-Oliver-

After hours of traveling down the hill, I was exhausted, even though I wasn't let to walk at all. I was just so weak that simply holding onto Jaden's shoulders was draining my energy. But I didn't complain even once, because Jaden had it so much worse. He had to be careful with his every step as we descended the hillside or we both could've ended up rolling all the way down to the river. Sure, he was a werewolf empowered by gods, but I could tell my weight was taking its toll on him.

That was why I got really happy for both of us when the sun was finally setting, and the river was so close we could hear the stream crashing into rocks. That meant the shelter was close. But there was a downside to it. Fenrir kept encouraging us to keep moving with a cheerful expression on his face, but we all could tell he was getting more and more concerned the lower the sun set.

The beasts guarding this dimension were waking up, and we were not supposed to be in their kingdom.

But we made it just in time. The riverbank suddenly came into our view right as when the long shadows behind us were turning so dark they looked like patches of pure void.

"Here it is, here it is..." Fenrir spoke cheerfully, like we weren't in any danger at all, and practically ran the last steps to the riverbank where the trees no longer grew. "There it is!"

The rest of us hurried to him to see this shelter he'd been talking about. It was a very large cave, surrounded by massive boulders that stuck out from the hillside like someone had put them there on purpose. The large cave entrance could've fit in a small army at once, but it was completely built shut with large logs that were three times wider than me.

"Quickly now," Fenrir said, peering at the sun as he ushered us to the cave.

And suddenly, I heard a chilling sound coming from somewhere above us on the hill. It was almost like a howl, but it sounded almost metallic. It hurt my ears even though the being making that noise was far away. I also realized the forest was growing louder. I'd thought it was the wind I was hearing between leaves and brushing past foliage, but there was no wind. The air stood still.

I think we all got a little scared since we ran the last steps to the wooden walls. There was a set of simple double doors made of thinner logs, and Fenrir hurried to open them for us.

"Get in, get in, get in..." he said without taking his eyes off the shadows.

My heart was racing when we burst through the doorway. Once everyone was in, Fenrir slammed the doors shut with such force I expected to hear hungry beasts attacking it next, but nothing seemed to be following us. He still didn't waste any time to lock the doors with three thick wooden bars that had been left leaning against the wall. Arch helped him to slide the bars into their hooks, and once the doors were completely blocked, they stepped back to listen in silence.

I didn't hear anything... But I could feel something... Beings... I could feel them lurking in the shadows close by, watching the cave. They knew we were here, and they knew we weren't supposed to be here.

"Right then," Fenrir said, letting out a deep sigh, and turned to face us with a wide smile on his face. "Let's get settled in, shall we?"

"Sure," I said and took in a deep, calming breath as well before I turned to speak to Jaden. "You can let me down now."

Jaden was still in a fight-or-flight mode, so it took him a moment before he finally trusted our shelter enough to let me down. He was smart enough to support me because I sure hadn't realized just how weak I was. My knees gave out right away under my weight, and I would've fallen face first into the ground if he hadn't held me.

"Careful now," he told me gently, while pulling me against his side. "Let's get you straight to bed."

"Bed?" I asked with a frown and turned around to see the cave. "Holy shit..."

I did not know what I was expecting to see, but it was not this.

The large cave was like a medieval secret tavern. The first thing I noticed was a mad sized fireplace at the other end of the cave, carved deep into the stone. It was so huge we all could've stood inside it. It was lit up already, but I didn't see any firewood, only red, hot stones behind the small protective barrier, and some kind of stony stove for cooking.

Once I was able to tear my eyes off it, I noticed a bunch of large, round beds on the left side of the cave. They seemed to be just big piles of wood and stone, but they were covered with a thick layer of hay, but also some kind of round mattresses that looked more like beds for pets, and huge blankets and pillows.

There were also tables and chairs on the right side, but they were nothing like the modern furniture we had in our world, but something I'd seen in fantasy movies. They were all carved out of wood, each of them looking different from the next. There were also other things, like shelves and curtains and little benches here and there, and large lanterns that illuminated the place with soft, warm light, giving the whole cave a homely feel.

"Whoa..." I breathed out and took a shaky step closer with Jaden's help.

The rest of our group followed us, all in awe, like we hadn't just feared for our lives. But to be fair, this cave was really cool, and I trusted Fenrir when he said we'd be safe here. And this cave was really freaking cool.

"Hades had this shelter made for his visitors," Fenrir explained, clearly enjoying our wide eyes. "There are more down the stream. This is just the first one."

"Are they all like this?" Jack asked, and carefully touched one of the chairs like he feared it would break or disappear.

"There are a few caves, yes, but there are also a few shelters that may be more... exciting... for young minds like you," he explained.

"And what does exciting mean?" Jack asked in amusement.

