The Demon Queen (Otherworld Series #5)

Chapter 12- The Welcome

We safely reached at the portal in half an hour's time.

"I hate these things." Pius said from beside me.

I snorted remembering that he had been stuck in a portal for six months just about a year ago.

"Want me to hold your hand?" I asked, an innocent expression on my face.

"Fuck off." He grouched and urged his horse away.

I was really thankful that the Vampires had normal Horses and not stupid Degnites. My mare was elegant and white, as cliche as that sounds, my choice in horses was like any other princesses.

Hanes was up on his own tall and strong light brown steed. His saddle was decorated with the royal markings of a Vampire. He wore a red cape over his black tunic and his cane was at his hip like a sword. I was pretty sure that he had a sword hidden inside that cane.

We watched the soldiers chant some words at the mouth of a cave.

"Why is the chanting necessary?" I asked.

"They are words honouring and thanking the goddess of magic. So that she lets us pass."

I cringed at the words goddess of magic. I had enough experience of the bad deeds a magical being could do. The word 'Magic' Will always remind me of Runeria.

"So you have to grovel a bit to make her happy enough to let us pass."

Hanes shrugged. "It is an ancient ritual. A sacrifice sometimes works for us, just because were from Greece, but the chanting is more efficient. "

It made sense if Hanes was referring to Hecate, the greek goddess of magic. She would approve of Greeks. No wonder Nikolai didn't mention anything about a sacrifice, he was a Russian.

The soldiers finished chanting. The portal opened. A lone hulking soldier passed through, maybe to make sure that it was safe. This was another thing I did not like in the vampire culture.

When I had travelled through a portal with the demons, Nikolai and I had passed through together, first. It had been the sign of a trusting King. One who cared more about the lives of his soldiers than his own...then even mine as he had taken me in with him.

But Nikolai was also rash and hopeless of the future as he had tried to kill himself in front of the Soul Shredder with his bomb trick. He certainly hadn't cared about his soldiers then, and again, hadn't cared about me. Or Alexei.

Thinking about Alexei made me confused.

I was sure that it was him under the executioners cloak. But why had he helped me? What made him go against his brothers?

"Come." Hanes said suddenly, breaking my train of thoughts.

I nodded and urged my mare through the portal. I braced myself for the rushing elevator type feeling that accompanied travelling through the portal and soon we reached a busy street in Sohue.

Otherworld was a parallel universe. It looked like Earth from above but it's regions were completely different. Humans had their completely different plane of existence. They were considered as weak in the Otherworld and were sometimes brought in as slaves.

Sohue was a country separated into two parts but mostly ruled by the Vampire King, Hanes. The Elves were the other part. As they were less in number they had specific places occupied. No outsider was allowed in their location. But Vampires were economical creatures. All other species of otherworldly creatures converged together in the Vampire part of Sohue. The economy was boosting.

Hence, Sohue was the Otherworld's equivalent of America.

The busy street barely noticed the royal party pass. I would consider it as disrespecting the king, but my thinking was several years old, and I hadn't really explored much the last time I was here. I had only accompanied Catra to the various places she had been too and hand managed to gather some info on the new age.