Hermione Lee - Marvels of the Underworld

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

World Castle Publishing, LLC

Pensacola, Florida

Copyright Hermione Lee 2022

Paperback ISBN: 9781956788686

eBook ISBN: 9781956788693

First Edition World Castle Publishing, LLC, March 7, 2022

http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com

Licensing Notes

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

Cover: Hermione Lee & Karen Fuller

Editor: Maxine Bringenberg

Dedication

For Grandma (Ama) and Uncle Bryan. Thank you both for playing such important roles in my journey of birthing this book.

Acknowledgements

First, Id like to thank my family, without whom this book would never have seen the light of day. Im also immensely grateful for Maxine Bringenberg for her incredible editing skills and Karen Fuller of World Castle Publishing for accepting and designing beautiful covers for my books, especially for the Otherworld trilogy, which will always remain near and dear to me no matter how many books I write. Furthermore, I would like to extend my thanks to my writing mentor Wulf Moon for his selfless desire to help new writers, like me, become better. His help and advice considerably strengthened my writing skills. Special thanks to my writing buddy Candice R. Lisle, whose enthusiasm and encouragement kept me excited about my writing. Also, I am beyond thankful for Rae Lan and Yu-Hui Huang, two incredible professors who influenced my writing in different ways.

Apart from them, there is an important group of friends that deserve my heartfelt thanksmy fellow authors at World Castle. Thanks to Judith White for helping me gain exposure by doing free promotions for my book on her Facebook page, and to Abby Farnsworth, Alexander Semenyuk, Barna William Donovan, Blake Alb, Cheryl Pea, Elizabeth Hartman Seckman, G.A. Minton, Jess Blenkarn, Joy Ross Davis, Judith Ann McDowell, Julie Parker, Khaled Talib, Lou Aguilar, Maria A. Palace, Mark F. Geatches, Meenakshi Gautam Chaturvedi, Melissa Davis, and Sheryl Doiron-Powers. All of them helped me grow as an author and a person in more ways than Id ever imagined.

Last but not least, thanks to Cat Jenson, Ed Gonzalez, Gloria Lakritz, Johan Prinsloo, Kelly Lo, Phillip Charlier, Stephanie Chiang, and Stephany Yang for their help in spreading the word about the Otherworld trilogy. And of course, loyal readers, thank you all for picking up my book and choosing to embark on a new adventure with Alexandria and her fellow Otherworldians. Marvels of the Underworld is my favorite book in the Otherworld trilogy. I hope you will laugh with the protagonists, cry with them, cheer for their success, and mourn their losses in this emotional rollercoaster of a sequel. Thank you again for supporting me and my work!

Chapter One - The Message on the Violet Leaf - (Alexandria)

A fiery serpent burst from the tip of my scepter, now slithering on the ground. It let out a menacing hiss, a fierce glint visible in its ruby-red eyes. With a wave of my scepter, it was levitated off the ground. The snake twirled gracefully in the air and spun faster and faster, resembling an orange whirlwind. Then, it erupted into a million sparks of fire.

That was epic, breathed Eileen.

Thanks. Learned any new tricks lately?

Eileen nodded. She plucked a daisy from a potted plant, placed it on her palm, and jabbed it with her sceptera ten-inch stick made of vines and leaves. The daisys petals withered and shriveled, and soon, the wilted petals vanished, leaving a little green seed on Eileens palm. I watched, amazed, as the seed germinated, sprouted leaves, blossomed, withered and shriveled, and once again, the dead petals disappeared, revealing a little seed. The new seed germinated, and the cycle continued on.

Nice. I grinned at Eileen.

Alexandria, Eileen! Clarissa Dawson and Daphne Sinclair waved at us from the balcony upstairs.

Clarissa was wearing a mischievous grin, a yellow shirt, and navy-blue skinny jeans. Curly dirty-blonde hair that fell to her shoulders framed her round face. Her doe-brown eyes, as they had always been, were twinkling with joy. Daphne, on the other hand, had on her favorite black lip gloss, an indigo asymmetrical blouse, and black leggings. Her silky blue hair hung long and loose on either side of her face.

What are you doing in the back of the school? Testing your elemental magic again?

Hey, Clarissa. Hi, Daphne. I grinned at them. I hadnt seen them for two weeks, for we had all been busy studying for our midterms. Ninth-grade examinations were a pain in the neck. Eileen and I are having a little after-exam celebration. Want to come join us?

A visit to the Otherworld last year in September had made the four of us inseparable friends who would do anything for each other. It was also the first time I met my parentsKing Patrick and Queen Marianne, the rulers of the Otherworld. They sent the four of us and two of the Elders, their courtiers and advisors, to the Underworld on a mission to retrieve an artifact stolen by Alta and Altothe tyrants that ruled the Underworld. This was because Clarissa, Eileen, Daphne, and I were the heiresses of the four Creators that founded the first magical world. Clarissa was the heiress of Zeru, the god of the sky; Eileen, the heiress of Fern, the goddess of nature; Daphne, the heiress of Walters, the god of water; and I the heiress of Ember, the goddess of fire.

You seen Helen, Zack, or Lilith lately? Daphne called to us from above. The three of them had been our teachers but were, in fact, Elders in the Otherworld who were keeping an eye on us and ensuring our safety during the school year.

I shook my head. No. Weve got Ms. Harris, Mr. Watson, and Mrs. Dickinson as our substitute teachers.

You know what theyre up to? The Elders?

Good question. Helen left for the Otherworld two weeks ago. Said it was an urgent call. Ive been living with Eileen and her mom and dad since then. Not that Im complaining, though. The Spencers are really nice, and Eileen and I had fun playing around with our elemental magic and doing all sorts of gimmicks.

Same here, said Daphne. Lilith went to the Otherworld two weeks ago and hasnt returned. Lucky Clarissas family was willing to take me in.

Daphne had been my foster sister, but she was sent to live with Lilith while I went with Helen, on King Patrick and Queen Mariannes orders. They also named Helen my godmother, which both of us were delighted about.

Come down and join us, I said, beckoning toward them.

Daphne got out a trident carved from ice, the scepter she had inherited from Walters, and gave it a sharp jab. The winding staircase in front of her froze to ice. She drew a diagonal line in the air, and the stairs melted and formed an icy slide.

Come on, Clarissa, said Daphne. The two of them slid to the first floor and got to their feet. Daphne made a zigzagging movement in the air with her trident and restored the staircase.