-Jack-

Now that was a twist no one saw coming. Even Fenrir stared at Ogruk in stunned silence after the guard dropped the little news that he and his co-workers were actually an army meant to follow Oliver's command on us.

"Huh," Oliver finally breathed out, staring at Ogruk with wide eyes. "I... see."

I snorted quietly in amusement at his very mild reaction, but he thankfully didn't seem to notice.

"Hades has been building an army this entire time?" Fenrir repeated, stepping closer to the guards. "Why? For what?"

Ogruk shrugged, his bones rattling inside his armor. "Maybe he knew we would one day be needed. Maybe he was just bored and needed something to do."

Fenrir continued staring at him for a moment longer, then he shook himself a little and took a deep breath. "I need to buy him a drink once he gets out of his cell."

"How big is your army?" Cameron asked, studying these guards, his sharp eyes showing much more interest in them now.

"A few thousand guards, give or take," Ogruk said. "Though we are spread out through all these different layers, so it's not easy to keep track of how many of us there really are. Could be more, could be less."

"And you know how to fight?" Cam asked next.

He got glances from all three of them.

"The sharp end goes into the enemy, right?" Ogruk asked as he pointed at his dagger.

"Do we know how to fight?" Maev repeated, her voice dangerously low. "We are the guardians of this realm. We are the beast-handlers of the Underworld! We learned how to fight before your feathery ass hatched from your very first egg!"

"Now look what you did," Ogruk said, clicking his tongue. "She won't stop until we reach the second shelter."

Maev turned her sharp, poisonous eyes at him and gave him the deadliest stare. She, of course, had a few pointed words for him as well.

"You let him question our abilities as Master's trusted guards! You think this is a joke?!"

As they continued bickering, I turned my attention to the pillars that loomed up ahead at the end of the river. I let out a deep breath, feeling a little lighter.

So we had an undead army now, huh...

Oliver had two and a half million questions for the three guards, but I didn't really want to listen. My head hurt bad enough as it was. I really didn't need any new information about this world, Hades, and the army he had created. Big, strong, and able to come to our aid the second Oliver called for them. That was all I needed to know. The specific powers and stuff like that were just too much for me right now.

I mean, come on... I was still trying to understand the size of those fucking pillars. I was trying to understand why I could feel dozens of eyes on me, and hear footsteps and branches snapping when someone passed us by right behind the tree line, but I couldn't see or smell anyone, no matter how hard I tried. I was still trying to understand why the day wasn't the same length every day. I tried to understand why the berries here were the size of my head.

It was enough for me and my poor brain.

But this world sure was incredible. That was also why I didn't want to listen to all that war talk right now. I just wanted to enjoy being here. I'd heard of the Underworld, and this river that led those who had passed away into their new home in the spirit realm, but I never gave much thought to it. I guess I kind of thought it wasn't real. Okay, fine, I never believed a place like this actually existed. I never even believed in gods, either, so...

I was glad Fenrir couldn't hear that thought...

I ripped my eyes off the pillars and turned my attention to the large trees surrounding us. I peered at the shadows for a long time, trying to spot any kind of movement behind the branches, but I saw nothing. I could've sworn I could sense someone right behind the closest tree, watching us, waiting for us to make a mistake... It gave me the shivers. Fenrir said that the beasts really didn't like the sunlight, so if we just stayed away from the shadows, we would be fine. The sky was covered in thick clouds, so it was impossible to say where the sun was, or how high up it still was, but I assumed we still had several hours left before it would set. Unless it had a mind of its own and just decided to drop down on us...

I shook myself and chose to put my attention elsewhere for now. The others, and especially Elari, were also keeping a close eye on those apparently invisible creatures, so I tried to relax a little.

I soon did get something else to think about, when Arch walked a little bit closer to me, and eventually, our hands touched. I wasn't sure if it was accidental, or if Arch did that on purpose, but he got my full attention right away. I glanced at him briefly, but he noticed it.

"You all right?" he asked softly, slowing his pace to put a little bit of distance between us and the others.

