Page 23 of Spring's Descent
“One I’d rather not run into,” he said, clearly wishing to continue in silence.
Fully aware that there was no chance of reaching the top of this mountain on my own, but also unable to quell my damned pride, I lifted my chin. “All the more reason to tell me about it so I can be prepared.”
A startled laugh split his lips in a disbelieving smile. “Prepared for what? You’re an unawakened, unarmed earth witch on the edge of Tartarus. As you’ve mentioned, the fires of Hell are my territory.”
Shoulders slumping, I deflated as I realized just how powerless I was here. A part of me had thought I’d be able to make it out of The Underworld, to track down a point of connection between the realms and escape… but how was I supposed to do that when I couldn’t even walk without Aidoneus’s help?
I hated relying on others… but even more, I hated that I wasn’t strong enough to stand on my own.
My fingers wrapped around the fire opal dangling from my neck. Lark would’ve known what to do. She always did. She was brave and fearless where I was scared, always ready to find the solution. And I had left her to her fate, knowing just how ruthless my mother could be.
“You’re right,” I said, my voice hollow even to my ears. I felt Aidoneus glance down, but I was done with talking.
Drawing my arms around myself, I curled inward, allowing the small, splintered pieces of my heart the comfort they were seeking from my demon’s embrace. I knew it was wrong, but a part of me liked that Aidoneus was a demon. He wouldn’t judge me for my lack of earth magic because he didn’t care how strong or weak I was as long as he completed his mission. I knew TheDark Palace bit was a lie, but I think I might have gone with him anyway. If Lark were free, I might have stayed here.
Iwouldfind a way out of this mess for Lark, to make sure she and her sister were free from Mother, but for now, I just wanted to sleep. Ignoring the hunger pains in my stomach and the way my entire body was sore, I closed my eyes against the world and welcomed oblivion.
There wasno way to tell time. This close to Tartarus, the sky was always black. It felt like hours had passed before we stopped at the edge of a cliff with the bronze walls of Tartarus glimmering in the distance. They stretched high, obscuring vast portions of the hellscape before us, but the prisoners’ tortured screams reverberated through the ash-filled skies.
Most of The Valley of Torment was covered in fire, blood, or bodies, but there was a small, shining piece of refuge among the barbaric landscape: a crystal clear pool surrounded by flourishing fruit trees at the base of an overhanging stone ledge. Plump figs and juicy plums dangled close to the water's surface, the sight alone enough to have my mouth watering.
A flash of movement in the center of the pristine pool caught my eye. A figure was submerged chin-deep in the water, his neck straining as he arched in a futile attempt to reach the fruit. A gust of wind caught the branches just before his lips closed, blowing them out of reach. He dipped his chin, looking as if he might drink from the pool, but the water receded before he could wet his lips.
“Tantalus,” I breathed, realizing just who the unfortunate soul was. No pity came, though. I’d heard the stories. Tantalus had killed his own son Pelops, slicing his body into bite-sizedpieces. Infanticide was vile enough to earn him his fate, but Tantalus then tried to trick the gods by serving them his son’s body in a stew.
His cry of hunger turned into a flinch as pebbles from the overhanging stone ledge trickled down. A large slab was poised right over his head, leaving no doubt that it would kill him if it did fall, but it looked as if the worst of the tremors had stopped.
“It will never break,” Aidoneus’s chest rumbled beneath my fingers, his blue eyes searching for something in my face.
“Good,” I said, letting my disgust bleed through. I hadn’t understood when we’d first hovered the periphery of Tartarus, but Aidoneus had been right. For some, eternity wasn’t long enough. “He deserves to suffer.”
His lips twitched as something like approval flashed in his eyes before he looked away, fixing on a crumbling arch in the near distance. It was thin, barely wide enough for two people side-by-side with pieces of it chipped along the edges. Crafted from the same porous black stone littering the mountainside, it stretched across the churning fires of the Phlegethon far below before disappearing into dark clouds and billowing smoke on the far end.
“Tell me that isn’t the bridge to Cocytus?”
Aidoneus gave a tight nod as he transversed the last ridge. A landing of sorts was set before us, the volcanic stone tapering into the beginning of the bridge. My heart raced, my fingers unconsciously curling into the material over Aidoneus’s chest for support. His grip around my thighs and shoulders tightened, but when I dared a glance up, he was focused on the swirling clouds above.
“The monster that guards this bridge is ancient,” he breathed.
Following his gaze, I joined his search in scrutinizing the sky.
“Her claws and tail are lethal, but that’s not what makes her dangerous. It’s her ability to wield a soul’s greatest fears against itself that causes trespassers to surrender to death willingly.”
My breathing hitched as Aidoneus’s shoulders tensed. I liked the way he held me closer as we stepped out onto the open ledge, grateful that I wasn’t alone as a feeling of dread slid down my spine.
“What type of monster can do that?” I whispered, my palm pressing flat against his chest. My pulse was racing, the echo of it thundering in my ears, but I felt nothing beneath my fingers. A hollowness rang under my palm, over the place Aidoneus’s heart should’ve been. He had been running for hours while carrying me, he'd gotten up halfway across The Underworld, but his body remained cool to the touch. And his chest was as still as the dead.
Brows furrowing, I looked to him with questions poised on the tip of my tongue. “How?—”
An ear-splitting screech exploded through the darkness. The beast had a woman’s appearance from the waist up, but in place of hair was a cobra’s scaled hood. Thick, leathery wings stretch wide, and sharp talons curled where her hands would’ve been. Rather than legs, a thick, barbed tail stretched behind her reptilian body. Skin was replaced with a fine layer of scales, the finer scales flashing with a faint iridescent sheen as the light of the fires below reflected across her hide.
Gods Above. I knew what that was—whoshewas.
The blood drained from my face as I clutched the fabric of Aidoneus’s tunic, wishing there was a way to sink into his protection like a physical shield. “Is that…”
He shifted me in his grasp, his entire body tensed and primed for battle as he tracked the monster overhead. “That is Kampe.”
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