Page 40 of Darkening Truth
“Are you sure?” Rival asks, “I mean, you said yourselves that you didn’t recognise the realm or what kind of supernatural Ignatius was. So isn’t it possible that the kid was just a different kind of supernatural?”
“It’s possible,” Zev admits. “Nothing about that realm was like anything I have seen before, so it would make a lot of sense if the kid wasn’t actually a ghost, but a different kind of supernatural that we weren’t familiar with. It would also make sense for our minds to immediately associate him with something that we knew in order to explain what he was.” He pauses for a moment before continuing, “Although that wouldn’t explain why he was the only one who wasn’t trapped in the cell with all of the others.”
“The only one that we know of,” I point out. “Ignatius said that, unlike in the dream, the reality is that the castle has been taken over by those beasts. So he’s not the only thing in the castle. He was just the only one that we could see.”
“It would make more sense if he weren’t a ghost. That would have been an impossibility,” Kill adds thoughtfully.
I’m about to agree with him when my instincts stir, and instead I shake my head, “I don’t know. Something doesn’t seem quite right about that. I can’t tell you why it seems wrong. But a lot of things didn’t make sense about that place.”
“It’s probably your instincts. You were there after all, and we weren’t. Your magic must have picked up on things that we wouldn’t be able to.” Rival suggests. He then asks, “We have a month to get them out and stop the balance from being thrown off?”
“According to Ignatius, he said a month or maybe two. That’s all that they have. I think that’s the maximum amount of time that we’ve got to find them, though. He didn’t seem too sure about the timeframe, and the sooner we find them, the better,” I reply.
“Are you thinking that may be the reason why the trip to the Dragon Realm has been delayed?” Mayhem asks.
I nod, “It makes sense. Although it was weird that Monty and even the Fates don’t seem to know anything about it, or why our trip is delayed.”
“I don’t think the Fates have ever been stumped in the time that I’ve known them, and I have known them for a very long time,” Hades says.
“But no one changed fate until Farren came along,” Reaper points out, sounding proud.
“That’s very true,” Hades agrees with a smile.
“Monty did say that the trip to the Dragon Realm wasn’t going to be a short trip, so this extra time will also give us a bit longer to prepare for it,”Loki adds. “From what I can tell, we’re going to need as much time as possible to prepare. It’s not an easy place to be.”
“No, it’s not,” Hades agrees. “It will also give us time to question the Dragon Souls that have made it into the Underworld recently, and see if any of them can give us some information about what’s happening in the Dragon Realm. I would like to have a better idea of what we’re walking into.”
“Good idea, I do think that the realm with the trapped souls needs to be the priority, we have little time to save them, and the balance is in jeopardy. The trip to the Dragon Realm won’t matter in the slightest if we don’t get to them in time and the horrors that stalk their realm spill out into ours,” Zev says firmly.
I can’t quite tell if he’s had a vision or not, but everyone nods in agreement. Either way, the truth echoes in his words. If the balance gets thrown off, the key, the princes, hell, even the Warrior Games, which I’m entirely unsure whether we’re still a part of, all of it will be inconsequential compared to what we will have to face.
“I wonder if this is what the Warrior Games are preparing us for?” I mutter out loud.
“Huh?” Khaos asks, since it’s completely off topic.
I smile and explain my thought process, “Well, the Fae Realm only calls the Warrior Games when there is a big threat about to happen, right? The winning team gets the extra gifts from the gods, but any other teams that survive the trials are ranked pretty high, right?”
Rival nods, “Yes. That’s right. The games are designed to find the strongest Warrior Teams that can fight against whatever threat is facing the Fae Realm, or other realms actually, and sometimes even help to lead the other warriors that weren’t pulled into the games.”
“So it’s to find the strongest leaders then?” I ask.
Hades nods, “Yes, that pretty much sums it up. You could be right, although I really hope you’re not. The balance being thrown off is going to need a hell of a lot more than a few Warrior Teams.”
“Well, shit,” Loki sums up, pretty fucking accurately.
“Okay, we can’t do anything about that right now, so we’ll focus on what we can. The plan is, we’re going to question the Dragon Souls, get ready for the trip to the Dragon Realm, and try to find the book that Ignatius said that we need to find in order to help free them,” Storm summarises. “Agreed?”
We all nod in agreement.
“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Khaos says. “Although I think we should probably all agree that it’s a rough guideline of a plan since we all know that shit gets changed regularly.”
“Good point,” Mayhem agrees.
“We need to find the book in order to find a way to get in, yeah? Not just because it will give us information about the realm,” Rival asks.
Zev nods, “Yes, Ignatius said that it would help us get into the realm, but that not all of the information in it is correct.”
“Well, that’s frustrating,” Reaper mutters.
