While the meeting continued, in a distant realm isolated from the flow of time, a dark-haired young man sat silently in a dark room.

He somberly stared into space, silently contemplating the strange events that were unfolding all around him.

Outside the small room, which also doubled as his current lodgings, he could faintly hear the city he was currently residing in slowly coming alive.

He could already hear the bustling of the morning crowds starting in the streets below.

"The start of another long day..."

Except, this wasn't just any other day.

For the first time in what seemed like a very long spell, he'd spoken from someone outside the Realm Between.

Something that was supposed to be impossible.

But it had happened nonetheless.

He had no idea how Emily had been able to pull it off, but he was quite convinced that it had something to do with the mysterious Lord of the Realm, considering the entire thing had taken place in a dream.

For all he knew, Velagrew's power had to do with Dreams and the immaterial.

It was the only plausible conclusion considering his subjects were ghostly beings that turned incorporeal at will and fed on the life essence of the beings at times.

Especially when they weren't in the right state of mind.

He closed his eyes, his thoughts drifting to his time back on Earth.

Damien. Scott. Lucian. And Emily.

His mind was pulled back to the present a moment later.

With his heightened sense of hearing, he could already hear the familiar sound of a pair of footsteps making their way to his room from an adjacent room further up the hall.

Morgan stayed still for a few moments, then abruptly got up.

"What's gotten her up at this time..."

He silently moved across the floor with ghostly grace,e reaching the door in a few strides.

It was a trick he'd learned over the past few weeks. He'd slowly come to realize that the assassin's idea of stealth was a joke.

Especially if one had a Veliscera and Veliscera kin for a teacher and instructor.

He abruptly opened it, coming face to face with a disgruntled young woman with her hand raised, about to knock on the door.

Quietly staring at him for a few moments, she slowly lowered her hand and glanced into the room behind him.

If she was surprised at all, she hid it well.

"It's dark in here," she stated, moving past him into the room.

Morgan remained still for a few moments, then silently closed the door.

"I like it that way."

The young woman in question wore an oversized doublet and leather jerkin with dark leather breeches and boots to match.

Her red hair had been cut short in boyish fashion and was already growing back.

"Raven, what brings you here?" He asked in a neutral tone.

Plopping down on his bed, she threw him a curious look.

"Valerius sent me to get you."

The memory of the golden-eyed boy floated through his mind for a few moments.

Valerius.

The boy, if he could be called that, that's was both his savior and captor.

He also held an important role within the city, one that he'd not revealed to Morgan or Rave, not for that matter.

But from the small pieces of information they'd managed to put together over the course of the past days, Valerius was an elite amongst the Elite.

The conclusion was due to one simple fact.

Even the pompous Sye listened to him, obeying his every command without question.

Valerius had assigned him to be their instructor and teacher in the ways of the Realm between.

For Morgan, it had pointed to things. One, they weren't going to be killed. It just makes no sense. To train them only to reach their ultimate end. That would be a ludicrous waste of time and effort.

On the other hand, it also meant that they'd be spending a sizeable amount of time in the Realm Between.

There was no point in trying to escape. Even without fighting Valerius and Sye, both of them could instinctively tell they were simply nowhere near that level of skill and power.

Not to mention, there was the issue of Velagrew.

The Lord of the Realm Between seemed nigh omniscient in his realm, and as far asMorgan was concerned, no ordinary assassin, even with their supernatural speed, strength, and cunning, came close to the amount of power the being wielded if Alsterius and Malinla could be used as benchmarks.

Valerius. It was quite strange.

He'd first met the strange boy in a dream, of all things, which made sense considering his master was the Lord of the Realm Between. But what made it even stranger was the fact that over the past few weeks, Valerius seemed to regain a faint recollection of their meeting despite originally having no memory of it.

What was even more bewildering was the fact that he was capable of unleashing such a monstrous level of strength.

Enough to cower even Sye.

The two-horned demon was nothing to scoff at.

In fact, it was only because of Calerius that Morgan himself had survived the encounter.

After Emily and the others had passed through the wormhole Valerius had so kindly created, Morgan had promptly passed out.

He only had faint, vague recollections of their journey across Tenebris and into the Realm Between.

Valerius and Sye, the creatures that had unsuccessfully tried to end his life, couldn't move at the inhuman speed that seemed so natural to them because of him.

As it turned out, his injuries were too gruesome and more far-reaching than they had originally anticipated,d and as a result,sult they'd had to travel at a speed that they'd deemed to be a crawl.

"I never permitted you to sit on my bed," Morgan thought.

He stared at her for a few moments, then eventually spoke evenly.

" Did he mention why?"

He moved to the table where the large mirror stood, rummaging through the table for a few moments. Eventually, he lit a match, and a soft, warm glow flooded the room.

In the light, Raven's grey eyes glint with curiosity.

She shrugged.

"How am I supposed to know?"

Morgan stared at her for a few moments, then calmly stepped out of the room.

"Let's go then."

Of all the people he could've ended up stuck with, he'd ended up with Raven Snow, the daughter of Marcus Snow and a scion of House Snow.

The two of them had never gotten along, and yet when he'd woken up, she was seated at his bedside.

Apparently, she'd slowly nursed him back to health.

And according to her, having a familiar face in an all but fantastical world had been a welcome distraction.

She'd thought she'd be stuck in the Realm between forever, alone.

Other than that, the other welcome relief was the fact that the harrowing pain and the gruesome cracks that had been running through his arms were healed.

Gone without a trace.

The sweet absence of the ever-present pain had been a welcome relief.

Fate had a strange sense of humour.

The two of them had never particularly gotten along well,l and all he knew about her was her close friendship with Talia Varas.

That aside, he'd only ever remembered Damien's advice concerning the Snows.

" They're our allies, they can be trusted."

But aside from that, he didn't trust her.

Atleast may be as far as he could throw her.

But for now, she was his only ally and the only person he could "freely" talk to.

And as it turned out, despite her impassive demeanor, Raven Snow was quite amicable once you got to know her.

She sort of grew on you.

When he'd woken up, she'd explained how she'd been stranded in the middle of nowhere and on the verge of death when Valerius found her and took her in.

And brought her here.

To the Realm Between.

From then on, he'd slowly regained his strength.

His body had taken much more damage than he'd originally realized from pushing far beyond the limits of his body.

So much so that Sarenus and Kazarax were limited to the confines of the Void World.

The two Void Walkers had entered a state of hibernation after the harrowing fight.

Despite his best attempts, Sarenus and Kazarax had remained unresponsive to his summons even after the grievous wounds he'd carried for something long were healed.

After moving through several corridors, they arrived in a large, brightly lit chamber.

The subtle scent of ale, smoke, and a delicious aroma intermingled, wafting through the air.

Morgan's stomach abruptly grumbled, making its presence known.

"I heard you..."

Several unusually tall men in gilded armour sat at the table, drinking and conversing among themselves.

The Tharn.

These were the kin of the Veliscera and also the guards of Moreus, the city where they were currently residing.

Moreus was also one of the many seats of power that Velagrew, the obscure Lord of the Realm Between, commanded.

They'd long since grown to Morgan and Raven after Valerius had left both of them in their care.

Morgan paused for a moment, surveying the room, then felt a light tap on his shoulder.

"This way, " Raven whispered.