Page 249 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
Mal hesitated, just for a heartbeat.
Her eyes flicked over her shoulder, searching for the creature.
But it was gone.
Gone, as though it had never existed. No longer her burden. No longer her choice. And so she turned back.
Nodded softly against Ash’s chest.
Smiled.
Their daughter reached for her then, tiny hands grasping, curious and warm.
‘Well, hello,’ Mal said, her voice softening as Medea’s small fingers traced over her cheeks, as though committing her to memory.
And Mal…
Mal let herself be led.
Back towards the keep. Back towards the life she had dreamt of.
And, step by step, she forgot theworld.
Have you never wondered why one of the main rivers in the Underworld is called Acheron?
Tabitha Wysteria
Kage reappeared in the Underworld at the river’s edge, where the dark waters whispered endlessly against the shore. He did not linger. He waited only long enough for Charon to arrive, his patience fraying with every passing heartbeat as the ferryman guided him across in silence.
The moment his boots struck the dock, Kage ran.
He ran without pause through the dim streets of Asphodel Meadows, past wandering shades and hollow-eyed souls, through fields of black roses that brushed against him like reaching hands.
He did not stop. Not once.
All the while, a single desperate plea echoed through him, raw and relentless.
Please. Just a little longer. Let her hold on. Let me say goodbye.
By the time he reached Tartarus, breath ragged and chest burning, the world seemed to narrow into a single, fragilemoment.
And then he saw them.
Zagreus still sat upon the black volcanic ground, his body slumped, his head resting against the great white wolf as though he could anchor her there through sheer will alone.
Kage’s knees gave way.
He collapsed before them.
His gaze found Wren’s.
Those blue eyes, so bright once, were now dimmed, barely open, clinging to the last threads of light.
‘She was waiting for you to return,’ Zagreus said quietly. He sounded… small. Lost. Like a child who had finally realised no one was coming to guide them home.
Kage did not answer. He could not.
He dragged himself forward instead, the ground rough beneath his hands, until he reached her. Gently, so gently, he pressed his forehead to Wren’s snout, as though afraid she might vanish if he touched her too harshly.
