It was one evening in late October when the council of necromancers were summoned to the farthest reaches of Hell by the then self-proclaimed king of Hell, Erelach, for one reason: to create the most powerful ring possible.

The creation of such a powerful ring took the necromancers two days to complete. On the third, All Hallows Eve, they presented the ring to Erelach, who was so obsessed with greed and power that he killed the council of necromancers immediately after receiving his finished ring.

For years Erelach used the power of the ring to control all of Hell. During this time many tried to take the ring from him, but none succeeded. At least it seemed that way until the son of a greater demon dared challenge him for the ruling of Hell.

The two demons battled for six hundred and sixty six days and nights before the son of the greater demon finally killed Erelach, taking the throne as the new ruler of Hell almost immediately afterwards. However, the demon soon came to discover that the ring had disappeared during the battle and he spent the rest of his life searching for it, but never found it.

Since then the location of the ring has remained a mystery to all those who seek the use of its immense power.

Noir grabbed her list from the small bedside table in her caravan and rushed out the door, her satchel nearly getting caught in the door in her hurry. She made sure her bag was out of the way before locking the door and pulling on it for good measure, even though she knew none of the gypsies would steal anything.

Practically skipping she weaved her way through the gypsy camp, waving to those she knew along the way, towards the forest path that would take her in the direction of the market. The path she took twisted and turned throughout the dense forest edge, designed to make it nearly impossible for any non-magical folk to so much as enter the magical part of the forest.

On her journey along the path she passed rune marked trees and tiny fae villages scattered about. She came across a small coven of teenage witches, using a small clearing for spell practice, and a travelling party of elves, grieving the loss of a warrior. She even came across a dray of squirrels, a rare sighting in this part of the forest.

The path didn’t stop at the edge of the forest, but instead continued all the way to a dirt road about ten feet away and a small crossroad to the left some ways from the opening of the path.

Noir exited the forest and travelled halfway to the road before deviating on to a less travelled, and well hidden, side path concealed by a pair of close together, moss ridden trees. She entered the second path through the door-like entrance and followed it all the way to the end: an abandoned fair ground where all manner of creatures liked to host a daily market.

The market was already teeming with shop owners and customers. Various wares were being sold from booths, carts, small tents, and stalls. Children were running everywhere, checking out each item that caught their eye and running their guardians ragged. The delicious smells of cooking meat and fresh baked goods spread throughout the market, enticing anyone who caught a whiff of them to check them out. And everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, like usual.

Noir smiled as she entered the market and was nearly run down by a pack of wolf pups chasing each other, and running from their mother. She chuckled and watched the pups run off after a short hiccup involving one of them tripping over their own paws before continuing on her way, doing her best to block out all temptations until she was finished with her weekly delivery.

She took a left at a stall selling all kinds of talisman, ranging from jewelry to coins to various household objects. She then continued straight for six booths and stalls before hanging a hard right at a booth selling cooked meat and fresh fruit from a local farmer. She took another left at a fortune teller’s tent not far away and then another right at a cart littered with bottles and jars containing variously colored liquids soon after that. She took a final right turn, almost immediately, at an exotic animal booth and continued straight towards her destination: a stall containing all manner of wares that dabbled in some minor, illegal dark magic objects, spells, and potions on the side.

She approached the stall with a smile and small wave directed at the shopkeeper, a young Valkyrie named Vaja.

“And what do you have for me today, Noir?” Vaja asked, returning the mage’s smile with a mysterious and secretive smile of her own.

Noir winked at the Valkyrie and began pulling a few jars and small bags from her satchel, placing them down in front of Vaja as she did so.

“One jar of rat hearts. One jar of magic infused buttons. Two jars of scratch n’ sniff gems. One bag of crushed Lilly pad. And finally, two and a half bags of dried cat tails.” Noir explained to Vaja, pointing to each object in turn when she mentioned it.

“Perfect as always.” Vaja said as she handed over a small bag of coins before storing the newly acquired items in the storage area directly behind and below her stall.

When she came back up Noir was perusing the various wares offered at the stall. “Anything else I can do for you? Anything catch your interest?”

“Do you have any nether stones?” Noir asked, stopping her perusal of the offered crystals and stones to address Vaja.

“Not at the present moment, but Valery might have some. Her stall’s over near Moira’s tent.” Vaja answered, pointing in the general direction to the right of her stall.

“Thanks.” Noir said, returning the bag of amethyst crystals she had begun examining back in its rightful place. She then said goodbye to Vaja before heading off to find Valery’s stall, thinking that it wouldn’t be too hard to locate if she remembered where Moira’s tent was located.

She wandered throughout the maze of a market for a good ten minutes, only getting lost twice, before finally finding Moira’s tent and Valery’s stall only a few feet away from the tent. She took a deep breath in relief and approached the stall, smiling upon seeing that the stall did indeed have exactly what she was looking for.

 “If you need any help don’t be afraid to ask.” Valery said, greeting Noir with a friendly smile.

Noir nodded in acknowledgment and began to peruse the various types of nether stone offered at the nymph’s stall. As she was perusing the darker stones she couldn’t help overhearing a vampire chatting with an elf about some rumor from Hell.

“…less chaos than usual. Apparently it has something to do with some ring being found in one of the pits by Satan himself.” the vampire said to the elf in a hushed tone.

“A ring? Do you think it could be the one ring?” the elf asked with interest, eyes widening and hand reaching out to rest on the vampire’s arm.

“One ring?” the vampire answered with confusion and a raised eyebrow.

“The one ring of Hell. The most powerful ring in existence. Haven’t you heard the legends about it?” the elf said, taking a step back from the vampire and staring at them with a look of equal confusion.

“Never heard the legend, but a powerful ring sounds exactly like what I overheard some cousins of mine talking about.” The vampire said, slightly less confused and now nodding in thoughtful agreement after taking a moment to think about it.

The elf was just about to say something in return when she noticed Noir listening in and quietly observing them. She shook her head in mild disgust before taking the vampire by the elbow and leading him away from Valery’s stall, intending the continue their talk elsewhere without the prying ears and eyes of a curious mage.

Noir watched the elf and vampire disappear back into the crowd before returning her full attention to her perusal of Valery’s exceptionally large selection of nether stones laid out in front of her.

She looked for a good couple of minutes longer, not giving into distraction this time, before deciding on the nether stones infused with dark amethysts and sapphires. She picked two bags and went over to the center of the stall to pay for them.

“Was any of that true? The stuff about the ring showing up in Hell?” Noir asked Valery in a slight whisper as the nymph rang up her purchase.

“Oh yes. It’s all anyone can talk about, but it seems to just be rumors at the moment. Who knows if any of those are actually true or not.” Valery answered as she handed the stones back and collected the correct amount of coins from Noir. “And before you ask…yes, I do think that it is quite possibly the one ring of Hell. Have a pleasant day.”

“Thanks. You too.” Noir said with the slightest hint of confusion about how the nymph knew what she had been about to ask before she could actually ask it. She shrugged her shoulders and left the stall a few minutes later.

She took one last look around the market before heading back to the gypsy campsite, deciding to bring up the one ring and a possible quest for it at the next pack meeting that was to take place in a few days’ time.

Two days passed before the week of the full moon came around and the monthly pack meeting was called.

The members came from all over, from various parts of the forest to a nearby town to a couple other places scattered about, and gathered at the home of their alpha: a fairly large cabin-like house in a secluded part in the middle of the forest. They arrived in twos and threes, starting with Noir, Raven, and Styx and ending with Mags and Artemis.

Once everyone had arrived they gathered in the living room, sitting in a general half circle facing their alpha, Kyle, and their pack mother, Josh.

“Thank you all for coming out here for the monthly pack meeting. Josh and I understand that you have other obligations going on at the moment and have voluntarily taken the time to come here for this meeting, but we are quite glad that you could make it.” Kyle said in place of a greeting, looking around at his small, but familiar, pack with a smile. “Anyone have anything to report or any news to bring to the pack’s attention?”

Four pack members raised a hand, including Noir, who was trying her hardest to contain some of the excitement and anxiety she was feeling in regards to telling the pack what she had overheard two days ago.

“We’ll start with Mags. You have the floor, sweetheart.” Josh said, motioning for the wood nymph to begin talking before taking a seat alongside Kyle. 

“Many of us wood faes have noticed more and more humans intruding on our part of the forest to take some of the magic imbued plants and flowers.” Mags began explaining, standing up to address the pack with perfect ease. “Every time they take something they leave a little dark magic behind and it’s putting everyone into a calmed panic. Is there any way that the pack would be able to help if help is asked for?”

“Yes. We can help, but you’ll need to let us know when you need help and what you need done as soon as possible.” Josh answered with a smile. “Next to speak is Zachariah.”

Zachariah stood up as soon as Mags was seated next to Artemis again. He looked around at the gathered pack members, his hands shaking slightly as he tried to form his thoughts into sentences that would actually make sense to everyone in the room.

“Recently there’s been less reports of crossroad demon sightings than in the past one hundred years. I’ve looked into it further, but haven’t been able to find a discernable reason as to why this is happening.” Zachariah said, his hands clenched at his sides to keep them from shaking too badly and catching the attention of Flora, who was sitting near his feet.

Josh nodded twice before speaking, “Keep your eyes and ears open and alert Kyle or myself immediately if there’s any sudden change in the sightings. Any change at all, whether it’s something as simple as the number of sightings or something as serious as the clientele summoning them.”

Zachariah nodded and sat back down behind Flora, his arms wrapping around her waist as he did so.

“Do you have something to report, Ivory?” Josh asked, nodding in the older werefox’s direction.

Ivory nodded right back and stood up, one hand resting at his side while the other came to rest upon Teal’s shoulder.

“We’ve been keeping an eye out like you and Kyle asked, Josh. I personally haven’t seen anything unusual, but Teal has at one of the clubs he occasionally works at.” Ivory explained, removing his hand from Teal’s shoulder in order to help the young Halfling up from the ground.

The entire packed looked at Teal with anticipation, which only caused the young Halfling to shy away and begin to hide away behind Ivory.

Ivory nudged Teal forward and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze as he did so.

Teal took a deep breath and addressed the pack in a quick manner, “Hell hounds and a few other shape shifters have been coming in more frequently than usual. They seem to be more stressed and less…um…destruction oriented. It’s actually quite scary, but a lot less painful.”

“Thanks for the information, Teal. Let us know immediately if anything else unusual happens in the coming weeks. Lastly, we’ll hear from Noir.” Kyle said, motioning for Teal and Ivory to sit back down.

As soon as Teal and Ivory were seated again Noir stood up and smiled an unusually happy smile at the pack, receiving quite a few confused eyebrow raises in return.

“While making my weekly delivery at the market a couple of days ago I overheard some chatter about a powerful ring surfacing in Hell.” Noir explained, her smile growing impossibly wider.

“A powerful ring? Are you saying that the one ring has resurfaced in Hell?” Styx asked, looking up at the dark mage with terror filled eyes.

“Looks like it. All I heard were rumors, but from what I can gather it definitely seems like that’s the case.” Noir answered, watching the general expressions of the pack range from intrigue to terror to confusion and many more emotions.

A dead silence spread throughout the pack while they processed her answer for a good minute or two before the entire pack erupted in simultaneous chatter and speculation.

“…Not good. Not good at all.”

“No wonder the beasts are so stressed.”

“Would the one ring really do that though? I always thought it was just a legend or fairy tale told to young children to keep them in line.”

“Yeah. The one ring tends to make things a little more stressful in Hell.”

“..We’re all screwed unless it’s destroyed.”

During the commotion Kyle motioned for Noir to sit back down, the chatter getting louder as the seconds ticked by.

Noir hesitated for a moment before sitting down as Kyle stood up to take control of the situation.

“Quiet!” Kyle barked, asserting his dominance as the pack alpha and quieting the commotion that was starting to turn into sheer panic. “Now, what do you suggest we do with the information you have brought before the pack, Noir?”

“Well, I suggest that we follow the rumors and look for the ring in Hell.” Noir said, looking at Kyle with hesitation and fear over what the pack alpha was going to say in response to her suggestion.

“Hm. It’s pretty tempting, even though it’s quite dangerous. We’ll put it to a vote. All those in favor of searching for the ring say yay, all those not in favor say nay.” Kyle explained to the pack before giving his vote, “Yay.”

There was a chorus of yays from around the room in response to the pack alpha’s vote, each with a different reason behind it.

“Then it’s settled. We’ll go on a quest to Hell to search for the one ring.” Kyle said, causing the room to cheer in excitement. He waited for the room to quiet down before continuing on. “Tomorrow we’ll begin planning and preparing for the quest, so get a good night’s rest and be ready.”

Kyle moved off to the side for a drink, signaling that the meeting was over and that they were all free to take their leave for the night.

Josh joined Kyle in getting a drink, Ivory and Styx joining them some moments later. Teal, Mags, Flora, Artemis, and Zachariah meanwhile retired to their respective rooms, scattered throughout the home, for the night. Lastly, Noir and Raven wandered out onto the deck and sat, side-by-side, on the edge for a view of the forest, the pond, and the night sky.

Noir stared out at the star studded night sky, lost in thought about the events that had begun to unfold as soon as she had made the decision to listen in to the conversation between the elf and the vampire at the market.

“What are you thinking so deeply about?” Raven asked after some time of silence, looking over at Noir inquisitively.

“Nothing.” Noir answered, her gaze not even moving away from the night sky.

“Please.” Raven pleaded in an annoyingly sing-song voice.

“Fine. If you really must know I’m thinking about the quest we’re about to embark on and the events that have led up to it.” Noir said, finally turning her gaze to look her girlfriend straight in her green and blue eyes.

Raven took a moment to process what Noir had just said before leaning over to lightly kiss the mage on the cheek, causing her to blush bright pink. She then smiled at Noir and returned her gaze back to the night sky at the exact moment as her girlfriend.

The two stayed out on the deck, star gazing with barely any distance between their bodies, until two or so in the morning before heading off to bed in hopes of getting a good night’s rest.

~

Over the course of the next two weeks the pack planned and prepared and planned some more.

Styx provided as many maps as he could of Hell, each one depicting a detailed picture of some section of the underworld. Noir and Teal provided some protection and healing spells, plus the occasional healing potion that would cover just about any type of wound imaginable. Mags, Artemis, and Flora provided most of the healthier foods, such as berries and nuts and plants, while Ivory, Josh, and Kyle provided most of the meat and a good majority of other necessary items. Lastly, Zachariah and Raven provided the names and physical descriptions of those could be relied on as allies during their travels throughout Hell.

It was now two days before they were set to leave and the pack still hadn’t figured out exactly what they were going to do with the ring, but that was granted they found it, so most of them didn’t pay the thought much mind. Except for Styx and Zachariah, who made their opinions quite loud and clear to everyone.

“We need to destroy it. It’s too much power for anyone, even an ex-arch angel.” Styx said, hoping to crush everyone’s dreams of using the ring for anything, personal or otherwise.

“If we work together we should be able to harness the ring’s power safely.” Zachariah said, moving to standing directly in front of the necromancer and unsheathing his wings in hopes of intimidating him.

“Even if we all work together it’s still too much power. It would corrupt us all if we so much as tried.” Styx explained, gesturing about wildly with his hands to add emphasis to what he was saying and to help get his point across in a clear manner.

Flora stood off to the side watching the necromancer and the angel bicker and argue over whether to destroy the ring or use its power. Truthfully, she was enjoying the entertainment since it distracted her from her nervousness, and general anxiety, about the quest. It evidently had the same effect on Mags, who had joined her within the last minute or so without her knowledge.

She exchanged a brief smile with the blind nymph before returning her undivided attention to the argument that was beginning to grow even more heated with each passing minute.

Over by the kitchen Teal handed Raven the last roll of items from the counter. Raven in turn passed it to Josh, who carefully packed it away and set the last pack among the rest already haphazardly piled against the wall.

“Finally done.” Josh said, standing back with Teal and Raven to admire their handiwork that had consumed the last couple of hours after lunch.

Teal and Raven smiled in agreement before going over to collapse on the couch in exhaustion.

Josh shook his head twice as he watched them for a moment before heading off to take a nap before dinner.

Ivory and Artemis were in the library like they had been since nine that morning, exploring some of the various books on Hell to have at least some sense of what the pack were getting themselves into. They had no intention of leaving anytime soon and stayed buried in their books, even when Josh stopped by to ask them if they would be joining everyone for dinner since they had missed lunch.

Meanwhile, Noir and Kyle were sitting in paint chipped wooden chairs out on the ground-level deck, a small cooler of ciders situated between them.

Noir took a sip of her cider, staring out at the surrounding forest to avoid looking at Kyle for as long as possible.

Kyle looked over at Noir with concern for a brief moment before shrugging the concern off and reaching down to grab another cider.

The two continued to sit there in silence for a couple more minutes before Kyle felt the need to break it.

“Are you nervous about the quest or something?” Kyle asked, turning to look at Noir again and hoping that she would do the same.

“Maybe.” Noir replied, turning her gaze in the direction of the lake instead of looking at Kyle.

“Is that why you’re avoiding looking at me?” Kyle said, reaching out to carefully rest a reassuring hand upon Noir’s shoulder.

“Yeah.” Noir kept her gaze pointed at the lake, not reacting to the sudden touch of Kyle’s hand to her shoulder like she normally would have.

The two lapsed back into silence for another minute before Kyle spoke again.

“It’s okay to be nervous. Truthfully, I’m pretty nervous myself.” Kyle said, gently squeezing Noir’s shoulder and giving a slight chuckle at a small fox looking at its surroundings in confusion.

Noir gave her own chuckle at the humorous sight and finally turned to look at Kyle with a small smile that let him know that things were alright between them again.

“There we go. That’s much better.” Kyle said, smiling back and removing his hand from her shoulder to push back a stray piece of hair that had come out from behind her ear.

The two looked at each other for a moment longer before returning to their earlier positions and their open bottles of cider.

~

It was finally quest day and a nervous tension surrounded the pack as they scrambled around the house in search of whatever last minute items they were in need of.

“Five minutes, everyone.” Josh called out loud enough for those scattered about the second floor and in the back of the house to hear him as clearly as anyone on the first floor and in the front of the house.

This deadline only made things worse and resulted in many bumps and bruises from various members running into each other in their haste to finish up.

Soon enough the five minutes were up and the entire pack were gathered in the foyer, bags at the ready and hearts already racing in pure anticipation of the journey ahead.

“You all know the plan. Stick together until we get to Hell, then separate. Now, let’s go find that ring!” Kyle said in reminder before heading outside, the rest of the pack following not far behind him.

The pack made their way along the path leading away from the cabin, Kyle and Noir up front and Ivory and Josh bringing up the rear.

The path was wide enough for the pack to travel along it in pairs or alone, making sure that no one deviated from the path or lagged behind until it was safe to do so. It wound throughout the forest in a snake like fashion, taking the pack in every direction imaginable and ended in form of a fork in the road.

“Which way?” Kyle asked Noir, knowing that the mage knew her way through the forest like the back of her hand and could easily travel through it blind.

“The right leads directly to the tunnels.” Noir answered with unwavering certainty.

Kyle nodded in thanks and motioned for Noir to take the lead since the right path was so narrow that they had no choice but to travel along it single file, that and she was the only one who knew the way to the tunnels from the path they were on.

Noir turned her back to the pack and headed down the right path, the rest of the pack following after her with little to no trouble.

The path was darkened by the tall, close growing trees on either side with the only light being that created by the occasional glowing plant or fungi growing on, or between, the trees. There were various animal tracks running alongside, and across, the path before disappearing into the depths of the forest. And everyone in the pack could feel the various types of magic mixing together throughout the forest surrounding the path in a harmonic way.

They continued following the path that Noir was leading them along. No one talked, everyone either too intrigued by the surrounding forest or too anxious about the quest they had set out upon.

Soon enough they came upon a small clearing half way along the path and Noir and Kyle stopped a little ways into it, causing everyone else to abruptly stop with them to avoid running into each other.

“We’ll rest here for a few minutes and then we’ll resume our journey.” Kyle said, turning around to better address the pack and to make sure that everyone heard him loud and clear.

The pack nodded and then scattered throughout the clearing, most sticking together in small groups and either taking a drink of water or making awkward small talk with each other to pass the time.

While everyone else were chatting and hydrating Kyle was removing a leather band from his wrist and using it to tie up his hair and Noir was sitting on the ground taking a few sips of water and drawing a map in the dirt with a finger.

Soon enough the few minutes were up and the pack were back on their way, following Noir along the rest of the path in silence and in one fairly long single file line.

Noir continued leading the pack down the path until they reached the very end: a larger clearing littered with all manner of tunnels that lead to various realms all over the place.

The pack moved over to the side of the entrance to the clearing, sticking to the edge, and took some time to take in the sight of all the many different tunnels before them.

“Which tunnel do we take?” Josh asked Kyle, turning to look at his mate after a few seconds of staring at the tunnels.

Kyle shrugged and turned to look at Noir, who in turn turned to look at Styx.

