"I told you all she would go too far," grumbled Hera. "She has them worshiping in the old way. With ritual copulation and such, well, you saw what happened. She simple cannot be allowed to do this Mother Rhea is out of control. She must be trying to revive her worship, which simply cannot be allowed to continue." "I had to disagree Hera, but maybe old Mother is not meddling here but the discovery of her worship in old times in bringing it back to the humans, which is not her doing but a natural evolution in their culture," reasoned Athena. "Well, what about the gifts she is giving this woman, Gwen? That can't be just an evolution of human culture. Rhea meddled there, no doubt about it," huffed Hera. "Besides, she has been getting far too much attention in recent years," hissed Hera jealously. "All this Mother Goddess resurgence and all." "I have asked Ariadne to talk to Rhea, since she is also from Crete," responded Artemis, interrupting one of Hera's favorite complaints. "So far Rhea is silent, she just smiles when asked about it. "I say that we continue to monitor this situation and see what becomes of the woman. The gift may go away. If it doesn't, we can discuss what to do," offered Aphrodite. "I disagree," griped Hera. "She allows this sort of worship in her name. We must put a stop to this." "I suppose there is nothing left to do but take some sort of action," Athena sighs. "I wish there were another way, than this though." *********************************************************************** Gwen dreamt. Her body feels as if it is floating. She opens her eyes in her dream, and she sees a vast field of red poppy flowers. She skims along the top of the flowers, her nose itching from the pollen. She turns over and over, twisting as she floats along. The sun is bright overhead making the flowers seem an even more brilliant crisp red against all of the golden green of the field grasses. She sees a figure off in the distance, a lone person, sitting under a great big fig tree. She focuses her energy and floats toward the figure. As she comes closer the figure resolved into a lone woman. The woman is older and full figured like what Gwen remembers her Grandmother looking like. The woman is wearing a light summer dress of glowing azure silk. It floats and dances around her ankles. The woman's hair is unbound and dances in the breeze. It is very long, and was once dark but is now a peppered mix of dark and gray. She has a wide smile on her face, which emphasizes the wrinkles at the corners of her mouth and eyes. Gwen floats down to stand in front of the woman. "You have such potential my dearest," the woman says, her voice sultry yet maternal. "I hope you will do good with what I have given you. I will watch over you and as you learn I will give you more gifts to help you meet your challenges." "What do you mean?" Gwen whispers respectfully. "I have given you the gift of a polyglot. You can speak Greek now, can you not? You will find that you can speak other languages as well. It will be a help to you in your service to others, I think. I will give other gifts in time as you have need of them." "You are the one who has done this? But I don't understand why?" Gwen asked. "You are a talented physician. I saw this in you and knew with this skill you could do more as well. You are sensual, which is something I desire in all of my children. I want you to be happy you see, but life is for you to learn from and grow. You will discover soon enough that there are challenges ahead. You will be lost and must find your way. I do not know which way is the right path for you my dear, but you will discover it." "Have no fear I will watch over you. Use your instincts. Some of my other children are jealous and scared of you right now and they are going to change your life a bit but you can make all well again." "Now tell me? Do you wish to take up this journey on your own or shall I send your husband along to help?" "What? Michael? He might be of help but he would be so upset about his work. What am I talking about, this is a dream?" Gwen said. "No darling, I know you are dreaming, but this is very real. I will decide, don't worry. Just be careful. Remember I will watch over you," the woman said. Gwen awoke suddenly, her body sore and cold. She looked around her. Michael was slumped on the floor beside the stone altar, curled into a ball, asleep. All of the others were gone. She sat up and looked to the large statue, where she spotted Mallia. Mallia turned to her, and smiled faintly. "She has spoken with you?" she said. "Yes, I think so" murmured Gwen. "Good, I will hold you in my thoughts. She has plans for you." Mallia said, rising to her feet. "I will bid you farewell. Be safe and happy," Mallia whispers, hugging Gwen to her. She steps away and walks swiftly to the entrance, turning to smile goodbye as she moves into the tunnel. Gwen, bewildered by her recent experiences, feels as if she is in a dream still. She crosses to where Michael is lying, looking down as him she starts to wake him, when suddenly she hears the same noise that drew her in the cave. "Thrummm, thrum." She looks all around, trying to locate the source of the noise. A sharp wind suddenly forces in to the cavern through the small tunnel entrance. The wind blows so forcefully that the torches are blown out. The cavern is black except for one small dim light from a brazier, on one corner of the dais. The shift in amount of light does nothing to help Gwen to locate the source of the noise. Michael stirs