“I’m not sure,” Shadow replied. “Probably around the time I lost my humanity, but it’s a clear sign that the realm is out of balance.”

“Possibly even dying,” Angel added without inflection. It was often hard to tell if she was concerned or afraid when she was in super warrior mode. Today it was probably both.

At least it was for me.

No one said anything else about the worrying shade of grey on the door, already well aware we were stepping into a different realm to the one we’d left weeks ago. That poor world had already been suffering thanks to Ixana, and now it seemed Dannie had stepped up to make it worse.

We had to set it right, or the land of our birth would become a mere shell of itself.

Shadow wrapped an arm around me, holding me close to his side as we crossed through the portal into the realm. “I’m taking us straight to the Nexus,” he said as he stepped into the mistiness that surrounded the realm entrance.

The mist lasted for about a minute, and as it faded, the land fell out from under us and I didn’t even have time to shriek when we dropped into the water. Icy cold stole my breath as I plunged deep. From my last time in the realm, I remembered that the bodies of water here were called “The Depths,” and they were filled with many scary-ass creatures I never wanted to meet.

Shadow and I popped up at the same time, and he looked around, his brow furrowed. I followed as well, noticing that the waters were dark and murky, vastly different to the last time I’d seen them, and the sky above was gloomier as well, almost as if the light were fading.

“I directed us to the Nexus,” Shadow growled, his jaw rigid. “This isn’t right.”

Angel burst out of the water nearby, her wings shooting wide, droplets scattering as she flew about twenty feet above. In the same instant, a huge creature followed her up and out of the water, looking like one of those dinosaur crocodiles with a body as big as a blue whale and a long snout filled with razor-sharp teeth.

It tried to snap my friend up like a tasty dinner treat, but Angel was having none of that shit, smacking it down like a naughty toddler. The creature fell back into the water, learning its lesson about taking on my friend.

“What the fuck?” I gasped, my eyes drawn down to the very murky water beneath us. I couldn’t see anything, and my mind immediately went to the worst-case scenario of what lay below.