Styx sighed, giving the three his patented “really?” look, and took a walk around the edge of the clearing to reintegrate himself with the layout of the tunnels in order for him to remember which one lead to Hell. He returned to the pack a few minutes later and moved to stand by Kyle, Josh, and Noir once again, confident in his memory even though it had been quite a few months since the last time he had used the tunnel system to get to Hell.

“The tunnel we need to take is the one second to the farthest one in the northeast corner, where that reaper and blood hound are standing.” Styx said, pointing over at the tunnel he was talking about and the two creatures standing just to the side of it.

“Lead the way.” Kyle said, motioning for Styx to lead the pack over to the tunnel to Hell.

Styx nodded with a grin and lead the pack over to the tunnel, getting there just as the reaper and blood hound had disappeared down into it.

 The pack gathered in a half circle around the entrance to the pitch black, and creepy looking, tunnel and looked down, most starting to feel either fear or apprehension about entering the depths of the unknown rabbit hole.

“Who wants to go first?” Kyle asked, looking between Noir and Styx, the only ones in the pack who had made the round trip to Hell, via the tunnel system, before.

Noir and Styx exchanged a look, each seeming to tell the other to go first down the rabbit hole of a tunnel. They then turned to look at Kyle and Josh, pointing at each other to indicate who would voluntarily be the first to go down into the tunnel.

“If neither of you can decide, I’ll decide for you.” Josh said before taking a few seconds to make his decision and allowing the two the time to figure it out for themselves. When no one moved he shook his head and began speaking again. “Fine. Noir, go first and lead us through the tunnel. Styx can take up the rear to make sure that no one falls behind or gets lost.”

Noir stuck her tongue out at Styx in a childish manner before following Josh’s orders and entering the rabbit hole with a smile.

Kyle, and then Josh, followed after her, then rest of the pack followed after them with Styx taking up his position at the rear.

Noir lead the pack along the pitch black tunnel with the ease of someone who has travelled down the tunnel to Hell more than once and can navigate it with absolutely no trouble at all, and one who had confidence that everyone would make it there in one piece.

The tunnel twisted and turned all over the place, passing directly underneath a small handful of other realms before ending in a concentrated area of Hell for all travel purposes.

Noir, then Kyle, climbed out of the tunnel first before helping everyone, except for Styx, out of the tunnel and onto the dry, blood stained ground of Hell.

Once the entire pack were finally out of the tunnel they took a few steps forward before stopping amongst many other groups to take in their surroundings, relishing the fact that they had all successfully made it to Hell together. The only two not staring like tourists were Noir and Styx, both of whom had been making the trip to Hell regularly for too many years to count.

“Are you done with checking out Hell like some tourist?” Noir asked, impatient and ready to truly begin their quest for the ring.

“Okay. Okay. I understand your impatience, Noir, but none of the rest of us have ever actually been to Hell like you and Styx.” Kyle explained to Noir quietly before turning to address the entire pack. “We’re separating into groups. Each group will explore a section of Hell in search of the ring and we’ll meet back here in a couple of weeks. Are we clear?”

The pack voiced their understanding before separating into their pre-arranged groups and going their separate ways. Kyle, Josh, Teal, and Ivory went east towards the land of lost and damned souls. Artemis, Mags, Zachariah, and Flora went west towards the rougher terrain of Hell to search from the sky. Lastly, Noir, Raven, and Styx went north towards the dead center of Hell, where Satan was rumored to spend most of his time in a palace guarded by Hell hounds.

Little did they know that they weren’t the only ones in Hell searching for the one ring.

Noir, Raven, and Styx traveled along the center path leading away from the main travel spot of Hell, disappearing behind the spells hiding it from any unwanted creatures, and humans, some feet away. They followed this path behind a secondary set of spells before stopping on the other side, where thirty different paths branched off from the center one they were standing on.

“Which path, Styx?” Noir asked, having never been this way before on any of her previous monthly journey’s to Hell since she had only ever travelled south towards a more inhabited section of the underworld.

Styx pulled a map out of his pack and opened it up, needing to make absolutely certain that he was correct in his thinking before saying anything since he had only been this way a handful of times himself. He took his time examining the map before returning it to his pack and turning to address Noir and Raven.

“The sixth path to the right. Most of the others are either dead ends or lead to other places that are as far from the palace of the underworld as you can get while remaining in Hell.” Styx said, leading the two women over to the path marked with a poison stained skull fixed atop a rusting spear buried a couple inches into the ground.

“Are you sure this is the right path?” Raven asked, eyes widening in a mixture of surprise and confusion at the dark, winding path that now lay ahead of them.

“Yep.” Styx answered. “Do you want the honor of leading the way, Noir? Since I know you’re such a great leader who knows her way just about anywhere.”

“How about you since you know the way more than I ever possibly could.” Noir said, turning her gaze to Styx and motioning for him to lead the way down the path.

Styx stared back at Noir, keeping her gaze locked with his in hopes of getting her to concede and lead the way herself instead of conning him into leading the way.

“If neither of you want to, I will.” Raven interjected, already a good couple feet down the path.

Noir conceded first, like Styx had hoped for, and chased after her girlfriend with determination.

Styx soon followed after her, eventually surpassing both girls and reclaiming the lead for himself. He lead the girls along the dry and dusty path, keeping to the right as they passed other travelers, who were in no immediate hurry to return from wherever they had traveled to.

The travelers they passed started in groups of fours and fives, but dwindled down to twos and threes the farther along they traveled. It was this thinning that let them know they were heading in the right direction and that they were making good head way towards the palace, and the end goal of finding the one ring.

Soon enough the dry, dusty road gave way to more fertile land decorated with various plants and sections of dark wood trees that created an eerie, but pleasant feel to the area they were beginning to enter.

As they entered the new section of path and continued on with their journey they found themselves completely alone, save for the occasional growl or wail or other sound of a wild animal somewhere amongst the trees and bushes. Otherwise they were alone as could be and not even a fifth of a way towards the center of Hell.

Hours later, as the sun began to set, the three started keeping an eye out for a protected, secluded, and generally flat area to spend the night. It started with them looking every so often when they could, but as it came closer and closer to night their search became more urgent and they spent nearly every second looking for a place.

“Here should work. At least for tonight.” Styx said, leading Noir and Raven to a small clearing off the path a ways a few minutes before night would truly settle in and they would be plunged into the unavoidable darkness.

Noir and Raven nodded in agreement, going along with Styx’s plan for the time being, and the three set up camp. They created a small fire. They sectioned off a small area for sleeping. They even prepared some food.

Settled in they ate a quick dinner and then Raven and Styx retired to sleep while Noir took up the first watch at the edge of the clearing, Styx taking second watch towards the middle of the night and Raven taking the final watch early in the morning.

Day two brought about a heat similar to that of an oven preheated at its highest temperature and then being left open to heat the kitchen, or even the entire house. This heat made travel difficult and during their first break of the day the three made the unanimous decision to end the day as soon as they reached the nearest town, the heat being too unbearable for them to carry on much further than that.

The three trudged along the path, slow moving and periodically resting to catch their breath and drink some water to keep them going.

About three quarters of the way to the town, as the three were taking their seventh rest, they came across a cluster of trees plastered with bounty and wanted posters, each depicting some criminal or traitor or such that needed to be brought to justice or simply before a court and then the ruler of Hell himself.

“What do you think they did to end up on bounty and wanted posters here?” Raven mused as she wandered through the cluster, examining the posters with curiosity and occasionally tracing her finger over the small print on some of them.

“Hm. Who knows. Probably nothing too bad since they’re closer to the beginning rather than farther along the path. The deeper into Hell we travel the more posters you’ll find for even more dangerous criminals and the like.” Noir explained, trailing behind Raven and examining one or two posters herself out of curiosity and nothing else.

The two continued to weave about the trees, Raven leading the way and Noir following behind her.

Meanwhile Styx waited for the two girls off to the side, watching as they examined the poster plastered trees, drinking from his water pouch, and keeping a look out for any trouble or danger heading their way.

“We need to get going if we want to make it to the town before night fall. Unless you want to spend another night out here in the open forest.” Styx said a couple minutes later, putting away his water pouch and getting up from where he had been sitting against a rock during their rest stop.

Noir nodded in agreement, not wanting to spend another night out in the open forest, and gently grabbed Raven by the elbow before steering her girlfriend out of the trees and back to the path where Styx was already waiting for them with their packs.

Two more rest stops, a stubbed toe, and a trip over a small pile of rocks later and the three finally began to approach the town, reaching the tavern just as the sun was beginning to set behind the tree line.

They entered the tavern, exhausted and hungry, and sighed in relief as soon as the fairly cooled down air touched their exposed skin, erasing the heat of the day and the sweat that came along with it. They stood there for a moment longer, soaking up as much of the cooled air as they could, before making their way over to an empty table in a corner in the far back of the room.

After maneuvering their way through the crowded tavern they sat down at the table and immediately their bodies began to relax after the long day of journeying along the path.

“Food, ale, and a couple rooms?” Raven asked Noir and Styx a few minutes later as she got up from her seat at the table, preparing to head up to the bar.

Noir and Styx nodded and watched as Raven slipped through the crowd like a snake, making her way over to the bar to purchase food, drink, and rooms for the three of them. As soon as she disappeared from their sight they relaxed further at the thought of a good meal, a good drink, and an even better night’s sleep since they wouldn’t be sleeping on the hard and rock strewn ground of the open forest.

As Noir watched Raven begin the return trip from the bar a few minutes later her eyes caught the gaze of an all too familiar looking warlock observing them from across the room at a table closer to the fire place. She continued to stare at the warlock, struggling to remember where she had seen him before, before turning away seconds later to find Raven pushing her way through the last part of the crowd before their table.

It was just as Raven actually reached their table with three ales in hand that she suddenly remembered where she had seen the warlock before and her eyes widened in a mixture of horror and surprise. She then returned her gaze to the warlock and locked eyes with him, the same kind of remembrance burning in his eyes.

“Shit.” Noir said, watching with still wide eyes as the warlock got up and began to approach the three of them from the table across the room.

“What’s wrong, Noir?” Raven asked after setting down the three mugs of ale she had been carrying and noticing the terrified look that was plastered to her girlfriend’s face.

Noir was just about to give Raven some lame excuse or other when the warlock finally reached their table and stood directly across from her with his arms crossed.

“Noir.” The warlock said, his gaze never leaving Noir’s, even though he knew that there were others at the table with her.

“Nix.” Noir responded, her own gaze never wavering or leaving that of the warlock’s. “What are you doing here?”

“I saw your little group enter this fine establishment and I wanted to make sure that it was actually you before saying hi.” Nix said, settling into his position across from Noir since he knew this would take a while.

The two lapsed into complete silence at that point, the tension flowing between them thicker than fog but not thick enough to be cut with a knife.

While the warlock and mage were having their conversation Raven and Styx were exchanging their own silent conversation as they watched the two with a mixture of interest and fear.

“So…How do you two know each other? Are you ex-lovers or did you have a one-night stand and just never get around to making anything official?” Styx asked, breaking the silence after a while since no one else seemed inclined to do so. Even if that meant him talking without giving a thought about what he was saying before hand.

“Hell no!” Noir and Nix practically shouted at Styx in unison, both of them turning to glare daggers at the smart-mouthed necromancer.

“Relax. I was just kidding.” Styx said, raising his hands in surrender and leaning away from the table a couple of inches to get away from the pissed off mage and warlock.

“If you don’t mind me asking…..what’s the history between the two of you? It’s quite obvious that it’s nothing sexual, but rather something that’s a bit less personal and more business related.” Raven interjected before Styx could say anything further to provoke Noir and Nix into hitting him, or worse. This, instead, resulted in Styx, Noir, and Nix turning to look at her.

Noir and Nix exchanged a look of surprise and shock, both stumped by Raven’s abrupt intervention and rehash of what Styx had asked only a minute earlier, while Styx just stared at Raven with shock and a bit of betrayal.

Raven blinked a few times and looked from Noir to Nix to Styx to Noir again with an innocent, and curious, look on her face.

“Me and the necromancer here will go check on your food and get me another drink while you two ladies talk.” Nix said, grabby Styx by the elbow and dragging him off towards the bar to avoid any conversation that concerned his and Noir’s history. This essentially left just Noir and Raven still sitting at the table without either guy to act as a distraction from the story that needed to be told.

“Would you like to hear the short version or the long version?” Noir asked as soon as Nix and Styx were out of sight and out of earshot, resigning herself to her fate of having to explain her drawn out history with the warlock to her girlfriend.

“The long version. You know how I love a good story.” Raven said, moving her chair closer to Noir to hear her story better.

“Okay.” Noir aid, pulling one of the ales over to her and taking a drink before starting the long version of the history between herself and Nix. “Six years ago I travelled to the north of Hell for a trade market for the first, and only, time. I had no idea where I was going since the invitation for the market was very vague and it didn’t come with a map.

“I ended up wandering through the forest for days before I finally found the market surrounding a blood red lake in the middle of a clearing. I had already missed the first few days, but made it just in time for the last three days. The first day I spent purely exploring the market and figuring out where I was staying the night. The second day I made quite a few trades and even became fast friends with a crossroads demon that had always dreamed of travelling other places for vacation instead of work.

“Anyways…It wasn’t until the last day that I met Nix. I had already made a couple of trades in the morning and had grabbed some lunch from a nearby stall. So, I was making my way through the market by now, looking all over for a new trade to make when I came upon a cart that was buying and selling items rather than trading them. I normally would have passed right by it, but something about it caught my eye and I had to check it out.”

Noir took a break to take another drink of her ale. She lingered for a moment longer, her mug of ale still held firmly in her hand but now no longer in front of her face, before continuing with her story. “I didn’t find anything I wanted to buy at the cart, but I did approach Nix and offer to sell him a few jars of unicorn blood. He agreed to the sale and we exchanged goods for money. However, I might have cheated him out of quite a lot of money and haven’t returned to the north of Hell since just to avoid having to pay him. That is until now. And that’s the long version of the history between the two of us.”

“Wow. Do you have the money to pay him?” Raven asked, head resting atop her hands with her elbows on her knees in interest in the story that Noir had told her.

“About that…I don’t have the money. At all.” Noir said, gazing down at her feet and rubbing the back of her neck with one hand out of habit while keeping her other hand wrapped tightly around her mug of ale.

“Hm. Then I think we should sneak away during the night without his knowledge.” Raven said, leaning back some and gently placing one hand upon Noir’s shoulder.

“Are you serious?” Noir said, her gaze coming back up to meet that of Raven’s and one eyebrow raising in question at her girlfriend’s seemingly wonderful and, oddly, perfect proposal.

“Of course I am. I’m as serious as a magician is about keeping their magic tricks a secret. You, me, and Styx sneak out the back door as early as possible and no one will ever know that we left without paying him. Except for him of course.” Raven whispered into Noir’s ear, having noticed a moment ago that Styx and Nix were making their way back to the table with four plates of food and a fourth mug of ale balanced between the two of them.

Noir nodded and turned back to the table, setting her ale down in the process, just as the two guys made it back to the table a little out of breath.

Nix and Styx set the plates of food down on the table and took a seat themselves, Nix sitting opposite Noir and Styx sitting opposite Raven.

As soon as the boys were seated the four of them began to chow down on their food, all of them too hungry to bother making small talk with each other unless it was to ask to pass the salt or a mug of ale.

A few empty plates and drained mugs of ale later and the four were relaxing back in their chairs, each with something different occupying their mind. Noir and Raven were both thinking about the escape plan and how to best make a quiet escape in the dead of the early morning. Nix was thinking about how to best broach the subject of money owed with Noir. Styx was simply thinking about getting a good night’s rest for the first time in what nearly seemed like months.

They stayed relaxed and lost in thought for half an hour longer before Raven let out a loud yawn, causing a chain reaction around the whole table, and stood up with Styx following immediately after. Once they were both standing they looked at Noir with pleading expressions that explained how badly they all needed sleep.

“The three of us are going to call it a night. We’ll talk payment in the morning.” Noir said, getting up from the table. She then led Raven and Styx towards that stairs that led to the rooms, absently patting Nix on the shoulder as she passed by him.

Nix nodded and watched the three leave before heading back to the bar for his fourth ale of the night.

The three split two rooms, Noir and Raven taking one to themselves while Styx took the other one. Each room had a decent sized bed that was at least big enough to fit two comfortably, a small table with two chairs, two light potions hanging across the room from each other and providing decent lighting, and a small window looking out on the back of the tavern and the small horse stable located there.

As soon as they were in their respective rooms they immediately fell asleep, all of them too exhausted for their own good.

 They slept easily until four in the morning when Raven woke Noir and then Styx and the three got ready to leave the tavern.

“Coast is clear.” Raven whispered to Noir and Styx before sneaking out into the hallway and back down to the common room using the set of back stairs to avoid any unwanted attention from the various females leaving the rooms at the other end of the hallway. Noir and Styx followed after her with all the quiet of a trained assassin.

Down in the common room the three bought some breakfast for the road, and the silence of, the already awake proprietress of the tavern and snuck out the back door with too much ease.

Once outside they made their way out of town and back onto the path they had been traveling on, alone except for the occasional animal that crossed their path. At least that’s what the three of them seemed to believe.

Meanwhile in the east of Hell…

Kyle and Ivory watched Teal and Josh go bounding down the path ahead of them, one a sleek fox and the other a small wolf, and smiled at how happy and excited the younger two seemed to be.

“Be careful you two. You don’t know what creatures are lurking out here waiting to pounce on unsuspecting travelers.” Ivory called out after a while, warning Teal and Josh, who had bound out of sight for a brief moment before returning.

Kyle let out a snort of laughter at how much Ivory had sounded like a mother hen when warning the younger two, which earned him a glare from the were-fox walking beside him.

“Don’t laugh. It’s a serious matter.” Ivory said, lightly punching Kyle in the arm to get his point across, even if he ended up knocking the alpha wolf slightly off balance in the process.

“I know it’s a serious matter. You just sounded like a mother hen warning her chicks and that’s what the laughter was about.” Kyle said, regaining his balance with another snort of laughter. “Besides you need to relax a little and enjoy the journey through Hell.”

Ivory shook his head at the antics of the alpha wolf and the two continued traveling down the path, secretly keeping Teal and Josh in sight at all times.

The four followed the path through the desert-like land, taking a break every half an hour to keep hydrated, for the next four hours before stopping in front of a blood painted sign circled by speared severed heads that were beginning to rot from the dry heat.

“Is this the right place?” Josh asked skeptically, looking back at Kyle and Ivory, who were just now catching up with him and Teal.

“Yeah. This is it.” Kyle replied, pointing out the marking on the map in his hands before storing it in his pack and taking in the sign before them.

“Looks a bit unfriendly and quite terrifying. Like one false move and we could all end up dead.” Teal said, taking a step back to hide behind Ivory as soon as he noticed that half of the severed rotting heads were those of hybrids like himself.

Josh nodded in agreement and moved to stand closer to Kyle, not wanting to admit to the fear that was building in his gut just from the sight of the entrance to the land of lost souls.

The four stood there, staring at the ominousness of the sign and the creepiness of the land, for a couple more minutes before Ivory decided to take action by giving Teal a gentle nudge forward along the path.

“Why do I have to go first?” Teal asked, stumbling a bit from the nudge and turning to look back only as soon as he had regained his balance completely.

The three weres exchanged a silent conversation, trying to decide what to tell the young hybrid to convince him that they were making the right decision without letting him know that they themselves were quite terrified.

“You’re the only one of us who’s part warlock. Therefore we think you’ll have a better chance of communicating with, and not pissing off, the lost souls.” Josh explained, after another moment or so of silent conversation, with Kyle and Ivory looking quite guilty behind him.

“But I don’t know the way…” Teal began, looking from the three near the sign to the creepy path before him and then back to the three again with a scared puppy like expression.

“I’ll walk with you then since I have a map and am quite good at directions.” Kyle said, caving into Teal’s puppy look as he moved to stand beside the young hybrid with a reassuring smile.

“Josh and I will take up the rear then. Lead the way.” Ivory nodded in approval as he and Josh followed after Teal and Kyle, who had started continuing down the path.

Not far past the sign Teal used a special spell to create two glowing turquoise orbs and then used a second spell to cause the two orbs to float between the four of them, providing them with enough light to see the land around them and bathing everything in a water like glow.

Soon the four were well on their way into the land of lost souls, not sure what to expect or what dangers they might face, but sure that they would survive as long as they stuck together.

As the four traveled deeper into the land the ground became riddled with bones and the odd dried up organ while the air became thick with the stench of fresh dug earth, death, and an almost citrusy smell.

It was the over powering smells that had Kyle, Josh, and Ivory scrunching their noses and trying their hardest to not inhale too much of the horrible stench. However it was the creepy and death charged atmosphere that had Teal tightly clutching the arm of the alpha wolf and caused all four to get a gut feeling that something was going to go wrong at some point in their journey through the land of lost souls.

They did their best to ignore everything, Kyle, Josh, and Ivory pulling different pieces of clothing up to cover their mouths and noses while Teal continued to cling to the alpha wolf, until they finally reached the supposed end of the path: a blood red bog swimming with rotten, bloodied corpses and the colony of ethereal souls that inhabited it.

