We're nearing the colony and tension starts to float across Mason's shoulders, coming and going. His jaw hardens more and more as we approach civilization. Whatever's about to happen, whatever I'm about to learn is clearly pulling at the edges of his composure, threatening to unravel our comfortable truce.

I kept my word and other than comments on logistics, I was silent. As we crest the last big hill, the outline of some low buildings and the bustle of people and various animals come into view, none of which I recognize from our earlier adventures. It resembles an old world farming community. I want to pause, to drink in the sight of more people, but I know that will set off red flags everywhere. Worry is like a dim light in the back of my brain as I look at Mason's tense frame. He's done the bulk of the heavy lifting over the last few miles and he doesn't seem even remotely tired.

"Hold up." Mason stops pulling and looks at Rocco and Riven. "I think it's probably best if the two of you lead us in."

Rocco and Riven exchange glances and move to the front. Rocco turns back to us and says, "We can manage it from here." The firmness in his voice is surprising and I think Mason might balk at his lack of gratitude for the help we gave thus far.

Instead, Mason holds up his hands and steps back. I stand beside him. We can't accomplish my next task if we don't even enter the colony.

Rocco takes over Mason's pulling position and Riven grabs hold beside him. We watch them struggle in silence for a few moments and then Rocco reluctantly lets go of the beast, having moved it only a few feet. He looks at Mason. "It appears we may need your help after all."

Mason absorbs his words without comment and nods to me to get behind the quillore again. I expected him to be a little smug at their need for help and again I am struck by how uneasy he seems.

When Mason moves to start pushing, Rocco speaks again but he isn't looking at either of us. "I'm not prepared to vouch for either of you."

Mason avoids looking at me, but his knuckles go white and his face seems to lose some color. "Understood."

Riven stops pulling and stands taller, moving around so that we can see him better. "I'll vouch for both of you."

Rocco's voice shakes with anger. "That's a death sentence."

"If he hadn't healed my legs, I'd already be dead." Riven's jaw is set and while he looks tenser, Mason looks slightly more relaxed.

I'm sure that if my next task didn't have something to do with this colony that Mason and I would leave them to drag the beast in themselves. I take up my position beside him in silence and start pushing again. We start off at a good pace and roll into the colony.

I can't see over the sleek black body of the quillore, but I hear the roar of the community as the beast makes its entrance with the two colony members alive, well and fully intact. People are speaking to Rocco and Riven in excited voices. Mason turns his back so that it rests against the quillore.

"Ah, Queenie. The shit is about to hit the fan." He grabs my hand.

He inhales deeply and steps around the quillore, dragging me behind him. There's a stunned silence and then Rocco and Riven look at us, stunned, as though we were forgotten in the rush of congratulations.

Riven quickly moves over beside us, clearly indicating his acceptance of our presence. "These two travelers helped us to bring the beast back."

An angry voice from the back of the crowd yells out, "He's no traveler! We don't want him here. He can't enter the colony's gates."

Riven takes a deep breath and sways a little on his feet. I put a reassuring hand around his waist and leave my other hand securely in Mason's.

"I VOUCH FOR THESE TWO AS TRAVELERS."

There's a second stunned silence and then we're being pelted with rocks. I don't know where to turn. I drop my grip on both of the men and cover my face, trying to shield myself from the onslaught.

Mason throws up his hands and a burst of bright light comes out. "ENOUGH!" His voice booms across the colony and I have to cover my ears. "Enough!" He repeats the word as a few wayward rocks fall mid-air at our feet.

The night is still and there is no breeze as Mason looks around the colony, barely suppressing his anger. Fear permeates the air, sucking up all the oxygen. It's as though a blanket has been placed over the people, smothering their protests.

"I did not come here to cause havoc or to take anyone. I am simply a traveler seeking shelter for one night." Mason looks around the crowd, willing anyone to disagree. He has his hands raised in a show of submission, but given that he can shoot light and who knows what else from them, it looks a little more aggressive than he probably intends.

All the people at the front of the crowd shift uneasily and Riven gives Mason a grateful look. He nods his head at the crowd.

"He's a traveler," Riven affirms again.

We need to take someone with us. We'll have to figure out how to explain that when the time comes to leave.