"Yeah. You?" I asked awkwardly.

"It's... If I don't think too much, I'm fine," he said with a grin.

I chuckled and glanced at the damn massive pillars again. "Yeah... I know what you mean. It's the ongoing theme in our lives these days..."

He let out a quiet breath, then carefully touched my back. "We'll be all right."

"Sure," I said, then glanced at Oliver. "I hope he knows what he's doing... I can't stop thinking this is a trap. What if us getting the scythe is exactly what Adam wants?"

"What else can we do?" Arch muttered. "Besides, I trust Fenrir. I trust he knows what we're doing."

"You do?"

He flashed a smile at me. "He's your god, isn't he?"

I snorted, but smiled. "I do trust him, of course I do, but Adam... Maybe he knows what he's doing, too."

"I'm afraid he knows exactly what he's doing..." Arch muttered, his expression dropping. "I... I can't shake the images he planted in my head... Our world was nothing but fire and ashes... Even the sky was on fire... What's his goal? Why would he want to burn our world? Just... why? It can't be just for the fun of it, right? He must have a reason..."

"Hey..." I said gently to interrupt him, and he looked at me.

I hesitated, but I found my courage to brush my fingers against his. He looked down to see my hand, and so did I. Again, I hesitated, but then took his hand in mine. He gave me a wide smile...

"We'll just stop him, and his plans will fail, no matter what they are. That's all we need to know, right?" I said.

His smile grew wider, and he nodded. "Right."

I had to stop to stare at his smile... He looked so good... I wished I could just stop the time and enjoy watching him smile for eternity...

"Anyway... Can you believe this place?" I asked to change the subject.

"No, not really," he said and looked around. "I can't stop feeling like this is just a weird, elaborate dream, and I'm about to wake up any second."

"Same..." I breathed out. "I'm curious to see the next shelter. I just hope we'll make to it before the sun goes down."

Arch peered up at the sky. "I wish we could see the sun, but I think we have plenty of time left."

"How can you tell?" I asked, squinting my eyes at the clouds.

"Because the guards don't look like they're in a hurry," he said, nudging his head toward the three of them.

"I guess, but they're probably safe even after dark," I noted.

"I mean... I'm hoping they wouldn't want us to get hurt," he told me with a grin.

"Depends on who you ask," I said with a chuckle. "Ogruk, maybe. Maev?"

He laughed lightly. "Yeah... I believe that if it wasn't for Ogruk, Maev would've tossed us to the beasts already..."

"Indeed," I said with a grin. "Ogruk better stay on our side... I really don't want to throw hands with whatever is lurking behind those trees."

He chuckled at my words and squeezed my hand. "I'll protect you."

I forgot myself and everything else when he flashed a gentle smile at me, his eyes narrowing, but still shining at me... I really wished I could just stare at him for eternity... I was so mesmerized by him... And I couldn't believe he... that he liked me... Even though he couldn't feel the bond...

"Careful now," he suddenly said, and tried to stop me.

Too late. I'd failed to watch where I was going, and tripped over a fallen branch on the pathway. I let out a short, manly battle cry out of surprise and tried hard not to fall face first to the ground, nearly pulling all the muscles in my body, while Arch laughed cheerfully and held my arm up to help me find my balance.

"Sorry, sorry..." he muttered while I finally straightened my posture and swiped my hair out of my face. "I didn't mean to distract you," he added oh-so-smoothly.

I glared at him, rubbing my now-aching back. He tried to act all innocent as we continued walking, but I squinted my eyes at him.

"You think you're so cute..." I muttered. "Aren't you the diviner? Shouldn't you have seen the branch coming?"

He grimaced and let out a heavy sigh. "It seems like my powers are... a little wonky here..." he admitted. "I can sense stuff, but the messages are so much harder to read."

"Oh. Well that's not good," I said.

"Maybe it's the layers," he muttered, glancing around. "I think I can feel the other versions of this place. It's like listening to a hundred different channels on the radio at the same time. The messages get jumbled. They're hard to read, but I think I should sense it if we're in immediate danger. Those vibrations always get stronger and easier to read right before that."

