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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Of course it's volcanoes.
That my first glimpse of the wider realm of Helheim was mountains vomiting molten lava and belching ash into a choked orange sky did not surprise me. Although I hadn't met him, Hades seemed to be quite the showman. If you'd picked a postcard image to represent Hell, this was it, exactly as advertised.
Ash crunched under my boots as we walked farther from the Soul Gate and out onto the spit of land. Between the volcanic mountains that I presumed held Tartarus and the peninsula on which I stood, a silvery grey river flowed. Along its bank, humanoids of various races—indistinguishable from one another with dark soot covering their skin, hair, and ragged clothes—tore at their hair and wailed.
To my left, a large, fast-flowing waterfall cascaded from the cliff-face to form a turbulent river. It intersected with the moaning quiet of the silver grey, ash-choked river, blending first into a sludgy grey, then a lighter, opaque blue-grey when the waters reached the jutting tip of land, to a semi-translucent pale blue as the conjoined flow continued beyond. Across the swirling waters, a series of cliffs rose at least one hundred metres—high enough I couldn't see anything above the cliff tops.
Within the cliff, a cave opening yawned like a dark mouth, a tongue extended into a dock out into the water. On this side of the rapidly flowing river, another dock stood. A boat tied to a black pillar floated, bobbing, while a figure in a dark grey cloak, his hood up, leaned against the pillar.
"Is that Charon?" Elatha asked, beating me to the question.
"Yes. He'll take us over the River Styx and we can find somewhere to rest in the slums of the undistinguished dead. His boat provides a little protection against the river's impact, but we are still going to need to find somewhere quick to recharge our energies," Loki cautioned.
"Would it be better if we teleported across? The river wouldn't affect us as much then, right?" I asked as we approached the dock.
Loki winced and shook his head. "I can't teleport in Helheim. Nor can I conjure, astral project, or use illusions. I can't shapeshift into anything large enough to carry the two of you." He caught my hand and stopped me, green eyes solemn as he held my gaze. "Be careful, Shannon. Your powers will work here, but not as strongly, and will require far more energy. You don't have a large reservoir of energy yet. Don't drain yourself. If you drain yourself too far, you'll die, and we only have enough elixir for one."
"So you're saying I shouldn't try to lift us across using the air, either?" I asked, squeezing his hand reassuringly when alarm flashed in his expression. "Loki, I promise I'm not looking to do anything foolish. I'm only asking to find out what my limits are."
Loki closed his eyes, let out a slow, shaky breath, then met my gaze again. "Please Shannon, I need you to be cautious. I can't lose you and Aidan both if we aren't successful."
Elatha turned back to rejoin us after walking ahead. His expression darkened, eyes narrowing as he caught Loki's words. "Are you being imprudent, Shannon? If my lesson last year wasn't sufficient, I'm sure Loki and I can come up with something more memorable," he growled.
