Page 296 of The Spider Queen
But my fate had always been tied to the Prince of Darkness—and now I was in Hell. We were inevitably intertwined, ever since the first moment we became aware of one another.
Finally, the sun was fully aloft and I stood up and dusted off my behind. The day promised to be bright and hot, and I wondered where Lucifer had gone.
Dare I admit that I missed him?
He was the only entity, aside from Cerberus, that I’d seen. Where were the demons and other fallen angels who called Lucifer lord and master?
I began to walk. Not for any purpose aside from sheer curiosity. It was green meadow as far as the eye could see, and yet, I wanted to know what was past it. Would I encounter more craggy mountains like the range Lucifer had flown us over or would there be something else? An ocean, perhaps?
How vast was Hell?
Was this to be my existence? Wandering through Hell, alone, except for Lucifer who chose to either anger me or abandon me?
We were warriors with words, lashing out with our hurt and our betrayals. Neither one of us wanted to be vulnerable. Could I really trust the Prince of Darkness not to deceive me? Not to take advantage of me? Even though he’d claimed it was my desire for him that had bested me, I didn’t think for a moment he wasn’t a scheming opportunist.
Green grass slowly gave way to red rocky ground. The terrain became uneven, and though I watched my footing, I didn’t see that the land opened up in front of me. I took a wrong step and fell, sliding down into a chasm. My knees and elbows bumped against rocks on the slide down.
When I came to a stop, I was on my back, winded, and looking up at the sky. I coughed into the swirling dust. I sat up, my hand going to the back of my head. There was a decent-sized lump at the base of my skull, but when I pulled my hand away, there was no blood.
I looked around. I’d fallen into a hidden canyon. The trail snaked around a bend, so I had no idea the actual size of the gorge. I thought about climbing back up, but the stone sides were smooth and there were no handholds.
Sighing, I got up. I dusted off my jeans, realizing I’d lost my flip-flops somewhere on the way down.
“May I have another pair of shoes? Preferably sneakers?” I waited, but nothing appeared. I realized I’d asked Lucifer for what I wanted and he wasn’t here to grant my request.
The sun was high in the sky, so I assumed that meant it was midday, but I wasn’t even sure how time passed in this realm.
I began to walk, wincing every now and again as my bare feet stepped on jagged rocks. I rounded bend after bend; the canyon was the width of three broad people standing side-by-side and never widened, but I had more than enough room to maneuver.
When I turned the next curve, I noticed a splice in the side of the canyon wall. Every few seconds, a blast of mist appeared.
Had I found some underground hot spring?
Curiosity killed the cat, but I was immortal, and Lucifer had told me nothing would harm me here.
I went to investigate.
The crack in the wall was barely large enough to squeeze through. It was dark—sunlight didn’t penetrate here, and I couldn’t see anything in front of my face. When the mist hit my cheeks, I gasped in surprise. It was cool, not warm like I had assumed. It wasn’t a hot spring after all. I touched the wall and slowly crept forward. There was sand underneath my feet, so I didn’t worry about anything sharp slicing my skin.
It was slow going, and I had to angle my body since there wasn’t enough space to walk with my chest forward. It was narrow and every now and again, I felt a rock rake across my arm. Finally, the tunnel widened and spilled out into a cavern.
Light poked holes through the ceiling of the cave, and I gave my eyes a few moments to adjust. After a few blinks, I could see clearly.
The stalagmites and stalactites were made of indigo crystal prisms that glinted from a seemingly internal light. I reached up to touch a stalactite.
It screamed.
I placed my hands over my ears to blot out the cry. It turned to a moan, and then the ground underneath me shook. I attempted to maintain my balance, and so I reached out to grab a stalagmite, which made the entire cave shudder.
Suddenly, the moaning stopped and everything was still. My heart pumped hard and fast and felt like it was lodged in my throat.
“You called for the Sibyl?” an eerie voice said.
I looked around, finding no one.
“A Sibyl?” I asked. “An oracle, you mean?”
The voice—a woman’s—laughed again. “Yes.”
