Reverse Paradigm: World Beyond Reality

by XScript

In a strange, beautiful world, the protagonist awakes with all knowledge of his past erased. He ventures off into the world put in front of him, and watches everything unfold and cascade in front of his eyes.

Reverse Paradigm: World Beyond Reality

Prologue

Nothing. There was only nothing in the place lost to time, a place that held fantasy away from reality, a place where the impossible becomes the possible. Such a place would take what is known about everything, and turn it on its head, making it ultimately irrelevant. Such a place would change the meaning of reality… making it meaningless.

What is this place?

What's this… feeling?

What is… real?

I asked myself this, but nothing answered but myself. In nowhere. In nothing. My eyes are open, but I see nothing. I try to move my body, but it feels like I have none. I scream… but no sound comes out. I try to scream again. Nothing. Only… nothing. I have become only a floating consciousness in nothing. What is this place? Nothing. What is this feeling? Sheer terror. What is real? …

That is something that I may never know.

Chapter 1

Awakening

I awake, to the smell of a familiar, yet unfamiliar place. I feel at ease, yet not at all. I lay on a soft, yet hard surface, everything around me smelling like the world I once knew. What comes to my mind seems to only be questions that I feel may never be answered. Questions, questions like "Where am I?" "What is this place?". Of course, even if I did speak them, which I did not, it seems like no one would answer me. I'm not sure if there is anyone to talk to in this familiar… unfamiliar place.

I look up. It's a bright, wonderful blue sky, with clouds of white silk. There are trees all around me, covering the canvas of the hills in great numbers. I sit on the blades of grass, and wonder to myself. But to myself is one who has forgotten themselves, as I do not remember who I used to be. My past has been eradicated, who I am forever shrouded in arcanity. I realize that I am no one, and will continue being nobody for as long as I live. Stripped of all identity, I rise to the morning sun.

It seems that upon my mysterious arrival here, I have not been injured in the least bit. Surprising. In addition, I am perfectly healthy, and have seemingly no disabilities. Also surprising.

I decide I should take a look around at my surroundings… and when I do… It's simply breathtaking. The landscape around me is fantastical, as if it was ripped straight from the fairytales over the generations, and at every venue, at every angle, the placed screamed far into my mind the word "Adventure". It was simply and only breathtaking, like a childhood dream, or a fantastical virtual reality. The trees in the distance, the cliffs overhanging, the hills in the distance, the blue sky. Amazing.

I realize that I have nowhere to go. I possess no food, no shelter, no supplies, except my will to take venture into this world and dive headfirst into the unknown.

I decide to begin my adventure as soon as possible, but I must start by moving from where I have started. The elevation of the land I stand on appears to be on a large hill, with a small overhang, where I have woken up. I stand up, and walk over to the edge of the hill, cautiously descending down the steep hill. I nearly trip about once or twice, but manage to keep my balance. I am getting closer now, and this world seems to get bigger every step I take. The air is clean, and the flowers along the grass on this hill are in full bloom. I love it. I love every moment of it. Every moment I breathe and see, every moment I smell and hear, every moment is beautiful. This world is beautiful, as if nothing could tarnish it.

After I finish making my way down the hill, I realize I appear to be in a large field, littered with nature. The forest I aim for is a far distance from me. However, judging by my physical abilities, it won't take too long to make it there. I can see it clearly, despite how far it appears to be. I decide to test my limits of my speed, and my strength. I put my hands to the ground, put one foot far ahead of the other… and launch.

My eyes are wide open in surprise, as I launch across the field, running as fast as my legs can take me. The wind pushes against my face, and tears come out as they are pushed against the air. When I look behind me I see the dirt kicking past me, and every second the forest grows closer to me. As I run across the field, I realize I did not think about stopping, but it was too late. There was a tree I was about to make direct impact with, and there was nothing I could do about it. Absolutely nothing. In a last ditch attempt to stop my inevitable demise, I jam one foot into the dirt, and slid across the ground in a remarkable fashion. Despite that, I still hit the tree, the world I was given slowly fading away as the clock ticked past...