as Gwen grips his arm, but does not wake. Gwen, curious about the sound slowly makes her way to the brazier. As she approaches the low burning coals suddenly flair bright, brighter than seems possible. Gwen is blinded momentarily and staggers back away from the light, tripping to land at the base of the statue of the Goddess. Looking up at the statues passive face, Gwen blinks as the face seems to smile. "Did it move?" Gwen wonders, as she thinks back to her dream. The light is white hot as Gwen glances at the brazier. She blinks in surprise as a shape begins to form from the light. The shape floats up and begins to curl toward Gwen. A face is forming, a woman's face, which looks at once ageless and yet ancient. The mouth opens, the eyes narrow, and finally the lips snarl in wrathful venom, as the specter speaks. "We must be rid of you, little creature. You have stirred up the old mother as none of the other dancing fools have been able to do. It is no longer the old one's time and so, we will remove you to end this farce." "Who are you? What have I done to make you so angry?" Gwen asked. "I am the great protector of women, the protector of marriage, and the unloved partner of Zeus. I am HERA, you little piece of trash." "The Hera? The goddess?" Gwen murmured. "So, who is the other woman in my dream?" "The old one, Mother Potnija, Rhea, Inanna, Ishtar, she is know by many names, even my own. She is supposed to be asleep, as this is the age of the one God, but she gets restless. We can't allow that." "Now time for you to be misplaced." Hera said. "What do you mean misplaced..." Gwen started to reply, when the light flared and she was thrown back, hitting her head on the stone dais. Blinking she saw stars, and then no more, as all went black. Michael woke, slowly blinking his eyes, as he was seeing things. Floating ghostly figure, Gwen on the floor... "Am I dreaming," he thought. "There that takes take of that!" Hera bellowed and the brazier light went out leaving the cave in darkness. Michael sat up at the statement the apparition made, but it was too late, he couldn't see an inch in front of his face as the cave was completely dark. "What happened?" was his last thought as he slowly started inching toward where he thought he had seen Gwen lying on the floor. Gwen awoke to the sound of whistling and warm sunshine on her face. She opened her eyes, it seemed she was at the entrance to the cave. She peered around looking for Michael and to see where the whistling was coming from. Seeing no one, she stood up slowly as she was a bit dizzy. "Michael," she called. "Michael." She slipped back into the cave, walking until she could no longer see the light of the entrance very well. She called again and again, but there was no reply. Maybe he was angry with her over the incident with Mallia and the other in the cave last night. Maybe he brought her out but left because he was angry. Or maybe… Her mind raced with scenarios for where Michael might be. Scaring herself with all the possibilities, she slowly moved to the cave entrance again. As she emerged, a young man appeared over a low hill to the left of the cave entrance. He waved to her. He was wearing a short, loose, wool tunic gathered around his waist with a woven belt. A dog appeared behind him, loping up the hill toward Gwen. The dog skidded to a halt at Gwen's feet, sniffing her extended hand. "Hello, it is a lovely day, is it not?" smiled the young man. "Oh, yes it is." Gwen smiled back. "What brings you to Amnisos, the Cave of Eileithyia?" "I was lost. I was inside all night, I guess. Do you know which way the archeological camp is?" Gwen asked. "I don't know this camp. But the village of Elia is not too far away. I will go there after I gather my sheep from the pasture, just up the hill from here. Shall I take you there?" "Oh, please." Gwen nodded gratefully. "Come then, let us go." When they reached the pasture the sheep were grazed happily. The dog circled round the flock and started to move them into a loose group and toward the man and Gwen. The young shepherd sat down on a large rock under a group of trees and gestured to Gwen to do the same. He took a large pouch from his belt and opened it, revealing several succulent looking fruits, some goat's cheese and some soft flat bread. He offered some to Gwen and she ate ravenously. When they had finished the food, the dog was still chasing stray sheep, so they sat in companionable silence for a bit. The Sheppard smiled at Gwen. She felt a strange warm sensation come over her as he smiled. She blushed and closed her eyes. The wind gently blew through the trees, and as it blew, Gwen heard Her voice. "Give to me your gift and homage in return for my gifts to you, my darling one. Give my gift of love to this kind man, for he is lonely. I will watch over you, for you are my vessel." "This is so foreign to me," Gwen thought. "I know my dear, but it is my way. Love this man, as I will ask you to do with others as well and I will continue to be your guide, protector, and mother. I will take you home as soon as I am able," the benevolent voice sighed. "Take me home? What do you mean?" Gwen queried. "No more questions, all will be revealed in time." Gwen opened her eyes. The man was watching her intently. "What is your name," he asked? "Gwen" "Thearion," he replied. "That's a nice name. I am so happy you found me. I might have been lost for quite some time. Thank you." Gwen murmured as she leaned closer to Thearion. He took her hand and pulled her into his lap.