Page 84 of Queen of the Wicked
“That’s what Erebos said,” Alessia added. “I’m hoping she can provide us with at least a general location here in Hell where we should search.”
They reached the gates, and Alessia shifted with her pack on her shoulders. It was supposed to be an easy trip, but one could never be too prepared.
She wore a tunic and pants with her hair in its usual braid to keep it away from her face, and she even had knives strapped to her thighs in case a situation arose that they weren’t accounting for.
“Okay, so I’m supposed tothinkof the place I want to Travel us to?” Alessia tentatively held her hand between her mother and Eryx like she’d seen him do at the witch’s cottage. “What if I think of the wrong place? It’s not like I remember it in vivid detail since I was knocked out on the way there.”
“Your intuition will guide you,” Eryx supplied,placing his hand atop hers. “Think of it as a moving train propelling you to your destination.”
Her mother nodded in encouragement, adding her hand to the top of their pile. “I frequently Traveled with King Amos, and he described it the same way. If you remember a memory there, that is where you will take us.”
“Okay. Well, here goes nothing,” Alessia murmured before closing her eyes. The only detail she remembered was waking up to Allegra’s sharp, terrifying teeth. And then…
Potions.Loads of them littered her walls in different vials and glass jars. Erebos sat by a fireplace, wrapped in a quilt, and it was that memory she clutched onto. Before she knew it, the wind began whipping around them, grass and dirt snapping at her ankles until the realm spun and they landed smack dab in the middle of a…forest.
They landed in aforest.
“We’ll work on it,” Eryx said, taking in the trees and thicket around them. “You Traveled us about a mile out from Allegra’s. Luckily, I’ve been here enough to recognize the area.”
“Dammit,” Alessia muttered. She had never been known for her patience.
“The more practice you have with it, the more accurate it will be,” Elyana reassured her. “It could have been worse. We could be in the middle of the Barrens.”
Eryx laughed. “Good point.”
“What are the Barrens?” Alessia asked. They began their trek to Allegra’s, autumn leaves and stickscrunching beneath their boots. It was odd being back on Earth and having the golden sun grace her face when she had gotten so accustomed to the red hue of the light source in Hell, but the familiar scent of pine and moss brought back fond memories of her childhood, where her mom and her would build forts out of sticks and play for hours.
The memory triggered that hallowed out section of her heart where her mom should still be—an irreparable wound that she feared would never hold the stitches she kept placing.
“They make up the strip of land separating Hell from the Dunes of Hades,” Elyana explained, drawing her back to the present. “Centuries ago, the Goddess of Death was rumored to have started her own kingdom, away from the other demons who resided in Hell. It was meant for the elite; only the strongest were granted citizenship. The Goddess of Death created the dunes to filter out the weak from those worthy enough to reside in the flourishing kingdom.”
Alessia swallowed thickly. “What happened to the demons who couldn’t make it past the dunes?”
“They were deemed unworthy,” she replied matter-of-factly. “Forced to survive on their own in the wastelands at the time. Now there is a castle and a town for all,” she noted. “Courtesy of Erebos.”
Alessia’s heart fluttered at the pure generosity of the man who deemed himself evil, and as the group traveled onwards, she became more irritated the longer she stewed in her thoughts.
Erebos considered himself a bad person, someoneunworthy of finding happiness and peace, but didn’t he see how many people he had granted happiness and peacefor?Sure, death had been bestowed, and he had sent souls to the Unknown, but those were the tainted souls with no chance of resurrection. They were too far gone.
Despite what he wanted to believe, the lord was agoodperson who tried to be as fair a ruler as he could, and Alessia made it her mission to make him realize that eventually.
“What do the legends claim happened to the Dunes of Hades?” Eryx asked. “I learned about them in passing, but no one in Hell knows their precise location.”
“That is because they are believed to be ancient ruins now,” Elyana replied as they approached the cottage. “No one has seen the forgotten kingdom since the Makers moved on to the afterlife. There have been hunches about its location, but nothing definitive yet.”
“You say that as if you are actively looking for it,” Alessia said.
Elyana laughed as a raven squawked from its perched position on the wooden rail. “Isn’t everyone? It is one of the greatest mysteries of the realms.”
Alessia stumbled back when the raven flew off the rail. At the speed of light, talons were replaced by feet, feathers transformed into flesh, and in their place was a stunning woman who seemed to be around Alessia’s age. With red hair that was a frizzy, curly mess and freckles that splattered her entire body, she was uniquely beautiful in a quirky sense, wearing a boho-inspired outfit and sporting different crystals around herneck.
“Brienne.” Eryx seemed surprised, bowing at the waist upon her arrival. “It has been a long time.”
“Yes.” She hummed and flicked her hazel eyes between the trio. “I have been on the south of the continent gathering herbs.” Striding for the door, she spared a glance over her shoulder and said, “You are welcome to come inside, but I’m afraid my mother is not in. I suspect she is delivering some of our supplies to the nearby shops in town. I have yet to see her myself upon my return.”
“That is very generous. Thank you,” Elyana answered.
The group climbed the rickety porch steps and followed Brienne into the small cottage that Alessia vaguely remembered. Glass jars filled the shelves around the room, with a worktable placed in the center that had an open spellbook surrounded by various plants and greenery.
