Emblazed Read Online Free Page A

closed door as I said, “Kiera, wake up. It’s time.”
    I waited a few seconds and didn’t hear any movement or response. I pounded louder
     on the door before saying, “Get up, Kiera. We need to get going.”
    I heard the rustle of sheets, along with Kiera mumbling something indiscernible. Guess she’s up now.
    I walked back to the dining room table where Zane and Kimber sat. I thought about
     calling Mr. De Luca, but I didn’t want him to come with us. I couldn’t handle being
     responsible if something happened while we were in the Underworld. Brielle might never
     forgive me if any harm came to him.
    I reached towards the Oracle as I asked, “Can I see the map, please?”
    She wordlessly handed me the scroll, and I took it before spreading it out carefully
     on the table so that we could all see. Kiera walked in and sat down to my left, and
     we all looked at the map, which depicted a fairly detailed layout of the various areas
     of the Underworld. I focused mainly on the Acheron, which is where we would enter.
     I would look at the rest after we formulated our plan.
    “So it looks like the Acheron will take us to the Stygian Marsh, which borders the
     Plain of Judgment. I’m not sure we should chance going through it. They might imprison
     us somehow, since we aren’t supposed to be down there,” I speculated.
    “We could always go around through the Asphodel Meadows. There are just shades there,
     and we can still get to Hades’ palace that way,” Zane pointed out.
    “What are shades? I’m not into this mythology stuff like all of you are,” Kimber said.
    “Shades are what’s left of you after you die and enter the Underworld. You don’t hold
     on to your body, just your soul remains,” Zane answered.
    “Like ghosts?”
    “Ghosts were actually based on shades, so that’s a good analogy. They’re relatively
     harmless.”
    “It’s not them that I’m worried about. I’m worried about Cerberus—he will definitely
     be a challenge. Not to begin with, but when we try to leave, he will be,” I stated.
    “Maybe there’s an alternate exit, so we don’t have to cross paths with him when we
     escape,” Kiera suggested.
    “There are a few means of which to escape. Return through the Acheron, be sent back
     by the hands of a God, or exit through the Gate of Ivory or the Gate of Horn. The
     latter two will be almost impossible, since they are both located in the Elysian Fields,
     and only the elite of the deceased are allowed entrance,” the Oracle stated.
    “There has to be a way to enter. We could cross the Lethe—it separates the Asphodel
     Meadows from the Elysian Fields. We could swim over,” Kiera said as she pointed to
     the map where the Lethe was depicted.
    “The Oracle is right, it is almost impossible. There are invisible barriers around
     the Asphodel Meadows, Elysian Fields, Isles of the Blessed and Tartarus. Your wrists
     are branded with your eternal destination once you are judged, and the barriers recognize
     your marks. You can’t cross to the Elysian Fields unless you have the brand, which
     can’t be forged by any other means. You have to be judged to receive them,” Zane informed
     us.
    “And besides, crossing the Lethe would be dangerous. If you swallow any of the water,
     you forget everything about who you are,” I added.
    “What? Why?” Kimber asked.
    “The Lethe is known as the river of oblivion. It is named after the goddess of forgetfulness
     and oblivion of the same name. The shades are made to drink the water to forget their
     earthly lives,” Zane explained.
    “Definitely a bad idea, then,” Kimber said.
    “So, it looks like we will have to come back through the Acheron. Hades definitely
     won’t send us back,” Kiera said.
    “Hades is not the only God in the Underworld. Persephone, Hecate, Nyx, Thanatos, Hypnos,
     and Hermes are all there at times. Persephone might not be down there since it’s summer,
     and Hermes is constantly transporting