“Who dares enter the land of lost souls?!” a scary, large, and muscular looking soul boomed, coming forward to face the four weres in a mere matter of seconds.

Kyle gently pried Teal’s hands off his arm and gave the younger a little nudge forward, making sure to leave a reassuring hand on his shoulder in hopes of relieving some of his fear.

“We’re…We’re looking for a ring.” Teal said hesitantly, his hands lightly shaking despite the reassuring hand on his shoulder and the encouraging looks from Ivory and Josh.

“What ring?” asked a female soul, talking calmly and softly as she moved in front of the first soul to come face-to-face with the four.

“Um…the one ring?” Teal said with a slight quiver at the end, averting his gaze from the two souls and clenching his hands into tight fists to stop them from trembling even more than they already were.

“Ah. So you seek the ring? The most powerful ring?” the female asked, moving an inch closer to Teal and causing the young hybrid to wince in fear.

Teal nodded as he took three steps back from her, moving to hid behind Kyle, Josh, and Ivory with wide, fear filled eyes.

“Do not be afraid young hybrid. We do not mean you or your companions any harm.” The female soul said, addressing all four weres this time instead of just Teal.

“How can we be sure of that?” Kyle asked, moving protectively in front of the other three and taking a step closer to her.

“I give you my word that you will all be safe in our lands.” The soul answered, taking a slight step back as Kyle took another step closer to her. “Will you place your trust in me now?”

“Sure. I guess.” Kyle said, Josh and Ivory nodding in agreement while Teal still looked quite uncertain, even hiding behind both his closest friend and the pack mother.

“I see that the young hybrid still does not trust me.” The soul said, gazing directly at Teal, who was now fully hidden behind Ivory and clinging to his t-shirt with fear.

Kyle, Josh, and Ivory looked at Teal with understanding, knowing all too well why he didn’t trust the female soul before them and feeling quite protective over him because of it.

“Would you trust me if I am able to prove to you that you can safely do so? Since you need to trust me if you wish to remain unharmed throughout our lands.” She asked as the three moved away from Teal, leaving the young hybrid to face her alone with the instinctual knowledge that he would be okay.

“S-Sure.” Teal said, avoiding eye contact with the soul, even though he knew that it was quite impolite.

She nodded and produced a jar filled with some strange type of magic from out of thin air. She then handed it to Teal, who accepted it with hesitation and a trembling hand.

“Let the contents of this jar assure you that you can trust me when I repeat that no harm will come to you while you travel our lands. Safe travels.” She explained before stepping off to the side of the path end to reveal a cracked and blood stained continuation of the path that would lead them through the bog.

Teal pocketed the jar and waited for Kyle, Josh, and Ivory to join him before heading off down the path in front of them, none of them glancing back as they ventured deeper into the vast depth of the land of lost souls.

Noir, Raven, and Styx travelled five days and four nights straight before determining that they were finally far enough from the tavern, and Nix, to take a break and get some much needed rest. So the fifth night they found a small secluded, and well hidden, clearing to spend the night.

Once settled they ate some food and retired early, Raven taking the first watch while Noir and Styx slept a few feet way. Everything was peaceful and quiet, at least it was until midnight.

It was a few seconds past midnight, at least an hour since Noir started second watch, when she heard the first sound of leaves rustling from somewhere to her right, only assuring her that she wasn’t alone. However, it was a minute later that she heard the second sound, this time being that of a cracking branch from behind a clump of bushes.

She got up from her seat and grabbed her staff, ready to fight off whatever was creeping around in the bushes near the clearing so late at night.

She had just begun to creep cautiously towards said bushes, staff still at the ready and glowing a dark red color, when a small, bioluminescent wolf pup came out from within the bush and began to approach her. She stopped in her tracks upon seeing the wolf pup and waited to see what the creature would do next, hoping that it wasn’t sick or that it didn’t want to kill and eat her.

Two minutes passed before the wolf pup cautiously padded its way towards Noir with its nose close to the ground to pick up her scent, but as soon as it took a few more steps toward her there was an even louder crash from behind Noir that sent the poor pup scampering back off into the dense woods.

Noir turned around and brought her staff back up into a fighting position as she listened closely to the sound of cursing following another loud crash coming from the same direction as the first one.

“Who’s there?” She asked, taking a tentative step in the direction the cursing was coming from with her staff held up almost like a baseball bat.

“Dammit.”

“Whoever you are, we have nothing of value and are prepared to kick your…” Noir said, cutting off as none other than Nix came limping out of the bushes to face her and her possible wrath. “What the fucking seven hells are you doing here, Nix? I thought we left you back at the tavern.”

“You did, but I soon realized you had left and followed after you. And you forgot to pay me?” Nix answered with uncertainty, even though the real reason had absolutely nothing to do with Noir’s debt since he knew she would never pay him back. As soon as he said it he knew instantly that the mage didn’t believe him, even for the briefest of seconds.

Noir stared at Nix with one eye brow raised in a mix of confusion and disbelief, knowing full well that his excuse for following them was complete bullshit.

“What’s going on, Noir?” Raven asked with a yawn, carefully making her way over to where the two were standing and instantly capturing their attention with her sudden appearance.

Noir and Nix stared at Raven for a few seconds longer, exchanging a look of surprise at the sudden appearance of the shape shifter.

“What is Nix doing here so late at night?” Raven said, by now even more alert and awake and highly confused by the warlock’s presence in the supposedly secluded and well hidden clearing.

“That’s what I was wondering, but the first excuse he gave me about being here to collect my debt is obviously complete bullshit. So…What’s the real reason you followed us, Nix?” Noir said, turning to look at Raven for a moment before turning her hardened gaze back to the warlock standing across from her.

The three lapsed into silence as Raven also turned her own hardened gaze to Nix and she and Noir stared at the warlock in hopes of getting him to concede and tell them the truth. They stood there, staring, for a few more minutes before Nix had had enough of their hard stares and couldn’t take it anymore.

“Okay. Okay. I followed you to see Styx and keep an eye on him. Our conversation at the tavern bar got cut short and I feel like the two of us still have much to say to each other. Does that satisfy you both as good enough reasons to follow someone?” Nix replied, turning to look away from the two and rubbing furiously at the base of his neck while a light blush began to creep up his face.

“Do you likeeee him?” Raven asked in a sing song voice, now truly interested by the warlock’s reason for following them for so long before making himself known.

Nix was just about to answer when Styx suddenly awoke from the loud nature of Raven’s sing song voice.

“Wass goin’ on?” An overly tired Styx asked as he stumbled his way over to the other three, rubbing as much of the sleep from his eyes as possible to make everything less blurry.

“Nix came after us looking to join us on our quest.” Noir said, watching Styx stumble over to stand next Nix before letting out a long, and very contagious, yawn.

“Really? What about…Noir’s debt?” Styx said, leaning against Nix’s side after letting out another loud yawn.

“Yeah. I decided to waive the debt and help you guys search for the ring. Now let’s get you back to bed.” Nix said, wrapping an arm around Styx’s waist and beginning to lead him back towards the camping spot that consisted of a pile of blankets and furs.

“We’ll talk more in the morning.” Noir said to Nix, stopping him as he walked past her.

Nix merely nodded and left the two girls alone for the second time, supporting an overly exhausted necromancer who was beginning to fall asleep against his side.

“Mind if I stay on the rest of watch with you?” Raven asked as soon as the two boys had disappeared into the inky blackness of the night.

“Not at all. I could use the company and you’re always good for that, no matter what we end up doing.” Noir answered as she took a seat on the ground, making sure to bring Raven down with her by interlacing their fingers in a firm grip.

Once seated the two lapsed into a comfortable silence as they waited out the rest of Noir’s watch in blissful peace.

The next morning found all four sitting around a small fire in an uncomfortable silence, eating breakfast and avoiding all manner of eye contact. This continued for some time before the first of them, Styx, was done eating and was now off somewhere to the side cleaning dishes.

“So… You really like him?” Noir asked Nix, motioning towards Styx who was busy and completely oblivious to the rest of them.

“Yeah. I do.” Nix answered, taking a couple seconds to look in the direction of the necromancer with a small smile.

“Is that why you’re waiving my debt? Or is there some other ulterior motive that we don’t know about?” Noir said, doubtful that a simple crush was the only reason her debt was being waived away.

“Part of it. The other part being that I know you won’t ever pay me back and that I want to join you on your quest for the ring. At least for a little while. To get to know Styx better.” Nix said, his gaze lingering on Styx for a few seconds longer before returning to meet that of Noir.

Noir nodded before turning to face Raven to better get her girlfriend’s opinion on the matter. “What do you think? Should we let him join our quest and get to know Styx better?”

“Sure. As long as he doesn’t do anything to hurt Styx in the near future and as long as he doesn’t do anything to get us killed or worse on our quest.” Raven said, looking at Nix with a glint in her eyes that made it seem like there was some terrible ‘or else’ that should come at the end of what she had said.

“Okay then. Nix, you may join us as long as you do no harm to Styx in the near future and as long as you don’t get us in any form of trouble while on our quest.” Noir said, turning back to Nix with a reassuring smile and a nod of approval. “Now let’s get ready to leave. We need to make good head way if we want to reach the next town by night fall tomorrow.”

Raven and Nix nodded in agreement and the three split up. Nix went to help Styx with the dishes and food storage while Noir and Raven started packing the bags back up.

It only took them half an hour, but eventually the dishes were clean, the bags fully repacked, and the four were all ready to head back out on the road. They took one last look around the clearing before heading back to the main path and continuing their journey to the center of Hell.

The days passed by in a blur as the four continued along the path, occasionally making small talk and getting to know each other better. They traveled through town after town and along various side paths that ran alongside the main one. They stayed some nights in taverns and inns while spending the rest out under the stars. They took breaks in small clearings and made sure to stay hydrated and get enough to eat. Overall the travel wasn’t bad and they didn’t seem to run into any trouble at all.

Eventually the four reached the town of crossroads, that just so happened to sit smack dab in the middle of the largest crossroad in Hell. They walked down the street, passing all manner of stores and all kinds of whore houses, and made their way to the local tavern to stay the night.

They entered the tavern a few minutes after entering the town and immediately split up. Styx and Nix went off to the bar to get food and drinks while Noir and Raven went off to find a secluded table in the unusually desolate common room.

It didn’t take long and soon enough the two boys were meeting up with the girls at a table in the farthest corner of the common room, neatly tucked behind a few shadows but able to be spotted if searched for. The two set the plates of food and mugs of ale down on the table before sitting down. The four then began to eat and drink in the comfortable silence of a group of friends who have known each other for years rather than just a few days.

“I think we’re going to retire early and try to get the best night’s sleep we can. Also to give you two some privacy.” Noir said with a wink as soon as they were all done eating and were just finishing up their mugs of ale. She then stood up from the table and pulled Raven up to leave with her. “See you in the morning.”

“Yeah. See ya.” Styx said in passing as he and Nix watched Noir and Raven head up the stairs to the tavern’s sleeping quarters. As soon as they were gone he scooted his chair over to sit closer to Nix, who was just beginning to take the last couple sips of his ale.

Nix set his empty mug down on the table and wrapped an arm around Styx, pulling the necromancer even closer and causing him to blush. He smiled at how adorable he looked when flustered and gave the younger’s side a reassuring squeeze, only causing Styx’s blush to deepen rather than fade away.

Styx blushingly smiled back and gently lay his head down upon Nix’s shoulder as the two of them lapsed into a comfortable silence. A comfortable silence that made it seem like the two had been dating, or at least been good friends, for years rather than a few days short of a week.

“Want another mug of ale?” Nix asked a short while later with a fairly loud yawn, hoping that by having a second drink that he’d be able to stay awake long enough to be able to get Styx up to bed later in the evening.

Styx responded with a gentle shake of his head, knowing that another drink would just result in a sleepless night and a horrible hangover headache.

“Okay. I’ll be right back. I promise.” Nix said, gently nudging Styx’s head off his shoulder and removing his arm from around the necromancer before getting up from his chair and making his way over to the bar. He then ordered another mug of ale and sat on a bar stool to wait. While he waited he allowed his eyes to wander. However, as he was doing so his gaze happened to land upon a piece of paper tacked to the support column two bar stools over. He leaned over for a better look and immediately regretted the decision.

On the piece of paper was a fairly crude, but fairly accurate, drawing of Nix and directly underneath it was a rather large, and completely handwritten, bounty reward for his immediate capture.

He moved his gaze away from the paper and looked around the rest of the common room in hopes of distracting himself, but it didn’t work. He began to notice that there were more of the wanted papers plastered all over and that a few of the patrons still in the common room were watching him with wary, or greed or blood fueled, gazes. He turned back to the bar with wide, panic stricken eyes and a fast pounding heart.

He closed his eyes and worked on calming his body down before reopening his eyes to find his second mug of ale sitting on the bar before him. He took a last deep breath before picking up the mug with a lightly trembling hand and headed back to the table where he had left Styx.

“You okay?” Styx asked with deep concern upon noticing how shaky and paranoid the warlock seemed after coming back from the bar.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Why?” Nix said as he set down his ale and sat back down in his seat next to Styx, clenching his hands into fists to get the trembling under control before doing anything with them.

“You just seem a little shaken up and like you’ve seen some terrible monster or a skeleton from your past.” Styx said, looking at Nix with an expression that was equal parts worry and concern.

“It’s nothing you need to worry about. I promise.” Nix gave Styx a reassuring smile before unclenching his hands and taking a sip of his second mug of ale.

Styx shook his head, not believing it for a second but knowing enough about Nix to know not to push the issue any further, and returned his head to the comfortable position of resting upon the warlock’s shoulder, nuzzling a bit to get even more comfortable.

The two sat there in comfortable silence until Nix finished his second ale and Styx was beginning to fall asleep against the warlock’s shoulder.

“Want me to carry you to bed?” Nix asked, noticing that each time Styx nodded off that his eyes remained closed for a couple seconds longer than the last time.

Styx nodded, half asleep and knowing that he was way too tired to get up to bed without a little help.

Nix gently moved Styx’s head off his shoulder, stood up, and carefully picked the necromancer up bridal style, cradling the younger close to his chest. He then carried Styx up to their room and got him safely to bed before joining him and slipping easily into sleep’s soft embrace.

At the croak of dawn Nix awoke and got out of bed, careful not to wake the deeply sleeping necromancer next to him. He quickly got dressed, wrote out a quick note, and placed the note on the pillow next to Styx’s head before leaving the room and disappearing from the town altogether without guilt or remorse but rather the knowledge that the other three, specifically Styx, would be safer traveling the rest of the way without him.

Hours later Styx awoke to the absence of Nix’s body next to his and blinked a few times to rid his eyes of the remnants of sleep before noticing the note on the pillow next to his head. He picked it up and began to read, an immediate sense of calm and understanding washing over him as he did so.

‘Styx,

Sorry that I have to leave so soon, but I came upon a bounty for me while getting my second ale last night and I didn’t want to put you, or the others, in harm’s way by staying. I promise to call you as soon as I possibly can. I also promise that I’ll see you either the next time you travel to Hell or I travel to your world.

Love you,

Nix’

Styx set the note down after rereading it a few times and got ready to go. He then headed down to the common room to meet Raven and Noir for breakfast.

“Morning, sunshine.” Raven greeted Styx with a chipper smile as he sat down at the table across from Noir. “Where’s Nix?”

“Gone. He left early this morning. Something about protecting me and running from a bounty.” Styx said before beginning to dig into the plate of food that was set before him.

“Aw…. That sucks, but I’m sure that you’ll see him again soon enough.” Raven said, gently placing a comforting and reassuring hand upon Styx’s shoulder.

“Bound to happen at some point. When I first met him he explained to me that he’s constantly wanted for something or other and that each time the bounty increases. He also explained that when he gets close to someone he has a tendency to leave in order to keep them as safe as possible.” Noir explained, intercepting Styx before he could even say anything in response to the shape shifter’s touch. “But I can assure you that if he says you’ll see him soon then you will. He always keeps his promises.”

Styx nodded and continued chowing down on his breakfast, no longer paying attention to anything that Noir and Raven were saying to him or to each other.

“In the meanwhile we need to get going if we want to make it to the troll bridge by midnight.” Noir said as soon as they were all done eating. She then got up from the table, grabbed her bag, and began to make her way to the front door of the tavern.

Raven and Styx nodded in agreement and followed after her as she left the tavern and got back on the road that they had been traveling along for the past week.

Meanwhile in the west of Hell…

Mags, Artemis, Flora, and Zachariah stood at the very edge along the border separating the carved, well-travelled path and the daunting, rough, and almost pathless terrain. None of them wanted to be the first to move over to the other side, but they all knew that they would have to eventually in order to begin their search.

“I think we need to split up if we want to search the entire area.” Flora said after a while, interrupting the silence that had been surrounding the four of them for the past three hours as they first travelled away from the tunnels to when they found themselves standing upon the border.

Mags and Artemis nodded in agreement, knowing that splitting up was their best option, while Zachariah turned to look at the fae with a mixture of worry and doubt, and a little bit of fear since they were currently in an unknown land.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? None of us have been to Hell before and I’m pretty sure that Noir and Styx haven’t even gone this way before. Who knows what we’ll run into or what else could happen while we’re out there wandering around.” Zachariah said, turning back to look at the rough terrain before them with skepticism.

Flora turned to Artemis and asked him, with her eyes, to talk to Zachariah, knowing that if anyone could convince the ex-arch angel of anything that the mermaid would be her best bet.

Artemis nodded and moved to stand next to Zachariah.

“Flora’s right. Splitting up is the best option. That way we have two searching from the sky and two searching from the ground. We can cover more ground that way and find the ring faster if it’s located in this part of Hell.” Artemis explained to Zachariah, following his friend’s gaze out over the terrain before them.

Zachariah stood in thought for a couple minutes longer before nodding.

“Okay. I guess it makes sense if you put it that way. Looks like we’re splitting up for the time being.” Zachariah said, agreeing to it because of how convincing Artemis was and because he was beginning to see no alternative options available to them. “So…How do we want to split up?”

“Mags and I will take the ground since there seem to be quite a few rivers that will make travel easy. You and Flora will take the sky since you’re the only ones who actually have wings.” Artemis said, looking at the other three for their opinions on his idea.

Flora, Mags, and Zachariah exchanged a look before turning to Artemis and nodding in agreement.

“Now that we’re all in agreement we need to get going. So… say your goodbyes and let’s get going.” Flora said as she turned to say her goodbye to Mags.

Artemis and Zachariah said their goodbyes and moved to stand next to their respective partner, each with a small smile on their face.

“See you soon.” Mags and Artemis called to the others before moving to the river in the southwest while Flora and Zachariah got ready to take to the sky in the northwest.

Artemis settled down into the pleasantly, and surprisingly, perfectly temperatured red tinged river and handed over his talisman to Mags before she took up her usual spot next to him, using her earth magic as navigation. They then headed off along the river, not talking much except when making a bit of small talk to pass the time.

“How’s the water?” Mags asked once they had travelled a fifth of the way down the first river.

“Nice….and refreshing.” Artemis answered as he sent a gentle splash of river water at Mags’s feet with his tail.

“I see what you mean. That does feel nice….and refreshing.” Mags said with a light giggle as her feet began to gather more dirt and leave behind muddy foot prints. Her giggling became infectious after a couple seconds and soon enough Artemis was laughing alongside her.

Their laughter didn’t last long and soon the two returned to their comfortable silence as they continued along the winding river.

A while later the river began to weave about all over the place. The turns were got sharper and rockier every five feet and the current started to pick up speed at the same pace as the turns. However, this wasn’t a problem for either of them until they were four fifths of the way and stopped by a large clumping of rocks that made the river too shallow for Artemis to pass through safely.

“Do you want to walk around or should we see if I can clear some of the rocks away?” Mags asked, turning to face Artemis since their current dilemma primarily affected him.

“Let’s save walking for a backup plan. Besides I know that you can move these rocks with little to no problem, Mags.” Artemis replied, tapping one of the larger rocks with the tip of his tail fin.

Mags nodded and began to work her magic as soon as Artemis was at a safe distance from the rocks. It started off as a light green glow that got darker as she ramped up her powers a little bit at a time until she felt ready to use them. She then made to move the smallest rocks from the top of the pile as practice, but couldn’t so much as budge them.

“You got this, Mags. You can do this. I believe in you.” Artemis said in encouragement, hoping that it would help the forest nymph to concentrate and not give up.

Mags tried a second, third, and fourth time, ramping up her powers a little more each time and changing the target as well. Unfortunately she was unable to move any of the rocks, not even half an inch in any direction. “Dammit.”

“It’s okay, Mags. It’s not your fault. These rocks probably just have some extraordinarily powerful magic keeping them in place. I’ll just walk around.” Artemis said as he swam over to the river bank Mags was standing on.

Mags gave Artemis a small smile of understanding, and thanks, before kneeling down to help him with the talisman that allowed him to walk on land for hours at a time.

