The entire group were sitting around a small fire eating dinner, a simple stew, when Toji froze, his eyes narrowing. Kas caught the shift in demeanor and put his guard up immediately.

“What?”

“I smell a flea.”

Everyone exchanged confused glances. Ynda rose her eyebrow. “What do you mean you can smell a flea?”

Raze snorted, almost choking on his stew. Mob grinned, shaking his head as he took another bite of his stew. “Bout time he got here,” he muttered.

Toji glanced up into the trees, setting his bowl down and slowly getting to his feet.

“Toji?” Cain said, curious as to what had his Prince in such a strange mood all of a sudden. “What’s going on?” He glanced over at Dracon who turned his attention to Arla, asking how she liked her stew. 

Toji walked through the circle, toward a large tree with a limb that stuck out over the clearing. He stopped, glaring up for several seconds, muttering to himself. The rest wondered if they should prepare for a fight, but nothing about Toji’s energy suggested one was coming.

“Hiya!”

Everyone jumped, a couple of them letting out exclamations of surprise as a boy appeared from a tree branch just behind Toji, hanging upside down like a monkey. In fact, the boy looked very much like a small monkey.

“Silver, you little shit!” Toji yelled, reaching up and grabbing the imp by the scruff of the neck. He brought him close to his face, his fangs bared while the demon laughed. “Where the hell have you been?”

“Scouting!” he laughed, his mischievous grin wide, his sharp teeth glinting in the fire light. 

“Scouting, are you serious?” Toji growled. “Why didn’t you warn me about the goblins? Or the bandit raids?”

“You didn’t ask.”

“Little shit,” Toji muttered again, tossing the imp over his shoulder with a frustrated glare. Silver squealed with delight as he flew over the heads of the group. Growing larger, he used his tail to catch another branch and he spun back around to land on his feet, leaning his hand up against the trunk.

Ynda pointed up at the demon. “That’s Silver?”

“Cute, innit he?” Raze asked, looking up at the boy who plopped down to straddle the branch, swinging his legs as he grinned down at everyone.

“He is, actually,” Mei said. “I thought you said he wasn’t an anishif? That he was a mid-rank demon.”

Toji plopped back down next to Kas with a huff, grabbing up his bowl, glaring once more at the creature before going back to his dinner, muttering the whole time. Kas was sure he heard the words “turn you into a fucking coat” come through.

“He isn’t,” Mob said. “He’s an imp who happened to evolve into a mid-rank. He doesn’t look it—”

“Or act it,” Toji grumbled.

“But he’s actually a very skilled and efficient scout and fighter.”

“One who was supposed to show up days ago.”

Silver shrugged. “Got busy with some ghouls and couldn’t get away.”

Toji, Raze, Mob, and Dracon all turned to him, their eyes wide, their dinner forgotten. “I don’t want to hear that,” Toji said, his deep voice low with warning.

Silver shrugged, alternating the swing in his legs. “Sorry, boss-god, but them’s the breaks.”

“What is he talking about?” Noah asked. “What are ghouls?”

“Nasty little bastards that will tear you open and eat your entrails while you’re still alive,” Raze said. “I thought we eradicated them from this Realm months ago.”

“When you say little…” Chloe said, handing the rest of her stew to Cain, her appetite gone.

“They’re the size of small children,” Dracon said, “and just as frustrating to deal with.”

“They can’t use magic or manipulate anything,” Mob said, “but they are fast, agile—”

“And in my way.” Toji stood, handing his bowl to Kas. He held out his arm and Silver shrank down to the size of a small monkey, jumping down to utilize it as a step to Toji’s shoulders, his tail wrapping around his neck for support. Toji no longer seemed annoyed by the creature, going so far as to offer him the rest of his meal which Silver took gratefully.

“How many are there?”

“Thirty-eight.”

“Specific.”

“There were three hundred and twenty-six.”

“And you took care of all of them by yourself?”

Silver chuckled. “Of course not, I had help from the Brigade. It took us a few days because we needed to ambush them and wipe them out before they got too lucid.”

“What do you mean by that?” Arla asked.

