Tom paced back and forth in front of Jordan's still form. It had been over a week since Jordan had fallen into his coma and no progress was being made towards getting him out of it. Everyone in the realm seemed to be in one of three states – grief, anger or indifference. Those in the grief stage, such as Sonja spent most of their time crying or being generally pessimistic about life, not contributing to the plans at all except to remind everyone how hopeless the situation was. The anger stage, which Tucker seemed to be the king of, was like ticking time bombs waiting to go off. Nobody knew what the trigger would be, so having a discussion or a disagreement with these people was like walking on eggshells. Mianite and Dianite seemed to be in the indifferent state – not seeming to care at all about the situation or the highly strung emotions of those around them, merely wanting to get on with things.

"Why aren't we doing anything? All we do day after day is sit here and suggest ideas but we never act upon any of them. The conversations always end with someone crying or storming out or putting a sword to someone else's neck!"

Tom's frustrated question was met with silence, a heavy quiet that was filled with guilt as they all stared at Jordan's prone form. Their inaction meant that precious seconds were slipping out of their grasps, seconds that could mean the difference between life and death for their dear friend. Nothing made any sense, all the puzzle pieces that they had refused to fit together to form the bigger picture. All the answers seemed to lay in Jordan's mind, which had fallen silent – the gods were unable to see into his mind anymore, the wall that Martha and Mianite had taken down had been replaced with a larger and thicker one.

"Now is not the time for action Tom. How can we fight something that we don't even know exists? We don't know what it is, what it's capable of or what the consequences of defeating it could be. Now if you want to rush out there and start stabbing thin air that's fine by me but you will not put Ianita's life at risk with your rash actions."

Tom's head snapped around to glare at Martha, her normally calm tone filled with irritation – taking out her anger and frustration at the nearest target in the room. Tom's gaze was filled with blazing fire, an anger that the old Dianite would have been proud of. However, all the fury in the world could not match the anger of a mother whose child was at risk. Those flames roared hotter than the deepest magma from the largest volcano in the entire realm. Tom bowed his head in apology, backing off and trying to reign in his frustration – fighting amongst themselves wasn't going to help Jordan.

"Where is Ianita anyways? We couldn't pry her away from Jordan for the first day or so and now she doesn't seem to want to go near him."

Wag's voice spoke up, breaking the tension and making a valid point. This was the little girl they had all agreed to keep sheltered from their war plans, yet they had no idea whether she was leaning against the door and overhearing every word they said. Tom ran his hands through his hair as he watched Martha vanish upstairs in search of her daughter, expecting to hear the tantrum of a toddler but hearing nothing. When Martha walked back in alone, confusion filled the air – where was she?

"She's gone! Someone must've taken her in the night! How did they get past the defences? Wag you promised me they were unbreakable!"

Wag moved to comfort Martha, shock the primary emotion in his eyes along with guilt. It wasn't necessary, as two figures standing in the hallway made quite clear.

"I'm right here Martha. I'm okay."

Martha snapped straight from terrified to relieved so quickly Tom was scared he would get whiplash from all the hormones flying through the air. Martha pulled Ianita into her side, hugging the little girl tighter than seemed humanly possible – not wanting to let go in fear of the child disappearing on her. Caitlin stood to the side, bewildered by the emotional reunion of a child who had been missing all of three minutes.

"Where were you? How long did you go for? Why did you bring her with you?"

"I went to go get Caitlin, who was camped out in the wastelands. I left last night and got back mere moments ago. I brought her with me because she was the person who forewarned us about Ianite's demise and clearly knows more about this situation than all of us combined."

Tucker moved swiftly, pulling his sword out and slamming Caitlin up against a wall. His face was a twisted mask of fury and rage, the fires burning in his eyes screaming for blood to be spilt. The sword dug into Caitlin's neck, beginning to cut into her skin but she seemed entirely unaffected by Tucker's threat upon her life. Tucker growled, digging the blade in further and watching in satisfaction as blood began to trickle down Caitlin's neck.

"Tell us what you know. All of it. From the beginning or I swear to Mianite I will smash every bone in your worthless little body."

The room was deathly silent. Nobody dared to speak in fear of causing Tucker to plunge the sword into Caitlin's neck. Caitlin stared at Tucker, a piercing gaze of knowledgeable blue and soulless black that would strike fear down any sensible man's spine. Mianite watched from the side, curious of how this little confrontation would turn out. As a god, he did want his champion to win but it was always helpful to know how strong your potential allies were.

