When Loki's consort and soulmate marries his rival to save their son from a curse, a prophecy leads to consequences even the God of Chaos couldn't predict.
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The Unseelie Goddess of War's revenge against Asgard's Dark Prince puts him in a no-win s...
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Although I knew Loki wasn't walking us into a rock face, I still couldn't stop my instinctive flinch when my eyes were convinced I was millimetres from smashing my face into unyielding stone. Stumbling, my eyelids closed at the last second, then flashed open to find a dim grey twilight surrounding us.
Loki continued to hold our hands, guiding us forward into a massive cavern. I couldn't tell where the faint light came from. There was no obvious source. Instead, it seemed to emanate from the rock itself. Lacking much in the way of distinguishing features, the walls, floor, and ceiling all had the same nondescript grey tone.
Unnerving in its sameness, the hair stood at the back of my neck.
Indeed, the sole feature in the entire space was three dark tunnel mouths on the far side, faintly discernible due to the colour contrast. As we approached, a rushing, almost roaring sound reached my ears.
It's too quiet.
With the sound emerging from the tunnels, I finally realized what had gooseflesh rising on my skin. Our footsteps made no noise. Even our breathing was utterly silent.
I tapped my foot on the rock under my feet, yet no sound reached my ears. Stomping my foot gave me the same eerie silence. Frowning, I opened my mouth to speak, and Loki caught my eye, shaking his head.
He guided us into a dark tunnel opening on the far right and the sound resolved to something recognizable—water crashing over rock in a torrent.
"We should be okay to talk now, with the river's noise in the canyon masking us," Loki murmured, releasing our hands, but continuing to walk deeper into the tunnel.
"What is it we are not wanting to draw the attention of?" I whispered.
"The hellhounds that guard the Naihe Chasm bridges over the River Styx. The dead have no voices as they pass through greylands until they cross one of the chasm bridges. I don't particularly want to be dog food, do you?" Loki asked, with an amused quirk to one side of his mouth.
Shaking my head, I followed him.
The water's roar grew louder with each step.
"How will we get past the hellhounds?" Shannon asked.
"We only have to pass Cerberus, as he guards the tunnel to the soul gate. Hopefully, he'll be asleep. He doesn't usually bother the souls passing him. This is the main route for the dead to enter Helheim. It's Garm and Modgud that we don't want to attract the attention of. Those hounds guard the tunnels to the demon gate and ghost gate. No one gets through those tunnels without a token from Hades. We're going to need one when we leave with Baldur," Loki said.
"Do I want to know why they are called the demon and ghost gates?" Shannon asked, frowning.
"Hecate, Goddess of Witchcraft, Poisons, and Necromancy, makes her home in Helheim, on the frozen plateau. That part of the realm belongs to her. Like Hades, she is half Vanir and half Jotun, although I'm not sure what race of giant. Her creatures use those gates," Loki explained as we turned a corner in the tunnel and the grey cavern disappeared from view.
