The sound of someone’s footsteps coming towards Hailey turned her blood to ice. The Erinys was going to push her!
A hand touched her arm and she jerked. ‘It’s okay,’ Jayden told her in a soothing voice, helping her back up. ‘You’re okay.’
‘Enough. Move. Now.’
‘Okay,’ Jayden said. ‘We’re going.’ He looked back at Hailey. ‘We have to cross the bridge.’
The bridge was a six-foot wide black crystal walkway that crossed through the abyss to a mountain of rock, where a palace perched. It had no guardrail or rope to stop a person from falling off.
‘I can do it,’ Hailey said more to herself than to Jayden.
He nodded and edged up to the bridge, bravely taking the lead across. Aaron gave Alec, who looked ready to pass out, a gentle nudge forward before following after him.
Demi gripped Hailey’s hand. ‘Come on, Hails. We’ll do it together.’
Fixing her eyes on the palace forty yards ahead, Hailey shuffled onto the crystal bridge and began inching her way across, reminding herself with every shaking footstep that she didn’t have a choice. That the Erinys would probably push her off if she stopped walking. Ash showered down around her, sticking to her hair and clothes, and stinging her nostrils with its acridness. But that was a minor irritation compared to the suffocating heat that burned her throat with every tentative breath she took.
As Hailey neared the palace, she could see it was constructed from iron, which looked superheated in the reflection of the blazing sky, making its pointed spires look like red hot pokers.
They scurried from the bridge onto the rocky terrain surrounding the palace, and followed the Erinys towards the big hunk of metal just ahead. Rocks loosed beneath Hailey’s feet and poked into the soles of her shoes as she walked, almost causing her to lose her balance with every step. She was careful not to tread on the white flowers growing between the rocks, which looked like clusters of miniature lilies. Hailey remembered their name with a shudder: asphodel—the flowers of the dead.
They halted in front of a set of thick black doors that were so high a cyclops could have fit through them.
‘Dazatr,’ the Erinys rasped.
The doors opened with a slow creak that you’d expect to hear when entering a haunted house. Considering Hades was the god of the dead, Hailey wouldn’t have been surprised if there were a few shades lurking around the palace—angry spirits seeking vengeance for whatever horrible end they’d met here in this place of nightmares.
With trembling hands, Hailey stepped inside, bracing herself for intense heat, but to her surprise the palace was cool—well, cooler than the volcano outside.
And what a hideous palace it was, being dark and dingy, with an obsidian floor that was barely illuminated by the candelabras hanging from the ceiling. At least it doesn’t smell as strongly of ash in here, Hailey thought, grateful to get away from the suffocating smell of smoke.
The long room the Erinys herded them into was hardly different. The only element of brightness came from a jewel path, which sparkled with about every variety of gem you could think of—rubies, emeralds, sapphires, garnet, and opals, to name a few. At the end of it, perched on a black diamond throne, was Hades. Next to him sat Persephone, her clear crystal throne adorned with blooming wild flowers like poppies and violets.
‘You may leave us, Tisiphone,’ Hades said.
The thud of the doors echoed around the bare room as the Erinys left. Hailey gulped. They were trapped in a room with two gods, who could probably kill them with a snap of their fingers.
‘Come forward.’ Hades’s voice was brusque and imperious.
No one moved.
‘I said come—hdaounaoa.’ He flicked the wand.
A force shoved Hailey from behind, driving her forward until she stood feet from Hades and Persephone in their raised thrones. Power seemed to radiate off them, giving the air an almost electric feel. She gulped again, the tingling in her fingertips—which hadn’t stopped since she’d entered the Underworld—amplifying.
Hades surveyed them with eyes as dark and cold as coal. ‘Why did you come to the Underworld?’
‘To stop you,’ Hailey said, surprised by the braveness of her voice.
An amused smile curved his lips. ‘You are children. I am a god. It was foolish for you to think you could intervene with my plans.’ He held up the wand, the milky blue colours in its moonstone tip glinting in the light from the burning candelabra chandelier above them. ‘Where did you find this?’
