Chapter 8
Paths of the Dead
The sky was long and dark. It stretched painfully to the South, highlighting the great distance that Orpheus needed to travel, alone and without aid, in order to reach Tainaron and the gateway to the Underworld. He was living a nightmare, it was true, and the Gods wept for him at each step. But they also marvelled at the love that urged him to take those steps to the dreaded realm.
For months he walked during the day, beneath a sharp, steely sun that filtered through a canopy of sad grey, and at night he slept beneath trees, on the edges of fields, or anywhere else he might catch a glimpse of the stars and the hope they offered.
Never had he felt so lonely as he did in those months of travel from Helicon to Corinth, past thick-walled Mycenae, and across the
