Page 131 of Hades' Shadow
Adrian shakes his head. “Thanks for doing that. I think the spells on that orchard are more than just tantalizing fruit. I think it amplifies your hunger.”
“I think you’re right,” I agree.
The hunger pains are a lot less pronounced than they were inside the orchard.
We move through a wasteland toward the bubbling river of fire. It’s a sea of lava and we can’t get too close to it or the heat of it sears my skin.
“What should we do now?” I ask, staring at the fiery lava.
“I think we should follow the river for a while to get away from the orchard,” Jayden says.
“We can’t get close enough to follow it though.” I chew my lip as I stare at the river.
“It ends at the entrance to Tartarus. We will need to follow it for a while.” Jayden rubs at his neck.
“Okay, as long as we can see the river and not burn to death, I think we will be fine.” I shrug.
Raven nods and wipes her brow of the sweat beading there.
“I fucking hate the underworld,” Raven growls. “Why does everything have to be a fucking mission here?”
“It’s not usually like this,” Jayden says.
He places his hand on the small of my back and we follow the river.
Raven stomps up next to me, glaring at the river and wiping sweat from her neck. “This fucking river and that damn orchard are normal.”
“True, but after everything else we have faced, a little heat is nothing,” Jayden says.
I chuckle at his words even as he runs a hand over his sweat-slicked face.
“What is that?” I ask as a giant boar materializes in front of us.
“Fuck,” Jayden growls and his shadows snake out in front of him.
“What is it?” I ask.
There are several boars in Greek history but this thing doesn’t look like one of them.
The boar shifts into a wolf and snarls at us.
Raven gasps, calling her ax. “What the fuck?”
“Empusa,” Jayden says softly.
Fucking hell. Why are these bitches back and in the underworld? I thought they were monsters brought back by the enemy?
The wolf shifts into the Empusa’s normal form, her bronze leg gleaming in the light of the river of fire.
“How do we defeat it?” Raven asks.
“Why is it even here? It’s a creature of the underworld. It shouldn’t be working with whoever stole the helm.” Jayden’s shadows pool at his feet.
“Jayden,” Raven says with wide eyes. “Who are they bound to?”
Before he can answer, the Empusa shrieks and launches herself at us. I duck out of the way before razor-sharp claws reach for me.
I reach up to call on my whip, but Jayden grabs my hand, shaking his head. “You are depleted. Let us do this.”
