My stomach lurched as I stumbled out of the portal and staggered
halfway down a set of stone steps. Gasping for breath, I bent double and
braced my hands on my knees as the world—and my stomach—continued to
spin.
“That was horrible,” I muttered. “Like riding the teacups at a carnival.”
“Far better than a nine-hour flight to Rome,” Jaxson said coolly.
I’d only been on a plane once, and an international flight with movies and
cocktails seemed exciting and far less nauseating than being tumble-dried in
some sort of magical netherworld.
When I was finally sure I wasn’t going to puke, I righted myself.
Dark, bestial shapes loomed out of the moonlit forest around us. My pulse
quickened, and I spun about. The screaming face of a hideous giant stared
back at me.
I yelped and caught my foot on the stairs as I staggered away. Arms
flailing, I landed on my ass on the stone steps. Pain shot through my tailbone,
and I cursed as I slapped a hand to my butt.
Jaxson softly chuckled, and blood flushed my cheeks as I got a better
view of the screaming stone face. It was a grotesque sculpture of an ogre’s
head. Stairs led up to its cavernous open mouth—apparently, the exit of the
portal. It had two stubby teeth and hollow eyes, and its expression was
contorted by rage.
He could have warned me. Prick.
I surveyed my surroundings.
A low mist covered the ground, and statues loomed up out from the trees
around us—dragons, lions, elephants, and even gods. I recognized them and
what they were now, and yet I still had to fight down my instinct to run. It
was possibly the creepiest place I had ever been.
“What’s all this?” I whispered.
The moon glinted in Jaxson’s eyes. “Welcome to the sacred wood, garden
of monsters. Don’t worry, it’s safe at the moment.”