‘Can you not feel this?’ he said. ‘Even assuming the boy has changed his mind, somehow found his way down here past the Elementals, past the Daemon army, past our dearest mother, and is even now charging towards the Earth’s core – do you think he could withstand this heat? He’d melt like an ice cream on a barbecue the second he stepped into this place. I’ve done it. And nothing and no one can stop me.’

‘Certainly looks like it,’ smiled Hypnos.

‘Aha,’ cried the Daemon of Death, rounding a corner and nearly being blasted back by the wave of heat that met them. ‘We’re here!’

Hypnos had to shield his face against the ferocity of the hot air. Thanatos waited for his brother to fully take in the sight before them both.

Suspended in a vast sea of nothingness sat the Earth’s core, a huge ball of flame that rotated like a bubble in water. Long, flaming orange tendrils tethered the ball to the very centre of the Earth, streams of molten lava flowing along them and into the heart of the world.

‘Quite something, isn’t she?’ said Thanatos, flipping open the lid of Elliot’s pocket watch to add the light of the Chaos Stone to the incandescent glow of the Earth’s core.

‘Sure is,’ chanted Hypnos, mesmerized by the glowing fireball.

‘You can see how powerful she is on her own,’ said Thanatos, illuminating his face with the elemental gem. ‘So just imagine what she can do with this.’

‘Mind-blowing,’ said Hypnos, floating up to the ceiling, eyes still fixed on the fireball.

‘Well, then,’ said Thanatos, raising his arm. ‘Let’s do this.’

‘Sure,’ said Hypnos. ‘Let’s.’

Thanatos took a deep breath. This was it. He felt giddy with power. He could feel the stone trembling in his hand, waiting to unleash its chaos. Just like he was.

‘Chaos Stone!’ he roared. ‘I command you to . . .’

‘Look out!’ cried Hypnos, cannoning into Thanatos and bringing him crashing to the ground.

Thanatos, winded by his brother, took a moment to catch his breath. What had happened? But red-hot rage quickly followed. Then blind panic. The watch containing the Chaos Stone – the watch that only seconds before had been safe in his hand – had gone.

‘Where is it?’ he screamed, leaping to his feet and grabbing his brother by the scruff of his neck and yanking him off the floor.

‘R-relax,’ said Hypnos, choking in his brother’s grasp.

‘RELAX!’ Thanatos thundered. ‘WHERE IS IT?’

Hypnos smiled, his face red.

‘Here,’ he said, revealing the watch in the palm of his hand. ‘Chill out.’

Thanatos snatched the watch and dropped his brother on the ground. He clutched it to his heart.

‘What were you thinking, you fool?’ he hissed.

‘Oh, fine,’ said Hypnos, getting his breath back. ‘Next time I’ll just let you get hit by the falling rock.’