That didn't make me feel too confident, but I couldn't let him know that. He was concerned enough about it as it was, and I really didn't want us to fall back into the black pit of depressing despair, so I chose to have faith in his powers, and gave him a smile instead.

"I'm sure you will," I said, and gently squeezed his hand.

He seemed to gain a little bit of courage from my words, and his smile returned. "But, for now, I think we should watch where we're going, so we don't break our necks."

"Right," I said, and turned to stare at the pathway in front of us. "Imagine Adam's disappointment if his dear enemy got themselves killed by being clumsy while he's been hatching his plans and building armies to destroy us for most of his life."

Arch had started laughing somewhere halfway into my joke, so once I was done, I was laughing as well. We were being loud enough that our little party noticed we were being left behind, so they stopped to wait for us.

"What's so funny?" Jaden asked once we caught up with them.

"Our lives," I told him.

"True," he agreed, without pushing me for a better reply.

As our journey continued, Arch and I stayed close to the others. We didn't really talk much, and mostly just listened to the others, but I kind of liked that peace and quiet between us. And... he held my hand the entire time, and gave my fingers a little squeeze every now and then, so... That was enough for me. More than that...

And I felt calm. I suddenly had more faith in him and us and hell, I even had more faith in our ability to beat the shit out of Adam just because Arch never let go of my hand.

We stopped only two times to rest and eat, but the second stop ended up being quite short. Just like during our first break, we grabbed a bunch of those super-sized berries and sat down to eat, happy to relax and rest our feet, but it didn't take long before every single one of us started silently counting how many times the three guards peered up at the sky. I was counting somewhere between 'I suppose everything is fine' and 'the sun is setting, isn't it', when Fenrir suddenly stood up with a fake, cheery smile on his face.

"Right! We're all ready to keep going, right? We can finish eating while we walk, right?" he said.

"Yeah, sure!"

"Fine by me!"

"Yeah, great idea!"

Everyone was happy to keep going, even though we all were tired. My feet had started hurting ages ago, but the guards were getting too restless for me to care about the pain. They still didn't say anything, but it was clear the sky concerned them all. I couldn't see anything changing, but I trusted them. We needed to keep moving. And it only took half an hour before the rest of us noticed that the light indeed had started to fade.

"We will reach the next shelter on time, right?" Oliver asked the guards, who glanced at each other first before replying to him.

"We'll get you there safe and sound," Ogruk said, his eyes smiling.

But then he glanced at the sky again...

"The annoying part is we can't even leave you to defend yourselves because if you die, that corruption will get loose," Maev said almost angrily while pulling out her daggers.

"It'll be fine, you sourpuss," Ogruk said so dismissively I almost believed we had no worries in the world.

And then he just had to peer up at the sky again.

"But aren't the beasts supposed to leave Oliver alone?" Jaden asked. "He's the Harbinger of Hades, after all."

"Yeah, well, it's been a while since Hades' pets have seen their master," Ogruk said too casually. "They may not recognize his aura anymore..."

"Awesome..." Jaden muttered, and we all hurried our pace – just in case.

"How many beasts are there?" I asked as I peered at the clouds – the sun seemed to be setting faster than yesterday.

"A few," Ogruk said.

"A few too many," Maev muttered behind her mask.

"Are we able to fight them?" Cedric asked.

We got looks. Very unimpressed looks.

"Let's just keep going. The shelter isn't far away," Ogruk said, and pointed somewhere into the distance.

I wanted to point out that I saw nothing, but again chose to keep my mouth shut. No one could see the shelter, so all we could do was keep going as fast as our tired feet allowed, and hope Ogruk wasn't just trying to cheer us up by lying.

But the damn sun was setting way too fast... The beasts were getting more and more restless, too. The forest was no longer silent as Hades' dear pets started waking up. The unnatural howls and growls and screeches sent constant shivers down my spine, especially when they started sounding closer. The beasts knew we were here.