Artemis returned her smile as he pulled himself up on to the bank and joined her on the cracked, and rocky, riverside. The two then began to walk along the bank, following the rest of the river until they surpassed the end of it and reached the beginning of the second one.

At the start of the second river Artemis returned to the water, this time being a deeper red in color and quite a bit warmer, and Mags helped him remove the talisman to return his tail to him. They began to make the journey along the second of thirty five rivers running throughout this part of Hell, keeping an eye out in search of the one ring the entire time. They still had a long way to go and they knew it, but it was all justified with the pure and simple image of what they would do with the power of the one ring once they found it.

~

In the northwest Zachariah and Flora were having as much, or more, trouble as their counterparts in the southwest. Everything had started out just fine until they were suddenly hit by a large gust of wind halfway towards the forest of thorns and were brought way too low to the ground. Low enough that they decided to land and continue the last mile on foot.

“Do you think there’s enough room for us to fly under the wind, but above most of the thorns?” Flora asked as the two stood before the forest of thorns, wide eyes staring in thoughtfulness as they contemplated their current dilemma.

“There should be. At least for you. Your wings are more delicate and you’re small enough that you’ll fit up there just fine.” Zachariah answered, turning to look at Flora.

“What about you?” Flora said, her eyes widening even more as she turned to meet Zachariah’s gaze.

“I’ll take the small path that leads through the forest. My wings are tough enough to protect me from the worst of the thorns and I’ve had to go through a thorn forest a few times before.” Zachariah explained with a reassuring smile.

“Okay.” Flora said with approval, getting a gut feeling that the ex-arch angel would be just fine on his own. She then stepped forward and hugged him for a minute before stepping back again and moving away a few feet to get ready to go back into the air.

“See you on the other side.” Zachariah said with a wink as they exchanged looks of loving hope and assurance before going their separate ways.

“Have either of you ever been this far into Hell before?” Raven asked as she looked around at the ever changing landscape in childlike wonder.

Noir shook her head as she too looked around at the landscape with curiosity and pure wonderment.

“What about you, Styx? Ever been this fare before?” Raven said as she briefly turned to look at the necromancer.

“Once. When I was younger. My history class took a field trip here and we got to explore one of the old necromancer towers that aren’t too far from the troll bridge.” Styx answered, chuckling a little at how amazed, and enraptured, both girls seemed by the landscape of this part of Hell.

“Do you think any of the towers are still open and livable?” Noir asked after a while, walking backwards to better look at Styx while still gazing around at their surroundings.

Styx nodded and was just about to say something when the three finally reached the crumbling stone bridge and came to an immediate stop about two feet from the beginning of it, Noir turning back around as soon as they did. The three stood there and stared at the bridge in complete silence for a couple of minutes, waiting for the troll to appear over the side and were a little disappointed when nothing happened.

“Where’s the troll?” Raven asked, turning to look at Noir in hopes that her girlfriend would know what to do.

Noir shrugged her shoulders and turned to look at Styx expectantly, knowing that the necromancer had some idea of what to do since he had been there before.

“You need to step on to the bridge to draw the troll out.” Styx explained, shaking his head at how neither the mage nor her shape shifter girlfriend knew what to do at a troll bridge and wondering how that was possible since he knew that they had both been interested in the conventional fairy tales when they were younger. He then moved behind Noir and pushed her forwards onto the bridge, none-too-gently and with a glee full smile.

Noir turned to glare at Styx and was nearly knocked over by a swift moving creature hopping over the side and right into the middle of the bridge. She immediately spun back around, coming face-to-face with the bridge troll. Her eyes widened in surprise and she stumbled back a few steps, Raven and Styx coming forward a few to stand beside her once she regained her footing.

“Who dares step upon my bridge?” the troll asked, her gaze scanning over the three individually before coming to rest upon Noir with all the hardness of the stone that made up the bridge.

“Uhm…A few travelers seeking safe passage across your bridge.” Noir said with noticeable hesitation as one hand came up to scratch at the back of her head and the other formed a tightly closed fist at her side in attempt to hide the quite visible trembling that was starting to take over her body.

“Hm…” the troll said in thought as she looked the three over for a second time before resting her gaze upon Raven. “I may let you pass if you can answer these riddles three.”

The three looked at each other and nodded, non-verbally agreeing that answering the riddles was worth it if it meant crossing the bridge rather than taking the long way around the deep gorge that the bridge reached across.

“Sounds reasonable enough. What’s the first riddle?” Raven said, holding the troll’s gaze with surety and a small smile.

“I last forever and you might have too much or too little of me, either way you will run out of me eventually. What am I?”

“Time.” Raven answered, not moving her gaze from the troll even once the entire time.

“That is correct. One down, two to go. Let’s see if you,” the troll moved her gaze to Styx, “can answer the next riddle correctly.”

Styx nodded, letting the troll know that he was ready for the second riddle.

“Die without me, never thank me. Always watching, never speaking. Always lurking, never seen. What am I?”

Styx took a while to think about the answer before speaking. “Air.”

“Another riddle answered correctly. Two down, one to go. Answer this last one correctly and I might consider letting you pass across my bridge.” The troll said, addressing all three, even though her gaze was now resting upon Noir. “What has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps, can run but never walks, and has a bank but no money?”

“A river.” Noir answered, taking a tentative step towards the troll in anticipation. “Now may we cross your bridge?”

“You must pay the toll first. 13 coins. Buys you safe passage both ways.” The troll replied with a sneaky, devious smile.

“But you said…” Noir began, but was interrupted by the troll.

“You would be correct…If I had specifically stated that you would cross by answering all three riddles. However, I said you might cross if you answered all three riddles correctly. There’s a clear difference, my dear. Besides you would have had to pay the toll anyways.” The troll explained with a shrug and a wink.

Noir shook her head in disbelief and turned to Raven first, hand outstretched and palm up, and collected a few coins from her. She then turned to Styx and collected a few coins from him. She lastly added a few coins of her own before placing the lot of them in the outstretched palm of the troll. “13 coins exactly.”

The troll counted the coins herself, not trusting the three in the slightest. When she finished she stepped off to the side and waved the three forward. “I grant you safe passage across my bridge. Best of luck to you.”

Noir nodded and passed by the troll before making her way across the bridge with no trouble. Raven followed right after Noir while Styx took up the rear. Soon enough the three were standing on the other side of the bridge and looking back across just as the troll disappeared back over the side.

“Now what do we do?” Raven asked as they turned their backs to the bridge and came face-to-face with the dense forest before them.

“We head to the closest necromancer tower and hope that we can stay the next couple of days there.” Noir replied. She then turned to Styx expectantly. “Lead the way.”

Styx nodded and lead Noir and Raven over to the semi-visible path.

The three traveled along the path for what felt like hours before finally reaching the abandoned tower. Once there they paused, taking in the imposing presence of the tremendous sight before them.

“Who wants to enter first?” Noir asked, looking at Raven on her left and then Styx on her left.

Raven immediately turned to look at Styx, stopping Noir before she could turn her gaze away from the necromancer.

“Nope. No way in Hell. Not gonna happen. I brought you here, but I am not entering that place first. It scared me enough as a kid, but has seemed to have grown more terrifying in recent years.” Styx said, automatically taking a few steps to the side and then back, despite the gazes of the two girls following him as he did so.

“Please. You’re the only one of us who’s actually been here before. Which means you know your way around one of these better than either of us.” Noir said while Raven pouted her lips and widened her eyes in her most adorable puppy like manner.

“Nope.” Styx replied, still sticking by his refusal to enter the tower first.

“Please.” The two girls begged in unison, both of them now giving the necromancer their most convincing puppy eyes.

“Fine. If it gets you two to stop it with the puppy eyes then I’ll enter first.” Styx said, caving into the whims of the two girls.

The two exchanged triumphant smiles as they followed Styx up to the front door. The three then proceeded to enter the abandoned necromancer tower.

That night the three chose to retire right after dinner, Raven and Noir sharing one of the small rooms while Styx took the other for himself.

Noir fell asleep almost immediately, but Raven was having some trouble. She spent the first few hours tossing and turning, not exactly sure when, or if, sleep was ever going to come, and the next couple busying herself with cleaning up their clothes from their after dinner fun. However, it was the next hour or so that she spent sitting on a stool next to the bed, watching her girlfriend sleep.

It was while she was silently, and creepily, watching the mage sleep that she heard the creaking of an unoiled door from the floor directly below them, specifically the door of the bedroom Styx was currently occupying. She got up from her position on the stool and left the room, slowly making her way to the kitchen since it was pitch black and her night vision was still adjusting. Just as she was entering the doorway she spotted Styx putting food into the microwave sitting on the counter next to the silently humming fridge.

“Is someone making themselves a late night snack?” Raven asked him, gesturing at the glow coming from the microwave and the metal fork that he was holding.

Styx nodded and pulled his food out of the microwave as soon as it began to beep, not bothering to wait for his food to cool off for a few minutes before doing so. He then took a seat on one of the kitchen stools and began to eat his food. “Were you unable to sleep as well?”

“Yeah.” Raven said with a small yawn, despite her non-sleepiness, as she moved to stand on the other side of the counter, opposite the necromancer.

The two lapsed into a comfortable silence as Styx continued eating his food and Raven soon found herself tidying up the kitchen for him.

“So…Any plans to start a long term relationship with Nix? Because you totally should. You look so cute and adorable together. Not to mention the romance of it all. You’re very lucky.” Raven said after a while, brushing the last of the crumbs into the palm of her hand and dumping them into the trash can next to the counter before resuming her earlier spot of standing across from Styx.

Styx paused mid-bite and stared at Raven, blushing and looking like a deer in headlights after being put on the spot like so. He continued to stare for a few seconds longer before setting his food covered fork back on to his plate and taking a moment or two to truly ponder the essence of her question.

“We talked about it a little, but I’m not sure how he feels about it just yet. But I do. I mean…I know with all my heart that I want to start something long-term and beautiful with him. Because I might just be falling in love with him, even though I know it’s only been a week and a half since we first met.” He answered after taking some time to think things over, blushing even more from how much of his emotions he was openly sharing with the shape shifter. So much so that it was beginning to scare him a little. “Where do you see things with Noir going? During or after this quest of ours.”

This caught the shape shifter off guard, and by surprise since she had never known Styx to care about another’s feelings in this way, and she ended up giving him a blank stare as she comprehended the question, debating whether or not to tell him about the many times she has thought and dreamt about her future with Noir. In the end she decided to tell him, get it all off her chest and talk about it with another person. Even if that other person is the least likely person to talk with about these kinds of things.

“Well….My future with Noir’s the only other thing that’s been occupying my mind lately, besides the quest of course. According to my psychic back home Noir and I are due to have a talk about moving in together in the very near future.” Raven replied, blushing a bit herself, once she finally got her scrambled thoughts into an order that she could understand.

Styx nodded in understanding, only taking a brief pause in between bites to listen before continuing on with eating his food.

The two fell back into their silence from earlier, both a little unsure about sharing so much with each other, but acknowledging that it was okay in the way of Raven moving to make herself a cup of herbal tea and Styx finishing up his night snack.

“Night, Raven. I hope your psychics predictions come to pass as soon as possible.” Styx said as he washed his plate and left it on the dish rack to dry before making his way over to the kitchen doorway and turning to look back at her for a moment.

“Goodnight, Styx. Sleep tight and don’t let the bed bugs bite. And good luck with entering into a long-term relationship with Nix. I know you two will be able to work something out once this quest is long over.” Raven said with a smile from her position in front of the stove, where a kettle was boiling the water for her tea. She waited to make sure that Styx was completely gone before returning her undivided attention back to her tea.

A singing kettle and steeping tea bag later and she was heading back to bed with her mug of herbal sleepy time tea, already beginning to feel the gentle pull of sleep as she made her way back upstairs to the room. When she finally entered her mug was half empty and she was so tired that she set the mug down on the table next to the bed, crawled into bed, and curled up around Noir, falling asleep instantly and with a smile on her face.

~

The next morning Noir and Styx were in the small dining room, off the kitchen, drinking coffee and looking over their shared maps of the center of Hell that they had spread out all over the table before them. They were arguing over the best path to take from the abandoned necromancer tower they were currently staying in when a half asleep Raven entered the kitchen and dumped the remnants of her mug of sleepy time tea down the drain before setting her mug down in the sink and grabbing a new one from one of the cabinets.

“What are you two goofs arguing about now? Someone not make the coffee right or something?” Raven asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee, made her way over to the arguing duo, and took a seat on one of the discarded chairs placed against the wall.

“Nothing like that. We’re arguing over the best path to take since our quest requires stealth and precision from this point on wards. My argument is that we should take the west path since there’s better tree coverage and it leads to the perfect side door for us to use to enter the palace. But Styx’s argument is that we should take the east path because of the sights and because it apparently leads to a guard door only a couple feet away from the main door.” Noir explained, turning to face her girlfriend and ignoring everything else that Styx was blabbering on about in regards to his argument for using the east path.

It took a moment for Styx to realize that Noir wasn’t talking to him anymore, but once he did his gaze moved to look at Raven for a few seconds before capturing Noir’s and exchanging a shared brilliant idea that brought a smile to both of their faces. They then returned their gazes to Raven, the same genius thought running through their minds.

“What?” Raven asked, looking at the two with confusion as she took another sip of her lukewarm coffee.

“Which path do you think we should take, Raven?” the two said in perfect unison, taking a step closer to Raven and getting up in her face in order to get her to answer quicker.

“Hm… Well you both present equally good cases. On the one hand getting as close to the front door as possible is nice and convenient, not to mention the potential use of anything in the guard tower. On the other hand being safely hidden from sight, especially from above, is quite important at this stage in our quest. Therefore I have to agree with Noir, and not because she’s my girlfriend, but because the west path just makes more sense quest wise.” Raven replied, adding the last bit when she noticed Styx’s face fall ever so slightly when she revealed her decision.

“Told you so.” Noir gloated as she danced a little victory dance and in return got a death glare from Styx.

Raven shook her head and finished her coffee before getting up, placing her empty mug in the sink, and leaving the kitchen to start the painful packing process. As soon as she was gone Noir and Styx returned to planning how to get into the palace, search for (and steal) the ring, and then escape and all without getting caught by the various creatures guarding the place or Satan himself.

While all this was happening inside the necromancer tower outside the air was buzzing with powerful magic. Powerful enough to encourage a pack of misfits to journey the span of Hell in search of the source of it. Powerful enough to draw the interest of nearly everyone in the underworld as a whole. And lastly, powerful enough to turn Satan into an unrecognizable greed demon.

Back in the east of Hell…

The four weres had been traveling the various paths that weaved throughout the land of lost souls and they were getting pretty close to giving up on finding the one ring, at least in this part of Hell. They had looked everywhere along the paths and had found nothing every single time. It was quite discouraging, especially for Josh and Teal.

They were currently walking along a bone strewn path when they decided to take a break and sit on an outcropping of fused skull rocks a little to the side of the path. Upon reaching the outcropping Kyle and Ivory took seats on the two rocks closest to the path while Josh and Teal began walking in circles around them and the rocky outcropping. They stayed this way for a while, the younger two walking in circles and the older two discussing something important as quietly as possible, before Kyle could no longer take it and let out a low growl, low enough that Ivory was the only one to hear him.

Ivory looked up at the alpha with interest, wondering what he would do next.

“Sit.” Kyle barked at the younger two, stopping them just as they were starting to pass the other two for the fifth time.

Josh and Teal immediately sat down on the ground in front of the older two, both looking like chastised puppies as they did so.

Kyle nodded at Ivory, giving the werefox the go ahead to explain what they had been discussing while the younger two had been walking.

“Kyle and I have been talking and we agree that our search is going nowhere. So we’ve been thinking that turning back now and waiting for everyone else would be the best course of action.” Ivory explained, clasping his hands and resting them upon his knees before leaning forward to make sure that he had their full attention.

Josh and Teal stared at Kyle and Ivory in shock and surprise, eyes wide and mouths hanging open.

“We can’t give up now. I know we haven’t found the ring at all, but we should at least consider reaching the end of the path we’re currently on before turning back. Please.” Josh said as Teal nodded in agreement beside him and the two of them looked up at the older two pleadingly.

Kyle and Ivory turned away from the younger two and had a quiet, and quick, discussion. A minute later they were exchanging nods of agreement and turning back to address the two younger weres.

“Okay. We’ll take it into consideration and decide on a plan in the morning. For now we’ll set up camp in the middle of the rocks and get some rest.” Kyle said.

Josh and Teal smiled in victory as they got up and followed the two older weres into the middle of the outcropping.

It only took the four an hour to set up camp and another half an hour to cook dinner. They spent another half an hour or so sitting around in a circle, eating as slowly as possible, and exchanging stories about their lives from before joining the pack. However, the storytelling only lasted until they finished eating when they returned to silence as Josh, Ivory, and Teal retired to sleep for the night and Kyle went to take up watch some feet away from the small encampment.

The next morning found Ivory and Kyle awake before the others and discussing Josh’s suggestion of continuing to the end of the path in further detail.

“It’s not that bad of an idea, is it? Besides it’ll make the two of them happy and that’s equally as important as finding the ring.” Ivory said, nodding in the direction of the still slumbering younger weres.

“I guess not. But just because I’m agreeing to this doesn’t mean we won’t turn back at the first sign of immediate danger.” Kyle explained, looking out beyond the rocky outcropping at the surrounding area.

“Okay then. Looks like it’s settled. I’ll let the two know when they wake up.” Ivory said. Kyle nodded and the two fell back into the comfortable silence they generally enjoyed while in each other’s company.

It wasn’t until a couple of hours later that Josh and Teal finally woke up. Once they did they made their way over to join the two older weres for breakfast, which was when Ivory explained the decision to them and caused them both to smile in excitement as they ate their food.

The four finished eating, packed everything back up, and made their way back over to the path. By the time that Kyle and Ivory were back on the path Josh and Teal were already a good deal ahead of them, and showing no signs of waiting for them any time in the near future.

“Don’t forget that we’re turning around at the first sign of danger!” Kyle yelled out in reminder to the younger two, who were getting farther and farther ahead of them with each passing second.

Josh and Teal paused for a brief second to give the others a thumbs up in understanding before continuing on down the path as happy as could be. Meanwhile Kyle and Ivory followed along some ways behind them, making sure to keep the younger two in sight the entire time while also keeping an eye peeled for any danger that could come their way.

The four traveled along for some time, barely talking since they were enjoying the scenery with interest while keeping an eye out for danger. Luckily they didn’t run into any trouble, at least none in the form of dangerous creatures or lost souls or dark magic. However, once they reached the end of the path they came upon a dead end in the form of a deep, fathomless pit and the steep, rocky cliff leading down it.

“Looks like this is the end of the path.” Kyle stated, placing a hand upon Josh’s shoulder once he and Ivory finally joined the younger two in standing a few short feet from the cliff edge.

“Yeah, but we have nothing to show for it. Travelling all this way in search of immense power only to find nothing at all and end our search at a large pit.” Josh said sadly as they stood there, staring intently at the pit before them.

“That’s not entirely true. So what if we didn’t find the ring in our section. I’m sure one of the others will find it. Besides we got to travel to Hell and explore a part of it. Maybe we’ll return some time and explore the rest of it.” Kyle said in reassurance as he moved to stand next to Josh, wrapping his arm around the younger’s waist in the process. He then pulled his mate closer against his side and planted a soft kiss upon the crown of his head.

“I guess so.” Josh muttered, leaning against Kyle’s side, arms at his side and gaze moving from the pit to stare at the dirt around his feet.

The four stood there, three staring at the pit and one staring at his feet, for a while longer before Teal turned to look at Ivory and Kyle.

“Can we head back now?” Teal asked the older two with a gentle pleading to his voice and a light blush spreading across his cheeks.

“Sure.” Kyle replied while Ivory and Josh nodded in agreement. The four took one last look at the pit before turning their backs to it and beginning the long trek back the way they had come. Back to the travel center of Hell and the many other visitors and returning citizens. All the while keeping in mind the hope that everyone else were having more luck than them and that someone from their group would find the ring.

To be on the safe side the three left the abandoned necromancer tower in staggered intervals. Noir left first, Raven left twelve minutes after her, and Styx took up the rear and left twenty one minutes after Raven. As soon as they each left they carefully made their way to the large oak tree marking the west path, where they had decided to meet up at before moving forward.

“Keep an eye out for danger and stick together as much as possible.” Noir explained in a hushed tone once they were all together at the entrance to the west path.

Raven and Styx nodded in understanding and the three got ready to head down the path before them by deciding who would go first. They chose Noir.

Noir checked to make sure the coast was clear before stepping on to the path and taking a few tentative steps forward, staff at the ready in case there were any magic blocks or traps at the beginning of the path. Raven and Styx followed after her, Raven with claws and fangs and Styx with his dark, magic of the dead.

They continued to make their way cautiously down the first third of the path, constantly keeping an eye peeled for danger since they were still out in the open and there could be anything creeping around the corner or from within the trees. They made sure to stay close together as they travelled, each ready to attack should the need arise.

