Emblazed (6 page)

A huge black castle loomed in the distance. It towered over everything, the top reaching
at least fifteen stories in height. I could feel something tug me in that direction,
and I hoped that it was our bond restoring since we were closer.

Mi amante? Mi amante, I’m here. Tell me where you are,
I said, attempting to reach Brielle.

Jace? Is th … you? I can bare … he … you.

Her words sounded like I was listening to a radio station that was out of signal range.
Gods, it was so good to hear her voice in my head again.
I can’t understand you, baby. Are you okay? Where are you?

I’m fine. In Hade … cas … I miss you ple … hur …

Damn it.
I couldn’t understand everything she was saying. Suddenly, an image of the room Brielle
had described from her most recent nightmare flashed in my head.
Is that where you are, mi amante?

Yes.

I’ll be there soon. I love you.

I lo … you, too.

We had reached the banks of the marsh, and the shades had already started exiting
the boat. We followed, but once on land, we veered right instead of continuing to
the Plains of Judgment where the shades were headed. Cerberus stood guard on the other
side of the marsh, on the bank in between the Acheron and Styx rivers. Each of his
three heads tracked our movements as we walked, his red eyes glaring menacingly at
us.

“How are we going to get past him? Look how fucking big he is!” Kimber exclaimed.

She had a point—each of Cerberus heads was the size of Zane in height and about the
same in width. It would be a challenge to escape if we had to deal with him.

“Let’s not worry about that now. I talked to Brielle. She’s in the castle, just like
we thought,” I said, changing the subject.

“You talked to her? Oh my God, is she okay?” Kimber urgently asked.

“She’s fine. We need to move fast before Hades figures out that we are here. He may
move her,” I replied.

I didn’t want him doing anything else to try and break our bond either, especially
since it seemed to be slowly coming back. My body still hurt from the withdrawals,
but at least I was able to communicate with her.

We came to the Asphodel Meadows, which had an illuminated fence surrounding it that
was at least ten feet high. A gate with a security scanner faced us, and I pondered
aloud, “How are we going to get in? We don’t have any brands.”

“We could wait by the gate until a shade comes and enters. Then, we can follow them
in,” Zane suggested.

“Fuck! I don’t want to stand around here waiting,” I gritted angrily.

“Let me try something,” Kiera offered. She stepped closer to the gate before holding
her arms out towards it.

The bars began shake as Kiera attempted to move the gate with her Air. Her face scrunched
in concentration as her own body trembled with effort. The gate shook more violently
as she continued to assault it with her power. She slowly spread her arms apart, and
the gate creaked in protest before sluggishly obeying.

“Hurry and go through! I can’t hold it much longer!” Kiera yelled.

I didn’t need to be told twice. I ran through the gate with Kimber and Zane trailing
behind me. Once we crossed, Kiera struggled to keep the gate open and run to us at
the same time. She stumbled over the threshold before falling to her knees, the gate
slamming shut behind her. Sweat coated her face as she panted heavily to regain her
breath.

Zane knelt by her side and pulled her into his arms, cradling her as he stood to carry
her.

A flash of jealousy streaked across Kimber’s face before it set in an impassive frown.
She crossed her arms and followed, but it wasn’t long before Kiera told Zane, “I’m
fine. Put me down, please.”

Zane complied and Kiera’s legs wobbled slightly as he let go. He reached for her again,
but she brushed his hands away before saying, “I’m fine, just a little shaky.”

We walked further into the meadow, which was teeming with shades. I could see a gold
glowing symbol on each of their translucent wrists – the Greek lowercase a, α, for
the Asphodel in Asphodel Meadows.

As we passed by the masses of shades, I wondered what they did for the rest of their
existence. According to myth, all the souls were forced to drink from the Lethe so
they would forget their lives on Earth.
Did they even have a personality anymore?
They resembled zombies, without the hunger for flesh, as they sluggishly walked around
in a daze. Not my idea of how to spend eternity—I had much different in mind for Brielle
and I.

In that area of the Underworld, the ground was covered in green grass and dotted with
white and yellow flowers. According to legend, the Asphodel Meadows were named for
the Asphodel flower, which I assumed were the flowers that dominated the landscape.

The sky above us was a pale blue, dotted with sparse white clouds. I hadn’t paid attention
when we entered, but it seemed that each area of the Underworld had its own landscape
and sky. Further in the distance, a bright blue sky with white fluffy clouds bordered
the one we were in. In the opposite direction, a pitch black one with occasional flashes
of lightning made up another section of the Underworld sky. I assumed that was where
Tartarus was, given that it housed pure evil.
Hades should be thrown in that pit to rot.

Jace, look at me. Look at me!

Brielle? What are you talking about, baby?

I frantically searched around for her as a scream that I instantly recognized as hers
tore through my head. Images of me being attacked by demons, just like in Brielle’s
nightmare, filled my mind.

Jace! No-o-o!

What was going on? I wasn’t even in there. Brielle’s sobs and shrieks pierced my mind
again, sending me into a dead run as everyone’s calls filled my ears and Brielle’s
screams filled my head.

Jace is here! Thank Gods!
I needed to get out of my bonds so that I could reach him. Feeling his presence again
was like an immense weight had been lifted and replaced by a soothing calm. I almost
felt whole again, and I couldn’t wait until I was in his arms again.