Could we fight them? I mean, my true form was the size of a small mountain, so what did these beasts have against me? Arch, Jaden, and Tilly were barely indestructible because of Tilly's power. Arch could – hopefully – see the attacks before they happened, and Jaden could heal their wounds. Oliver could turn into a spirit or shadow. Cameron and Cedric could fly, and Ben was technically an angel.

What could these beasts do to us?

Though... Maybe I didn't want to find out.

The next ten or fifteen minutes were somewhat uneventful, though the forest was still growing louder. A few times, I could feel the ground vibrating under my feet, like a large pack of something heavy was running somewhere in the distance, and way too many times, I heard branches snapping somewhere close by.

Then we heard something growling at us right behind the closest trees. Maev had a dagger in each of her four hands, while Elari took a tighter hold on his axes. Ogruk, however, lifted his staff.

"Shield your eyes," he said calmly.

We all did as he asked without hesitation. I even put my entire arm over my eyes, but I still could see a blinding flash of light, which then faded slowly. Once Ogruk gave us permission to look around again, the darkness felt extremely dark for a moment. I also heard thunderous footsteps moving away from us in a hurry.

"That should keep them at bay for a moment," Ogruk said, and gestured for us to hurry. "The shelter is right up this hill."

That was a very large hill our pathway was suddenly leading toward, but sure... I just wished my lethargic feet would carry me up... It was getting really, really hard to walk. All my joints hurt, and the bottoms of my feet felt like they were burning. The others didn't seem to suffer the same way I did, but I guess I simply wasn't back in full health yet after... after what I'd been though...

"So you can just flash bright light at them and they'll run away?" Jaden asked, sounding relieved. "What's the big issue, then?"

Ogruk chuckled at him. "You'd be surprised by how many of my master's pets don't have eyes."

"Ah. That would be the issue, yes," Jaden said.

Ogruk was about to say something else, but then Elari suddenly grunted, sniffed the air, and stared at something up in the sky somewhere around the pillars. The sky had gone so dark it was hard to see what he was seeing, but... I was sure I could see big, black clouds.

"And this is when we start running," Ogruk said.

He didn't have to tell us twice. We all made a mad dash toward the hill and tried to keep up the pace as the pathway took quite a steep turn up. I wanted to know what we were running from, but I needed all my air to keep running. Arch had to leave my side to go help Jaden pull Oliver's cart, but Fenrir took his place next to me.

"You're not well," he spoke in a worried tone.

"Not the right time!" I coughed at him.

He said nothing, but he grabbed my arm to support me. It wasn't much, but I soon realized I would've fallen behind if he hadn't pulled me up the hill. My body was growing weaker by the second. My lungs started to burn so hard it was getting really hard to breathe, and soon I was coughing. My feet didn't want to carry my weight anymore, and I kept tripping because I couldn't lift them high enough.

"There!" Ogruk yelled just when I realized my vision was getting darker than the world around me.

With the last bit of strength I had left, I looked up...

"Holy shit..." someone else spoke on my behalf when a large tree came to our view.

The shelter was a large treehouse high up on a large platform on the massive branches, and it was surrounded by something that looked like a giant birdcage. The platform was connected to the surrounding three trees by wooden bridges that swayed a little in the wind. Those three trees had staircases spiraling around the mad-sized trunks, and we were heading to one of them.

"Almost there!"

I finally heard the beings we were running away from. Their sounds reminded me of birds, but just like everything else in this godforsaken realm, they belonged to horrific nightmares, not in our reality with their low, metallic screeching that got so loud my ears hurt.

And I realized they were right above us. I saw glimpses of their dark beings moving behind the trees, but thankfully, they struggled to get past the branches. They were too big, I assumed. Hoped.

"Up we go, up we go..." Ogruk told us, and I was happy to notice that we'd arrived at the staircase.

It, too, was surrounded by thick bars to protect us, but those were made of wood, not metal, so I doubted they could keep us safe for long.

