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No, not so close to our destination, I thought resolutely.
"We have to get rid of her," I whispered to the unicorn, hoping it heard me. "As soon as I call now, you'll dodge to the left."
Although I didn't get any reaction from the animal, I knew it understood me.
I looked grimly at the soulless monster.
"Do you think I would make it that easy for you?" I growled at her. At that exact moment, I removed my hand from the animal's mane, clenched it into a fist, and punched her in the already protruding eye with all my might.
"Now!" I shouted loudly, ignoring the pain in my fingers. The unicorn made an evasive maneuver to the left, and the hand clutching my ankle let go. The Soulless cried angrily and fell to the ground, disappearing into the dark mists.
At that moment, we jumped after Hecate through the shining gate into the gardens of Tanael's realm.
CHAPTER 13
As soon as we landed on the soft grass, the portal closed behind us, leaving the world of the dead and its horrors behind.
The unicorn stopped beside the Goddess of Magic, who didn't seem slightly out of breath. Glauxa sat down on her shoulder and nestled her feathery head against her mistress. Hecate gently ran her long, slender fingers over the feathers and whispered something to her soul animal, which suddenly disappeared.
Awkwardly, I slid down from the unicorn's back.
"Thank you," I whispered as I stood in front of the magical animal and carefully placed my forehead on its snout. Its warm breath caressed my cheeks.
"You did well, girl," I heard Hecate's voice behind me. Slowly, I turned to her. Her face was emotionless, and her silver eyes stood out coldly. Disappointment hit the pit of my stomach. I really believed that this situation had somehow brought us together. But how could I assume that a goddess would put up with a simple human?
Completely unexpectedly, a grin stole onto the goddess's lips.
"You're a true Amazon," she laughed, eyeing me up and down. "The only thing we need to work on is your outfit."
I looked down at myself in confusion. Apart from my panties and weapon belt, I was stark naked and covered in dried mud. Hecate began to giggle, and I could no longer hold back. A chuckle turned into a hearty laugh, which the goddess joined in. Apparently, the ice between us had finally melted.
"I'm glad you two are having a good time!" Tanael's voice echoed darkly over us. He stood leaning against a palm tree, narrowed eyes looking at us grimly.
"I was already on the verge of storming Hades' realm and looking for you. What took you so long?" He was angry. Pissed? He had no right to be angry; after all, he had put us in this dangerous position. As soon as I had taken off the ring, I had become visible to these soulless monsters as a human. I realized that now. I would have known why I couldn't remove the ring if he hadn't always acted so secretively.
I stomped towards him with my fists clenched.
"I'll leave you two alone then," Hecate giggled behind me, but I barely heard her. My destination was the God of the First Light, Lucifer or Tanael, or whatever his name was.
"Are you trying to tell me you're angry with us?" I rumbled. Tanael's gaze was clouded by uncertainty for just a moment before he also came towards me.
"You've clearly put yourselves in danger! This would never have happened with me as your companion," he raged. "And all for that stupid human, your fiancé!"
"Stupid humans? Don't forget, I'm human too! We may not be blessed with such magnificence as you gods or angels, but if we are left ignorant, we are certainly not to blame for being pelted with fireballs by soulless monsters!" I shouted angrily, even though he stood very close to me.
"Fireballs? Soulless monsters?" Startled, he widened his eyes. Worry twined around the gold of his irises, only to spit fire again immediately afterward.
"How could you put yourself in such danger? Visiting someone in the world of the dead can't be that difficult without being noticed, especially when possessing this ring! To be noticed really is a gift—like a bull in a china store!" He literally spat in my face, igniting a new wave of anger in me.
Everything around me was forgotten. I energetically took the ring off my finger and held it under the devil's nose.
"Do you mean this ring, Tanael?" I asked challengingly. I was in a rage by now. Tanael's eyes fell on the ring, and I saw him swallow hard.
"If you'd had the goodness to tell me what purpose this ring serves, I certainly wouldn't have taken it off. But you and your damned games almost cost us our lives!"
He looked at me silently with wide eyes. All anger had disappeared, and something else was left behind: guilt—pure guilt.
"I..." he stammered. With his mouth open, he continued to stare at me indecisively.
