Lucia cracked a slight smile as she snickered, and I rolled my eyes. “Sorry. I don’t often find myself in the presence of a Goddess.”
“You are forgiven, poor, sinful male,” she said, her tone teasing.
I shrugged her off before my attention was dragged toward Selene as she lifted her hands.
“Prepare yourself,” Lucia warned.
“For what?” I whispered.
“She’s sending us to Elythias.”
I nodded as the glow of the trees around us grew brighter, the blue flames in the sconces growing. I’d never been to the Godsrealm—er...I guessed I was there now if we were in Selene’s Temple. It was strange to think of the other realm, of an entire world that nearly mirrored ours in the Mortalrealm. Stories had been shared with us our entire lives of the different continents, each unique—the land so rich with magic, you could feel it in the air, taste it in the water.
The light of the trees winked out, the blue flames dousing as darkness swallowed us. We plummeted, descending into an abyss I feared may never release us. My boots met mossy soil, and the darkness receded, revealing lush forest, the green of the moss and leaves so vibrant, that the plants of the Mortalrealm paled in comparison despite the cover of night.
Gods, it was beautiful.
The forest was so…alive. Enormous vines and ferns littered the trees that stretched toward the sky. Tiny, glowing orbs in purples, blues, and greens darted and danced through the trees, some huddling in the crooks of the branches as if hiding from us. Their lights illuminated the canopy above us, revealing tiny creatures watching with hesitant curiosity, and, for a moment, I could have sworn I could hear the faint sound of distant laughter.
I took a step forward, unable to take my eyes off the creatures watching us from up high, and I stumbled before Micah grabbed my arm to stabilize me. My eyes fell to the moss-covered soil to find I’d stepped in…
Holy Gods.
It was a hoof print, so massive, I could have laid down within it with room to spare.
“What the fuck made this?” I asked.
“Silvash,” Thalia muttered, her arms crossed over her chest, her gaze lingering on the forest, as if watching for something. “He must have passed through here not long ago. It still smells of him.”
There was no wonder in her eyes, nothing save for cold recognition and calculation. Thalia stepped forward and lowered to her knees before running her hand over the mossy dirt. Darkness crawled over her skin, swallowing her whole before falling away to reveal a large gray wolf, the scar overlapping her right eye stark against her gray fur as she lowered her muzzle to the ground.
Gods, she was stunning, her fur near silver.
“A pack of Kalruks came through here recently,” she said, turning south. “I’d say three to four of them, possibly a few hours ago. Headed south.”
“What’s a Kalruk?” I whispered to Micah.
“Nasty creatures,” he responded. “They stalk anything that wanders the forest at night, hunt them down and tear them apart. One isn’t too bad, but you don’t want to be taken by surprise by a pack of them.”
“Xander,” Lucia said, attention still drawn to the south.
A male approached, his bronze skin cast in the blue light leaking from the canopy of the trees. He glanced at me briefly before focusing his attention on Lucia, widening his stance and folding his arms behind his back. “Yes, Lucia?”
“You and your team will keep an eye on the forest, make sure the teams on the wall aren’t taken by surprise by those creatures.
“Understood,” he said before turning to call forth his team to get into position.
“Amaris, Keir.”
“Yes?” they said in unison.
“You have your orders; see the wall is cleared for us to get this mission underway,” she said before looking across the group. “The rest of you with us. We’ll split off once inside.”
“Thalia?” Micah’s voice drew my attention, and I found Thalia shifting back to her immortal form.
He grasped her arms before whispering something to her. She nodded, and something tugged deep in my chest at the hint of sorrow marking her face.
What exactly had they done to her in this place?