“Ghouls are slow and fairly lethargic when they haven’t eaten or hunted in a while,” Toji said. “Any sudden noise or movement can set them off, and then they’re a massive pain in the ass at that point.”

“Like zombies,” Noah and Arla said.

Toji shrugged, handing Silver a piece of fruit and nut bar, taking the empty stew bowl back. Toji hated the bar, but Silver seemed to find them a fine treat. “Sort of, yeah. Except zombies don’t exist; these assholes do.”

“We should be able to handle them, right?” Kas said. 

Raze sighed. “Yes, but it’s gonna be a struggle, even if the number is small.”

“Like I said, they’re fast,” Mob added. “If we’re lucky, maybe they’ll stay far enough away and we won’t disturb them enough for them to have any interest.”

“Where are they?” Toji asked Silver.

“Two days off.”

“Shit,” Kas said, running a hand over his short hair. “Isn’t the crack two days away?”

“Around that, yeah,” Toji said, letting his head fall in his hands. “This is bad.”

“We don’t have time to deal with something like that,” Mei said. “If they’re anywhere near the crack, they could jeopardize the entire mission.”

“That’s why we’re here,” Dracon said, flicking his thumb between himself, Raze, Mob, and Cain. “If they come anywhere near the crack, we’ll fight them so you can do your job without too much worry.”

Arla frowned. “But what if you get bit? Or they take you down?”

Dracon gave her a small smile, wiggling her chin with his fingers. “Nothing can take me down, angel. Their bites hurt like hell but they’re not venomous.”

“That’s something, at least,” Noah said. He looked at Toji. “What if we sent the anishifs ahead? Even a few hours could buy us time, not to mention ensure less complications. We only have thirteen seconds and if they take even one of those away, we’re screwed.”

Kas nodded. “He has a point. I don’t like the idea of us running into a problem this late in the game. Dracon said it himself, they’re job is to watch our backs while we destroy the barrier. It’s to all of our advantage to send them ahead.”

Toji nodded, looking to the anishifs. “What do you think?”

They all nodded. 

“They’re unpredictable, but so are we,” Cain said. He looked at Silver who was resting on Toji’s shoulders, his little hands folded on the top of Toji’s head, his chin resting upon them. “Thirty-eight?”

The imp nodded. “No more. We made sure of that before we headed back.”

“Why didn’t you dispose of them?” Raze asked. “Couldn’t have been that difficult.”

“True, it wouldn’t have been,” Silver agreed. “They were, however, gravely injured and in full retreat back to their nest. It’s possible some have died from their wounds in the meantime.”

“Hopefully they all did,” Ynda said. “Still, it would be smart to ensure that they are, in fact, dead and gone.”

Mob nodded. “I agree. Boss, I suggest we leave in three hours. It’ll give us enough time to finish our rest and plan our course.”

Toji nodded. “Sounds good to me. Arla and Chloe, if you want to take your mates off somewhere, be my guest.” There was no point in saying that the parting would be brief; any time apart from a soulmate was difficult and they all knew it; no one more so than the Strannick's and the Kanaki's. “Mob and Raze, I need at least one of you to stay behind with us for rest relief for the others. I can only carry so much on my back even when fully grown, and I have my Sword.”

The two nodded. “I’ll stay,” Mob said. “I’m larger and I can help with the supplies.”

Toji shook his head. “Dracon will take all the supplies ahead with them. We’re not stopping until we get to that crack.”

They finished their dinner and the two couples headed off to spend their last few hours together before they parted. When everything was cleaned up and cleared away, Silver, now the size of a teenage boy, walked off with Toji to have a private chat.

“I didn’t know imps could change their size like that,” Mei said, rolling up her cloak to use as a pillow.

Ynda grinned. “They can alter more than just their size. They can change into any animal, and they’re incredibly powerful. Plus, a lot of them really are super cute. Toji, the imp whose life force was our Toji’s foundation, was a catlike imp who preferred a cat form. He also took the form of a seventeen year old boy with red dreadlocks. Pater and Daddy used to call him a little shit, too.” She smiled softly. “All I know about him is what they’ve told us. Toji also has his memories. How many he’s experienced in the last five decades, if any at all, I don’t know.” Her smile faded. “I don’t think I’ll ever know.” 

