Underworld

Part 4: Chapter 8

I decided to explore the place my mistress once called home. Everyone greeted me with kindness and curiosity when they heard that I was Amelia's regent. I smiled at every one of them because I saw what my mistress had told me. They are not weak but they are strong both physically and emotionally. I wish I could have been here when she was alive. I continued to roam when I found an odd room, the ceiling held many bodies that were wrapped up like mummies and in the center of the room there was a stone pool of water, Lena was wrapping a woman in the same fashion. "You're just in time." She spoke out. "Come"

I stepped closer to where she stood when I heard my sister. "What is this?" She asked.

"Valissa, the in-between place."

"In between what, may I ask?" I questioned her.

She did not have time to answer before Selene asked. "Is she dead?"

"No, she is becoming," Lena explained. "She has taken poison. It allows her to visit the sacred world. When she returns she'll see this world with new eyes" She wrapped the cloth around the woman's head.

"I don't understand what this is," Selene tells her while I stay silent.

Amelia spoke of a world beyond this one but she had never seen it. "We have long known there is more than just this world," Lena tells my sister as she covers the woman's eyes. "When my father first brought me down here, I felt as you both do now, but I have since been to the sacred world many times. My eyes see beyond the surface of so many things." Lena turned towards us. "I see much about the two of you"

"Such as?" I asked.

Lena looked at Selene before beginning to speak. "I have seen that you have loved a lycan, killed a vampire elder, and given birth --"

"Stop" Selene begged before turning away only to have Lena appear in front of her.

"I see you have lost your daughter, and how much pain this gives you deep inside where you always hide it."Lena holds her hands out to Selene, which she does accept. "She's a special child. Many battles will be fought and lost over her."

Selene almost looked hopeful for her daughter. "What else do you see?" She asked the blonde vampire.

"Darkness. One that touches us all. If you want to keep her safe you will need to go further than even a warrior of your renown has ever ventured before".

"And of me?" I asked her, scared of what she would tell me. "What do you see of me?"

She stared into my eyes before speaking. "As for you, I have seen that you were loved by two vampire elders, killed the first of the lycans, and are in love with the man you brought here." I bowed my head. "And yet you feel as though you have failed everyone you love."

"Because I have" I spoke in a broken voice. "This war has taken so much from me." Selene stared at me with pity which is something I do not want. "I could not save the woman and man who treated me like family and loved me like no other. I was asleep as the lycan I saw as a brother was ripped from me and my sister. His daughter is gone and I cannot do anything to protect her or my sister." I felt tears leave my eyes. "And the man I have grown to love so much now hates me because of my loyalty to his mother." I wiped my face. "I cannot bear more heartache. I cannot bear watching the last remaining few that I love to be killed because of this war."

Lena held one of her hands towards me, which I took. "The peace you will feel here is real." She tells us. "It seeps into your skin and comforts your soul."

"Tell us about the sacred world," Selene asked her.

The blonde stares at us and then looks past where we stood. "The water is the path," She said vaguely. I stared at her, trying to understand when I heard an alarm go off, alerting us about the lycans. We followed Lena to the armory where the coven members gathered to collect a weapon to defend themselves and this coven. "Just as I spoke of peace, war has followed you both here." She handed Selene a sword and I unsheathed my dagger...