"Grab your bags!" Jaden shouted while he helped Oliver down from the cart and ushered him up the stairs.

Fenrir didn't stop to bother with our belongings, though. He practically carried me up the stairs, and he quickly got help from Arch. I could hear his worried questions, but my mind didn't really register them. His voice was scared... That I did register.

"I'm fine... I'm fine..." I mumbled.

After that, all I could hear were the horrible high screeches of the birds that finally managed to break through the canopy. I saw sharp talons and serrated beaks trying to get us through the bars, but no matter how big they were – and they were fucking big – they couldn't reach us, and the bars didn't break.

"Keep going, keep going..."

I had no idea who was speaking to me. I tried to lift my foot to take the next step up the stairs, but I couldn't. I was so exhausted... Fenrir and Arch realized that quickly enough.

"You're all right..." Arch told me. "I'll take you up."

And just like that, I was up in his arms. He held me tightly against his chest as he started climbing. I wrapped my weak arms around his shoulders and rested my heavy head against his shoulder.

"I'm sorry..." I mumbled.

"Don't worry about it," he said softly. "I got you."

He was so strong... We had a shit-ton of stairs ahead of us, but he kept climbing up like we hadn't spent hours walking, then running for our lives, and like I weighed nothing. He didn't seem tired at all. His hold on me never failed. He didn't complain, either. He only said soothing and reassuring things to me. All I could do was keep an eye out for those giant crows from hell, but as long as we stayed right next to the trunk, they couldn't reach us.

But we got our answer. These beasts didn't recognize Oliver, and he tried his best to command them to leave us alone. Jaden had to carry him up, which kind of made me feel ashamed, because Oliver was missing half of his soul. What was my excuse? Why was I feeling so extremely weak? At least now that I had time to breathe, I was slowly regaining a little bit of strength, and I wasn't about to pass out anymore, but my body was still in mad pain.

After a small eternity, we reached the top of the stairs, and the birds moved over the bridge, and continued trying to break through the bars. They seemed frustrated, since their screeches got much louder again. I couldn't hear Arch, even though his lips were right next to my ears. I hoped we had eardrums left after this...

We hurried across the bit too shaky bridge and got to the other side without an incident. We entered the birdcage, which, I realized, was meant to keep these birds outside, not in. Once we all stood on the platform, Ogruk closed the gates and made sure they were properly locked, while his friends went to take care of the other two exits. Once he was done, he ushered us to the house. He tried to speak, but the noise was too much, and our ears were probably getting too damaged to hear anything.

I held onto Arch as he carried me to the door. I still watched the birds, but the wooden cage was too strong for them to break through. Their frustration grew the further away we got, but then...

We were in. We all hurried through the doorway, and after Elari and Maev joined us, Ogruk closed the doors, cutting out most of that horrifying noise.

"Holy shit..." Tilly muttered and collapsed to sit on the ground where she stood.

"Are you all right?" Ben asked in worry and dropped the bags he'd carried up here.

"I'm fine, I'm fine..." she muttered.

"Arch – he needs to rest," Fenrir came to tell him, giving me concerned looks. "Bring him here."

"I'm still conscious," I told him grumpily, but I was ignored.

Arch followed Fenrir through the house, which looked a lot like the log cabins back at our territory, but it was huge. The whole place was just one big space with no separate rooms, and the ceiling was really high above us. There was a similar large fireplace for cooking in the middle of the back wall, and plenty of beds and tables in every corner. It actually looked very much the same as the cave, but with actual walls, windows, and floor.

"Here," Fenrir said, and Arch rested me down on one of the beds.

Fuck, I felt sore... Even laying down hurt, and it took me a moment to be able to straighten my back on the soft mattress. Both Fenrir and Arch tried to help me make myself comfortable, and my every gasp and grunt made them even more worried about me.

"I'm fine..." I breathed out once I was finally lying down.

"What happened?" Arch asked and touched my forehead carefully. "You... You just collapsed..."

"I'm better now," I said truthfully. "I guess I'm just not used to running around like this..."