"You'll see," Fenrir said with a grin. "But now we should eat and get some rest. The nights in this place can get quite overwhelming."

"And what does overwhelming mean?" Jack asked.

Fenrir grimaced a little. "You will soon find out."

We gathered around the tables to eat whatever giant berries we had brought with us. No one really spoke unless they were pointing out new details they noticed about the cave, like carvings on the wooden surfaces, or old tools and weapons the previous travelers had left behind. We were too tired to really get a conversation going on, and I guess we were all still a little freaked out over being here.

And we were slowly beginning to understand what Fenrir meant by overwhelming.

We all fell silent and froze to stare at the doors when we heard that screechy howl in the distance again. When it ended, we turned to Fenrir, who only gave us a soothing smile before he continued eating. We tried to follow his example, but that howl started again, though even further away this time.

"I hate that sound..." Arch mumbled and shook himself.

"Don't worry," Fenrir told him. "It gets worse."

"Great," Arch mumbled.

Only a moment later, another kind of sound joined that single howl. It was much lower and easier for our ears, but it also sounded like that whatever creature was making that sound, it was much, much larger than the one howling. Soon, more beasts joined the choir, and as the night went on, the outside world grew noisier. Some of the animalistic sounds were a lot like in our world, but many of those never sounded quite right. They either sounded distorted, or too high pitched, or too low and grumbly to originate from our world. And I did not want to meet any of them.

We were getting ready for bed when a new sound erupted, but this time right outside our door. It was... Like a horse whinnying, but it was so low I could feel the rumble in my chest, and really, really slow, like a broken record that was about to die out. Again, we all froze to listen and stare at the doors...

...And we heard something sniffing the scents right outside them. I could see dust rising from the ground every time that massive something breathed out.

We turned back to Fenrir, all of us about to freak out.

"It's fine, it's fine..." he said, but very, very quietly. "It won't come inside."

"Mh-hm..." Jack uttered, biting his lower lip hard. "Sure it won't."

"You... sure about that?" Tilly asked without taking her eyes off the door.

The door that was now bending inward a little as the creature pushed harder against it.

"Yeah..." Fenrir said, but he wasn't quite convincing.

A loud scoff could be heard from behind us, and we all turned to see Cameron conjuring two large, curved swords out of thin air while he marched closer to the doors.

"Let it come," he said in a cold manner, his wings spread out behind him. "We'll just kill it."

We all stared at him like he'd suddenly grown three heads, but then I guess we all remembered one small little detail...

"Right... We're supposed to be champions of gods," Tilly said. "We're supposed to be invincible."

"Right... Almost forgot about that," Jaden said with a grin.

I laughed at her words a little. "I don't feel like one right now."

"Please, they're just mindless beasts," Cameron said in annoyance. "How did you even defeat Adam? Or me?"

"Well how the hell are we supposed to listen to that ruckus outside and not be scared shitless?" Jack asked with a snort, but Cameron only rolled his eyes at him.

"Let's just not tell anyone we almost peed our pants here, okay?" Jaden asked, making everyone laugh and relax a little.

"This is Hades' world," Fenrir said reassuringly. "They are not our enemies."

The beast behind the door snorted so loudly it sent small rocks in our way on top of the cloud of dust.

"That may be our enemy," Fenrir added, pointing at the door.

"It doesn't feel too hostile," I muttered, trying to read the beast's spirit. "I think it's just curious..."

"Well it better be just curious," Tilly said, turned around on her heels, and marched to the bed she and Ben had reserved. "I'm tired. I need sleep."

"I think we can all go to bed, yes," Fenrir said. "The beasts can't get to us, whatever their motives are."

"How do you know that?" Jack asked, but he, too, took a step toward the beds.

"This cave is protected with wards. The beasts don't want to cross those boundaries," Fenrir explained, while ushering us all to the beds. "I understood it would be very painful for them."

"Right," Jack said, and went to sit down on one of the beds.

I stared at the door a moment longer, focusing on the beast behind it. It really didn't feel hostile... Maybe it was just curious about the new scents.

"Now I'm kind of curious to see what it looks like," I admitted.

"Of course you do," Jaden said with a chuckle, then turned me around so he could take me to our bed.

He helped me to sit down on the edge of the bed and pulled the covers out of the way for me. The weird, round mattress was quite soft, and the canvas was really smooth to touch. The covers and pillows looked fluffy and cozy, and suddenly, I was feeling really tired just looking at them.

"Looks clean," Tilly muttered next to her bed, and sniffed the pillows. "Smells clean."

"Magic," Fenrir said with a smile. "No bedbugs in this world, either."

