"Your poor dear Mother! I know she washed today, and then to have that awful deluge! Well, well, I shall have to make amends. Ah, she does cook such delicious berry pie! Ummm! Ah, I have it! You will soon notice, on the hillside to the south - I'll arrange to have the most scrumptious berries grow. Tell her to pick from that patch. Ah, those pies!" He paused, leaned back on the throne, eyes closed. The smile reflected that even the memory of the pies was appealing.
"But I mustn't waste your time. My snake charmer, poor soul, has lost his snake. Not literally. It has just grown old (Cronus, you know) and can't hear his flute to well. So he needs a snake. And he won't settle for just any type of snake. No, he tells me the regulus is the only one that will do. Would you be so kind as to dash off to the Cush and pick up one for him. The northwest corner, I believe. No, sorry, that's the northeast corner. I think. Oh, never mind, you'll find it all right. It's called the Nubian Desert. And do hurry back. He'll be so very pleased. Yes, he will. And so will I." Zeus smiled benevolently, and Demo knew it was time to go.
It was.
With a final word, "What you don't hear can't hurt you," Zeus waved good-bye and Demo found himself partially immersed in a sand dune. Slowly, cautiously Demo worked his way out of the dune, slid down the side. Overhead the bright sun beamed down as the heat became ever more oppressive.
In the distance he heard a steady beating sound, drumlike yet metallic. It disturbed him. The dull monotonous beat, reminiscent of the clang of shields, spear butt struck, announcing doom and death song.
Demo shivered. It did not bode well. Where had Zeus placed him, and where would he find the regulus? And the last words from Zeus, what did they portend. "What you don't hear cannot harm you." Strange words indeed.
But he heard well, and what he heard was that steady beat, and suddenly the sound of footstep in the sand. He turned to greet in friendly manner the native of this strange land.
Striding toward him, tall and imperious, spear in hand, a dark yet ghostly white sinister figure!
"Are you of Cush, or are you from the Northland?" The voice was emotionless, but the spear point bore upon his chest, a handsbreath away.
"Neither. At least, I think neither. I am Demo, and I am here
on a mission for Zeus. I know nothing of Cush, nor of the
Northland. I am here to find the regulus, to take with me to
Zeus. I mean you no harm, and implore your aid."