"Do you feel sick? Are your spirits all right?" Arch asked.

"Jack? What's going on?" I heard Oliver's demanding question somewhere behind them.

I just groaned.

"Let me see," Oliver spoke as he pushed his way to my bed and sat down next to me.

"I'm fine," I told him as well, but again, I was ignored.

He rested his hand on my chest, then focused. I could feel his powers radiating softly somewhere deep inside me. It made me feel better, yes, but it did nothing to my body. He spent quite a long time studying me and my spirits, like he was determined to find something bad, but finally, he frowned, and pulled his hand away.

"Nothing seems wrong with your spirits," he said.

"Could it be that I'm in a shitty shape?" I asked him.

He pursed his lips. "I mean... Unless you're sick?"

"I don't feel sick," I said. "I mean... I think I don't feel sick?"

"Well, it doesn't matter, because you'll be stuck here for a few days," Ogruk came to tell us. "The night will be long today, and tomorrow it will be even longer. You're not leaving this shelter until the day after tomorrow, so you get to rest."

"How can you tell?" Fenrir asked him.

Ogruk shrugged. "When you live here long enough, you learn to make good, educated guesses."

"I see..."

"You all should rest now, but I suggest you don't go to sleep yet," the guard said, and retreated toward the door. "It's only around four in the afternoon. Even though it's dark, the day is far from over."

"Are you leaving?" Oliver asked with a frown.

"You need food. Proper food. Those berries may fill your stomachs, but they don't give you energy. I believe that is why you're all tired now. We'll go find you meat to eat. Maybe we'll come across a few carrots and potatoes."

"First we have to babysit them, and now you're making us run their errands?" Maev said in a pissy tone and crossed both sets of her arms over her chest.

"You're more than welcome to keep them company," Ogruk said.

Maev stared at him, then gave us an ugly glance, then turned back to her friend.

"I'd much rather go kill something," she said with a snort, and marched to the door.

Ogruk chuckled a little, then took a deep breath. "Right. Take a nap. All of you. We'll be back in a few hours."

"Not going to say no to that," I muttered while the guards left.

I was feeling much better now that I could blame the berries for my condition. It made sense, though. I was still recovering from everything I'd been through, so it made sense that Oliver and I were the first to collapse without proper food.

The others didn't seem to be doing so good, either. Ben had to help Tilly up from the floor while Jaden carried Oliver to one of the beds, his step wobbling a little. Arch had gotten a little pale, and he looked tired. Oliver's phoenix guardians looked better than the rest of us, but they, too, went to sit down without arguments.

"I guess I could use a short nap as well," Fenrir muttered, then turned to me. "You will be all right?"

I glanced at Arch. "If he stays with me, yeah."

Arch gave me a soft smile. "I'll stay with you."

"Good," Fenrir said, and went to sit down on the bed closest to mine. "Let me know if you need anything."

"Sure thing," I told him, then turned back to Arch, and patted the spot next to me. "There's room for us both."

"Is there now...?" he muttered.

"Uh-huh," I said, moving closer to the wall.

He didn't hesitate before he lay down next to me and made himself comfortable. He looked really tired all of a sudden...

"Try to get some rest," I told him.

"That was my line," he said with a low chuckle.

"Sorry," I whispered.

He smiled at me and moved a little closer to me. I could feel his knees touching my aching ones... I followed his example and inched closer to him, and then... carefully... I rested my head on his arm... And he responded by placing his free hand on my side...

Now I felt much better...

"Have a good nap," he whispered to me. "I'll watch over you while you sleep."

"Boy, you look like you're going to fall asleep before me," I noted.

He snorted in amusement. "That... may happen, yes."

I chuckled and inched even closer to him... and he did the same until there was no room left between us. I closed my eyes, but I couldn't stop smiling...

"I'll watch over you even in my sleep," he told me softly, and touched my cheek gently. "You just rest now..."

"Okay..." I whispered back.

It was so warm next to him... Warm and cozy and safe... So...

I guess it was me who fell asleep first, after all.