I set to work on finishing the process of releasing my Earth since I had been unable
to complete it earlier. I pulled energy into my aura, which had become almost as simple
as blinking. It was as if I was connected to all my surroundings, one with everything
around me.

I could feel it all, like it was an extension of myself. The energy fluidly flowed
through me, infusing me with the strength I needed to break the remaining barriers
that held my Earth. I smiled as I felt the last piece crumble, satisfied with my progress.

Next was my Fire. I knew Fire would require much more energy since it was the most
volatile element, and would probably have stronger barriers. I could feel it fighting
inside me, trying to escape its bonds just like I was.

The intensity of it increased as it felt me summoning it and pushing against the barrier.
The air trembled around me as I pulled in more energy, channeling it through me and
shooting it into the obstruction holding my Fire. The energy crashed into the blockade,
creating a gaping hole that my Fire burst out of before incinerating the remnants
of its former prison.

I was overjoyed, but you wouldn’t have known that by looking at me. I was exhausted,
and my appearance showed it. My head hung and my body sagged from all the energy I
had expelled. All I wanted to do was sleep, but I needed to free myself of the invisible
chains and get to Jace. We needed to get out of the Underworld before Hades realized
he had come for me.

The problem was that I couldn’t fight what I couldn’t see. I pulled and flailed around;
trying once more to do anything I could to free myself. “Fuck!” I screamed in fury.

Even though I didn’t want to, I thought about using my Akasha to decimate the bonds.
I didn’t want to completely drain myself, but it looked like my only option, unless
I wanted to wait until Jace arrived. We didn’t have that kind of time to waste, lest
Hades walk in to catch us escaping.

Just then, Hades walked in with that stupid smirk on his face, the one I couldn’t
wait to remove. When he reached me, he sneered as he said, “I’m going to give you
one last chance to surrender your power to me. I shall spare you and you can go back
home. If not, you can stay here while I continue to torture you until you beg me to
take it.”

I snorted. “That will never happen. I would never give you my power, even if I knew
how, which I don’t.”

“Not even for the life of your flame?” Hades asked smugly.

I stiffened as fear spread over me.
Had he found Jace?
He couldn’t have—Jace just got here.
I could still feel him, and he wasn’t in the building yet.

Hades directed his attention to the door, which opened to two minotaurs dragging Jace
between them.

No. No, no, no!

I concentrated on talking to Jace in my mind, but he didn’t respond. He still felt
like he was somewhere else in the Underworld, not standing right in front of me. I
knew our connection had issues from being apart, but it should have been back to normal
once he was in front of me.

He barely struggled against his captors, and he wouldn’t even look at me.

Jace, look at me! Look at me!

He still didn’t respond. Something wasn’t right. I couldn’t believe that it was Jace.
All of my senses except sight told me it wasn’t, but I couldn’t deny it when he stood
before me. He looked like my Jace, and given I was close to being delirious, I didn’t
put much weight on not being able to hear or feel him.

“Last chance—submit your power to me, or he will die,” Hades threatened.

“But, I don’t know how. Please, don’t,” I begged.
Fuck, I don’t want to resort to begging, but this is Jace.
I’d have done anything for him, even damn humanity. I didn’t care whether I was being
selfish or not, Jace was my world, the only one that really mattered to me.

Then, my nightmare sprang to life before my eyes. The minotaurs moved away as the
demons and skeletons from the walls converged on Jace. “Jace! No-o-o!”

I pulled and fought against my bonds as tears blurred my sight. I couldn’t feel anything
that was happening to him, which further confused me as to what transpired with our
bond. All I could focus on was Jace fighting off demons as desperation and rage pulsed
through me.

I used it to empower my Akasha, but I was so consumed with emotion that I had no control
over the tremendous power that streamed out of me. It erupted from my body, engulfing
the room in light while wildly shooting in all directions, including upwards where
the invisible bonds imprisoned me.

I fell to the floor in a heap, finally free. I looked up, frantically searching for
Jace among the piles of charred bodies that had been in the path of my Akasha. Chandeliers
sat in fragments in between the multitude of bodies and their strewn parts scattered
across the floor. The thrones were on opposite sides of the room, embedded in the
walls, and piles of ash smoked in various places throughout the chamber.

Hades was nowhere in sight, and I hoped that I had obliterated him into one of the
mounds of dust, even though he had probably fled like a coward when everything had
started happening.

I tried to stand, but I was too weak to support myself. Dots spotted my vision as
I dragged myself down the stairs, praying that I could find Jace in the carnage in
front of me before I blacked out. I reasoned that, since I was still alive, he was
too. I couldn’t fathom that our bond could be that fractured.

I saw the red tips of his hair beneath a mass of blackened bodies. My chest tightened,
my heart strangled by the thought that Jace might be dead or dying because of my carelessness.
Please be okay, please be okay.

I crawled over the smoking remains of the demons, the stench of which caused me to
vomit on some of them. I finally made it to Jace, and I pushed the bodies covering
him, but they wouldn’t budge. I sobbed as I continued, only managing to free his face
and chest before I collapsed from my efforts.

My head rested on his chest, which wasn’t rising and falling with breath. I couldn’t
hear his heartbeat, my most cherished sound in the whole world. My own heart shattered
as I took in his charred face, his dead eyes staring back at me. Darkness crept in,
and the last thought I had before I was pulled into nothing was that Jace couldn’t
be burned.