Part 54

His giant squid-shaped body was limned by the magma's red light. He coiled his tentacles around huge boulders, tore them from their rest. These he sat in place, building a massive throne, the throne of Oceanus.

The task progressed. Nevertheless, even as he worked the Gods of fire struck out against the defilement of their melted artistry. A belch of white-hot lava erupted, brushed aside the mighty throne. In hasty retreat Proteus swam quickly, tentacles drawn in to escape the edge of the crimson river. He drove across the watery waste, propelled by the force of inky jet fluids.

His passage brought him to the very spot whereat they waited. His eyes looked upon them in neither curiosity nor fear. So long as Demo and his dolphin guide did not interfere with Proteus' movement they were ignored.

Demo watched the undersea volcano, the fiery eruption with its steaming seawater, molten stones. Still, it was not the grandeur of the scene that held his attention.

In the midst of the burning mass a dark object stood, arms folded, eyes focused in deadly hatred on Demo.

The unseen companion!

With a shudder Demo closed his eyes, opened them once more. The vision was gone. Only the angry red lava remained. He shook his head, turned once more to the job at hand.

"Proteus, I am sent by Poseidon to reason with you."

The tentacles suddenly coiled spasmodically. The creature moved cautiously away, halted, then approached once more.

"Poseidon knows full well why I have left his service. I served him well as herdsman, and in reward the Golden Isles were to be mine. They have gone to another, Glaucus, who is only a trespasser in these watery depths."

"Glaucus, he who was transformed from human form to one such as I?"

"Indeed! He whom I would drive from these waters with all good will."

Demo was silent. Suddenly a spume of molten lava shot from the peek of the volcano. The explosive eruption drove them back, even as the red liquid followed a steamy path, lighting the depths around them. Only Proteus observed nature's fury with equanimity.

With a shudder Demo ignored the roiled waters. "Proteus, let me deal with Glaucus. Should I convince him to return to the land from whence he came, can you in your wisdom return him once more to human form?"

"Willingly, willingly. I tell you, though, I know his kind. He'll never give up the Golden Isles."

Turning to the dolphin Demo ignored the last remark. "Take me to the isle where I first assumed this form. There I knew Glaucus. Perhaps there he still remains."

Lying in the waves Demo gazed anxiously at the shore. There grew the horrid plants, the occasion of his unhappy condition. But nowhere was Glaucus to be seen. The waves gently washed upon the deserted beach, and terns and gulls flew low above them in search of food. High above white cumulus clouds floated in an azure sky. Even as he gazed one began to obscure the brilliant sun, casting a dark and cooling shadow on earth and sea.

The dolphin grew restless, swimming back and forth to release its pent-up energy. "Go, search these seas for one such as I. Tell him that a friend waits here. A friend who may well have a remedy for this curse from which we suffer."

The dolphin willingly began his search. No lover of indolence was he.

Diligent though he was, he searched to no avail. Glaucus was not to be found. Eventually, nigh day's end, the dolphin swam once more to Demo, confided to him his failure.

"Know you of Scylla? The six headed monster who takes her toll on those following their trade on the sea? Go where she waits her prey, and look there for Glaucus. For there was a time, before Circe in anger molded this hideous creature, that Scylla was a maiden fair. Yes, a maiden loved of Glaucus. Search for him near that abode, for he will not wander far from his true love."

Through the night Demo slept in the gentle tide, washed by warm waves. The phosphorescent sea stretched as far as eye might follow, dropping below a distant horizon. Flying fish played above its surface, and seahorses danced beneath. All was silent, save for the soft waves caressing the shore.

He dreamed.

Of Athena, of home, of what he had now become.

The roar of incoming waves awoke him. A seafog covered the shoreline, and heavy waves were forming with the incoming tide. He dove into the oncoming wave, swam deep to calmer waters.

There played bigeyed butterfly fish, colored with a palette of white and black and orange. Silversides swam, and among the floating weeds wanderer crabs creep. Seahorses cavort, and at times the young were exploded in droves from the fathers pouch. Shoreward, where rocky outcrops lay, seasnails moved slowly, devouring the algae on their way.

He sensed, rather than saw, their approach.

They came swiftly. The Dolphin swimming in happy glee, Glaucus following at a more subdued pace. After explanations Glaucus willingly accompanied him to Proteus lair.