Page 52 of The Beyond
When she knew that he was out, she pulled herself free from his arms and tiptoed out onto the balcony.
In the time they had been gone, the weather had changed. Thankfully, now it was warmer than it had been. She moved further away from the house and then turned and looked at the building.
Everything she loved was there. Everything except Tara.
Sitting in the tall grass, she closed her eyes and sent a mental message to her sister, telling her that she was working on coming back to Hidden Creek. That she was well. That she loved her. She hoped that Tara would receive it.
She opened her eyes again, then she concentrated as hard as she could, trying to remember every detail about the Underworld. About the place she’d barely seen as her eyes had been glued to the flames.
“Well, well,” the same hissing voice said right next to her.
This time, she jerked her gaze around and stared at the daemon. It was a massive black and silver creature that, normally, she would have described as angelic looking. It had long silver wings that stretched out as tall as trees. Its body was so black it caused no light to bounce from it. She couldn’t tell if it was naked or even if it was male, for that matter. In its right hand, it held a rope. Attached to that rope were more than a dozen people, dangling from their feet. Their screams were so loud, Selene wanted to cover her ears. In its left hand, it held a cage full of more people.
As she watched, it set the cage down on the ground.
This world was nothing like her Beyond, which was full of dull but beautiful colors. Here, everything was charred and black or gray.
“We knew you would return,” the daemon hissed as it bowed its head to her in some sort of act of respect.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“Erebus. I guard the place of darkness between the Underworld and the worlds,” it answered. “I am darkness, and you are one of my masters.” It bowed its large head again.
Her eyes kept returning to the humans in pain. “Who are they?” she asked, motioning.
Erebus glanced down at the cage and the people dangling from the rope. The fact that none of them called to her for help or stopped wailing in pain didn’t go unnoticed.
“They are the lost. I am taking them to the river where they will travel to the gates,” Erebus answered.
Selene frowned. They were the lost? As in souls? Damned souls. She felt a shiver up her spine.
“If I tell you to release them, what will happen?” she asked.
Erebus didn’t balk at her question. Instead, he simply answered, “They will spread from here like a plague and infect the living worlds, always searching for a way back to the river so they may be judged.”
Okay, so they were better off where they were, screaming and basically being tortured.
“What do I need to do to stop Moros?” she asked.
Erebus shook its head. “You? Nothing, my goddess.”
She grew frustrated. “How do we stop Moros?”
“Only Elpis can stop Moros,” Erebus answered.
“How do we find Elpis?”
“Pandora will waken Elpis when it is time.”
“Why does my brother believe we need to be here in two days?” she asked.
Here Erebus paused. “The Fates must be summoned. They will show the path to Pandora, who was trapped in a realm. A great distance will need to be traveled. A price must be paid.”
Erebus bent and picked up the cage again. “By coming here, in the flesh, you have caused the first lock to be unchained. Two more will need to be unchained before they can be summoned.”
She frowned and suddenly felt an urgency to leave.
“What happens when I leave here?” she asked.
