Page 260 of Hekate: The Witch (Goddesses of the Underworld #1)

Back in the Forest of Silence

It was so quiet here

that the sound of her sobs

echoed around us mournfully.

‘She is at the centre,’

Styx grimaced.

I knew this, and yet

I had hoped

she would be closer.

But Hades was clever.

He knew that someone

would come looking for her,

and no one survived this forest.

Well. Almost no one.

Styx and I walked to the edge of the trees

and we heard the tendrils,

the serpents, before we saw them.

But Styx was ready,

and from her hands

came the poisonous waters

even the Gods feared.

I stood back as she bore a hole

through the forest,

killing murderous roots

of poisonous tree-mockeries

and chasing snakes away.

If I had thought walking here

with Thanatos was safe,

Styx made me feel invincible.