call it dark magic, and perhaps it was. Light and dark magic were distinctly different, but both forms could be used to obtain power.
It just so happened the dark magic had always served me best. Not only did it sustain my physical form, it soothed the riot in my chest, the strange chaos that seemed to be trying to take hold of me.
I despised the strange sensation deep in my soul. Would crush it with everything I had.
I breathed deeply of the mist and the magic that drifted up from the depths of the earth, letting it soak inside me and calm the beast of light.
It was the only thing that eased the tortured mess of my mind. The only thing that kept me out of Tartarus.
Soothed, I looked down in the abyss. “I have found her.”
Good. The voice whispered through the air, sinuous and deep. Only with her will we be able to expand the underworld to the Earth above. Soon, it will all be ours.
“When will I know her role?” I’d been working toward this goal for eons, it felt like. And I was so close. Yet I still had no idea the exact role she was meant to play. The heavens concealed that from me.
In three moon’s time the stars will align, and her purpose will be revealed. Take her to the Temple of Shadows to witness and learn.
The Temple of Shadows. I hadn’t been there in years, and it was a good day’s ride away. It would give me one night to learn what I could from her, and another to reach the plateau.
Soon, I would have answers.
Seraphia
Pain woke me. A horrible, pounding slamming at my skull.
Groggy, I opened my eyes. The light in the room nearly blinded me. An icicle of agony shot through my head, and I rolled onto my side and retched, dry heaves that produced nothing.
Gasping, I righted myself and propped my head between my knees.
Breathe. Breathe.
Slow, deep breaths got the worst of the pain under control, and soon, I could look up and take in the room.
It wasn’t that bright. Lamps shed a golden glow on the crimson and navy fabrics of the sumptuous room. A lush carpet covered the floor, and the furniture was nice.
I wasn’t on any of it, but it was nice.
Not the cold, damp prison cell I would have expected.
Especially considering my captor had knocked me out and left me. Fear sliced through me.
He had the power to do that whenever he wanted. A little blast of that powder, and I was out for the count.
The memory of the people in the village square flashed in my mind. They’d been flayed alive. By the man who had just captured me.
His word echoed in my head.
I am Hades.
No way.
Of course the gods and goddess might be real. I’d heard of people who’d met them. They were just a different type of supernatural, albeit the crazy powerful type. They rarely walked the earth though. Most couldn’t, from what little I knew. People needed to still worship them to give them that power, and the ancient Greek gods had fallen out of favor long ago.
I shuddered, thinking of my homeland. Of Nana.
She’d drilled into me that terrible things would happen if the shadow found me. Too bad she’d never known that the shadow was Hades, Lord of the Underworld. I’d done what she’d insisted, though, repressing my magic and avoiding emotion. Avoiding attachments.
Well, the shadow had still found me.
But why?
I was certainly no Persephone.
I was Seraphia, with shitty plant magic. I’d only been powerful enough to hit him with a damned fern.
It was enough to be embarrassing.
He had the wrong girl, anyway.
Not that he would believe me. Running was my best option, and I needed to get out of here before he came back.
I climbed to my feet and went to the window. It was open to the night air, bringing in the scent of the sea. Cold air chilled my skin, but it was the view that iced my bones.
Outside my window, the world had fallen into darkness. A large moon hung over the view at the back of my prison, shedding light on the crashing ocean below.
How long had I been knocked out?
Was it even the same day?
I leaned over the edge of the windowsill. Below me, the stone wall descended straight into the edge of the cliff, which plunged into the sea. Massive waves crashed against the base, their roar filtering upward. Soothing, yet threatening. Like a