Chapter 2

Contact

A voice reaches my head after being knocked out cold. The tree has snapped from its roots, having fallen onto my legs, breaking their bones and shattering them to pieces. The bark is stained a rich crimson red. Pain wreaks across my body as the blood seeps through my head. Everything is hazy. All I can feel right now is the pain from the impact, but the voice continues to reach me. After a while, I am able to come to my senses, and hear the voice clearly. "Are you alright? Wake up!" it calls out to me. The voice is tame, like a lax butterfly on an afternoon's wind. I look up with what strength I have left at that who has called out at me. He appears to be a very lax looking person, with a red and black plaid shirt alike a shirt donned upon a lumberjack, accompanied by jeans of blue. He looks at me with a face of worry, and at the same time, interest. His eyes are an abnormal color, red, but something tells me I'll be meeting a lot of… unusual people. "You... are alright, aren't you?" It appears I haven't answered his question. I make a quick gesture to signify I am alright, but my arm stops in shock half-way through. I am seriously injured, it appears.

"Wake up! You are bleeding to death, man! I need to get you help fast!" the person says in alarm. He attempts to pull the tree off me, and does so without much of a struggle. He then carries my limp body into the forest.

We run for a long period of time as the sun sets. I've seen many things as we traveled into the forest, such as fairies, satyrs, and other mythical creatures along the way. They all had the same look at me as the person did. He has been silent most of the way through, but he has mentioned that he is going to get me to the residence of him and his allies. Other than that, he hasn't spoken a word. The forest around us has trees spanning across, making it difficult to see in the distance. Now that the light has stopped shining through the leaves, it has a dark, ominous feel. A unsettling feel. Previously, the trees looked beautiful, and fairies were abundant. But now… nothing. Nothing except the eerie sounds of a darker forest. The person speaks up again. "Hey… I haven't gotten your name, but you can hear mine. My name is Canavar. What's yours?" He pauses for a moment, expecting me to reply, but I say nothing. Not a single word has come out of my mouth, and I don't have the will to let one out, either.

"You've been kind of… silent, you know?" he says to me, the forest gradually growing darker as the moon rises. "You had this kind of cold, unemotional look in your face, and your eyes this whole way. Even when you literally had a tree that broke the bones in your legs, you had that face. What's… up?" I process his words, and realize that I am indeed cold. I only have the will to venture deeper. Venture deeper into the unknown. I have no other desires. I don't speak. I don't react. I am only a singular desire. It may stay that way, but only the strings of fate shall make that so. He eventually gives up on receiving an answer, and we arrive at his residence as the moon slowly begins to rise.

Chapter 3

The Forest

The night dawns upon us as we approach the house. Through its windows shines beams of yellow light, as the trees that grew along its walls sway in the gently in the wind, the leaves rustling as moonlight shines through them. The rustic house hidden in the forest holds a warm, friendly atmosphere to it, and it eases Canavar when he finally reaches it. The house smells of various herbs and medicines, and from the outside, muffled voices can be heard. From what I can sense, only two individuals seem to reside in the house at the current moment. Canavar gently opens the door, creaking as it is being opened, and the light fills my eyes. The house has an almost unbearable amicable atmosphere, yet while it puts everyone around me at ease, I stay restless.

The two people turn around to greet me, but as soon as they take a glance at me, shock and horror spread across their face. "W-what happened to you?!" one shouted in distress. I can quickly tell this one is a magician, due to their signature star-patterned hat, their startled look, with the fine addition of the star-embodied cape draped upon their shoulders. Alike the stars scattered on his clothes, his pupils were in the color of a quiet yellow. As he quivered in fear with tears forming in his eyes, I took a glance at the one adjacent to him, who was also shocked, but not as much as the other one. This one appears to be some sort of horned creature, yet he still looks human. His horns protrude out of the top of his head, resembling the curve of a bull's horns. His eyes appear to be a glowing lime green color, contrasting from his grass green hair. This person wears some variation of a t-shirt that has a white to green fade from the top to bottom. His black hair has green streaks in certain points. His pants however, are not unorthodox and are simply black jeans.

My attempts to get a better observation on these two individuals faltered after being deviated from them, then set on a bed in the presumably guest room of the house. My wounds stained the bed sheet with blood, to the inconvenience of Canavar and I. My eyesight begins to blur and haze, and I fall into the world of unconsciousness.

A unknown short amount of time passes as I awake once again.

