The Underworld Crown (Series)

Chapter 23

"A couple of days," he said. "After that, we'll have to pass through the volcanoes to get to Greed City, where we can recoup and freshen up. Then it's onto Lust City."

"They don't sound very good," I commented, my concern brewing after having witnessed the horrors of Sloth City. The idea of more obscurity in the cities of Greed and Lust certainly was not appetising, nor the thought of volcanoes. "Do we have to go through those cities to get to the North Gate?" I asked. "Isn't there a...better option?"

He shook his head. "Unfortunately, not. It's safer to bypass cities rather than travel through abandoned areas where cannibals, wraiths and demons live."

As Alek spoke, my fear spiked and breathing intensified.

"Where do those creatures even come from?" I asked, licking my dry lips.

Alek shot me a concerned look over his shoulder. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Just tell me," I added. "Better to get a good idea of them in case we encounter any."

He shrugged. "Have it your way. Wraiths themselves are responsible for their own species. They traverse the driest areas of the Underworld, looking for souls to consume. If they find anyone – which they always do – they disconnect your soul from your body, essentially turning you into one of them." His voice turned bitter, "Wraiths were the original handiwork of the Goddess Lyssa of Wrath City."

My jaw dropped. "Gods and goddess' make the creatures?"

He scoffed. "You shouldn't be so surprised. We are in the Underworld, after all. Technically, they see it as their responsibility to create as much havoc as possible. And they enjoy it, too..."

The insinuation made me want to crawl under the ground, never to be seen again.

"Do all of the gods and goddesses have that power?" I asked. "Aergia could control how I behaved, but she didn't mention anything about creating demons."

Despite the heat, I shivered. In hindsight, I was grateful that Aergia didn't appear to have that power. If I'd seen a demon upon my arrival, I probably wouldn't have made it out of her castle alive.

Alek shook his head. "No, only some of them can. Eros, the God of Lust, creates sirens. Adephagia, the Goddess of Gluttony, loves to create cannibals–" he scowled, "–and Lyssa, Goddess of Wrath, is perhaps the worst of them all. She can create almost anything since her powers allow her to combine death and disease with witchcraft." He stilled for a moment. "Are you still with me?"

"Yep," I answered, although my voice was high-pitched and stressed. Possibly because I was stressed.

He continued, "Hades, however, is responsible for creating creatures that can't be killed, like hellhounds and this horse. All other creatures can be brought to an end in one way or another."

"This horse belongs to Hades?" I squeaked, looking down at my seat in horror. I started to swing my leg over and jump to the ground. Alek wrapped an arm around me and pushed me closer to him so that I couldn't move.

"There is no way I'm sitting on this horse," I growled, failing to push myself away from him. I scowled at the fact that even my few days' worth of mining had not built enough strength to push myself away from him.

"I'm not letting you off," he swore, voice low.

Oh yeah?

My heart was beating in overdrive, my panic rising even further. I knew that no matter what, I had to get off this horse. For a moment I stayed still and evened my breathing, giving Alek the impression I'd given up on wiggling my way from his prison. Finally, after Alek peeked behind him and saw my stillness, he retracted his arms and I took that moment as my advantage to escape.