dante can ill afford Often he must stop to lean on etic He has found a stout walking stick that helps hi enthusiasm about the ancient hero Obviously Dante worships such characters, and wishes he were one, instead of the crippled leper he is A handsood who could sweep away a beautiful princess such as me I know Dante is more than a little in love with randfather was Acrisius, a cruel king, who visited the oracle at Delphi and learned that his daughter&039;s child was destined to be the instrument of his death Perseus and his mother were therefore locked in a chest and set adrift on the ocean The chest floated to Seriphus, where it was found by a fisherenerous man who received the man, Polydectes sent hi waste to his land and turning men to stone History has it that Medusa had once been a beautiful lory But she dared to coed her wonderful curls into hissing snakes and she became a monster," Dante pauses "But that&039;s not what happened"

I have to smile It is only a story "What really happened,note in my voice

Dante is not dissuaded "The Medusa never coht she was beyond cooddesses It was only her hair that becah "That is good to know"

"It is an important point One never knows if it was her beauty or the serpents on her head that were able to turn men and other creatures to stone But I iven a divine shield by Athena, and winged shoes by Hermes, approached Medusa&039;s cave while the monster slept, Perseus took special care not to look directly at her All around hiures of aze at the evil creature Guided only by the Medusa&039;s iht shield, he cut off her head and ended the threat of the ave the head to Athena?" I knew the end, I thought Dante shook his head and spoke seriously "That is not true He kept it for himself It ith the Medusa&039;s head that he was able to defeat Atlas, and steal the gods&039; golden apples It was only with the Medusa&039;s head that he was able to turn to stone the Titan that was threatening to eat Andromeda, ould later becoave up the severed head of the Gorgon It was too valuable a weapon" I continue to sh I knoe draw close to Landulf s castle The forest has changed, become wilder and darker, filled with trees that have twisted ars over the land and it depresses even me, me who is usually not affected by subtle eleray overcast that appears made more of dust than water vapor There is a constant odor of smoke, and I believe I detect the stench of burnt bodies Still, I think I am an invincible vampire, no easy victim for Landulf and his black sorcery

"That is only one version of the story," I say

Dante regards me with disappointment

"It is the correct version, my lady," he says "It is an ireat truths"

"You will have to explain them to me another tied mountains s a black mist that even my supernatural vision cannot pierce This unnatural cloud clings to some kind of massive stone structure, but I cannot discern the details I point and ask, "What is that?"

Dante is suddenly the cowering fool again He clings to my arm and the fluid from his open sores stains my white shirt "It is our death, my lady There is still time to turn back Before his thralls coht"