Page 316 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

“It doesn’t make any sense. Not in this realm.”

Stealing energy…

“Do you think?” I share a worried look with Kai.

“King. It has to be.”

* * *

The sunto my left shutters in my vision, drawing my attention. I glance over to it and stop short.

A large demon-like creature with wings flies about the sky like a vulture waiting for its food. “I thought you said this realm was just for the souls.”

“It is.” Soren doesn’t even turn as he continues on but the others stop and look over at me, following the direction I’m looking at.

Jax mumbles a curse while Axel’s eye twitches as he turns to Soren. Soren still moves forward, oblivious to our new intruder.

“Then what the hell is that?” I ask him, pointing up at the winged demon.

Soren finally turns, following my hand, his eyes widening when he spots the creature.

“This is bad.”

“How bad are we talking?” Kai asks him.

Soren glances at Kai before veering his eyes back to the creature. “That demon is from the Prison Realm. It shouldn’t be here.”

It flies away, disappearing within seconds.

Axel smirks. “Looks like it’s not our problem anymore.”

A loud shriek draws our attention to a dark spot further down from us. Axel’s smirk falls as he sighs. “What now?”

Soren moves toward the dark spot without a backward glance.

“I guess we’re following him.” Jax rolls his eyes before grabbing my free hand as we follow after Soren.

With the rest of the guys in tow we catch up to him, finding him still as a statue as he looks down at a large burned spot with chunks of black slime scattered about it.

“They’re feeding on them.” Soren’s pale skin turns white.

“What are? The creatures? What are they feeding on?” I glance around, but there’s no other demon or creature around.

“The souls.” Soren turns to us, looking older than he is, the worry etched into his face like a second skin. “They’re feeding on the souls here.”

Jax glances down at the black stain. “I’m guessing that’s a bad thing?”

Soren nods. “Passing through the realms won’t upset the balance too much because once they die, they’ll be reabsorbed. No matter where they are, they start over. But to mess with the energy inside each realm is a whole other ball game. The balance will be ruined if these demons keep feeding on the souls in this realm and it will have devastating consequences.”

The air around us turns stagnant as we process what Soren said.

“What happens to the balance if it’s off? Will it affect more than just the Underworld?”

“It will affect everything. Every plane and realm including yours and eventually if it gets bad enough, it will lead to the end of everything.”

“What about the demons on our plane? What will happen if we destroy them there?” If we have to bring them down here first, that’s going to be one hell of a problem.

Soren shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter where they’re destroyed. The Underworld is their home, they’re connected to it. Once they are destroyed, their energy returns to it, evening out the balance once more. The only thing we need to worry about is if that energy is stolen or absorbed. Once it’s absorbed, it becomes tainted.”

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