Page 50 of Queen of the Wicked (Afterlife #1)
Alessia
“ S ince I was requested to go on this mission with you, shouldn’t I be aware of what, exactly, it is we’re looking for?” Alessia’s mother walked alongside her and Eryx towards the gates of Hell, where they’d hopefully Travel to Allegra’s house.
Alessia looked to Eryx for advice, but the general threw his hands up. “Divulging information is your call,” he said. “I was only ordered to be here for your protection.”
Eryx was the general of Erebos’s army, and Elyana had rescued the lord when he desperately needed it. He trusted them both, allowing her mother to see the glamour in Hell when it could get him exiled. If she were to trust anyone, it would be them.
“We are looking for Mose’s amulet,” Alessia eventually admitted.
Elyana’s eyes widened while Eryx seemed perplexed.
“It’s rumored that if one completes the amulet, they can decimate the realms and rebuild one of their own accord.
There are supposedly three gems, one hidden in each realm, and since Bastian has been so adamant about ending King Amos’s decree… ”
“Shit,” Eryx muttered. “You think Bastian knows about the amulet?”
“Well, we hope not, but if he does, we need to be one step ahead of him. If we can find the gems for the amulet, that’s all we’ll need to restore the balance of the realms. We can run Heaven and Hell the way King Amos did.”
Elyana’s eyes softened, a rare display of emotion before she cleared her throat and continued towards the gates. “If anyone had information, it would be Allegra. She is the oldest witch in the realms, possibly the oldest immortal.”
“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 to think of 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 a forest.
“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 sticks crunching 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, someone unworthy of finding happiness and peace, but didn’t he see how many people he had granted happiness and peace for?
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 a good person 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 her neck.
“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.
She eyed the fireplace Erebos had sat in front of when she first visited this cottage, resulting in a pang that rocked her heart and nearly sent her to her knees.
It was instant, an overwhelming tidal wave of fear that left her confused.
She was safe. She was with her friend and her mother. Nothing was wrong.
So why did she suddenly feel like the world was ending?
Alessia froze in the entryway, gripping onto the doorframe to steady herself.
Eryx was instantly at her side. “Is everything okay?” he asked.
“I think so, I just…” The ground tilted, but before she co uld fall to the floor, Eryx caught her and carried her to the chair beside the fire.
“What’s happening to her?” Elyana asked frantically.
Agony coursed through her, a level of anguish that threatened to take over her entire being.
It felt like the emotion would rip her apart, a part of her soul thrashing wildly in her chest like a rabid animal.
It wanted out, or it didn’t want to be here.
Alessia couldn’t settle on what it was attempting to tell her.
“Something is wrong,” Alessia whispered. “Something is very wrong.”
Brienne knelt before her, placing the back of her palm against her sweaty forehead. Her brows furrowed a moment later. “No fever,” she murmured. The witch’s fingers moved to her pulse, feeling the fluttering pace of her heart. “Do you have a mate?”
“ Shit .” Eryx shot to the door with impressive, lethal strides until he abruptly stopped in the doorway, his knuckles bleached from clinging to the doorframe.
As if remembering something, he glanced over his shoulder at Alessia, then back to the door.
A pained expression flitted across his face as he debated whatever internal struggle he faced.
Finally, he said to her,“Do not leave this cottage until I return.” Then, he moved his attention to her mother.
“I am trusting you to keep her safe, Elyana. My life depends on it. Our lives depend on it, but I am not leaving him alone without help. He can hate me for it later.”