Upon reaching the end of the first third of the path they stepped off to the side to take a break before moving on. Noir and Styx took a seat, facing each other, on the hard, earthy ground while Raven disappeared behind a tree among a patch of thick bushes to change shape, hoping to make the journey to the gate easier on herself by doing so.

“Okay. I admit that you had a good idea when you suggested we take the west path.” Styx said, making sure to keep his back turned while Raven made the change, for his sake and for her privacy.

“Finally I never thought it would feel this good to hear you admit that I’m right for once.” Noir said with a chuckle and a smile, occasionally glancing over at the tree Raven was behind to make sure that everything was going okay with the change.

Styx shook his head and stared off over Noir’s shoulder, eyes glazing over slightly and not exactly concentrating on anything in particular. “How much longer, Raven?”

“Only a few more minutes,” came Raven’s pained reply from behind the necromancer.

A deep silence fell over them as Raven finished the change, occasionally causing Noir to glance in her direction whenever she let out a particularly loud yelp or whimper of pain. Luckily it didn’t last too long and soon enough a gorgeous blonde wolf came padding out from behind the tree that Raven had disappeared behind.

Noir smiled and motioned for the wolf to come to her, which she did with all the energy of a new born puppy or a dog welcoming their owner home from a long day of work. As soon as the wolf reached her she began to pet her, making sure to scratch her in all the right places as soon as possible, which resulted in a few slobbery kisses from enjoyment. While the two were greeting each other with enthusiasm Styx was still sitting across from them, staring at them with wide eyes and a mixture of shock and confusion.

They stayed that way for a couple more minutes, Noir petting her wolf girlfriend and Styx watching them with interest, before Styx finally stood up, anxious to get back on the road.

Noir and Raven watched the necromancer as he stood up from the ground and stretched his arms and legs after sitting on the hard ground for so long.

“We should get going.” Styx said, offering Noir his hand, even though he knew that she wouldn’t use it to help her stand up.

Noir nodded and stood up, brushing the dirt off her clothes as soon as she was fully standing and steady on her feet.

“Come.” She commanded to the wolf as she and Styx made their way back over to the path they had come from. Raven immediately trotted after them, easily catching up and keeping pace with them once she did.

The three travelled along the now dense, tree covered path with Styx taking the lead this time and Noir and Raven following along behind him a good two feet. As they travelled they didn’t come across any danger and only glanced about when a sound was heard or the glow of eyes was spotted or a distant shadow watched. This was all because they were less exposed on the path they had decided to take, even from the eyes of Satan’s followers that they knew were currently circling high above, high above both their heads and the canopy the tree tops created.

They continued on to the end of the second third of the path before taking a second break for some much needed food, water, and rest. They took as much time as they needed, making sure that they had enough fuel and rest to make it the rest of the way to the palace, and were soon on their way again.

As they travelled along the last third of the path they kept to a slow pace and kept a more vigilant, and cautious, eye out for danger, expecting there to be at least some the closer they got to the gate to the palace. Noir and Styx kept their magic at the ready and Raven was prepared to attack as soon as Noir gave the word or as soon as either of her companions were put in any danger. Fortunately, and surprisingly, for them, they didn’t actually come across any danger, either in the form of dark magic or one of Satan’s followers. Unfortunately for them, they were being watched from the trees by unseen creatures.

“They’re watching us, aren’t they? Satan and his court or those outside that are loyal to him.” Noir said, turning to look at Styx, who was walking two feet to her right to give her and Raven enough room to walk next to each other.

“Maybe, but I doubt he has too many followers out in the trees. I doubt he even knows that we’re here at all. Those watching us are more likely than not those of a more neutral nature. They could probably smell or sense us the moment we stepped foot on the path.” Styx explained, not bothering to look at Noir as they continued on.

They fell silent as Noir turned her attention back to the path, her mind thinking over all that Styx had said and just beginning to form coherent thoughts on the matter. It wasn’t too much longer after she started thinking that they finally got their first look at the imposing, dark stoned wall that surrounded the palace. As soon as both the wall and gate were in full view they stopped in the middle of the path and stared, all of them equal parts awed and terrified by what they were looking at.

“Still sure that we can do this?” Styx asked Noir, moving to talk directly in her ear so that Raven could barely hear him, if she could hear him speaking at all or was even paying any attention.

Noir nodded in silence, gaze still glued to the excellent architecture before them.

Styx gave her a small smile and began walking, the two others following soon after. They continued on to the end of the path, which didn’t take them long since it wasn’t too far from where they had paused for a moment.

Upon reaching the end the three immediately stepped off to the side, not yet ready to leave the safety the trees provided from the many loyal followers of Satan. Noir and Styx returned to staring at the wall while Raven disappeared behind a tree and made the change back to her human form.

Minutes passed before Raven rejoined the other two and they all spent some more time taking in the wall and the gate. The wall was tall, about sixty six feet and six inches tall, and made completely from an onyx colored stone that could only be found in the mines of Hell. The gate on the other hand was made of a cold, rusted metal, covered in blood stains and protected by a dark magic.

“Everyone understand the plan and that we only get one chance to steal the ring if it’s here so we need to make this count?” Noir asked after a while, breaking her staring contest with the wall to turn to look at the other two in hopes that they actually heard her.

Raven and Styx nodded in answer as they too removed their gazes from the captivating outer shell of the palace.

“Good. Now, let’s go find that ring!” Noir exclaimed as loud as she dared before breaking away from the other two and cautiously approaching the section of wall directly across from them, keeping a light invisible spell on her at all times.

Raven and Styx followed soon after and their plan was put into motion.

Raven and Styx stood off to the side, directly against the wall hidden in shadow, while Noir used her magic to undo the spells protecting the gate. They watched as the purplish glow surrounding her hands and her staff got darker as she amped up her powers as the protection spells showed signs of resistance. They watched as the glow became completely dark, almost black, and wrapped around the dark green of the gate and broke the spells, making almost no sound as it did so.

Once the spells were undone Noir switched places with Raven as the shape shifter came forward to take care of the physical lock placed upon the gate. She closed her eyes and, taking a deep breath, broke the lock with relative ease, removing it from the gate soon after. Then Noir and Styx came over and helped her open the gate with a loud creak as they slowly, but surely, moved the rusted metal gate upon its hinges. When the gate was open wide enough they slipped through and closed it, almost all the way, behind them.

They stood there for a moment, gazing up at the imposing, dark stoned palace in front of them, before Noir motioned for Raven to approach from the left and Styx to approach from the right. She would approach the side door from the most direct route. As soon as the other two were gone she began to make her way towards the door. As she crept forward she used a cloaking spell to keep herself hidden and stuck to what shadows were available for her to use since she was quite skilled at using the dark to her advantage.

She moved as quickly as she could without being caught and eventually made it to the side door of the palace. Once there she moved into the shadows surrounding the wall next to the door and waited for Raven and Styx to join her before moving forward with the rest of the plan.

She only had to wait a few minutes for Raven and Styx to join her, the shape shifter getting there a few seconds before the necromancer and rubbing it in his face as he approached from the right, which resulted in Styx giving Raven the middle finger. She smiled when they joined her and Raven took her place next to her in the shadows, reaching out to give her hand a gentle squeeze as she did so, while Styx moved in front of the door to remove the dark, dead magic surrounding it.

The two girls watched as Styx used his powers to unravel the dead magic surrounding, and protecting, the side door leading into the palace. They watched as he slowly, and using lots of effort, unraveled the magic before stepping to the side to allow Rave to take care of the physical lock on the door for a second time.

Noir and Styx watched as Raven approached the lock and broke it, but only after three tries and a broken nail. She backed away from the door, while tearing off the broken nail, after removing the lock and rejoined the others as they retreated back into the shadows just as a beam of moonlight lit up the spot they had just occupied, giving Satan’s followers a clear view of the side door, if only for a brief moment. They stayed as far back in the shadows as they could until the moonlight passed and their path was clear once again. They snuck out of the shadows and Noir pulled open the side door as wide as she could without drawing too much attention. She then led them inside and closed the door behind them.

Once inside they stood in front of the door they had come through and took in their surroundings. They stared at the dimly lit stone corridor. They stared at the dried blood splattered ground. They stared at the blue tinged flame burning on the torches placed periodically along the wall. They lastly stared at the skull pinned up directly across from them, staring back and daring them to move forward with their plan.

“Still want to do this?” Styx asked, turning to look at Noir and Raven to avoid any further staring at the skull.

“It’s a little too late to turn back now.” Noir answered, turning her gaze to meet the necromancer’s after staring at the skull on the wall for longer than was strictly necessary.

“Then which way do we go?” Styx said, glancing over at the corridor briefly before returning his gaze to Noir.

“Uh…” Noir also glanced over at the corridor while she tried her hardest to remember which way they needed to turn to begin the journey to the main area of the palace.

Styx and Raven both looked at Noir as she stared at the corridor, so lost in thought about their next move that she didn’t even realize they were watching her. They stayed that way for some time, simply staring, until Noir finally remembered which way they need to go and turned back to address the other two.

“Right. We need to go right.” Noir said in an almost monotone sounding voice, her finger automatically coming up to point to the right of the skull in the direction they need to take.

“Okay then. Let’s go.” Styx said, not looking at either of the girls as he took a few steps in the right direction.

Noir and Raven nodded in agreement and the three headed off down the right side of the corridor, disappearing into the shadows as soon as they were a couple of feet along the way.

Their journey through the corridor was fairly uneventful and, luckily, they didn’t run into any trouble or danger along the way. Since this was true they soon found themselves at the bottom of a flight of pitch black, stone stairs leading up to the main area of the palace. They spent a few minutes there while Noir and Styx created glowing orbs, with their magic, to light the way and Raven changed, under cover of the shadows, into a black wolf.

Once they were all ready to go the three crept their way up the stairs, taking it slow and being careful to not make too much noise with their footsteps. Everything was quiet and still as they reached the top of the stairs sometime later and found themselves face-to-face with a large wooden door etched with skulls and a warning: Beware!

“Ready?” Noir asked, glancing over at Raven and Styx as she reached one hand forward to rest upon the knob of the door in front of them.

Raven and Styx nodded in agreement and Noir opened the door a little before peeking out and making absolutely certain the coast was clear before proceeding. She looked left, right, and up at the ceiling before pulling back and giving the other two a thumbs up. She then snuck out into the corridor, sticking to the walls, with Raven and Styx following after her.

Once they were all out in the corridor, and the door was once again closed, they separated. Noir went left, Raven went right, and Styx snuck up a second set of stairs across from the door to check the upper floor. They were now searching for the ring.

~

Noir crept along the corridor, sticking to the shadows and only spending a couple minutes looking into each of the rooms staggered throughout. She peeked inside each and glanced around, keeping her eyes peeled for any sign of the ring or its power, before backing out and returning to her search.

She continued along in this manner for some time before eventually reaching the foyer of the palace, or as close as she could get without being spotted, and stopping among the shadows to stay hidden and safe from prying eyes. She stayed where she was, back against the wall, and occasionally glanced around the corner to get a glimpse of the array of creatures standing about the foyer, chatting about who knows what and waiting for something to happen.

She stood there for a while, trying to listen in but failing miserably, until she heard footsteps coming from around the corner. At the sound she immediately pulled back into the shadows as far as she could, wrapped herself in a cloaking spell to help keep from being detected, and waited and waited and waited. She waited until the footsteps were faint and barely audible, and the coast was once again clear, before making the decision to turn back. She then snuck out from the shadows and began to make her way back along the corridor. Back to where they had agreed to meet. Back to the door they had entered through. All the while hoping that either Raven or Styx actually found the ring or some sign of its immeasurable power.

Back in the west of Hell…

Zachariah and Flora flew through the clear, nearly windless air, enjoying the rich, warm colors that made up the sky of Hell. Enjoying the feel of the gentle, but humid, breeze produced by their wings beating about the warm, humid air they were flying through. Enjoying the feeling of being the only ones in the sky for the first time in months.

They flew high above the rocky terrain, caught in the moment but also keeping an eye out for any sight of the ring or any sign of imminent danger headed their way. As they flew Flora kept ahead of Zachariah by a couple feet since her wings were more aerodynamic than his and created specifically for speed, and maneuverability.

They continued to fly over the land, dipping low and gaining height when needed. They continued until they reached a large mountain, that disappeared into a gathering of dark clouds many feet above them, sitting in the middle of their flight path. The mountain was large enough that flying around it would be too dangerous, not to mention time consuming, and flying over it would be too high for them, and they could fly pretty high. So, they opted to land on a patch of clear, flat land directly in front of the mountain to avoid trying to land on the mountain itself.

“So this is the end?” Flora said as they looked up at the daunting mountain before them. “Or at least the end of our search through the northwest of Hell?”

“Looks like it.” Zachariah replied, his wings coming to fold against his back and resulting in a continuous flow from the markings on his body into those found on his wings.

They continued to stand there, staring up at the mountain, for a few minutes longer before starting their journey along the long, windy road before them.

They traveled side by side along the path leading up the mountain, keeping to the middle of the road and keeping an eye out for trouble of any kind that could be lurking anywhere, and for any sign that the ring was hidden somewhere on the mountain. They continued along for some time before taking a short break upon a cliff side overlooking most of the west of Hell. They sat down on an outcropping of rocks a safe distance from the edge of the cliff and looked out at the beautiful view as they rested for as long as they dared before continuing on their journey over the mountain.

Soon enough they were back on the road, navigating the changing terrain as the smoothness from the beginning turned into a rockiness that made climbing higher up the mountain more difficult than expected.

~

Artemis relaxed in the cold pool of nearly freezing salt water located a good ten feet or so away from the pathway of rivers they had been following since the two groups had split up. He closed his eyes and leaned back against Mags’s bare shins that had been dipped into the pool only a few minutes ago after she had returned his talisman to him. As he relaxed further Mags began to pet his hair with one hand while using the other to keep herself steady and draw in the pliable dirt surrounding the pool.

The two stayed there for a few minutes longer, cooling off in the first cold water pool they had come across in the west of Hell, before returning back to the river path and continuing on their way.

As they continued they moved along at a slow pace, both already burning hot again and growing exhausted from the heat being let off from the rivers and some of the side pools, not to mention the surrounding air that was thick with humidity and excruciatingly hot.

“Want to take another break?” Artemis asked upon noticing that Mags looked like she was ready to collapse from the heat. They had just moved on to their third river of the day and the heat and humidity were not letting up at all but getting thicker and, if it was even remotely possible, even hotter.

Mags nodded and sat down on the ground, moving as quickly as she dared to avoid fainting, puking, collapsing, or anything else of the sort. As she did this Artemis swam over to the river bank, to join her in taking another break from their journey, and took a seat on a large rock situated right next to the edge of the bank.

~

While Mags and Artemis were burning up in the southwest Flora and Zachariah were beginning to feel the exact opposite from the weather in the northwest of Hell. It seemed to get colder the higher up the mountain the two climbed, the temperature dropping and the ground becoming the slightest bit more dangerous and slippery. There also seemed to be small traces of snow, of a dark grey color with flecks of yellow and a sulfurous smell, the closer they got to the peak.

They continued to climb up the mountain and eventually reached the peak, which was snow covered, windy as all Hell, and as cold as it could get in Hell, and it could get pretty cold. They took a break, to catch their breath and warm up a little, and huddled together to keep warm behind a small rocky outcropping, which they were also using to shield themselves from the wind that seemed to get stronger with each passing second.

“Almost ready to head down the other side and meet up with Mags and Artemis?” Zachariah asked in a whisper, using his wings as a secondary shield from the wind and to keep the heat being generated from escaping.

Flora nodded, her own thinner wings, folded against her back since they were useless in cold environments like the one they were currently in.

They stayed huddled together in their little spot for a few seconds longer before returning to the path and making the journey down the other side of the mountain, back into the warm, dry, and humid air.

~

“We’re almost there, Mags. We just have one more river to go. You can do this.” Artemis said in encouragement as they reached the end of the river they had just travelled along at their slow pace.

Mags sighed in exhaustion and helped Artemis with his talisman before they walked the short distance over to the last river on the path they had been following for the past week with no clear sense of where it was leading them.

They moved along the last river in the same manner as the others, at a slow and even pace to keep from exhausting themselves further and collapsing from heat exhaustion. That didn’t mean the heat wasn’t affecting them. It was leaving them sweaty and exhausted and ready to just collapse or fall asleep right where they were. But they persevered since they were so determined to keep going along the path and had no intention of giving up and turning back any time in the near future.

~

Flora and Zachariah finally reached the bottom of the mountain after spending the better part of an hour making the journey down, taking care not to slide or tumble the entire way. Once they were finally off the daunting mountain they immediately moved to the side of the path and sat down under the only tree they had seen since beginning their journey, getting out of the sun and resting for a while.

They sat there and relaxed, keeping a foot between them so they could cool down without the heat of the other getting in the way of the cool down after practically running down the mountain. They stayed there for as long as they could before needing to return back to the path and start making their way towards Mags and Artemis.

“Ready to go?” Flora asked after a few seconds too long of sitting there. She stood up and waited for the ex-arch angel to join her, leaning her side against the tree trunk for support as she did so.

“Yeah.” Zachariah replied as he stood up and brushed the dirt off. “Let’s go.”

Flora smiled and the two walked back over to the path before taking to the sky and continuing on their journey, starting to feel ready to return back to the main travel area of Hell and wait for the others to join them.

~

Artemis and Mags eventually reached the end of the last river, tired and sweaty and ready to give up on the quest as a whole, knowing there was no way they were going to be the ones to find the ring. At the end they sat down, Artemis on a pile of half-submerged rocks and Mags on the dirty and dusty ground, and relaxed. They knew it would be a while before they would need to head off in the direction of the northwest of Hell, which wasn’t all that far from their current position to begin with, and were content to just stay there for a while to rest up for the end of their journey.

When Noir returned to the meeting place no one else had returned yet. She felt a mixture of relief and worry at finding this, relief that she was the first one back- and that the others were still searching- and worry because no one else had returned yet. She hid in the shadows lining the walls of the corridor and stayed there while she waited and waited and waited and waited and waited.

She was still waiting in the shadows when she heard the sound of footsteps quietly coming down the staircase across from where she was standing. She pulled back further into the shadows and cloaked herself in a darkness spell to help keep herself hidden. She kept as quiet as she could and continued to wait, the footsteps getting louder with each passing minute, until she noticed that the person coming down the stairs was none other than Styx.

“Styx.” Noir called as loud as she dared from her shadowy hiding spot against the wall. She laughed as Styx jumped a few feet, startled by the sound of her voice coming from somewhere within the shadows in front of him.

“Shit, Noir, you scared me. What the hell are you doing hiding in the shadows like that?” Styx hissed at Noir as quietly as he could, his magic flaring up, the color of cooling lava, as a sign of his immense anger once he had gotten over the initial shock of Noir scaring him and he had come over to glare down at her.

“Well, I was waiting for you and Raven to return. And as I was waiting I heard you coming down the stairs, but I thought you were someone else. Someone worse. So, I hid further in the shadows and waited.” Noir answered as patiently as she could in an attempt to keep the worry about Raven at bay. “By the way… Where is Raven?”

Styx shrugged in answer, not knowing how else to do so since he had no honest idea where the shape shifter had gone off to or when she would return.

The two stood there in complete silence for a while longer before Noir could no longer take it, her worry about Raven bubbling up to the surface.

“She should have returned by now.” Noir muttered, standing up on her tip toes and looking over Styx’s shoulder to keep an eye out on the right side of the corridor for the shape shifter’s imminent return.

“Maybe she found something and got held up.” Styx said with another shrug as he turned to follow Noir’s gaze down the right side of the corridor, his anger dissipating as he finally registered how worried the mage in front of him was.

“Maybe.” Noir said with hesitation, her gaze still trained on the right side of the corridor as she continued to completely ignore the presence of the necromancer standing in front of her.

Noir and Styx stood in the shadows and continued to stare down the corridor, waiting for some sign that Raven was returning to their meeting spot to rejoin them. They waited and waited and waited and waited and waited. They waited until they couldn’t wait anymore and decided it was time to take drastic measures.

“Fuck it. Let’s go look for her. If she found something we should know about it. Besides I’d rather get lost looking for her rather than continue to wait here.” Noir suggested, stepping around Styx and removing herself from the shadows for the briefest moment.

Styx nodded in agreement and the two headed off down the right side of the corridor in search of the missing shape shifter.

They crept about the shadows of the corridor, checking each and every room for some sign of Raven or the one ring. They continued searching and before they knew it they had reached the end of the hallway. They now found themselves facing a fork in the corridor. The left led down to the dungeons and the cellars of the palace while the right led towards the back rooms and the kitchen. The two stopped directly in front of the fork, not sure which path Raven had taken in her search since the shape shifter was known to get herself lost quite easily.

“Tracking spell?” Noir asked, turning to address Styx with the question after some time of the two just staring at their options.

“Yeah. Best way to find her if she’s lost.” Styx whispered, nodding in agreement to the mage’s suggestion.

Noir licked her lips to moisten them and wrapped one of Raven’s hair ribbons around the base of her staff before beginning the tracking spell. After a few short seconds, and a slight misfire, the spell produced a small sky blue orb that glowed and hovered half way above the floor. She lowered her staff once the spell was stable enough and the two followed the orb as it floated down the right side of the fork, leading them in the direction of the back rooms and the kitchen.