"Awesome," she said and sat down, while Bed walked around the bed to his side. "Can we also magically brush our teeth?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Fenrir said with a smirk, and pointed at something that looked like a large bowl protruding out of the cave wall behind the tables. "Though it's not that magical. It's a spring water fountain."

"Oh!" Tilly chirped and started searching through her bag for her toothbrush.

I really wanted to brush my teeth too, but the bowl was really far away, and I just sat down... But Jaden, of course, could feel my thoughts, so only a moment later, I had a cup full of water and my toothbrush in my hands. He waited for me to finish brushing my teeth, then he went to get a cup for himself as well.

While I waited for him, I listened to the sounds coming from outside. If I focused really hard, I could almost feel those beasts... And if I wasn't completely wrong, they... It was like their attention was on me. Like... Like they were calling to me... Almost like they expected something from me...

My need to go see them grew...

"Ready for bed?"

I jumped by the sudden voice right above me and looked up to see Jaden suddenly standing in front of me with a deepening frown.

"Oh! Uh, yeah," I hurried to say, and pulled myself together. It was like I'd completely forgotten I was in this cave and not outside with the beasts...

"You all right?" he asked quietly, then kneeled in front of me.

I smiled at him. "I think I'm just really, really tired..."

He studied my face a little closer, but then he sat next to me. "Let's try to get some sleep."

"Yes, please," I mumbled.

I still felt a little... divided... when I lay down and waited for Jaden to take his spot next to me. Part of my senses were still on the beasts that prowled outside, and it was hard to pull myself away from them. It didn't really work, even when Jaden settled down next to me and pulled me tightly against his side. I tried to focus on him, his scent, and his warmth, but I still listened to the sounds behind the doors.

"Crap... How did this work...?" Cedric mumbled to himself, then laughed a little, so I turned around to see what he was doing.

He stood next to his bed that was right next to ours, moving his arms awkwardly while keeping his elbows tightly pressed against his sides.

"What are you doing?" I asked him with a grin.

"I've completely forgotten how to sleep in this body," he said, sighed, and laughed again in defeat. "The feathers keep getting in my way!"

"How is that even possible?" I asked.

"It's been hundreds of years..." he mumbled while straightening the long feathers on his arm. "And we usually sleep in our human forms, but since that isn't an option here..."

I watched him carefully and focused on listening to his spirit. He was overwhelmed, maybe even a little uncomfortable with his physical form. At first, I couldn't understand why, but maybe that had something to do with his death. He chose to never be born again, but here he was, technically alive again. The way he left this world must've hurt him greatly as well, and now that source of pain was here with us in his physical form.

I carefully looked around and spotted Cameron by the doors, his swords still ready in case the beasts would try to get in, after all.

"Do you need help?" I asked Cedric.

"I'll be damned if I can't figure out how to lie down on my own," he said.

"Well I'm rooting for you," I said with a grin.

"Thanks..." he mumbled, and focused on his tail instead.

After a little bit of struggling, he finally was able to sit down on the edge of the bed without sitting on his feathers. He took a break and let out a deep sigh.

"Not easy, huh?" I asked.

"I so prefer sleeping in your soul," he admitted. "I can just drift away on the spot. I can just close myself, you know?"

"Sure... I definitely know what you mean," I told him.

He laughed a little, then sighed again.

"Is everything all right?" I asked him.

"Yeah... I'm just... Not used to this," he muttered and lowered his gaze down to his hands that looked more like bird feet. "I was never supposed to be born again..."

So I was right...

"Don't worry about me," he then said, and gave me a small smile. "I should've guessed this was going to happen. I should've been prepared to be back in this form."

"I'm sorry you have to go through this," I said quietly, but he shook his head.

"I'll be fine," he said, and peered at Cameron.

Why did I suddenly have this feeling that both of my guardians would get really hurt during our time here...

"Anyway. Goodnight," Cedric told me, and lay down pretty gracefully.

"Goodnight," I replied, watching him getting his feathers settled on the bed.

Jaden hugged me a little tighter, so I turned my attention to him. He let out a little sigh and shrugged.

He, too, believed this was going to be a rough trip for our phoenix friends.

Little by little, we all settled down to rest, except for Cameron, who stayed by the doors. I could feel his confusion as well, but he wasn't uncomfortable being in his physical form, at least not like Cedric was. And I could feel his corruption bubbling beneath the surface... But for now, he was keeping it under control.

As we fell silent inside the cave, the world outside only grew louder. I'd thought I would never be able to sleep with those beasts making so much noise in the distance, and especially after I slept so long while poor Jaden carried me down the hill, but when I made myself comfortable against his warm chest, and he wrapped me in his arms, the noises didn't bother me that much anymore.

And I realized... Just when I was about to drift into a peaceful sleep... That the noise outside was actually quite comforting...

Almost like it was familiar to me.