Page 80 of Thorn & Ash
Prue was working so hard at summoning her goddess magic that she didn’t realize when Cyrus’s hand had slipped from hers until it was too late.
She reached for him, only to find an empty space. Panic bloomed in her chest. “Cyrus?”
No answer.
Oh Goddess, no…
“Cyrus!” Her voice bounced against the cavern walls, reverberating in her ears. Darkness pressed in on her once more, and she focused on her shallow breathing. Her eyes closed as she searched for her magic again.
Don’t panic, she told herself. Trust your magic. Don’t let the fear take over.
She counted each breath until she reached ten. Then, she started again until her heart rate slowed and her body stopped trembling.
A white light burned against her eyelids, and she opened her eyes to find her body aglow again.
And this time, the darkness of Tartarus had faded completely. It was now illuminated as if sconces lined the walls. There was no darkness, no magic pushing against her. It was just… an empty cave.
Screams echoed in a nearby tunnel, and Prue jumped, her pulse skittering. The cries were faint, but they still tugged at her heart, drawing her in.
The tormented souls of Tartarus.
Sympathy swelled within her, but she pushed it down. She couldn’t do anything for them. Not right now.
No, she needed to find the box first. That was the priority.
Clinging to her new and solid sense of power, Prue strode forward with purpose, entering the first tunnel and winding her way through it. She paused frequently to smell the air, to sense any power lurking nearby. If she sensed nothing, she turned back around until she reached the wide chamber once more, then took a different tunnel.
When her body was covered in sweat and her legs ached from her constant walking, Prue finally sensed it. A deep hum that made her bones quiver. The smell of oak and embers met her nose, and she frowned. The scent was somewhat familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it…
Even so, her curiosity had her following the source, eager to find what magic emitted such intense power. She wiped her sweaty palms along her skirts, her steps eager as she followed a tunnel, turning at a fork and continuing onward. The power grew, making the walls rumble. Prue’s blood sang with awareness. She felt… a connection to this magic. Something she couldn’t deny. It bonded with hers in a way that—
She stopped short. She had only ever felt this way with Mona’s magic.
Was her sister down here?
“Mona?” Prue hurried forward, determined to find her. She rounded a corner and froze, her mouth falling open.
A small, square black box rested on the ground in front of her. It seemed small and insignificant, but with the power emanating from it, Prue knew it was anything but. Wisps of smoke floated from the box, tickling her nostrils.
Then, she realized why it smelled so familiar.
It smelled like Trivia.
The goddess hadn’t had such a strong fragrance; it had been muted somehow. But this definitely had traces of her magic.
How? Why? Trivia had seemed to know a lot about the box, but to have her magic embedded in it? That would mean…
“No,” Prue whispered, crouching over the box to inspect it more thoroughly. The powers emanating from it called to her. It called to her magic. The energies swelling inside her flowed forward in response, like greeting an old friend.
Earth magic. Whoever had crafted this box possessed a fraction of Gaia’s power.
Just like Prue.
But… what did that have to do with Trivia? Did this mean Trivia possessed the same kind of magic as Prue?
Prue lowered her head to sniff deeply, closing her eyes. In a flash, a dozen images flooded her mind. Her mother, the vines springing from the ground when Prue had fought her, Mona’s corpse when she’d sacrificed herself, and…
Visions she’d never seen before filled her thoughts. Gaia—her mother—clutching three children against her chest, knowing she couldn’t save them all.