They followed the orb down the corridor, keeping an eye out for Raven- and occasionally the ring- as they did so. They continued along for quite some time, not taking the time to check each room as they went along since they were following the tracking spell, before finally finding Raven hidden in the shadows to the side of a pair of ornately carved, wooden double doors. As they approached where the missing shape shifter was hiding she brought her finger up to her lips, motioning for Noir and Styx to be quiet as they joined her in the shadows.

‘What did you find?’ Noir mouthed to Raven as they continued hiding in the shadows, Noir standing between Raven and Styx.

Raven motioned for Noir to switch places with her and take a look for herself since that was the only true way to show her- and provide proof that it was all real.

After a difficult switching of places with Raven Noir leaned over and peered into the room through a crack in the double doors. At first she didn’t see much of anything, but once she was able to get at a better angle she got a better view of what was so important inside. This better view allowed her to watch as Satan himself picked up a glowing gold and obsidian ring and gingerly place it upon his red finger with a smile.

Noir pulled back into the shadows and looked at Raven and Styx with wide eyes and an even wider smile. This caused Raven to return the smile in understanding and Styx to just stare at the two with deep confusion about whatever it was they were smiling about.

‘He has the ring! Satan has the fucking one ring of Hell!’ Noir and Raven mouthed to Styx when they finally realized that the necromancer had no idea why were so extremely happy and was looking quite confused and left out.

Styx’s eyes widened in shock as he processed what Noir and Raven had just told him. As soon as he did, though, he motioned for them both to let him get a look himself and the three shuffled about as quietly as they could so Styx was near the door and Noir and Raven were behind him, with Raven in the middle this time. He leaned over and peered inside the room. He looked around a bit before finally finding what he was looking for- Satan in the middle of examining the glowing ring sitting upon his finger.

Styx watched for as long as he dared before pulling back into the hallway, sporting the same ridiculously wide smile as Noir and Raven. He turned back to face the two girls and motioned for them to sneak over to the other side of the double doors so that they could all watch Satan interact with the one ring of Hell.

Noir and Raven nodded in understanding and made the move over to the other side of the door, keeping as quiet as they could while being as careful as possible to not get caught in the process. Once they had successfully made it to the other side of the door all three leaned over and peered into the room to ‘observe’ Satan and the ring.

They watched Satan continue to examine the ring on his finger for a couple minutes longer before heading over to an open window across the room in the east wall. They watched as he stood at the window and gazed out, the one ring beginning to glow on his hand and illuminate his face, bathing it in a dark golden glow. They watched the glow of the ring get brighter, and stronger, as Satan used some ancient necromancy to unleash the immense power it contained. They watched as the glow seemed to reach out through the window to encompass the span of Hell. They watched as the glow grew as bright as a close up of the sun before going out and plunging the room into pitch darkness.

The darkening of the room provided the three with the perfect escape and they took it. They pulled back from the crack in the door and headed back the way they had come. They crept back down the corridor, sticking to the shadows, until they heard the distinct sound of a door opening from behind them, from the room they had just left. They paused right where they were, frozen in place by the sound of footsteps heading in their direction.

Noir didn’t even think before acting. She opened up the door to the closest room and pulled Raven and Styx inside with her before promptly closing the door behind them all. With the door finally closed Raven and Styx moved off to explore the room, and it’s contents, a little while Noir stayed near the door, her ear pressed hard against the carved wood as she listened to the footsteps get louder with each passing, heart pounding second. She waited until the footsteps went right past the door and she could no longer hear them before sighing deeply in relief and turning to address Raven and Styx about coming up with a plan to steal the one ring.

“Guys, this is our chance to steal the ring. We know where it is now. We just need to make sure no one’s in the room and that there’s no spells of protection surrounding it. Then it’s just a matter of stealing the ring and escaping the palace without getting caught.” Noir stated as she approached Raven and Styx, who were currently examining a bookcase covered in jars of all sizes, each filled with a different colored liquid and a different body part.

Raven and Styx looked over at Noir simultaneously as she approached, both of them staring at her with dazed confusion from not having paid attention to anything she had just said to them.

“What do you think?” Noir asked, stopping a good foot or two in front of them and placing her hands upon her hips.

“What do we think about what?” They asked in unison, tilting their heads as a sign that they were still confused about what was going on.

“About gathering a bit more information on the ring before coming up with a plan to steal it and escape from here.” Noir stated, leaning towards them a little and hoping that doing so would help Raven and Styx finally understand what she was talking about.

“Oh, yeah. That’s a brilliant idea. Makes total sense.” Raven said, her eyes lighting up as she finally understood what her girlfriend had been talking about for the last five minutes.

The two girls looked to Styx then, waiting for the necromancer to give them some sign or indication that he understood what was going on or that he was on board despite not having listened to a thing that was said.

Styx stared at the two girls and blinked a few times, his brain still slowly processing the information no matter how many times the girls explained it.

The three stayed that way, standing there and staring at each other, for the longest time before a light went off in Styx’s head and he finally understood what was going on.

“Like Raven said. That makes perfect sense. So, who’s going to gather the intel we need then?” Styx asked, his eyes finally lighting up with understanding and causing the girls to smile in return.

“I will. I can easily sneak in and out in a short amount of time and not get caught. It’s perfectly logical and means I get to help steal the ring.” Raven volunteered, looking from Styx to Noir and back again, her smile turning from a happy one to a devious one.

“Okay. But I’m going with you. For protection and all that. And to make sure you make it there and back again safely in whatever form you choose.” Noir said, only the slightest bit flustered.

Raven nodded in agreement and went off to a dark corner of the room to change form.

“I guess I’ll just stay here and wait while the two of you risk your lives and get all the action.” Styx stated, reluctantly returning to examining the jars on the bookcase from before.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll get your chance soon enough. Besides we’ll be back soon. And before you know it we’ll be making plans to steal the ring and escape. A real Bonnie and Clyde plan. Without the getting caught of course.” Noir said with a smile and a wink, patting Styx’s shoulder on her way back over to the door.

Styx glanced back at Noir for a few seconds before returning to the shelf just as Raven returned from the dark corner.

Raven scurried over to join Noir, in the form of a mouse, after a while and gave a loud squeak to catch her attention.

Noir picked her girlfriend up and carried her in the palm of her hand as she snuck back into the corridor, closing the door softly behind them to avoid detection.

Styx glanced back at the sound of the door opening and watched the two girls leave the room. He sighed as he once again returned to examining the bookcase of jars, which wasn’t distracting him as much anymore as it originally had.

Noir held her mouse girlfriend close to her body as she snuck back to the room where they knew the ring was being kept for the time being. She made it there with relative ease and without getting caught, or running into anyone, both good signs that they might actually be capable of pulling it off without a hitch. She stopped right outside the door and set Raven down on the ground. She stood back up and watched as her mouse girlfriend snuck into the room itself by slipping under the door and then she began to wait.

She waited and waited and waited and waited and waited, worrying the whole time that something was wrong while continuously keeping an eye out for any trouble that was heading their way. Luckily she didn’t have to wait much longer before Raven returned from her information gathering and caught her attention with the loudest squeak she could muster. She bent down and picked her mouse girlfriend back up before holding her close again and sneaking back to the room where they had left Styx to wait for them.

Styx looked away from the bookcase as the door opened and the two girls finally rejoined him. “So…How’d it go?”

“I think it went well. If us returning unharmed, without being followed, and in one piece is any indication.” Noir replied, closing the door behind them softly with the use of her magic and setting Raven back on the ground for the last time so that she could change back into her human form.

“Good. That’s definitely a good sign that it went well.” Styx said as he set down the jar he had been closely examining, when the girls had returned, before heading over to stand next to Noir and wait.

The two stood there and waited for Raven to join them so they could discuss their plans to steal the ring and escape the palace without getting caught by Satan or any of his followers. Soon enough they noticed her shadow separate from the shadows she had changed in and grew ready to begin the planning process.

Raven shook out her blonde hair as she stepped out of the shadows and joined the other two with a smile.

“So, what were you able to gather from your little fact finding mission?” Styx asked, turning to look at Raven as she re-tied her hair with one of her ribbons and stopped a foot in front of them.

“For starters I learned that there’s a necromancy spell protecting the ring. From what I could gather it was a simple spell, so you shouldn’t have any trouble with removing it, Styx. I also gathered that Satan only uses the ring during the day. Something about the magic being dormant at night or something like that. Which means that tonight’s our one and only chance to steal the ring and escape here without anyone noticing.” Raven said, addressing both Noir and Styx with the small amount of information she had been able to gather from their little trip back to the room.

“Okay. That means Styx needs to be one of the ones going in for the one ring. Do you want to go in with him, Raven? Or would you rather stand guard outside the door while Styx and I go in and steal the ring?” Noir replied.

“Hm…I think I should go in with him. In wolf form of course. To protect him should anyone walk in on us or anything else go horribly wrong. Besides I already know the lay out of the room, so my going in with him makes the most sense.” Raven said in response.

“That’s a good point. Is all this okay with you, Styx?” Noir asked, turning her full attention to the necromancer next to her.

“Yeah. We should probably formalize our plans if we’re going to be working together to steal the ring.” Styx answered, nodding at Noir before turning to address Raven.

Raven nodded in agreement and the two went off to a dim corner of the room to discuss their plans in hushed, secretive tones to make it seem more like a secret mission. They had every intention of telling Noir their plans as soon as they were done, of course.

Meanwhile Noir went over to the bookcases and began exploring some of the jars that were on her height level. She started with the shelves of eyes and moved on to the shelves of horns and teeth soon after. She was just beginning to check out the shelves of brain matter when she felt Raven’s arms wrap around her waist from behind and give her a gentle squeeze.

“Is the plan set? And are the two of you ready? No matter what dangers we face by doing this?” Noir asked Raven with a smile as she brought her hands down, from the jar they had been resting on, to rest on both of her girlfriend’s hands that were resting upon her stomach.

“Yep. Which means it’s time to go steal the ring and escape this fucked up palace.” Raven whispered into Noir’s ear with a sexy smirk.

Noir’s smile widened and she turned around in Raven’s arms and kissed her girlfriend deeply and passionately on the mouth, eliciting a giggle and then a moan from the shape shifter. She continued to smile as Raven kissed her back as deeply and passionately as her, her tongue coming out to lick along the mage’s bottom lip.

The two continued to stand there and kiss each other for some time before Styx, crossing his arms as he did so, approached them and shook his head at their antics.

“Come on you two. Let’s go steal this fucking ring and get the fuck out of this palace.” Styx called, bringing the two girls out of their kiss to join him over by the door.

In the west of Hell…

Zachariah and Flora flew through the air until they reached the flat stretch of land that divided the two sides of the west. Once there the two landed in a patch of grass to the north side of the divide and began to wait for Mags and Artemis to join them so they could commence the journey back.

As they waited they took a closer look at their surroundings. The divide was the only green spot of land in the entire west of Hell. It was also the only land with a long, clear salt water river running along one side of it while the other side was lined with a thin line of tall pine trees that would occasionally get dusted with snow blowing in from the northwest.

They waited for what seemed like three months, but was in all actuality little more than six hours, before they finally spotted Mags and Artemis approaching from the southwest, and looking like they were out of breath. They stood up from their comfortable spot on the grass and walked towards the river to meet the other two halfway, hoping to make the journey easier for them both by doing so.

“You finally made it. It seems like we’ve been waiting here for you for ages.” Flora greeted Mags and Artemis with a smile as the four stood across from each other with the river flowing smoothly between them.

“Yeah. We were relaxing for a bit and we might’ve fallen asleep and completely lost track of time.” Artemis explained with a light chuckle, his hand coming up to rub at the nape of his neck from embarrassment at how lame his excuse sounded when said out loud.

“What Artemis really means is that he fell asleep because of the heat and I had to use a bit of my earth magic to wake him so we could actually make it here on time.” Mags said with a lighthearted laugh of her own and a small smile on the side.

Zachariah and Flora laughed along with them and the four stood there, simply laughing, for a good 15 minutes before their laughter died down and a silence surrounded them.

“Now, get over here so we can begin the journey back to meet up with everyone else. Since we assume you also were unable to find the ring.” Flora said, breaking the silence by motioning vehemently for Mags and Artemis to join her and Zachariah on the other side of the river.

Zachariah nodded in agreement and joined Flora in motioning for the mermaid and the earth nymph to join them on the other side, or at least for Mags to join them since it was more logical for Artemis to take to the river itself rather than the land.

“Okay. Okay. Calm your horses and let us do this ourselves, okay?” Artemis said as he lowered himself into the river, submerging his body one part at a time without allowing himself to get used to the water. As soon as he was fully submerged Mags slipped the talisman back over his head and he swam around a bit to adjust his tail to the cooling water of the salt water river.

Zachariah and Flora nodded in understanding and waited alongside Artemis as Mags stood back up, used her earth magic to create a path of stable stepping stones across the river, and easily crossed with a smile. The others watched this happen and smiled as the earth nymph finally joined up with the ex-arch angel and the fairy.

“Are you guys ready to head back and eventually go home?” Mags asked, looking from Artemis to Zachariah to Flora and back to Artemis again.

The other three nodded in agreement and the four set off on their journey back- Artemis swimming along the river while Mags, Zachariah, and Flora walked along the stone path that followed alongside the river.

~

It took them a day short of a week to actually travel back through the west of Hell without the danger of poisonous plants and forests of thorns and extreme heat and extreme cold and extreme winds. But eventually Artemis, Mags, Zachariah, and Flora made it back to the main path, which would lead them directly back to the travel center of Hell and the infinite tunnel system. Here they took their first break of the day. A break they used for food, water, and rest to ensure they would have enough energy to make it the rest of the journey before nightfall.

They stayed there, taking their break, for about a half an hour- give or take a few minutes- before heading back on the road and continuing on with their long journey back to the tunnels to meet back up with the rest of the pack.

~

They ended up spending the rest of the day traveling along the path back and they made it back just in time, reaching the end of the path with a few minutes to spare before nightfall. Once they stepped off the path they set up camp for the night in a small grassy area that was near a small cluster of other traveler camps. Since they did this they decided it would be best to find any pack members that had already returned in the morning when it would be less dangerous and when there would be more light to see by.

They spent the early part of the night eating a simple dinner, telling stories about anything and everything, and generally relaxing from a long day’s trek through Hell. The late part was one they spent either asleep in a small pile in their spot or keeping watch, despite the general safety of the travel center and the openness that the area provided.

The next day they had breakfast and split into two groups before separating off to look for anyone else from their pack. Zachariah and Artemis went off to the left and ended up getting highly distracted by some shiny objects being sold at a traveler’s stall. Meanwhile Flora and Mags went off to the right and had much better luck with their search.

Flora and Mags searched for half the morning before running into Teal and Josh, who were wandering around and exploring the travel center, about half way between where they had started and the tunnel they would be taking home. This ended their search and made the two girls very happy.

“Flora! Mags! You’re finally here!” Teal exclaimed in a surprising burst of joy, immediately hugging both girls as soon as they all realized who they had run into randomly.

“Teal, it’s so good to see you again. You too, Josh.” Flora responded, hugging the young hybrid back as soon as Mags was done with him and had moved on to the werewolf.

“By the way…Where’re Zachariah and Artemis? I’m surprised they’re not with you.” Josh said with a chuckle as he hugged Mags.

“On the other side. We decided to split up to save time and cover more ground.” Mags explained, standing near Josh while Flora and Teal stood a foot away chatting about who knows what. “What about Kyle and Ivory? I would’ve thought those two would be following you two like hawks.”

“Yeah. They decided to stay behind near the tunnel. Come on. We’ll take you to them. Then someone can go and collect the two missing boys.” Josh answered with a smile.

Mags smiled back and she and Flora nodded in agreement. The four then headed in the direction of the tunnel, passing many an interesting traveler along the way.

It only took 15 minutes to get there and once they did it didn’t take long for them to join up with Kyle and Ivory, who were currently relaxing three feet from the tunnel on an artificial piece of grass.

“I’ll go get Artemis and Zachariah.” Flora stated, without hesitation, as soon as they had reached the piece of grass and Mags, Josh, and Teal had joined Kyle and Ivory in sitting.

The five nodded and Flora flew off to locate the guys. Meanwhile the others began chatting about their failed journeys in search of the one ring while they waited for the fairy’s imminent return. They continued to chat as they continued to wait for five more minutes before Flora finally returned with Artemis and Zachariah in tow.

“Nice of you two to finally join us.” Kyle said, standing up from the ground to greet the two of them as they walked over from where they had landed on a clear patch of land at least four feet away.

“Is it just the four of you? No one else?” Artemis asked, looking around in case Noir, Raven, and Styx were simply hiding somewhere nearby rather than still doing their search of the north of Hell.

“Yeah. Noir, Raven, and Styx haven’t shown up yet. We’re hoping it means they actually found the ring and that they’ll return with it soon.” Kyle answered as they all moved in some way to look off in the distance at the north of Hell.

Noir left first to make sure the coast was clear and to take up her place as guard, directly to the side of the double doors, in the shadows against the wall. While she was doing this Raven was in a patch of shadows changing form for the second time and Styx was waiting patiently by the door for the sign Noir was to send back as soon as she deemed the coast clear, and as soon as she was in place by the doors.

Styx waited by the door until the crack at the bottom lit up with a neon green glow. He then cracked open the door enough for him to peek out of, stuck his head out, and recognized the sign glowing on the wall opposite him. It was the agreed upon sign for the coast being clear and Noir being in her place. He smiled at the welcome sight of the neon green glowing skull for a few seconds longer than necessary before ducking back into the room and quietly closing the door behind him.

“Raven! Time to go.” Styx called as loud as he dared, and as loud as he possibly could, in order to gain the shape shifter’s attention from her spot in the far shadows of the room.

A moment later a ghost white wolf padded out from within the shadows and joined Styx over by the door with a smile.

“Okay. Let’s go steal the ring.” Styx said with resignation as he opened the door as wide as he dared and allowed Raven to exit the room first. He followed soon after and closed the door to the room behind him.

Styx followed Raven as she padded down the hallway in the direction of the room where the ring was being held. It only took them a few minutes to reach the room and find Noir waiting outside for them according to plan.

“Don’t forget that you only have twenty minutes to steal the ring before we need to escape to remain unnoticed.” Noir whispered to Styx as she opened the door for them and the two passed by her on their way inside.

Styx nodded in understanding and followed Raven into the room. Once inside he stopped walking and turned around to face the double doors. He watched the door on the left close slowly, but quietly, before turning around and watching his wolf companion as she began to walk around the room with her nosed pressed close to the ground. He continued to watch for a few seconds longer before returning to the task at hand and heading over to the glass case the ring was being kept in.

He stood in front of the case and stared at the ring. Stared at the combination of gold and obsidian that made up the ring. Stared at the magic that swirled throughout the ring and created glittery, galaxy like patterns in the usually cold, hard stone. He stood there and stared and stared and stared and stared until Raven let out a low growl like sound and snapped Styx out of his staring contest with the deeply captivating one ring of Hell. It also helped to alert him to the time sensitive task at hand.

He let out the breath he had been unconsciously holding in before using his magic to reveal the protection spell surrounding the case containing the ring. He watched the glow of the spell change from an opaque white to a pale peach to a slightly darker peach, indicating that the spell was a simple one- simple enough that he already knew the perfect spell for unraveling it.

Styx was just about to unravel the protection spell from the case when he noticed the color of it change from the slightly darker peach all the way across the color spectrum to a dark violet. He dropped his hands and took a few steps back, fear and terror widening his eyes considerably and controlling his actions.

“Shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh holy fucking shit.” Styx cursed in a mutter, taking another couple of steps back from the case as a precaution.

His muttered curses caused Raven to look over at him, from her position over by a second entrance, with confusion.

“You got it wrong. You said it was a simple spell, but it’s not. It’s not a simple protection spell. It’s one of the most complicated protection spells I’ve ever seen.” Styx explained to Raven in a hushed tone as his wolf companion continued to stare at him in utter confusion.

Raven’s eyes widened as soon as her current form translated what the necromancer had just explained and she finally understood what was going on. She proceeded to pad her way over to him before beginning to nudge the backs of Styx’s legs, pushing him back towards the case and conveying the urgency of such a time sensitive task.

“What are you doing? It’s a complicated protection spell. I can barely unravel a medium protection spell, let alone a complicated one.” Styx hissed as calmly as possible at Raven with a soft glare at the wolf for nudging him.

Raven ignored him and continued to nudge Styx forward until he was standing about a foot way from the case. Once there she backed off and retreated a couple feet to the side, taking her own precautions.

“Are you sure I can do this?” Styx asked, looking over at his wolf companion as he finally understood why she had been nudging him towards the case.

Raven only gave a small nod in answer.

“Okay then. I’ll give it a shot, but if I fail and this doesn’t work you’re going to need to break the case.” Styx said with a slight shake of his head as he returned his gaze to the glass case before him.

