Page 50 of Hekate: The Witch (Goddesses of the Underworld #1)

But What Lay Beyond These Riverbanks?

I found myself lying awake with this question often.

Gods did not need sleep, but we did sleep for pleasure.

However I tossed and turned, picturing the stories about this dark realm which was now my home.

I had to know more. It was like a hand wrapping around my throat, this curiosity. It would not let me breathe .

One day, the need was so strong I made my plan.

I told no one. Not Styx when she visited.

Not Charon when he came to sit with me by my window.

Not Pallas on his rare trips to my palace with a new carved gift.

I waited until all was quiet before I moved through those heavy doors onto the familiar riverbanks.

Here, I was even more caught in the feeling of emptiness when I saw the endless darkness around the glowing river.

No wonder I felt compelled towards the water: it was the only source of real light around, even if it was coming from the infinite souls occupying its depths.

Was this the only place the dead lived? I had asked Charon, and he had hesitated before saying no.

There was more to this place. But no matter how much I begged, he would not elaborate.

So I went where I had seen his boat go. I walked along the riverbanks to see where the river led.

I was strong now, nourished from regular meals of ambrosia and nectar.

Strength does not mean invincibility , Styx had once warned me when she found me trying to reach for the waters again. As I walked, my heart pounding and a feeling of adventure in my bones, I realized that strength is the capacity for so much more than invincibility.

It fed the need and hunger for more .