Chapter Four
Farren
I nod, “Yeah. I suppose it's worth a shot, just don’t get your hopes up. He very rarely gives me a straight answer.”
Khaos nods, “We should be seeing him fairly soon actually. We’re going to need some supplies from his store if we’re to head over to the Dragon Realm.”
“There is a lot that we need to discuss about going into the Dragon Realm,” Hades says, a warning in his tone. “Including what we’re going to do about Crem and Remeus, and how we’re going to locate them. They could have the key fragment for all we know.”
“If they don’t have it, then they’re looking for it and they’ve got a head start on us,” Khaos points out with a heavy frown.
“While we’re in the Dragon Realm, we should also be able to look into what’s going on with the Dragon Souls and where they’re going when they die,” Reaper suggests.
“That’s a really good idea,” Storm agrees. “It’s concerning that it’s only the Dragon Souls that are going missing.”
Hades' frown is heavy, “It is, and I can't figure out why it's only them.”
Rival shifts slightly in front of me, sounding more alert when he asks, “Is there nothing about Dragon Souls that makes them more powerful, or easier to control?”
Hades frowns and shakes his head, “No. It’s quite the opposite, actually. Dragon Souls are just as difficult to deal with and control as they are when they’re alive.”
Khaos nods, “That’s true. I used to have a special unit that was trained specifically to deal with Dragons on the Soul Side of the Underworld. They needed constant entertaining.”
“A bit like toddlers,” Hades chuckles.
“I don’t think I have ever heard someone call a Dragon a toddler,” Reaper chuckles. “It strangely fits though.”
“They can’t have just disappeared,” Rival says, his brain still clearly trying to work on the problem.
“No, they can’t. They have to have gone somewhere,” Hades replies, just going along with it, which shows how well they’ve all gotten to know each other.
“Wait, they said that all of the Dragon Souls had gone missing. Does that mean the ones that were already in the Underworld have gone missing too, or just the ones that have recently died?” Zev asks.
Kill frowns, “I have no idea. He said that they aren’t getting as many souls through as they should, only one or two a day, and there should be a lot more.”
Hades' eyebrows dip slightly as he asks Zev, “What are you thinking?”
“It's only an idea, and I don’t know if it's possible, but I saw a Dragon in that park that we walked through before we left, and there are still a couple of Dragons that are managing to make it through a day, so maybe it would be a good idea to talk to them? See if they know anything about what’s going on with the Dragon Souls?”
Hades nods, looking contemplative as he thinks over Zev’s idea, “It’s worth a shot. Like we said, Dragon Souls are pretty difficult to deal with, so getting one of them to talk to us in the first place would be pretty difficult.”
“That’s an understatement,” Khaos says. “Even the Dragon Souls that have been there for a while won’t have mellowed, and even if we were lucky enough to find one that had, they wouldn’t know anything anyway.”
Hades frowns, “Yes, those are all good points. But if the new souls are aware of what’s happening to the Dragon Souls and that they aren’t all making it to the Underworld, then it might be enough to convince them to talk to us.”
“Especially you,” I point out. “If anyone is going to be able to help the Dragon Souls wherever the fuck they are, then it's going to be you, and surely the Dragon Souls will know that.”
“You make a good point,” Khaos agrees. “But it all hinges on whether the souls that are actually making it through are aware that there’s something going on. If they aren’t, they won’t believe us, or be willing to give us any information that they might have.”
“What about the list of missing souls?” Rival asks. “Were any of the Dragons that you know were in the Underworld missing?”
Hades frowns slightly, but his magic flares, and I’m guessing that he’s checking the list.
His frown gets deeper as he says, “I didn’t get to have a proper look at the missing souls while we were there, but the Hellier was wrong.
It’s not just the Dragon Realm souls that are missing.
They are the only realm where only a couple of souls a day are coming through, but there is actually an eclectic mix of supernaturals from all the realms that have gone missing and not just new souls either.
Most of the ones that aren’t Dragons are actually older souls that have been in the Underworld for a long time. ”
My eyebrows hit my hairline, “So not only is someone or something getting to the souls before they make it to the Underworld, but they’re being taken from the Underworld as well?”
Hades' expression is grim as he replies, “That’s what it looks like.”
“This is not good,” Reaper states the obvious.
“No, it’s not. The souls shouldn’t leave the Underworld. It would have catastrophic consequences,” Khaos says.
Rival inhales sharply, “Well, we already know that they were planning on using the Wraiths. So it would make sense that they were taking some of the souls that had been there for a while to test how controllable they were.”
“Maybe that’s why the one that I dealt with was so coherent?” Storm questions thoughtfully.
“You think that being in the Underworld and specifically on the Soul Side makes the Wraiths more controllable?” Rival asks curiously.
Storm shrugs, “I mean, it’s possible.”
“I think the best way of figuring it out is to talk to any friends of the missing souls,” Reaper points out. “Don’t forget that the princes seemed to have a pretty strong following on the Soul Side. It may not have only been on the punishment side.”
Hades nods, “Yeah, that’s a really good point actually. I’m just not sure when we’re going to be able to get to it. The Goddess and Monty seemed pretty insistent that we should get to the Dragon Realm as quickly as we could.”
I frown, “We can’t just leave the Underworld in the turmoil that it’s in though.”
Before any of us can say anything else, Rival asks another question, “What about the In-Between? I know you said that it’s a rumour, or legend, but is it really? Or were you just saying that for the Hellier’s sake?”
“Good point, it hadn’t crossed my mind that you might just be saying it,” I reply.