Raven nodded again in answer and waited and watched.

Styx took a deep breath, brought his hands up six inches away from the case, and concentrated his magic on unraveling the protection spell as quickly as possible. His magic started out as a light grey glow and darkened all the way to a deep navy blue glow as he amped up his magic and concentrated even harder on unraveling the spell, not breaking away for a moment. He continued to amp up his magic until the deep navy blue darkened into an even darker shade of black, draining most of his energy and leaving him exhausted and feeling like he was going to collapse at any second.

It was as soon as Styx’s magic darkened to the dark shade of black that the protection spell finally began to unravel and dissolve into a darkly burned circle at the base of the podium the case was situated atop. Once it was done he lowered his hands to his sides and took a deep calming breath before reaching forward to remove the glass case. He removed the case and took the ring into his hand and brought it closer to his face to closely examine it in all its powerful glory.

He took a closer look at the ring. At the way the two stones- gold and obsidian- blended seamlessly and balanced each other out. At the swirls of powerful magic creating beautiful patterns that glittered and shined in the light like nothing he had ever seen before. At how, by simply holding the ring, he felt better, no longer like he was going to faint and more like climbing the tallest tree he could find from the new energy coursing through his veins.

He continued to stare at the ring until a sudden, and hard, nudge to the back of his legs by Raven caused him to nearly drop the ring and lose it. Luckily he didn’t. He glared down at the wolf, who was now standing next to him again, as he stored the ring in one of his pockets, created a fake ring to take the place of the real one, and replaced the glass case and most of the protection spell. With all that done the two went back over to the double doors and Styx bent down to send Noir the signal that they had the ring and she was to reopen the door so they could begin their escape.

The two stood there for a moment before stepping out of the way while Noir opened the door wide enough for them to slip out and back into the shadows lining the hallway. Styx allowed Raven to go first again before following after her a minute later and joining both her and Noir in the shadows lining the wall.

‘Did you get the ring?’ Noir mouthed at Styx as he passed her on his way to hide in the shadows.

Styx nodded and patted his pocket before hiding away in the shadows with Raven while Noir closed the door to the room as quietly as possible before turning back to address the others.

‘Ready to get out of here and take care of the ring?’ Noir mouthed to Styx and Raven once the door was securely closed once again.

Styx and Raven nodded in answer and the three crept past the double doors before making their way towards the kitchen, keeping to the shadows to stay safe and out of sight of any prying eyes. However, what they didn’t know, as they crept towards the kitchen, was that as soon as they removed the ring from the room a silent alarm was sounded. This alarm, luckily enough for them, didn’t alert Satan directly, but instead alerted the alpha of the Hell hound pack that acted as the guards of the palace. This alarm also made it easy to find intruders and kill them on sight.

Noir led Raven and Styx down the last corridor leading to the kitchen before stopping in the shadows directly outside the swinging double doors. She then turned to the other two and motioned for them to be quiet while she checked to make sure the coast was clear before they could move on.

She pushed the right door open a crack and peeked her head into the kitchen. She looked from left to right, taking as close a look as she possibly could from her position outside. She let her gaze wander all over after her initial look before pulling back into the corridor and giving Raven and Styx the thumbs up that the coast was officially clear.

Raven and Styx smiled and the three crept into the kitchen through the right door of the swinging double doors, sending both doors swinging as they did so. They then slowly made their way across to the servant’s entrance, making a short pit stop to grab food from the pantry along the way. Once they were at the entrance they paused outside the door for a second time while Noir once again made sure that the coast was clear before they moved forward.

As soon as she returned the three made their way through the servant’s entrance and down a set of stone steps to the lowest level of the palace. They then started to make their way through the tunnels that made up the lowest level with every intention of leaving the same way they had come.

They had just turned a corner and were half way down the next tunnel when they heard the sound of Hell hounds coming from directly in front of them. This caused them to stop walking and freeze in place for a couple of seconds before Noir took quick action and pulled Raven and Styx down a side tunnel to hide until the coast was once again clear.

They pressed themselves into the shadows and waited and waited and waited until the sound of at least ten Hell hounds passed by their hiding spot in the side tunnel.

Eventually Noir peeked her head around the corner and checked both ways to make sure the coast was clear enough for them to continue. And when she pulled back to let Raven and Styx know the good news she paused and listened closely after hearing the sound of two hounds making their way down the tunnel before pausing briefly in the middle of it, almost directly in front of the side tunnel they were hiding down.

“Which way?” One of the hounds asked, looking at his companion for answers.

The other hound sniffed away at the air before turning and heading back down the tunnel in the direction of the servant entrance. “This way.”

The first hound shook his head and followed after his friend, hoping that she was right about this.

Noir took a deep breath as they waited again. They waited and waited and waited and waited and waited. They waited until the hounds had disappeared around a corner and were completely out of sight.

She peeked her head back around the corner and checked to make sure the coast was truly clear this time. She looked left. She looked right. She even looked up and down before pulling back and giving Raven and Styx the thumbs up that the coast was finally clear.

The three crept out from the side tunnel and continued down the main tunnel, which would eventually lead them to where they wanted to be. As they continued they turned multiple corners and occasionally paused if they heard any sound, but they didn’t run into any more Hell hounds searching the tunnels.

They continued along until they reached the side entrance that they had used to sneak in. Once there they stopped and hid in the shadows while they made a plan for getting back to the wall and out through the side gate without running into any Hell hounds in the process.

“Should we split up or keep together?” Noir asked in a whisper, looking from Raven to Styx and back again.

“Keep together.” Raven and Styx answered in unison, both of them looking directly at Noir, who would normally have laughed at this but didn’t this time from fear of alerting the hounds to their location.

“Okay. Styx, you’re leading us out of here. Raven, you’re to stay between us and not do anything dangerous or risky. I’ll take up the rear and cover our tracks so they have a slim chance of finding us or following us.” Noir explained, once again looking from Raven to Styx and back again.

Raven and Styx nodded in understanding and Styx led them out the door after making sure the coast was clear. He continued to lead them across in a zig zag pattern all the way to the side gate in the wall that they had come through in the beginning, with Noir using her magic to cover their tracks and mask their scent the entire time.

At the wall they took a moment to hide in the shadows and wait. Wait for the sound of nearby Hell hounds to pass. Wait for the perfect moment to sneak out the gate and continue with their escape. Wait for the light to pass so they had a chance to pass in the shadows.

Suddenly the moment was there and the three opened the gate before dashing across the small stretch of open space between the gate and the path they had taken to get there. They moved fast and didn’t stop until they were safely back in the shadow of the trees and bushes. And they made it across safely. However, they didn’t get much further than the beginning of the path before they heard the distinct, and sudden, sound of Hell hounds barking, and running, from all around them.

Noir grabbed Raven and Styx for the second time and pulled them into a clump of bushes to the side of the path, using her magic to cover their tracks and hide their scent as they hid from the Hell hounds.

The three crouched in the bush clump and waited and waited and waited while the hounds got closer to where they were before stopping directly in front of them. They then waited and watched and listened.

“We haven’t found the intruders yet, sir, but we’ll keep looking.” Once of the beta hounds explained to the alpha.

“Find them. Find the ring. And hope like fuck that Satan doesn’t find out about any of this.” The alpha hissed in a harsh tone as he wacked the back of the beta’s head with his palm.

“Yes, sir. We’ll find them right away. Wait…What do you want us to do with the intruders when we find them?” The beta asked with a hint of confusion and a pained expression as he rubbed at the back of his head with one hand.

“Take care of them. Kill them. Do whatever you feel is appropriate. Just make sure the problem’s handled soon and the ring is returned safely.” The alpha barked into the beta’s ear, a murderous look on his face.

The beta nodded in understanding and led the rest of the pack away from the alpha, returning to the search and leaving the alpha to stand in the middle of the path all alone.

The alpha paced about a foot in front of the bush and sniffed at the air, trying to capture the scent of the three, but getting nothing. He did this for some time before giving up and walking back in the direction of the palace.

The three waited, and watched, with bated breath until the alpha disappeared from sight and they were completely alone again. They waited a few minutes longer than necessary before standing up and removing themselves carefully from the bushes they had been hiding in for what seemed like hours.

“We need to get the fuck out of here before they find us.” Noir stated, looking off in the direction of the palace one more time.

Raven and Styx nodded in agreement as they too stared off in the direction of the palace for a last time.

The three stood there and stared off at the palace. They stared at the shadows passing beyond the rusted metal gate. They stared at the torches lining the top of the wall, bathing the wall and gate in a dark red-orange glow. They stared and stared and stared and stared until they heard the sound of a pack of hounds chasing some scent or sound in the nearby vicinity. It was this sound that finally sent the three running in the opposite direction of the palace.

The three ran until they felt they were far enough away from the palace to finally stop and take a break for a few hours. During this break they ate, they drank, and they rested for as long possible so that they would have enough energy to make it back to the travel center of Hell within the week.

As soon as they were all full and rested they headed back on the road and continued on their way.

Along the way they stayed a night in the abandoned necromancer tower where they had made their plans to break into the palace in search of the ring. They crossed back over the troll bridge, glad that they didn’t have to pay the toll for the return trip. They even spent a few nights under the stars still too worried that the Hell hounds from the palace had followed them and were starting to catch up.

By the 4th day the three felt they were far enough from the palace to call their mission, and escape, a success and spend the night in the nearest town. So, they found the nearest town and entered the local tavern to get hot food and a nice place to sleep.

“I’ll go get us some food and drinks.” Styx said, blushing a little after glancing over at the bar immediately after entering the tavern in case Nix just happened to be there, which in this case he was.

“We’ll go find a table then. Invite Nix to join us while you’re over at the bar.” Noir replied with a wink after following the necromancer’s gaze and noticing what he had noticed when he had glanced over at the bar- Nix sitting on a stool at the bar, drinking a frothing mug of ale.

“Yeah. Yeah, I will.” Styx said, the blush on his cheeks getting deeper the more flustered and embarrassed he became. He then said a quick goodbye to the girls and made his way over to the bar, keeping his gaze down in a poor attempt to hide the blush spreading across his cheeks.

Noir and Raven watched Styx until he reached the bar, and Nix, before making their way through the crowded common room to an empty table in a corner near the back, right by the staircase that led up to the rented rooms that the tavern offered for travelers passing through the town. Once there the two sat next to each other on the side closest to the staircase and waited for the two guys to join them.

They waited in comfortable silence- Raven looking around at the crowd that was gathered in the common room and Noir looking over at the bar in order to watch Styx and Nix interacting- until the necromancer and the warlock began to make their way over to where the girls were sitting, their arms full of plates of food and mugs of ale. When the girls finally noticed them making their way over they smiled and watched as the guys struggled a little with pushing through the last of the crowd before finally reaching the table.

“It’s nice to see you two lovely ladies again. Almost as nice as it is to see Styx again.” Nix greeted with a smile and a wink as he and Styx set the food and drinks down on the table in a disorganized mess.

“It’s nice to see you too, Nix.” Raven and Noir replied, one in complete sarcasm and the other in genuine cheerfulness.

The four fell into a comfortable, but awkward, silence as the two girls watched Nix hold out one of the chairs for Styx, who took the offered seat with a deep blush, before taking the seat next to him and giving the necromancer a soft, and reassuring, peck on the cheek.

“Aw… You two make such a cute couple. Very adorable and fluffy.” Raven cooed as she and Noir continued to watch the two boys be all cute with each other, causing Styx to blush even more from sheer embarrassment.

“Thanks. So…I take it you found the ring and stole it. Since you’re back here and all that.” Nix replied with a smile before they all began to eat and drink the food and ale spread out across the table.

“Yeah. We did. And it wasn’t as easy as we thought it would be. At least it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be.” Noir said between bites of food, adding the last part in response to a soft glare coming at her from Raven.

“Nice. At least you found it. That’s more than anyone else who’s gone looking has found.” Nix said before taking another sip of ale and another bite of food. “So…I was wondering…Would you mind if I joined you on your journey back and possibly asked your alpha about joining your pack? It’s not like I have anything better to do and it would be nice to go somewhere new. Especially if it means getting to hang around Styx more often.”

“Not at all. I’m sure Styx would love it if you joined the pack. Besides I was just about to ask you to join us on our journey back. Or at least get Styx to ask you himself.” Raven answered with a smile, gently nudging one of Styx’s feet under the table to get him on the same page as her.

“Was he now? He didn’t mention anything about it at the bar.” Nix said with a smirk as he turned to look at Styx.

“I might’ve been about to ask you to join us, but got distracted by your smile.” Styx mumbled in response between bites of food, the blush once again returning to his cheeks just as it had finally started to fade away.

Nix gave Styx a reassuring smile and the four continued to eat and drink, easily slipping back into a comfortable silence in the process.

As they ate in silence Nix leaned over and place a gentle kiss to Styx’s forehead with a smirk, causing the blush on the necromancer’s cheeks to deepen considerably and spread across his face. Meanwhile Noir and Raven smiled at how cute they were acting and chose to counter the cuteness of the two boys with their own in the form of their intertwined fingers resting upon the table between plates of food and mugs of ale.

Hours passed of the four acting cute and whatnot while eating and drinking before they all began to grow tired and made the decision to climb the stairs to their two rented rooms. Once they climbed the stairs and reached the landing they said their goodnights and went their separate ways- Noir and Raven taking the room closest to the staircase and Styx and Nix taking the other room they had rented.

The next day the four met down in the common room of the tavern, gathered some supplies from the bar keep, and once again got back on the road to travel back to the travel center of Hell.

They chose to walk for the next three days straight before stopping in the next town and staying the night in yet another local tavern. Then they got back on the road the following day and walked for another three days straight.

By the end of the last three days they were tired and sore and exhausted and ready to collapse, but they finally reached the main path leading back to the travel center of Hell. However, by the time they did reach the path it was becoming night and they needed to set up camp before the nocturnal creatures came out to hunt and go on the prowl.

They found a small clearing to the side of the path after looking for half an hour and set up their camp there for the night, keeping the fire a good couple feet away from the sleeping area. They then ate dinner, told stories about anything and everything, and headed to bed, taking turns to keep watch in pairs throughout the night.

The four spent the better part of the next day traveling the main path and eventually made it back to the travel center of Hell and the various tunnels that comprised it. And from there it was but a short walk to the tunnel where the rest of the pack had been waiting for the little over a week it had taken them to finally return.

“Well, look who finally made it back to the tunnel. Did you actually find what we came here for?” Flora asked, whispering the last bit, as the rest of the pack got up to welcome the four back and hug them from the excitement at their return.

“Yeah. We did indeed find it. We also stole it.” Raven answered with a smile as she hugged Flora back before moving on to hug the rest of the pack.

“Then why don’t you show us the… you know… the ring. Show us the ring.” Zachariah whispered loud enough for only the pack to hear him clearly.

“Styx has it.” Raven explained, pointing to the awkward looking necromancer who was standing at the edge of the pack. As soon as she said this everyone first stared at Styx for a few seconds before converging on him and forming a disorganized semi-circle around him.

Styx became flustered and even more awkward when everyone gathered around him, causing him to blush for the fourth or fifth time in the last week. He stood there awkwardly for a minute or two longer before cautiously pulling the one ring out from his pocket and revealing it to everyone from the safety of his palm. Once he did this he watched as everyone examined and looked at and stared at and gawked at the beautiful, and powerful, ring.

The pack stood there and stared at the ring for some time before a group of hunters passed by them, prompting Noir to nudge Styx’s side to get him to hide the ring back in his pocket.

Styx poked Noir back and stuffed the ring back into his pocket before acting like nothing was out of the ordinary, despite the most powerful ring practically burning a hole in his pocket.

Once the hunters had passed them the pack broke apart and returned to relaxing, planning to leave Hell as early as they possibly could the next day.

Dawn came and went and by then the pack were all awake and getting ready to leave Hell for the time being.

“Are you sure I can stay with you, Styx? Because if not I can always stay with Noir and Raven or my older brother and his fiancé.” Nix whispered into Styx’s ear as they finished packing their bags and getting ready to travel back home.

“Yeah. Of course I’m sure. I have plenty of room. Besides I want you to stay with me.” Styx answered with a smile, despite being completely flustered, as he picked up his bag and turned to face the warlock.

“Good Because I look forward to spending all the time in the world with you.” Nix replied with a wink before pecking Styx on the lips with a smirk, causing the necromancer to blush deeply.

A few feet away Noir packed her bag alongside Kyle and Ivory, the three of them chatting about the ring.

“There’s going to be a pack meeting to discuss the situation with the ring when we get back. So, I’m counting on the two of you to make sure that everyone comes to the meeting with suggestions.” Kyle explained, briefly glancing over at Noir and Ivory during a short second long break from shoving everything into his bag haphazardly.

“We got it covered, Kyle. Don’t worry.” Ivory replied with a smile and a pat to the pack alpha’s back while Noir nodded along in agreement.

The three continued to pack for a few minutes before heading picking up their bags and heading over to where Raven, Teal, and Josh were busy packing their own bags.

“Okay. Now move that a little to the side and you should have a bit more room in your bag.” Josh explained to Raven, helping her with some of her last minute packing.

“Ah. That makes so much more sense. Thanks, Josh.” Raven replied with a smile as she observed the pack mother with utmost attention.

Josh smiled back before returning to packing his own bag.

When the three finally noticed that Noir, Kyle and Ivory had joined them they smiled and accepted the help the others offered them.

Meanwhile Mags and Flora were finishing packing their own bags plus those of Zachariah and Artemis, who were both too lazy to pack their own. As the girls packed the boys goofed off and joked with each other.

“Everyone ready to go?” Josh asked after a while upon noticing that everyone was packed and ready to head home for a good night’s rest.

“I think we are, darlin’.” Kyle answered for the pack as he leaned down and pecked his mate on the cheek with a smile.

“Let’s get going then.” Josh said, trying to hide the blush spreading across his cheeks, but doing a miserable job of it as he led the pack over to the tunnel they needed to take to get back home. “Who wants to go first this time?”

“I feel confident enough to lead this time around. Besides it shouldn’t be too hard to follow the tunnel.” Kyle replied as he stepped forward. He then disappeared down the tunnel before Josh or anyone else from the pack could protest.

The pack watched in stunned silence as their alpha went down the tunnel, disappearing into the pitch darkness of the opening. They stood there for a few seconds longer before finally snapping out of their stunned silence and following after him- Josh going first and Noir going last.

As soon as the pack joined him Kyle headed off down the tunnel, everyone falling in line behind him with Noir and Raven taking up the rear to make sure no one fell behind.

The pack continued along the tunnel for some time before they finally reached the end and climbed up the other side, glad to finally be back. From there they began the ‘short’ trek back to the pack cabin, now moving along at a faster pace and in pairs of two or four.

It took them the rest of the day, but eventually they reached the cabin. They were tired and exhausted and sweaty and dirty and hungry and thirsty, but they were also excited and glad to be back and oh so ecstatic to be out of Hell.

They walked up the front steps, entered the cabin, and dropped their bags in a disorganized heap before gathering around Kyle, who had moved to stand at the base of the staircase to address the entire pack.

“As soon as you all wake up tomorrow there is going to be a pack meeting. You all need to bring suggestions with you. Noir and Ivory will make sure you have one before coming to the meeting. They are also going to be making sure that you all actually show up to the meeting.” Kyle said, projecting his voice loud enough for the entire pack to hear him clearly.

The pack voiced their understanding tiredly before wandering off. A little over half of them- Flora, Mags, Zachariah, Artemis, Ivory, Teal, and Josh- went off to get rest in their own rooms for the first time in what seemed like years. The rest- Kyle, Styx, Nix, Noir, and Raven- headed to Kyle’s office to put the one ring in a safe place until it was time to get rid of it.

Soon enough they were gathered around a glass case within his office and the door was closed behind them.

“As soon as we decided to go on the quest for the ring I had one of my friends build a case for it and leave it in my office. In case we actually found the ring and were able to steal it and bring it back successfully.” Kyle explained as he locked the door and turned to face everyone again, this time standing across the case from them.

“At least you believed we could find it.” Noir mumbled, but when she finally got a good look at the case for the ring her eyes widened and she stared at it in stunned silence. “Holy shit! It’s perfect.”

“Language, Noir.” Raven chastised, gently swatting her girlfriend’s arm.

“Right. Sorry. Oh wow! It’s absolutely perfect.” Noir replied, adjusting her language at her girlfriend’s request.

“What do you think, Styx? Will this work for the now?” Kyle asked, turning to look at the necromancer and gage his reaction to the case specifically built to hold the power of the one ring.

“I think it’ll work just fine for holding the ring until I can take it to be destroyed.” Styx answered in a mumble with a small smile, shuffling his feet against the floor a little out nervousness.

“Okay. Then it’s settled. Ready to put the ring in and place a few protection spells on it?” Kyle said, looking at Styx, Raven, Noir, and Nix.

The four nodded in agreement and Styx stepped forward to stand directly in front of the case and across from Kyle. He waited for Kyle to open the top of the case before removing the one ring from his pocket and gingerly placing it inside the case. He then stepped back and Kyle replaced the top of the case.