I rise once more, to the sight of the magician standing beside me in the room. It appears that the pain has stopped, and all my wounds are healed. The shattered bones are in place, and my injures have come to zero. Magic, in a literal sense. He appears to have a relieved look on his face. I question if it is one of "I am glad he is ok now", or one of "I am glad that I did not murder him in his sleep." Either way, I am pleased with the outcome, as I am not as dead as a stone beneath bedrock. He decides to speak up, albeit with a large amount of stammering. "U-umm… nice to meet you m-mister, my name is Asteri j-just in case you wanted to know…" He takes one more look at me, then proceeds to walk out of the room and out into the passageway of the household. He then realizes that he hasn't closed the door, and rebounds back to the room to do so. Then, he walks out of the room and into the corridor.

I wait for a small amount of time after he walks away. I proceed to get up from the now previously bloodstained bed, and take a look at the room around me. Nothing particularly interesting in this room, as expected of a guest's room. Its relatively neat and I am not able to spot any critical vitiation in the walls of the room. Seeing as nothing of interest or use is present in this room after searching it, I proceed to walk out of the room in aim of finding beneficial tools, gadgets, and objects. However, as soon as I try to leave the room, the door in a sudden moment flies open and severely damages the wall. The triad of figures stand before me, the one with horns giving me a invitation to their dinner party.

After bringing us all to the dinner table, the one with horns speaks up first. "Hey, so, as you all may know, my name is Tavros." he tells me in a form of greeting. "What's yours?" Even if I knew the answer, which I do not, I would not say a word. I don't have the will in me to do so. Canavar answers back. "I think he's an amnesiac… so he wouldn't know that in the first place." Tavros tries to accept this resolution, but attempts to push on regardless.

"But he could have at least said that he didn't know, right?"

"Maybe." Canavar scratches his chin.

"So what's up with that?"

"Maybe… he can't speak either."

It's clear on the look of Tavros' face that he isn't buying any of it. "Seriously, who are you?" he asks me. I proceed to contemplate this question. From all I know, I appeared in this world stripped of all identity and information to myself. There is nothing I can tell about that particular aspect. However, it appears I am under the hold of intensely, immensely prominent physical and mental abilities. Other than that, I have nothing that points to who I was, and who I am. All I know is that I exist. In order to reflect this conclusion, I write to Tavros a message accordingly, then I proceed to pass the slip paper to him. He reads it, and perplexity gradually spreads across his face upon doing so. "There's… nothing on here." he says, in a dimmer tone. Silence fills the table for the slightest of a moment, until Asteri speaks up in a sudden moment. "Oh! I get it!" he says, in a voice filled with energy. "It means he's a nobody!"

We all sit in silence after the words spoken by Asteri. A mortifying atmosphere soon followed, and loomed around the table for a good amount of time. "Well… I guess that wouldn't be correct?" said Canavar with a tone of uncertainty. "Anyhow, if you have nowhere to go… whoever you are, you can stay with us for as long as you want." There is no need to contemplate this, I thought to myself. The house is quite spacious, and is a safe haven for whatever may lurk in the night…

Chapter 4

The Dragon- [Part 1]

The sunlight shines into my eyes as I arise to the morning sun. A new day awaits me, and I am yet to find out what will happen next. I proceed to look out the bedside window, and observe that the sky is shining a bright yellow diffused by the clouds. I take a look at the room around me, and see that it is quite a luxurious room, much less bare-bones than the guest room. The bed is nicely constructed, and feels very high quality. I slip out of the bed sheets, and begin to come through the door. I look to my right, and see only more of the house. On my left, however, appears to be Asteri, the magician. As soon as I look his way, Asteri slips, stumbles, and falls on the floor, and then scampers in the other direction, and falls out of my sight. This house is quite spacious, I wonder which direction is the exit?

