What Sleeps Within the Cove by Harper L. Woods

Author:Harper L. Woods
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group

THIRTY-SEVEN

ESTRELLA

Medusa led me through one of the tunnels, the walls spreading farther apart to allow the passage to widen. The purple flowers on the stone walls swayed in a breeze I couldn’t explain, as if something blew through them and them alone. It wasn’t until I stepped closer, running my palm over the surface of one of the petals that I realized the dark things I’d seen between those flowers were not vines at all.

They were the slow-moving tails of snakes, slithering leisurely along the stone walls. Each one was covered with more of them than I dared to count as I swallowed and took a step back. Medusa watched my realization with amusement, her stare alight with humor. The green of them was so close to the eyes I’d had, even born from a mortal woman instead of her. I couldn’t look into my mother’s face and not see the similarities between us. Her skin was a few shades darker than mine, the tone a rich, sepia brown. Her nose was the same shape as mine, her lips slightly puffier.

But the eyes were the same as what I’d grown used to seeing in my own reflection.

“This is a haven for all the serpentine creatures who reside in Tartarus,” she said, encouraging me to continue walking forward. The cave floor at my feet was dry, but up ahead the shimmer of luminescent water reflected on the flowers.

Shimmering white crystals lined the shallow pools of water as we approached, reflecting light from the tiny, glowing faeries in the water, and the snakes that seemed to possess the same pulsing light beneath their dark scales.

I moved through the passage, my feet sinking into the water as Medusa continued on as if it did not faze her to enter the pool. She ran her hands through the water as she walked, allowing the water to sluice over her skin.

I touched a hand to a crystal as I passed, the golden glow emanating from my touch catching me by surprise. “Why was I able to take my power back from Tartarus?” I asked, releasing the crystal to continue on.

“Many have entered into the Trials of the Five Rivers,” she said, looking to the cave ceiling. I followed that gaze, studying the turquoise snakes where they seemed to hang from the ceiling and stretch toward her. “Of those who have dared, none have been born here. You are just as much a part of Tartarus as any who reside here. Perhaps more so. Perhaps this place recognizes you, or perhaps you’re just stubborn enough to dare to try.”

I snorted a laugh, hanging my head forward as the sound bubbled up my throat. “Caldris would say it was the latter,” I answered her, stepping out of the pool as a bridge of land appeared in our way. We climbed the bank, ascending to look down into another cove.

Whereas the others had been littered with snakes, the creatures swimming happily, this felt different. Beside us, snakes slithered over the land, lowering themselves down into the water that was already filled to the brim.

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