Hailey hesitated, not sure if she should tell him. Hades wanting to know where they’d gotten the wand could be the one thing keeping them alive.
‘I found it in a griffin’s nest,’ Demi answered. ‘I’ll take it back now thanks.’
Jayden grabbed Demi before she could do something stupid—like try taking the wand from Hades.
Persephone leaned forward, wonder sparkling in her magenta eyes. ‘You fought a griffin?’
‘No doubt with the powers you stole from my kin,’ Hades remarked acidly.
‘We didn’t steal them,’ Aaron countered.
Hades’s eyes flared with anger so intense that Hailey thought his gaze might just vaporise them.
Oh Medusa, Hailey cursed silently, thinking Hades was about to kill them. She needed to think of a way out. Now!
Persephone placed a hand on his knee and shook her head as his black eyes met hers. Hades took a deep breath and turned back to them, his anger concealed behind a thinly veiled layer of control. ‘How did you know of our reawakening?’
‘There was a spell,’ Hailey said, deciding it was just as dangerous to withhold information from Hades as it was to tell him. ‘It spoke of waking someone up. We thought it had only woken up the Erinyes—we didn’t know you and Persephone were down here too.’
Hades nodded musingly, leaning back in his throne. ‘Hecate must have foreseen your discovery.’
Hecate? Of course. Hailey already knew Hecate created the wand, which meant she was the one who wrote the reawakening spell. She must have saved Hades and Persephone by putting them to sleep. ‘Is she the one who put you to sleep?’ Hailey asked, wanting confirmation.
She regretted her curiosity the moment Hades turned on her with a look of astonishment, as though he’d never been asked a question before. She held her breath and waited to see if he’d lose his temper.
A tense few seconds passed before his gaze relaxed. ‘I suppose you did awaken us, so perhaps should be rewarded with the knowledge of how it was possible.’ He twirled the wand in his hand. ‘This was her wand.’
‘What?!’ Hailey exclaimed without thinking.
‘We thought that was the wand she created for humankind,’ Alec said, looking as surprised by his sudden outburst of words as Hailey was by her own.
‘A wand for humankind?’ Hades’s eyes overflowed with abhorrence. ‘You humans are insects compared to us. Hecate never would have created a wand for your unworthy race.’
‘Hey—’
Jayden clamped a hand over Demi’s mouth before she could insult Hades back. Hailey didn’t appreciate being called an insect or worthless, but if she told Hades to jump in the River Styx, she doubted even Persephone would be able to calm his temper.
‘Why was the spell written in English if it wasn’t meant for humans?’ Alec asked, choosing his words carefully.
‘Hecate was smart,’ Hades said. ‘She used this wand to put my wife, the Erinyes, and me into a deep slumber that would protect us from dying with the other gods. She created a spell that would awaken us. She wrote it to appear in the language of whomever found it, and for it to translate into Goldarin when read.’ Hades’s gaze shifted over the five of them. ‘I didn’t expect the humans who awakened us to be children, and I certainly didn’t expect you to come looking for me.’
‘Someone had to stop you,’ Aaron said. ‘You can’t just go around kidnapping people and torturing them.’
‘If I don’t punish them for their crime
s, who will? I am King of the Underworld, and it’s my duty to ensure retribution is served to all wrongdoers.’ He rubbed his chin as he considered them. ‘Now I am faced with the question of what to do with you.’
‘They are children, Hades.’ Persephone’s voice was soft and sweet compared to his. ‘We should release them.’
‘Release them? They have learned too much. They will inform the humans of our return before we’re able to wake the others.’
Others? Please don’t tell me the Olympians are alive too.
‘Can they at least stay in Elysium?’ Persephone asked. ‘They’re innocent. They don’t belong in Tartarus.’
Hades drummed his fingers against his throne. ‘Very well. You may stay in Elysium until our plans are realised.’
Persephone moved to stand up. ‘I will escort them.’
‘No,’ Hades said, motioning for her to stay seated. ‘I will take them.’
