Page 32 of Blood and Reign

Moving forward, I notice the ground beneath us is much rockier than the Shadow realm, the heat more stifling even without the sun.

I glance over at the huge pits of fire and smoke, feeling the heat even from here.

“Aren’t those a little cliché?” Jax asks, nodding at the pits.

“If you can find another way to burn impurities while also tormenting the unforgivable, please do tell us and I’ll pass it on to management.” Soren gives him a mocking smirk before moving around the inflamed pits, unbothered by the scorching blaze.

We follow him, steering well clear of the pits and their hellish heat.

“What’s the difference between the souls in the Shadow realm and the Realm of the Damned?”

Soren's eyes flicker to me before he answers. “The Shadow realm contains souls that have the ability to move on. The Realm of the Damned is what’s left of the souls when they can’t move on, their souls too rotted to be saved. They become soulless creatures far too lost to become redeemable.”

“What the—”

Our eyes jump to Axel’s line of sight only to see a group of human-like creatures, their bodies completely made of a black tar substance with shadows that cloak them. They have no eyes, just a hollow, dark space filled with more swirling shadows.

Although they have a similar shape to a human body, that’s where the similarities end. Their limbs bend at awkward angles as they crawl along the ground, scavenging the land for… something.

“Are they demons?” I ask, having never seen anything like them before and hoping to never come across them again.

Soren shakes his head, steering clear of them. “They’re soulless.”

They’rethe soulless? A shiver works its way down my spine the more I look at them.

Even with the scores of flames around us, there’s no warmth in their appearance or energies. They’re just… hollow. Hollow and endlessly cold.

“What happens to them? After this?” I keep my eye on one that claws closer to a flamed pit.

Soren keeps moving while answering me. “For any being that no longer carries a soul, there is nothing more. They will wander here before becoming a part of the realm itself. It’s a cycle that keeps everything in balance.”

Balance… apparently everything needed a balance.

I turn away from the soulless and move closer to Soren. “What about the Gods? Couldn’t they help with the balance?”

Soren scoffs, giving me an amused look. “The Gods abandoned us long ago. The only remains of them are what essence they left behind and, of course, their descendants.” He gives Kai a pointed look before doing the same to the rest of us.

“Wait. There are no Gods left?” I glance at the guys, wondering if they’re as shocked as me. Luka mirrors my expression while Jax looks unbothered by the news.

Rion and Kai both wear a similar expression of acceptance, like they already thought as much.

Axel rolls his eyes. “Doesn’t surprise me. Most Gods are dicks with too much time on their hands. And I of one am fucking glad they’re gone.”

Luka frowns at him. “You’ve never met a God. How do you know they’re all dicks?”

Axel shrugs. “You’ve met one powerful being, you’ve met them all. We have enough powerful people in the world fucking it up, adding Gods and their kind of power to it is a shitstorm waiting to happen.”

Kai shakes his head, glancing ahead. “They’re no longer here, so it’s pointless to keep talking about them. Let’s focus on the sadistic psycho gaining too much power instead.”

Gaining too much power…

Something niggles at the back of mind, stopping me from moving past what Kai said. “With no Gods, then who's in charge?”

We avoid a large group of shadows clambering over to a pit. It’s not until we’re well past it does Soren answer my question.

“Apart from descendants and Guardians, there are the Lords of the Underworld. They’re powerful beings and the closest thing we have to Gods.”

“What happens if something were to happen to these powerful beings?”

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