As I continue wandering around the household, I encounter Tavros and Canavar having a seemingly endless arm-wrestling battle as the bright morning light shines on them. Both of them are struggling, and none seems to be getting an advantage over another. A deadlock. They both notice me standing there in unison, and proceed to call me over. "Hey… you! Whoever you are! Want to see if you can beat me arm-wrestling match?" Tavros asks, full of energy. He looks very confident in his abilities. I decide to do so without thinking. We put our arms on the table, elbows against the wood. Tavros looks at me with burning passion, flames in his eyes. Canavar proceeds to start the countdown. "3… 2… 1!" I forget to move my arm. It seems that I've lost… but my arm stands still. Not moving an inch. I look up at Tavros, who seems to be sweating severely, looking down at my arm and using both of his hands to attempt to smash my hand into the table. I proceed to move my arm the other way, and Tavros hits the floor, breaking it a little. Canavar froze in shock, Tavros as well. Asteri dropped his tea, and his jaw when he saw it happen. However, I felt nothing

I looked down at my arm after what just took place, and observe that it is heavily bruised. It seems that my physical strength takes a toll on my own body. I should attempt to limit my power until my vessel can contain it. "Dude, my hand! He broke every bone in my hand!" shouted Tavros, in distress. "It's okay, I got you covered!" yelled Asteri, running to Tavros's side. "Be careful next time, I don't want you to get so hurt!" Canavar spoke up, and chastised Tavros. "He got you good, dude. Real good." Tavros rubbed his head, which despite Asteri's healing, still hurt a little bit. "Isn't that strength a tad bit too much? There's no way someone could handle that much power." Asteri, still having an expression of concern, sighed. "You wouldn't be wrong," he answered back, "Mister's arm is heavily bruised." I looked down at my arm. It looked quite serious. Canavar walked over took a look at it. "Oh… oh wow. That looks painful, like extremely so." Asteri nodded in agreement, and proceeded to heal the wound in a flash. My arm is in perfect condition in a split-second, and no pain occurs as I move it around. I signify gratefulness to Asteri without changing my expression. Asteri receives the notion, and nods back, smiling. "I'm glad you're all ok, but again, please don't do dangerous things like that!" Asteri asks of us. The two agree, albeit with murmuring and voices lacking enthusiasm. I stay silent.

Asteri appears to be relieved. "Now that that is over, why don't we-" His message was cut off, and will never be heard, as a red claw digs into the window, shattering the glass, breaking the frame, and bending the wall.

A cold, hostile voice simmered into the room. "I've heard rumors that you've been hiding out here. I've heard rumors that you aren't as weak and pathetic as you used to be." it rasped. "You're a threat to my kingdom, Asteri. I've come to kill you."

An unknown amount of years ago

There was once a great kingdom, ruled by wizards, magicians, and other magical beings. The kingdom was holding its 3000th anniversary of its creation.

However, this would soon become the kingdom's last.

"Asteri, wake up!" echoed a voice. Asteri woke up to the voice, tired. He rubbed his eyes and got up from his bed. "Yes?" he spoke, "Who is it?". He looked up and saw a large, finely built man. "It's me, son." the man responded, having a voice of a deep bellow.

"Dad?"

"Yes, son. It's the kingdom's 3000th anniversary."

"Oh."

"You may want to get up from your bed, the celebratory party just beginning. The day awaits for you, my son."

"Ok," responded Asteri in a content tone, and proceeded to get prepared for the day. He slipped out of his bed, and proceeded to walk to his closet, where he slipped his formal clothing on. After having done that, he walked to the bathroom and brushed his teeth, then looked at his reflection in the mirror. "One day… I will be king." he spoke to himself. He thought about the hardships of becoming a king, like living up to his father's name, ruling over an entire kingdom of people, holding off attacks, and other matters. The thought worried him, but he had to go to the ceremony. He opened the bathroom door, and walked outside. His father was waiting for him.

"I can tell you've been thinking about a lot of things, my son." his father said to Asteri, the man's back turned to him. They stood on the highest balcony of the kingdom, able to see the whole entire kingdom, and the land surrounding it. The morning sun rose in the distance, the light shining down on the castle. "Things like ruling the kingdom, the responsibilities of being a king…" his father trailed on.

"By the time you become king, I may not be there to aid you. But know that it will be ok." he spoke. "You are destined to become the greatest ruler of us all, my son. And know that wherever you go, whatever you become, I will always be there for you."

At that moment, Asteri blacked out, and fell to the floor. He went unconscious, unaware of what was happening. He opens his eyes, and sees what has unfolded.