Hailey tensed. She didn’t trust Hades one bit. It seemed likely he had agreed to take them to the Elysian Fields to avoid upsetting Persephone, and that he had every intention of killing them when they got there.
Hades flicked his hand at the five of them, and Hailey realised with sickening dread that he didn’t care about Persephone’s feelings after all.
He was going to kill them then and there.
30
The Elysian Fields
Hailey braced herself to be flung across the room like she’d been in the pit.
But instead of hurling through the air towards an iron wall, the room started spinning, swirling into a haze of black.
When the world reformed, Hailey was standing back in the Underworld’s entrance, staring at the bright tunnel to the Elysian Fields.
Black mist swirled in front of the tunnel as Hades materialised. A cruel smirk curved his lips. ‘My, my, you all look defensive. Nevertheless, I have no intention of harming you, providing you don’t resist.’ His eyes glistened expectantly, as if he wanted them to attack.
Well, too bad, Hailey thought. She wasn’t about to give him a reason to justify killing them. Beside her Aaron clenched his fists, and she thought for one terrifying second that he was going to charge. But he didn’t. And nobody else did either.
Hades’s expectancy turned to disappointment. ‘Very well. You will remain in Elysium until I say otherwise. But if you attempt to escape from the Underworld, I will treat you like criminals, children or not.’ His gaze was hard, leaving no doubt he was being sincere. ‘That is, of course, if you survive Fifth.’
‘Fifth?’ Alec asked.
‘Fifth is the fifth descendant of Cerberus,’ Hades said, explaining how the three-headed monster had survived for so long. Hades shifted aside. ‘You may enter now.’ He swiped his hand towards the Elysian Fields, and the invisible force returned to yank Hailey and her friends forward, pitching them through the tunnel, where they landed in a crumpled pile at the other end. ‘Remember, no escaping,’ Hades growled before disappearing in a swirl of mist.
‘Everyone okay?’ Aaron asked as they disentangled themselves from one another.
Hailey didn’t know if anyone responded. She didn’t, being too enraptured by the ethereal music drifting through the air to care about anything else. It made Nerissa and Cleo’s singing sound like a screeching harpy.
She forced herself to stand up, and the second she did, she became lost in her surroundings.
A paradise stretched before her, appearing to go on forever in every direction. A sparkling diamond path weaved its way through the vibrant green grass, breaking off into several directions.
One path led to a magnificent garden, where sunflowers, tulips, pansies, and dozens of flowers Hailey didn’t recognise, bloomed in dazzling colours. Fruit trees were mixed in among the flowers, the plush silk cushions at their bases offering a comfortable place to relax. A languid river curved its way through the garden, tracing its path from a glistening waterfall.
Another path led to an open area ringed with round tables draped in thin silk cloth, circled by elegant chairs. Banquet tables offering a sumptuous feast were mixed among them. Hailey’s mouth watered as the aromatic smells of roast chicken and marinated beef wafted towards her, mingled with the sharp rich scent of cheese, and the sweet smell of chocolate.
She wondered whether Hades had pushed some kind of button to produce the food for them, or if it had been waiting there from the last time humans had occupied the Elysian Fields centuries ago, kept from spoiling by some kind of magic.
She didn’t dwell on the thought. Following another path with her eyes, she spotted a white marble temple bordered by polished pillars. She was positive if she entered it, she would find a statue of Hades, and probably Persephone too, waiting to be worshipped.
The final path led to a palace constructed of pure gold, which shone as brightly as the sun in the violet-blue sky.
Hailey gazed expectantly at the sky, waiting to feel a rush of power.
But none came.
Her heart sank; the sky was an illusion, despite how real the fluffy silver clouds appeared.
‘Well, this will make our escape a lot easier,’ Aaron remarked, his eyes focused on the tunnel and not the Fields. ‘We’re right near the entrance.’ He punched Alec playfully in the arm. ‘Guess this means you can save your strength.’
Alec rubbed his shoulder absentmindedly. He wasn’t listening to Aaron. He was drinking in the landscape with wide hungry eyes.
