Queen of the Underworld | Book 3

• nineteen •

//Song: Descent - Lawless feat. Dawn Golden-Love this song it reminded me much of them together. Don't know why. Melody maybe?

PLEASE READ: A far warning, and I don't normally do this, this chapter wasn't easy to write. It may be difficult to read. I don't shy away from descriptions in this one. I don't leave much to the imagination. If anything having to do with the violence of war isn't your thing, skip this chapter.

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I breathed in the forest as we continued up and down the winding roads. I let it fill my lungs completely, welcoming the frosty air around me. I felt the forest calling me. I felt it calling my power.

I wanted to touch everything. I wanted to feel the hum of life in the forest beneath my fingers.

Every time I did, the trees, the ground, the water responded enveloping me a comforting embrace.

Welcoming me home.

"It's incredible," Julian said at one point. "Everything was dead and now it won't stop calling me."

I turned to him with a smile.

"I can't believe you did this."

I shook my head reaching for his free hand. I held his hand with both of mine. It was soothing. He didn't realize he was giving off the same kind of energy. "We did this." 

He laughed softly, shaking his head as he did. When he looked up again, his eyes raised he stopped.

I stopped with him, following his eyes.

Large marble arches towered in the horizon past the trees. Gates, I realized.

Julian pulled my hand back making me look at him. A moment before, he had been happy but when he looked at me again, his expression changed. He was solemn, struggling to find words again. "Emylin, I want you to prepare yourself."

I frowned.

I watched his Adam's Apple bob as he swallowed. "You might not like what you find. Remember, Robyn attacked Elysium. He killed Elysians. Warren did his best afterward to do right by them."

Slowly, I nodded.

He placed a comforting hand on my cheek. "I will be with you, every step."

I placed my hand on his, appreciating his sentiment. "Thank you."

I exhaled slowly when I faced the gates again, gathering my courage. I wanted to learn about Elysium. I wanted to know more about where I came from. I never actually considered what I would find when I finally made it there.

What would I find? What if it wasn't something I was ready to see?

With Julian's hand in mine, I spectered to the arches.

I had been right about the arches. They were a grand entrance with larger than life doors between the arches. The entrance was at the end of the trail which overlooked a large valley full of trees and rivers. The doors swung open, the strong wind made them move on their hinges, making a terrible creaking sound as they did.

I moved past the doors, pulling one of them open to let myself and Julian through. The doors opened to a large courtyard, the center of which held a very large, empty fountain. Statues and busts of women and men converged in the middle, reminding me of the fountains of older European cities. Large, marble buildings were on either side of it with a set of stairs that led away and up from the courtyard away from view.