A dark haired man who looks a little older than us steps forward. "You can have refuge for one night." He glances over at me. His eyes rake over me from head to toe and although his face is empty of emotion. There's calculation in his eyes. "People are looking for her."

I shiver runs through me. I try to maintain my composure, but my heart is racing.

"Impossible." Mason's voice is a warning.

"They've been coming to all the colonies, examining all the babies, looking for her soul," he says, nodding to me again.

Mason meets the boy's eyes and narrows his own. "Who do you think she is?" There's danger in his voice, no longer just a warning and the boy takes a small step back, suddenly looking nervous.

"I don't think I should say. The wind has ears."

Mason narrows his eyes. He looks at me, regret apparent. I shake my head, afraid of what he might do next. If they recognize me, if they turn me over to whoever is looking for me, we're both lost.

"They won't say anything, Mason. I'm sure they won't." I don't know what he's capable of doing, but if a mob of people is frightened, there's probably just cause.

He looks at me, then at the man and then at Riven and Rocco. "We'll stay the night. We'll be gone in the morning." He steps towards the man so that they are standing almost toe to toe. "I hope I don't need to remind you that we were never here. I didn't come here in anger or to create fear, but I'll wipe out this colony if she's threatened."

He steps around him and pushes me through the crowd even as it begins to part for us. Everyone is eager to keep a wide berth of Mason and I can't blame them. He turns to look at Riven and Rocco.

"Well, fellas? Where should we hang our hats?" he asks.

Rocco looks at Riven and shrugs. "I suppose it's only fair that you stay at my place. Riven was brave enough to vouch for you. I can at least be brave enough to give you my hut. I'll stay at Riven's, though, if it's all the same to you."

Once we're in the hut and the door is closed, I turn on Mason. "Spill it. None of this...I feel really disoriented. I thought it might all be clear once we got here, so I didn't pry. But, you could wipe out this whole colony? People are looking for me? Who are you? What the hell is going on?"

Mason grimaces. "Where do you want me to start?"

I don't hesitate, the question that's been at the back of my mind for weeks springs out. "What are you?"

He leans up against the wall of the hut. Watching me as he speaks, "I'm an antediluvian. You can't get a soul older than mine."

I pause, trying to decide where I want our conversation to head. He's finally giving me carte blanche to ask whatever I need and I don't want to waste my opportunity. "You can do all of this weird stuff because you're old?"

"Yes, sort of. I discovered a lot of this really weird stuff through some pretty big trial and error." He looks down at his weathered hands. "My soul is far from pure or clean."

"Is that why they're all afraid of you?"

He hesitates and gestures towards a really uncomfortable looking chair. "No, that's not why they're afraid of me. Most of them don't know I'm an original soul. It's not common."

A flippant response rises, but I push it down. "Why are they afraid of you?"

He sighs when I make no motion to sit down. He turns away from me and plays with a few of the trinkets that are hanging on the wall. "Let's just say, I used to have a lot of power before I took the job with Grayson on the Second Realm. Whether or not I still have all that power? I don't know. The longer I'm back on the realm, the stronger I seem to be."

"That's how Grayson selected you?"

"No, not really. Grayson's also an original soul. He wasn't always so...well, none of us start out that evil, I guess." He won't meet my gaze. I'm missing something. I absorb his comments.

"Were you a keeper?" I'm trying to sift through what seems important right now and what I can probably convince him to tell me later.

"No. The only realm where I had any real power is here. I was demoted or promoted; I guess it would depend on how people viewed looking after you." He shoots me a wry glance and then goes back to avoiding me. "They should fear me, as you so eloquently pointed out, I can do a lot of weird shit."

I walk over to where he is standing and force him to meet my gaze. "On the Second Realm, did you ever intend to kill me?"

He surprises me by holding my gaze with an intensity that borders on ferocious. "Yes. Especially when I first arrived. I'd have done it in a heartbeat. I would have done almost anything Grayson had asked. What he was offering, it would have been worth it to me. It's what I'm going to get from Ryan now."

"What are you getting from Ryan?"

"That's the one question I am not answering today. You can ask me anything else and I'll answer."

I don't hesitate, convinced that whatever he wants I'll learn eventually, one way or another. "Who's after me?"