Styx stepped forward again a few seconds later, accompanied by Noir and Nix this time, and the three used their magic to place multiple protection spells upon the case to keep the ring as safe as possible. As they did this their magic combined in sweet harmony to create something beautiful. Meanwhile Kyle and Raven watched in awe from the side, impressed by the magic happening right in front of them.

It took them nearly half an hour, but eventually they finished placing the protection spells on the case and stepped back to take a look at their handiwork, which they deemed perfectly adequate and good enough to get the job done. They stood there with Kyle and Raven and stared at the case for a while longer before leaving the pack alpha’s office and heading up stairs in the direction of the bedrooms.

“Night. See you all in the morning.” Kyle said before heading off to join Josh in bed for the night.

“Night.” The four called after him before heading off to bed themselves to get a good night’s rest for the long few days still ahead of them.

The following morning Josh and Kyle woke up early to get everything ready for the pack meeting. Josh made breakfast, enough to feed the entire pack plus some, while Kyle cleared a space in the living room, moving furniture around and grabbing a chair or two from the dining room to make sure everyone had somewhere to sit. And when they were done they curled up on the couch together while they waited for the rest of the pack to wake up so the meeting could begin.

“Do you know what you want to do with ring already?” Josh asked from his position on Kyle’s lap, his head laying comfortably against the alpha’s chest and one of his hands absentmindedly playing with the hem of the shirt his mate was currently wearing.

“Yeah, I do.” Kyle answered, rubbing gently at Josh’s back. He then leaned down and kissed the crown of his mate’s head with a smile.

“So, what do you plan to do with it? At least what do you, Noir, and Styx plan to do with it?” Josh moved his hand from the hem of Kyle’s shirt and up his chest to rest directly above his heart.

“I’m going to give it to Styx to be destroyed. It’s the right thing to do. Besides it’s way too much power for anyone of us to handle on our own, let alone as a whole group.” Kyle explained as he continued rubbing Josh’s back, his head resting atop his mate’s.

Josh nodded in agreement and cuddled against Kyle’s chest even more as they continued to wait for the rest of the pack to join them.

The two werewolves ended up waiting for another two hours, cuddled up on the couch, before the rest of the pack slowly began to trickle in in search of breakfast, starting with Flora and Zachariah and ending with Styx and Nix. As they began to trickle in Josh put out plates and bowls of food on the dining room table, along with paper plates and utensils, for everyone to share.

They all piled plates high with food and ate where ever they could before gathering in the living room- once everyone was done of course- and creating a semi-circle around where Kyle and Josh were already seated. Once everyone was seated they looked to their alpha and his mate in anticipation of the meeting for the discussion of what to do with the one ring of Hell.

“Welcome to the pack meeting everyone. We’re gathered here to discuss what action to take with the one ring that we successfully retrieved from Hell. You can all voice an opinion or a suggestion and we’ll listen to it, but ultimately it’s for myself, Styx, and Noir to decide what to do with it.” Kyle explained, standing up to better address the gathered pack.

They all voiced their agreement and understanding quite loudly for a couple minutes before quieting down as Kyle sat back down and Josh stood up to address them.

“Who would like to start us off?” Josh asked, looking around the pack in expectation and anticipation of what suggestions or opinions the pack members might have.

An awkward silence filled the room as soon as Josh said this since no one wanted to speak first, either from still being half asleep or from generally feeling awkward about voicing their opinions. The silence continued until Zachariah finally stood up and broke it with his suggestion.

“I still suggest that we use the power of the ring for our own gain. Think about it… we have all this power, why not use it to our advantage. Why not use it to take care of any problems that arise. Why not use the power for the better good and benefit, not only ourselves, but everyone else as well.” Zachariah explained, looking from Josh to Styx to Kyle, who all had to admit the ex-arch angel made a very compelling argument despite how absolutely stupid and dangerous and insane the suggestion sounded.

Kyle and Josh nodded in understanding and Styx shook his head in disapproval. Zachariah smiled at the understanding nods of Kyle and Josh and completely ignored Styx shaking his head, already knowing that the necromancer disapproved of his suggestion for the use of the ring.

“Who wants to go next?” Josh asked after a few seconds of pure tension while Zachariah and Styx glared at each other. He once again looked around the pack in expectation, hoping that someone would interject and end the glaring contest between the ex-arch angel and the necromancer.

Mags waited for a moment longer before making the decision to speak up once she was certain that no one else was going to.

“We should encase the ring in earth magic and bury it as deep in a mountain as possible with some extra protection and cloaking magic hiding it. We need to make sure that no one can find it and use its power, be it for good or bad. It’s just way too much power for anyone to handle. And hiding it away seems as good a suggestion as any.” Mags said with a small smile. Luckily for everyone, when she spoke up Zachariah and Styx stopped glaring so they could listen to her suggestion.

Flora, Artemis, and Raven nodded in agreement with the nymph, which made Kyle, Noir, and Styx actually take her suggestion into serious consideration, even though they already knew what they were going to do with the ring.

“Any more suggestions on what we should do with ring? Anyone? Anyone at all?” Josh asked, his gaze traveling around the semi-circle around them in search of someone to talk next.

Everyone looked around at each other then, all of them wondering what others were likely to suggestion, but not brave enough to speak their own suggestions aloud. This went on for a couple minutes longer before Styx finally decided to speak up and voice his suggestion.

“We need to destroy it. I’ll take the ring to the necromancer meeting hall and it’ll be destroyed there by a group of necromancers. It’s the best option and by far the safest one. That ring needs to be destroyed for the greater good. It shouldn’t be hidden away in a mountain under protection spells or used for anyone’s benefit, good or bad.” Styx suggested, partially prompted by Nix giving his hand a reassuring squeeze when he briefly hesitated before speaking.

This generated many reactions. Zachariah shook his head in disagreement. Flora, Artemis, Raven, and Mags shrugged, willing to go with whatever the three decided. And Noir, Teal, Ivory, and Josh all nodded in agreement, knowing full well that destroying the ring was their best option, as Styx had explained.

“Okay. We’ve heard those of you who were brave enough to voice your suggestions and are keeping them all in mind. Now, I need Noir and Styx to come with me, so we can discuss our options and make a decision. In private.” Kyle said, standing up and motioning for Noir and Styx to join him. They stood up and followed him back to his office to have their private discussion.

“So, are we all still in agreement that the best option is to destroy the one ring?” Kyle asked once the door was closed behind them. He looked from Noir to Styx and back again as he waited for their response to the question.

Noir and Styx nodded.

“Good. Let’s go back out there and tell them what we’ve decided.” Kyle said before opening the door and heading back out into the living room, Noir and Styx following silently along behind him.

Once they were back Noir and Styx returned to their seats in the semi-circle while Kyle stood before the pack to address them, Josh joining him as soon as he was ready to speak.

“We’ve decided to destroy the ring. Styx, Noir, and Nix will take the ring to the necromancer meeting hall and there it will be destroyed for good. We feel it’s the best option, the only option really, and that it makes the most sense. Everyone okay with what we’ve decided?” Kyle said, looking out over the pack sitting before him and his mate with a smile.

The pack voiced their approval of the plan, some- Zachariah- quite reluctantly, and watched Kyle lead Noir, Styx, and Nix back to his office again to retrieve the case the ring was being held in. They watched until the four disappeared into the office before standing up and moving to gather around the front door to say goodbye to Noir, Styx, and Nix, at least for the time being.

They stood there and waited. They waited until the four finally came out of Kyle’s office a couple minutes later, with Styx carrying the ring in his bag, and made their way over to the door.

“Good luck, guys. Come back soon and come back safe. And make sure the ring’s power doesn’t corrupt anyone else along the way or suddenly go missing again or get stolen.” Josh said, hugging the three before they left on their next journey.

The three smiled and hugged Josh- and almost everyone else- before walking out the door and heading off on their journey to the meeting hall of the necromancers.

The pack watched the three leave, waving goodbye from the doorway, until they disappeared from sight. They then closed the door and began the long wait for the three’s return from destroying the ring.

It took them a few days, but eventually Noir, Styx, and Nix made it to the necromancer meeting hall, where they were immediately greeted by two identical lines of necromancy apprentices in scarlet robes standing on either side of the walk leading up to the double door entrance.

“Welcome to the necromancer meeting hall. We have been awaiting your arrival.” The apprentices said in perfect unison, smiling the creepiest smile as they used their hands to point the way to the entrance of the hall.

The three stood there and stared, a little freaked out by the apprentices and a little in awe of how magnificent the meeting hall before them looked. They continued to stare until an experienced necromancer, dressed in charcoal grey robes and no shoes, walked out of the front doors and began to approach them.

As the necromancer approached Styx stared at him in slight shock while Noir and Nix stared in utter confusion, both without a clue as to what was going on. They continued to stare even as he reached them and stopped directly one foot in front of them.

“Long time no see, Styx. I was wondering when you would finally return and grace us with your presence.” The necromancer greeted them with a friendly smile, reaching out to embrace Styx in a back breaking hug.

“Yeah. It’s nice to see you too, Onix. I’m a little surprised that you’re still here yourself. I would have thought you’d’ve moved on by now.” Styx replied with a smirk, returning the embrace.

“I would have, but then I heard from the grape vine that you found the one ring and stole it. You do have the ring with you, right?” Onix asked, letting go of Styx and quickly glancing at Noir and Nix with interest before returning his attention to the other necromancer.

“Yeah. We do have it with us.” Styx answered with a nod as he motioned to the slight bulge in his bag.

“Good. Let’s head inside and place it on the alter to finally be destroyed after so many years of existence.” Onix said.

Styx nodded in agreement and the three followed Onix up the middle of the apprentices and into the meeting hall. They followed him down the long front corridor to the main gathering room and down the center aisle up to the obsidian ether stone alter sitting in the middle of the small platform at the front of the room. They followed him until he stopped directly to the side of the alter, leaving them to stop and stand directly in front of it.

Onix motioned for Styx to step forward. He- along with Noir and Nix- watched him step forward, carefully pull the case out of his bag, and place it upon the alter before stepping back. He waited until Styx was back to standing between Noir and Nix before disappearing to gather the other experienced necromancers for the ceremonial final destruction of the one ring.

The three watched Onix disappear before Noir and Nix turned to look at Styx with questioning gazes and raised eyebrows.

“What?” Styx asked, genuinely confused as to why the two were staring at him the way they were.

“What’s going on? Where did the other necromancer go? What the hell’s even happening?” Noir asked rapidly, leaving absolutely no room between questions for Styx to get a single answer in until she was done talking.

“Slow down. First of all, Onix went to gather the rest of the experienced necromancers to help destroy the ring. Second of all, we necromancers like to turn situations like this into ceremonies to make it feel more official and important and all that crap.” Styx explained in a near whisper as a side door creaked open and Onix re-entered with a trail of at least 10 other experienced necromancers following in a line of charcoal robes behind him.

The three shut up and stayed quiet as they watched the group of 11 necromancers approach the alter and stand around it in a semi-circle. They stood there and stared at the necromancers with interest while questions and many other things raced through their minds as they waited patiently for one of the necromancers to speak.

“Welcome to the meeting hall of necromancers. My name is Ziobrix and we thank you for bringing us the one ring of Hell. We also thank you for coming to us to destroy it. I understand that you three have placed a few protection spells on the case containing the ring. Please remove those spells at this time.” The necromancer standing directly across the alter from them said in a very formal tone, his hands clasped in a very prayer like manner in front of his chest the entire time.

The three nodded in understanding and stepped forward as one, getting as close to the alter as they could. They then used their magic in harmony and lifted all of the protection spells away from the case before stepping back and waiting for further instruction.

“Now, Styx, you need to step forward again, remove the ring from the case, and place it in the middle of the alter.” Ziobrix said, opening his hands and motioning for Styx to come forward.

Nix reached over and gave Styx’s hand a quick reassuring squeeze before letting go and giving him a gentle push forward.

Styx hesitantly continued forward after the push until he suddenly stopped a little less than a foot away from the alter. Once there he reached out and removed the ring from the case before removing the case from the alter and gingerly placing the ring down in the middle of it with a small smile. He was about to move back and stand between Noir and Nix once again when Ziobrix stopped him in his tracks with a simple leg locking spell.

“Stay, Styx. You are needed for the next part of the process. And once that is over you may step back.” Ziobrix explained before falling silent.

Styx stayed and waited. He waited for Ziobrix to speak again, which did not seem very likely, and as he waited he took a few deep, even breaths to keep calm, which somehow helped at least a little bit.

However, instead of speaking again Ziobrix motioned for the rest of the necromancers to step forward and join Styx, thus surrounding the alter and keeping the other two on the outside. Once the circle was complete they linked hands and got to work on building up their magic. Building it up enough in preparation to finally destroy the one ring of Hell.

On the side lines stood Noir and Nix, watching the group of necromancers in awe. Watching as their magic surrounded the alter. Watching as the combined magic of the powerful necromancers began as a pale purple glow and got darker and darker and darker until it became a dark, light consuming black. Watching as the dark magic obscured the entire alter and the ring on it and began to create a weird fog that spilled down to surround the feet of the circle of necromancers.

Suddenly there were little lightning like sparks coming from the alter and then those lightning like sparks became a light that filled the space where the darkness had once resided. The light filled the room with a beautiful, ethereal glow of light purples, blues, and pinks. It also created strange shadows on the hooded faces of the experienced necromancers while creating an even weirder shadow outline of Styx’s skull on the young necromancer’s face. And then the light disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving everyone, including all of the necromancers, standing there, dazed and shocked by the small burnt crater that was roughly ring shaped and resting perfectly in the middle of the alter where the ring had been sitting nearly half an hour ago.

Once the dazedness and the shock faded away Ziobrix smiled, a creepy but somehow not so creepy smile, as he took a step closer to the alter and motioned for Styx to join him. Styx cautiously stepped forward and joined him up close and personal with the now permanently scarred alter.

They stared down at the mark for a few seconds longer before beginning to search for the ring in case they hadn’t been able to destroy it. They searched all over the alter and even a little on the floor. They searched and searched and searched until they were absolutely certain that the ring was destroyed and no longer able to corrupt anyone. They smiled at each other, smiles of devious happiness, and turned around to face the others, their backs facing each other.

“It’s official. The one ring of Hell is now destroyed. It can no longer corrupt anyone or anything.” Ziobrix said, addressing the ring of experienced necromancers along with Noir and Nix. Styx smiled and nodded in general agreement, providing confirmation that the ring was truly destroyed. The gathered necromancers smiled in response and followed Ziobrix out of the meeting room, leaving the pack members alone and still standing in front of the now empty alter.

“So, It’s really gone? Like gone gone. It’s finally destroyed? Are you absolutely sure?” Noir asked, showing more excitement now that the ring was destroyed and no longer an issue.

“Yeah. It is. It’s gone. And yes I’m quite sure.” Styx replied with a wide smile as he came over to stand next to Nix, feeling like a tiny mouse next to him.

Noir returned his wide smile and hugged Styx and Nix in a bear hug, more than excited that the ring was finally destroyed after all their hard work to steal it and bring it back with them.

The three stood there, hugging, for some time before leaving the necromancer meeting hall and heading back to the pack cabin to let the rest of the pack know the good news.

1 month later…

Noir and Raven

“Ready to go, Raven?” Noir called from outside the caravan, her bag on the ground by her side as she waited for her girlfriend.

“I’m coming. I’m coming. Don’t worry.” Raven called back before she rushed out the door, carrying her bag, and locked the door to the caravan behind her.

“Now, are you ready to go to Hell for a nice relaxing and much needed vacation?” Noir asked with a smile at how adorable Raven looked when she was all frazzled and flustered and rushed for time.

“Heck yes, I am. Let’s go and enjoy ourselves this time around.” Raven replied, returning the smile as she joined the mage. Noir took her hand when she did and the two headed off down a path, glad that everything was over and done with and they could finally enjoy a nice, well deserved vacation trip to some of the better parts of Hell.

Styx and Nix

Styx rolled over in bed and immediately cuddled back up against Nix’s chest, his arms wrapping around his waist and his head burying in the warlock’s chest. As soon as he did this he felt Nix’s arms wrap around him in response and tighten a little in protection.

“Still glad I came to live with you and join the pack?” Nix asked in a whisper, placing a gentle kiss upon Styx’s forehead with a small smile.

“Of course I am. Why are you asking this after living with me for an entire month?” Styx said, a little flustered despite being half asleep and comfortably curled up with the warlock.

“Just checking. I just wanted to make sure that I’m still a welcome sight in your apartment after all this time.” Nix replied.

“Dork.” Styx mumbled, burying his burning face further against Nix’s bare chest to hide his embarrassment.

“What was that? Did you seriously just call me a dork?” Nix whispered directly into Styx’s ear before loosening his hold on the necromancer and beginning to tickle him mercilessly with a smile, causing Styx to blush even more and begin to giggle a little.

They rolled all over the bed for a while, Nix tickling Styx all over while Styx giggled and blushed and begged for him to stop, before returning to their morning cuddles with excited smiles at getting to spend more and more time together like this now that everything was finally over and returning back to some form of normality.

Kyle and Josh

The two wolves ran through the dense forest, racing each other, until they reached a remote clearing in the middle of the section they were in, where the older wolf tackled the younger one to the ground almost immediately. They rolled around the grassy ground for some time before curling up in the middle of the clearing together and nuzzling each other’s side.

They ended up spending the better part of three hours in the clearing before getting up and racing each other back through the forest. They raced until they reached the purple apple tree at a fork in one of the paths. After that they went their separate ways to change back. And one they did they met back up by the apple tree and shared a deep, passionate kiss.

“That was a good, well-deserved run, wasn’t it?” Josh asked when they finally broke their kiss to catch their breath after running so hard and then kissing so passionately.

“Yeah, especially after not getting to go on one since before the quest more than a month ago.” Kyle answered with a smile, his arms still wrapped around his mate from their kiss.

Josh blushed and returned Kyle’s smile, leaning in closer to his mate in a failed attempt to hide his embarrassment before Kyle could see it.

Kyle chuckled at how adorable Josh was acting and placed a soft kiss to his mate’s forehead before unwrapping on of his arms and leading Josh back home to their cabin in the middle of the forest for a little ‘alone time’.

Teal and Ivory

Ivory sat there and worked on an article about tourism in Hell while he watched Teal sleep under the covers next to him on the bed. They had returned home a few days ago and the young hybrid was already dead tired for the second time since they had returned. Tired enough that he barely made it through the front door of the elder’s apartment before passing out on the thankfully softly carpeted ground. And the only reason he actually ended up in a bed was because Ivory was there and able to carry him to bed safe and sound.

He continued working until he felt a gentle tug on the hem of the shirt he was wearing. He looked down and smiled at the dead asleep hybrid clutching the hem of his shirt tightly in both hands. He waited until the younger tugged a second and then a third time before setting aside his laptop, curling up under the covers with Teal, and going to sleep for the night.

Teal cuddled closer to him once Ivory joined him and soon enough Ivory was also dead asleep and they both had smiles on their faces, glad that they wouldn’t have to return to Hell again any time soon and could spend more time together, just relaxing like they normally did.

Mags and Artemis

Mags dipped her bare, dirt covered feet into the cooling water of the lake and swirled them around, creating patterns and ripples as she did so. She was making little waves when Artemis swam over and splashed her with his tail, soaking her in freezing cold lake water. She responded almost immediately with a splash of her own, albeit a weak one since she had used her feet without the aid of her magic or hands to make it a fair fight.

“Is that the best you’ve got? Because I’m pretty sure you can do better than that, Mags. Way better than that.” Artemis said with smirk, practically asking for the wood nymph to up her game and truly get him soaked.

Mags returned his smirk and used her earth magic to help her create a giant wave that nearly swept the merman away in the process.

“That’s more like it. See, I knew you were holding back on me. Don’t you ever hold back on me because I can take it. I can take the pain.” Artemis called in surprising excitement as he pushed against the tide to make his way back before resting his forearms up on the dock next to Mags.

Mags laughed and Artemis soon joined her. They laughed and laughed and laughed until they couldn’t laugh anymore. Then they relaxed on the dock and smiled at each other, glad that they could joke around once again.

Zachariah and Flora

The two flew high above the forest, enjoying the sun warming their faces and the gentle breeze their wings created as they flew along next to each other. They continued to fly through the clear sky, occasionally passing a bird or dragon or shape shifter or fairy or whatever, until they reached the section of forest used by any, and all, banished or abandoned fae.

They carefully landed on the ground and entered through a doorway made by vine covered saplings, their wings folded flat against their backs and fingers intertwined. They walked through trees imbedded with magic produced from fairy dust and passed fairies, pixies, nymphs, and many others relaxing about. They walked through a market and a small town or two before finally reaching Flora’s treehouse.

They flew the short distance from the ground to the deck and entered the house. They quickly passed through the living room, the kitchen, and Flora’s study and entered the bedroom. And then they collapsed on the bed, both falling fast asleep on impact and staying deep asleep for the next couple of days, finally catching up on the many hours of lost sleep they had experienced during the quest and then by staying at the pack cabin for the last month.