Hades sighs, “I wasn’t just saying it. I have been around for a very long time, not since the beginning, not even close, but I have been around for long enough, and the In-Between has always been a rumour. There has never been any actual proof of its existence.”
Khaos raises his eyebrows slightly, “To be fair, there hasn’t been any proof because if the rumours are true, then no one has ever survived going there.”
“Well, that’s not true,” Loki says. “Someone had to have survived going there in order to tell the story.”
“He’s right,” Mayhem agrees. “Or that’s just proof that’s all it is, a story.”
“Which is the more likely of the two,” Hades agrees.
“Humour me,” Zev says. “What is the In-Between according to the legends?”
Hades studies Zev closely and then nods, “Okay, I’ll humour you. Supposedly, the In-Between is a prison.”
“A prison?” Killian questions, sounding as surprised as I feel.
I did not expect Hades to say that.
“Why do I feel like calling it a prison is an understatement?” Rival asks shrewdly.
“Because it is.” Hades sighs, “First, I will tell you the truth that most supernaturals no longer know. Before the realms existed as they do now, there was no order. The balance between light and dark was tipped in favour of darkness. The Underworld didn’t exist, it was created when the ancestors found the balance.
The realms now exist on a knife-edge of balance.
Every now and then, something happens that threatens to tip it one way or another, and if it’s not corrected, then we will fall back into those times of death, destruction, and pure survival.
“It wouldn’t matter if the balance tipped in the favour of light or dark, too much of either one would be very bad.
Entire realms would be lost, they were lost, and have now been forgotten to time.
It’s said that the realms before the Ancients found the balance were filled with the worst of the worst, creatures that held no moral compass, vicious and bloodthirsty, they would destroy everything that they could get their hands on.
So the Ancients had a place called the In-Between created for them.
A similar concept, I suppose, to what most people think the Shadowlands is, but although we know that the Shadowlands are a place for the supernaturals to escape the oppressive and controlling rule of corrupt kings, the In-Between is really filled with the worst of the worst. It’s a prison.
There are supposedly guards, but the prisoners are pretty much put there and left to their own devices.
According to the stories, there are towns and factions, territories ruled by certain species. ”
My eyes widen, and I mutter quietly, “So it really is like it is here then? There are territories in place, and you can go to different rulers for help and to pledge loyalty.”
Hades nods, “Yes, but the rulers here still work together when necessary and communicate. They also offer protection. It is said that the ones in the In-Between don’t do that,.
There are wars and fights that break out all the time.
Death is a constant companion. If you were born into one faction, you wouldn’t be able to go to a different one, you would be killed on sight.
There is no escape. The land around each town, or territory, is barren and filled with the creatures that were there before the Ancients commandeered the realm for their own purposes.
It’s a true hellscape. At least, that’s what the stories say. ”
We’re all silent for a moment as we absorb everything that he’s told us.
Oryn, who has been curled up in the corner with Poca, snorts, a sound that sounds suspiciously like a laugh, and then I swear my peculiar bat-shaped friend rolls his eyes.
“You don’t agree with that?” I ask him.
“Don’t agree with what?” Loki asks, sounding confused.
“Oryn, he seems to think that Hades' description of the In-Between being a hellscape isn’t true,” I explain.
Oryn nods, confirming that I’m thinking the right thing and understanding his body language correctly.
There’s a moment of silence while they look at me really confused. A lot has happened since I brought Oryn out of the Void, and to be honest, they couldn’t see him anyway, so I guess that it’s not that surprising that they don’t immediately remember him.
“Oh, wait,” Reaper says, as his eyes switch to Ryu’s and he inhales deeply. “He’s the creature that you saved from the Void, right? His scent is so intertwined with yours that I completely forgot about him.”
“Oh, I remember,” Storm says. He asks with surprise, “He’s still with you?”
“I still have no idea who or what Oryn is,” Khaos points out with one of his eyebrows raised slightly.
I grin, “I found Oryn in the Void, he was dying, and I healed him,” I say, and Oryn flaps over to me and lands in my lap. I move my hand from Rival’s hair and start to stroke him.
“What does he look like? Remind me?” Rival says as he turns around to look at what I’m stroking, not that he can see him.
I nod, “He’s purple, covered in fur. He has an adorable little snout nose and fangs.
He sort of looks like a bat from the Earth Realm.
He has big, leathery wings with sharp claws on the tips that he uses extremely well in a combat situation, and he’s not entirely solid.
Well, I guess he is in a way because I can stroke him, and he gives kisses and things, but to look at his edges, they look wispy if that makes sense? Like he’s made of smoke.”
“I have no idea what kind of creature that could be,” Khaos says with a confused frown before adding, “and I’ve been around long enough that I thought I knew most creatures.”
Hades nods, “Those were my thoughts exactly.”
“I’m guessing he showed back up when Poca and Meri did?” Loki asks me.
I shake my head, “No, as soon as I broke the spells, I could see him again, but he had been there the whole time. I couldn’t see or sense him at all. I had absolutely no idea that he was there. He experienced everything that I did.”
“He felt what you felt?” Mayhem asks, his eyebrows high on his head.
“Yes,” I reply, sadness saturating my tone.
Rival studies me closely, but I don’t think he’s actually seeing me. I think he’s probably thinking through all of the possibilities, and desperately wanting to go to the library and throw himself into research.
“If he experienced what you did, then that would suggest that he is intrinsically tied to you,” he summarises.
I nod, “Yeah, that’s what I figured too. Especially since I asked him if he wanted to go back into the Void after I realised that he was there, and he looked at me like I was nuts.”