He shrugs. "Could be anyone, but judging by what that guy said, I'm guessing it's the gatekeeper and he or she is working with the rebels, probably hoping for the kind of deal I have."

"What's a gatekeeper?" I ask.

Mason pauses and seems to be weighing his words carefully. "Someone who helps the Lord of the Realms make life or death decisions – when the Lord lets that person, anyway."

"Should we be worried about the Lord of the Realms then, too?"

Mason laughs. "No, no worries there."

A ball of frustration beats at my temple. "If this group finds me, will they kill me?"

"Probably." He turns away from me. "Yes, yeah, they will whether Ryan agrees to give them what they want or not. Ryan knows that."

"So, he won't give in to their demands."

He gives a short laugh and turns to look at me again. "Sometimes, I don't get how the two of you have made it this far. He'd give them what they wanted if there was even a sliver of hope that they wouldn't hurt you."

Tears spring to my eyes. I was carrying around so much anger at Ryan the last few days over his behavior in the Third Realm. It was getting harder and harder to remember why we were doing all of this.

"You want to see him, don't you?" Mason asks.

I try to speak, but tears block my voice. I swallow the lump in my throat and mumble, "more than anything." I swallow again, trying to regain my composure. "I feel like I've lost sight of why we're doing all this."

He sighs. "I think I can get you in. I'm getting some power back; I might be able to do it."

"In?" Confusion mingles with my tears. "In where?"

"In his dream."

"You'd do that for me?"

His eyes soften and the green reminds me of the fields around the mansion on the Second Realm. "This doesn't mean I like you."

"I would never suggest that you did." I give him a small smile and have to turn away so that he doesn't see my gratitude.

"I can't do it tonight. It's not safe for me to sleep here. But, I'll do it soon."

I move over to the chair he suggested earlier and slump into it. "We still have one relatively big problem."

He nods. "Yeah, you have to actually convince someone to like you enough to come with us."

I give him a wry look. "I also have to find someone who doesn't completely hate you."

He grins. "My fan club is rather tiny. The Anti-Mason Club though? That's huge." He opens the door to the hut. "You'd better get out there and start networking. I would suggest you start with the twins. I think they're both a little soft in the head."

I roll my eyes as I exit the hut. I send up a silent prayer to the wish gods that I'll be able to convince someone to join our quest before morning.

####

Mason raises his eyebrows when both of the boys turn up at the hut the next morning. Each one is carrying a small pack and a frisson of delight races up my spine at his shock. I refused to tell him who I convinced the night before, just that we were set for the morning.

"Ah, Hannah. Can I speak to you for a moment before we leave?" He holds up his finger to Riven and Rocco. He closes the door. "Two of them. Why are they both here?"

I grin at him even as my dark blonde hair falls into my eyes. "I figured two was better than one. Also, they both lost a bet with me last night and they had to come. Brilliant, really." I'm feeling quite smug that I was able to get them to come so easily. I even managed to get a good night's sleep.

Mason looks amused and puts his hands on his hips. "And what exactly was the wager?"

I push my hair out of my face and my grin falters. He isn't going to like this part. "I told them that I could make fire without any tools or even any wood."

He sighs. "I can see why they'd lose that bet."

"But, I did it."

"Of course you did." He half turns away and then turns back. "Have you ever wondered how two Sirens could have such a remarkable progeny? The thought has crossed my mind more than once."

"Maybe I'm an old soul too?" I give him a hopeful look, wondering what he's getting at.

"But, you're not. If you were, you'd remember all your past lives. You'd be able to compartmentalize your emotions better rather than being swept away by them."

"I wouldn't even know where to start with blocking my emotions. I lost all those skills when I was dropped into the Second Realm in this weird hybrid body." I look down at myself, feeling a pang of disgust.

When I look back up, Mason is searching my face. Seeing the question on my lips, his face clears and he gives me a pat on my butt. "Good job getting the boys to follow. They could prove useful." He opens the door to them. "Welcome to the journey fellas. Make sure you pack a belt, it's going to be a crazy ride."

Straight-faced and silent, Rocco and Riven follow us out of the colony.

Author's Note:

Were you surprised by any of Mason's revelations? Who's your favourite character so far?