"I'd tell him dark one. My champion is not one to be messed with and it would be such a waste to see your form crumple to the ground, lifeless and butchered."

Tom was growing annoyed with the girl's silence, time being wasted in a dramatic standoff instead of being used to help his friend. He strode over to where Tucker held Caitlin and swung his fist in a powerful arc, his knuckles colliding just above her jawline – causing a sickening crack to echo around the room and Caitlin's head to snap backwards, her form buckling beneath her. She made no effort to fight back; no sarcastic comments or quips escaped her mouth. She was silent, just staring at those around her with a knowing look.

"WHY WON'T YOU TALK?"

Tucker shouted at Caitlin in desperation, trying to gain some sort of response from the girl – something, anything that could give them the clues they so desperately needed.

"If you all would kindly stop beating up our main source of information, maybe she would be able to shed some light on the events that have happened recently."

Ianita's voice pierced the furious silence, her voice calm and in control despite the drastic actions Tucker and Tom were going to. Sonja stepped quietly over to Caitlin, handing her a golden apple and helping her up – staring angrily at her boyfriend, in contempt over his actions. Caitlin wiped the blood from her mouth, using a spare tissue to gently dab at the cut on her neck as it began to heal shut. Once her wounds were sorted, she stood and began to speak – occasionally looking at Ianita for both reassurance and permission.

"The creature plaguing this world is called The Shadows. He has challenged you heroes before, possessing the form of Mianite in the old realm and using his followers like puppets in his twisted regime. The Shadows has manifested in many forms over the years, including my jailor when I was younger. That version of The Shadows tested his abilities on me, trying to see if he could create another just like him. He failed. My morals were stronger than his darkness but I am left with a constant reminder of his capabilities.

In the old world, you fought him. Ianite delivered a prophecy that brought together eight heroes to defeat The Shadows. Over the course of a month, the eight worked together to prep for war – finding and resolving differences between one another. During that month, the hero of the prophecy – Jordan, realised just what the prophecy had been asking him. Jordan was commanded to send his best warrior to fight The Shadows, I was asked to go fight. I lost, I almost died. Then Jordan fought The Shadows and he won, but at a cost. Tucker and Sonja, as Mianite followers The Shadows could control you – forcing me to fight Tucker in order to survive.

Jordan killed himself to defeat The Shadows. He either had to kill Tucker or me, both embodiments of The Shadows potential but he decided to sacrifice himself instead. Doing that scattered The Shadows across all the realms, into millions of tiny pieces that could never possibly reform and trouble anyone ever again. Except these pieces latched onto the heroes falling through the void, using their life energies to slowly piece themselves back together again – gaining an influence over one of them yet they don't even know it.

Jordan made a decision. Sonja, Tucker, Tom and Jordan are not of this realm. Nor are they of their previous realm. They come from a different world entirely. A realm of different shapes and technologies. In order to keep you all alive, Jordan either had to allow you to keep your memories of the realm and the battle with The Shadows – sending you back to your homeland without him. Or, you all had to remain in The Realm with your memories wiped, as if you had lived here all your life. It's obvious what decision he made.

In the old world, you merely won a battle. You did not win the war against The Shadows. That war began the day Lady Ianite died, that was the first shot. Now your most powerful player lies on a bed, trapped within his own mind. You are losing the war.

I knew Ianite was going to die because she told me so. She saw The Shadows coming long before any of you knew of their existence. She has seen countless timelines, all of which end in destruction and our demises. According to her predictions, we have one more chance. It's time to forge our own futures."

A/N

First of all, apologies for the month between chapters. School + Illness + Stress = No writing time.

This chapter does raise more questions than it answers, I'm well aware of that.

It's probably the most cryptic chapter in this book.

The most interesting thing in this chapter, I think is why Caitlin doesn't fight back. We've seen clearly that she is more than capable at wiping the floor with Tucker and Tom but she doesn't.

There is a reason for this.

It's also hinted at in the chapter title :P

Ianita and Caitlin also didn't mention their blood pact to the others... curious.

I wonder why...

Of course I know why, I'm the author!

Anyways, thank you all for all the kind comments in my absence, remember to vote, comment and share this with your friends!

Much love <3

Caitlin :)