Page 117 of Hades' Shadow
Raven cracks up laughing and the sound makes me smile just a little. She succeeds in lightening the dark mood I was in moments ago.
“So, what is Asphodel like?” I ask, peering over Jayden.
“I have never been there before. It’s like purgatory. No one actually knows what it’s like.” He shrugs.
I just don’t know what to expect. Will it be like Elysium? If it’s purgatory, then I’m guessing it’s not. I just can’t imagine it.
“I imagine it’s probably just a meadow with wandering souls like in the old depictions,” Jayden says.
“If you’ve never been there before, how do you know where you’re going?” Raven asks with a raised brow.
“My father had me memorize the maps just in case,” Jayden grumbles.
“That’s actually pretty smart.” I smile and bump my shoulder with his.
“Yeah, tell a twelve-year-old that.” He chuckles.
We wander through the forest of Elysium for hours. Jayden swears he knows where he’s going but my stomach starts to growl and hunger eats at me.
“We need to stop soon. I don’t know how much longer I can go on without food.” I groan and stumble into Jayden.
“Whoa, we still have the food in a couple of the packs. We are almost to the border. Once we get into Asphodel, we can stop for rest,” Jayden says as he wraps an arm around my shoulders.
Dizziness washes over me and I lean my head on Jayden’s shoulder. My stomach cramps painfully.
We walk for another hour before the landscape changes. My vision blurs and I shake my head to clear it.
“What the fuck is this place?” I grumble.
Raven steps up next to me. She sways and bumps me.
The trees give way to tall grass and spirits wander through them. They are nearly transparent.
“Where can we possibly set up camp?” Raven asks.
“The tall grass will help give us cover and I don’t think any demons are hanging out in Asphodel anyway,” Jayden says and runs a hand over his head.
“I hope those aren’t famous last words,” I say as I collapse to my knees, my stomach cramping so bad that my knees buckle.
“Beth,” Jayden says as he drops to his knees next to me. “We are almost there. Just hold on.”
He scoops me up in his arms and strides forward. Determination set in his expression.
Jayden’s arms tighten around me as his lips brush my forehead.
“Hold on. Let’s get across the boundary, and then we can eat something and rest.”
24
Jayden hands me a piece of bread when I blink my eyes open.
“You need to eat,” he says, waving the bread in my face.
“Gods, I’m starving,” I groan as I grab the bread from him.
“We have enough to get you through, but you need to ration the food as much as possible. We don’t know how long we are going to be here,” Jayden says, handing me some dried meat from his pack.
I take it gratefully and groan at the salty taste. I scan the area but all I can see is tall grasses surrounding us.