She crawled into the tent and fell face-first with a huff onto her blankets, her arms folding under her coat. 

Mei smiled at her, squeezing her girlfriend’s foot to let her know she’d be right back. Ynda made a noise but didn’t respond past that.

The assassin made her way over to where Kas was leaning against a tree, waiting for Noah to get back from going to the bathroom. 

“Hey,” she said upon approach. 

He looked over at her, lifting two fingers off his arm. “Hey,” he replied.

“You’re stealing my friend from me,” she said with a playful smile.

Kas smiled in return, snorting softly. “Technically, he stole me first.”

“I guess that’s fair,” she nodded. “I wanted to ask you something, if that’s okay.”

“Sure.”

“When we first went through the door to the Fifth Realm, Ynda said Noah was your ticket through. He’s had to hold onto you everytime we cross through.”

He grinned. “You want to know why.”

She nodded. “I was just curious. I’ve never known that to happen with anyone else.”

“Makes sense,” he said. “I guess you could say it’s a condition of my exile, one that was made without my knowledge until I found out the hard way.”

“What exactly is it?”

“I’m not allowed in any Realm outside the Veil, specifically the Fifth Realm of Hell, the Sixth Realm of Heaven, or the Third Realm of Heaven. And of course anywhere within a hundred miles or more of Helman Court.”

“Why is that?”

“You’d have to ask Hawk and Hero, they’re the ones that set that condition. My guess is because that’s where Toji’s family all reside. Toji’s in the Fifth Realm, and the Albrights live in the opposite direction. Arla works in the Sixth.” He shifted against the tree, clearly uncomfortable but still willing to talk since she had asked with respect. “Unless a member of the family vouches for me, I can’t cross the border. They do this by having physical contact with me.”

“What happens if Noah isn’t touching you? Or any of the family?”

“I get zapped and thrown back.”

Mei winced. “Ouch.”

He nodded. “Very big ouch. I found this out way back by accident, actually. I was rip-roaring drunk and had it in my mind that if no one else wanted me, maybe someone in Hell did, so I went to where I knew there was a door and when I tried to enter, I got zapped so bad I got sober. It helped that I was also thrown twenty feet back. Apparently it made for quite the show for the few people who were around.” He rolled his eyes. “You’d think I would have learned from that little misadventure, but no. Toji isn’t the only dense one in this universe.”

Mei giggled. “What did you do?”

“There are border towns near the Heavenly Realms that I used to do mercenary and bounty work in. I didn’t visit them often, but they paid well so what the hell. Plus, if I’m honest,” he blushed slightly, averting his gaze, “I was hoping to see Noah.”

Mei’s eyes widened. “The assassin training house is in one of those towns.”

He nodded. “Again, I was drunk out of my mind and, for whatever reason, thought Noah was in one of the Heavenly Realms. I wanted to see him so badly so I headed to the door that was outside the town I was in and, once again,” he gestured in an arc. “Zap.” He folded his arms, his eyes on the ground. “I never tried again. I left two days later…” he took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “After I stalked the training house.”

“Sorry, what?”

Kas covered his face with both hands before running them over his head. “I told you, I wanted to see Noah and I was drunk as fuck every day.”

“He couldn’t leave that house even if you begged for him.”

He nodded. “I know. But I never did. I stayed far enough away not to be seen. I knew he felt me there through the link. He must have. It was faint, but…” He grinned at her. “Anyway. That’s why I need Noah to get through the doors to Hell.”

“Ynda said you were an alcoholic.”

Kas straightened. “Yeah, I am.”

“I haven’t seen you drink since we left Sunderland.”

He said nothing, realizing she was right. He hadn’t touched a single drop since he and Noah finally confessed to each other almost two weeks ago by now. He looked at his hands, shocked to notice they weren’t shaking. He hadn’t gone through a single withdrawal or even thought about booze the entire time. He looked back at Mei who was smiling.

“Just thought I’d mention it.” She twiddled her fingers as she walked back to hers and Ynda’s tent, closing the flap tight behind her.