Queen of the Underworld | Book 3

• four •

I sat down in the middle of the clearing I'd been in before. I brought a book with me to read as I relaxed in the field.  I placed the book in front of me as I laid down and used my magic to keep it over my head to read.

Naida had said how great the clearing was. She was right. I forgot how peaceful Skryen was. I missed the lush grass and the deep, pungent scent of the trees and flowers that reminded me of home.

I stretched on the forest floor relishing in its familiarity. The grass tickled my arms and exposed back as the shirt lifted with my stretch.

Mehnit was close by, chasing the sprites that were beginning to rise just as the sun was setting.

I took in the sounds of the forest as night began to crawl across the sky. I watched the orange and yellow sky begin to darken and smiled. I loved nights in Skryen. I listened to the birds sing and the sprites hum around me.

I released my magic. It stretched out around me allowing me to feel the forest in a way no other could. Immediately, I felt the energy of the earth and trees and all the creatures in them. I allowed myself to get lost in it.

It'd been so long since I felt anything like it. I was grateful for it. I felt the life in everything around me. A great network of pulsing and flowing life that fed off each other harmoniously. I could feel the grass beneath me, the insects beneath that in the soil. I reached out further and felt the roots of the trees in the earth. I felt the trees interconnected and breathing, taking in the last rays of the day. I relaxed even further feeling the water of a nearby bubbling stream that fed into the lake below the mountain range.

I felt peace at last. A well deserved, earned peace after everything that happened.

I dived deeper letting it fill me further. I was drunk on everything I was feeling. It was glorious and exhilarating. I could feel myself soaring through the air, in the life of everything around me.

The further I reached, the more it filled me.

I let it.

I frowned as something began to push back. I reached out to it curiously. It wasn't like anything I felt before. It was dark like tar. I reached out again and immediately, I slammed back into my body.

I fell back so swiftly and so harshly, the book that had been hovering over me fell over my face. I yelped as it crashed on my nose and fell to the side.

Somehow, in the small time I'd let myself relax, the stars had come out. The inky darkness of the night had overtaken the clearing around me.

How long had I been out?

The floor beneath me was cool and wet and when I looked at the back of my arm, I was covered in mud. "Ew."

A deep chuckle made me look up from the floor.

My breath caught in my throat when I looked up and saw the man standing near me. To say that Julian radiated sex appeal was a massive understatement. He was perfect.

I could tell he was training up until he appeared. He was wearing his standard gloves and boots with his white shirt and black pants. His strong, burly arms were crossed in front of him showing his perfect training physique. His arms looked stronger since the last time I saw him. He was building muscle but it didn't look unpleasant. He looked like he had been spending most of his time weight training and exercising.

Of course, he would be. He'd come out of retirement to train and fight again, in case the Underworld needed his army again. He had led troops once, fought in battles and wars for centuries. His black hair— black since he had dark magic, like most of the Underworld— was short, leaving it only slightly longer and out of his grey eyes.