‘Come on, that’s enough time here.’ Aaron grabbed Alec by his shirt and dragged him towards the tunnel. ‘Let’s go everyone.’
Hailey didn’t want to go. She wanted to stay and explore every inch of this place.
‘No.’ Alec dug his heels into the ground. ‘We can’t go yet.’
‘I know you want to take a look around so you can brag to your dad about seeing it, but we’ve got bigger things to deal with—like not dying. So, let’s go.’
Alec dug his heels further into the ground when Aaron tried to pull him away again. ‘That’s not what I meant. I meant we can’t go yet because Hades or an Erinys is probably waiting right outside to see if we’ll escape.’
‘Oh no you don’t.’ Jayden caught hold of Demi as she tried to sneak towards the diamond paths.
She pouted. ‘Come on, I just wanna have a little walk around.’
‘Well, you can walk towards the garden.’
Demi glanced back at the gold palace, which Hailey assumed had been her destination, and then at Jayden. She sighed. ‘Fine.’
‘No, we’re not heading to the garden,’ Aaron said before anyone could move. ‘We’re leaving. Right now.’
‘Alec has a good point,’ Hailey said. ‘Hades probably thinks if we’re going to escape, we’ll do it straight away. He could be waiting outside to catch us so he can throw us back into the dungeon.’ It was a place she never wanted to end up again.
Aaron opened his mouth, looking like he was ready to keep arguing, and then seemed to notice he was outvoted. He shook his head in defeat, releasing Alec. ‘Fine. You win. I can’t exactly drag all of you out of here. And I suppose we should have a plan anyway.’
Hailey tried to hide her smile as they trailed the diamond path towards the garden. She found it ironic that she suddenly wanted to stay in the Underworld, but the Elysian Fields were a little different to Tartarus—for one thing, there was sunlight.
If things weren’t so bad, like there weren’t two gods trying to take back over the world, Hailey would have happily stayed there for days, weeks, even months. She could probably even live there and never get bored of the place.
But things were bad. The Elysian Fields would have to wait.
* * *
‘Everyone ready?’ Aaron asked as they positioned themselves around the Elysian Fields’s tunnel and prayed enough time had passed for Hades to have gotten bored and left.
Demi gazed back at the gold palace and sighed. ‘Yes. But we’re coming back here as soon as the gods and Erinyes are taken care
of.’
‘Agreed,’ Hailey and Alec said in unison.
Hailey didn’t look back as she left. She needed to focus on what they were about to do, which was probably the most dangerous thing she’d ever done—aside from coming to the Underworld.
Why do I keep making such dumb decisions? she asked herself as she crept down the Underworld’s entrance tunnel with her friends. All she ever seemed to do was make things worse, which was why she was doing the smart thing now and trying to find someone more capable of fixing their mistake. Things had gotten way too out of control for her and her friends to handle alone, especially without the wand. Their best chance of saving the world from Hades was to get help from anyone who would believe them when they said the Underworld was back up and running, and that the prophecy was dangerously close to coming true.
But before they could do that, they had to make it out of the Underworld alive, which meant catching a ride on the Acheron River and hoping it dropped them off somewhere close to civilisation and not in the middle of an ocean—their plan strongly relied on having the luck of the Tyches, especially this next part.
Please, Tyches, don’t let us get eaten, Hailey prayed as she exited the tunnel with her friends and crept towards the towering black gates. They remained firmly shut, which Hailey was kind of grateful for, considering they were the only thing separating them from the gigantic monster on the other side.
Aaron patted Alec on the back. ‘You’re up,’ he whispered, nudging his head towards Fifth, who had its back to them.
Alec hesitated in front of the gates, clenching and unclenching his hands, before finally blowing out a long breath and passing through the gates. They began creaking slowly open when he was on the other side, thinking someone was about to enter.
Fifth, however, knew better, recognising it as an escape, and whipped around, focusing its six flaming eyes on Alec as a thunderous roar tore from its three mouths; flecks of drool flew from its snouts and sizzled on the dirt.
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