a place where the virtuous and heroic went.
But most mortals at the end of a war
came to the Asphodel Meadows.
War brought a great influx of lost souls.
I watched them, hidden away in the mists.
The last time there was a war on Earth,
I tried to count how many dead
awakened in the mists of these
quiet, grey meadows.
I learned quickly never to do that again.
Duty
When Styx first caught me
all by myself in Asphodel
she had been deeply upset
and did not hide her displeasure.
‘It is not your duty to be there,’
she said, gripping my arm
and nearly dragging me back
to my palace.
‘Why!’ I had cried out,
shocked by her forcefulness,
and she turned to me,
her split eyes cold with fury.
‘Hekate, I made a promise
to your mother to keep you safe.
The only immortals who roam
the Underworld do so
out of duty to Hades or
because they have been
imprisoned by another God,