Fire broke out. A shock wave phases throughout the whole entire kingdom. Screams of agony shriek through the air. Everything is in flames. Asteri doesn't realize that the kingdom is under attack, and there is nothing that can be done. The event paralyzes his brain. Asteri looks around, panicked. His childhood friend is in front of him as a knight reaches the balcony. "Tu...jaeng?" Asteri manages to say. "My majesties, the kingdom is under serious attack! I have been chosen to escort you out of the perimeters!" the guard says in desperation. An explosion sets off and shatters the balcony before they could begin to escape. Everything becomes a blur.

Asteri wakes up, and hears the muffled sounds of screams and shouts as the kingdom is engulfed in flames. His father carries him in his arms, running as fast as he can, avoiding the debris and flames, avoiding the people submerged in debris and overwhelmed by the hellfire flames. The people try to fight off the intruders, but to no avail. Nothing can be done. "Father…" Asteri asks, "Where is mother...?" His father doesn't look at him. Only a tear streaks across the man's face when the question is asked. "Wait… dad, where's mom?!" Asteri screams in desperation. Fragments of what was once a kingdom fall all around them. They run through alleyways, tunnels, streets, while avoiding the fire and debris crumbling to ash that surrounded them. They near the edge of the kingdom, but before they can circumvent the living hell, their desperate attempts are hampered by the figure that has alighted in front of them, diffusing a small shockwave in the process. Smoke surrounds them, and the figure becomes a silhouette.

"You really thought you could get away, could you?" it speaks, the voice sending fear throughout all that heard it. "Oh dear king, I've been waiting for this day ever since I was born." The king holds his son tightly, stepping one foot back in dismay and hesitancy. "Who… who are you?" he says, his voice faltering. "That isn't important, isn't it?" it replies. "What is… however, is that I will take your life." it terrorizes. The king attempts to gain what little left he has of his composure. "You will not take my life without a fight, I'm afraid." he averred. He stepped one foot in front, ready to confront the demon that stood before him. "I will fight on the behalf of this whole entire kingdom!" the man roared. The silhouetted figure paused for a moment. "I see." it replied. "Then I will fight on the behalf of the end of this kingdom. You will fall on this day, dear king. On this day, the sun itself will blotted out by the smoke and fire of what once was." it claimed. "It's over." The king shook his head in dissent and denial. "No… I refuse to let that happen! Take this!" The king rose his hand to the morning sun. Light protruded from his finger, indistinguishable from the the light of Heaven itself. The king uttered these words, these final words. "To stop the darkness from turning over light, convey upon me the sun of heaven to destroy this accursed blight!"

At that moment, it seemed like time has stopped. A gargantuan orb of light cleared the smoke. The light it shone was bright enough to blind someone, so immense that all shadows ceased to exist around it. The light of the sun. It launched at speeds unmeasured at the figure below. An explosion of pure light filled the eyes of all that saw it. All was light.

The enigmatic figure lay dead. It was motionless, its body in a incomprehensible state of damage. It was dead. However, the king lost all strength he had. The spell he used was all of the strength he had, and thus he was reduced to nothing but a shamble of what he used to be. The man spoke in a frail, faded voice to his son. "Son… I-"

The figure rose up. Its bones shattered into a fathomless amount of pieces, its flesh melted to the point it stuck to the floor around it, it's joints dislocated to the point that it's arm was stuck through its eye socket. It was a grotesque, freakish, distorted hideous sight of what it used to be. Then… it began piecing itself back together. Its joints snapped back into place, its flesh and bone started to mend together, and in a matter of minutes, it was back to its original form. With the smoke cleared, the enigma's true form was revealed.

The king's eyes widened in sheer terror. There is only one last thing he could do to save this kingdom. The king handed Asteri the legendary spellbook that was passed down for generations. "Son… take this book, and run as far as you can… far away from this place…" the king said, his power slowly diminishing by the seconds. Asteri, in tears and pure shock, held it as tightly as possible as he could, hiding it from sight. The voice of the enigma slithered through the air. "You fried my bones, melted my skins, and broke my joint's, dear king." it hissed. "But that isn't enough to end my life." It sauntered towards the two, its eyes having a flaming yellow glow. Asteri stared at it, wide-eyed, in terror. Not only did it's eyes glow, its pupils were a black slit, like one of a snakes. It had yellow hair, with red streaks running through it. It donned a black, magnificent cape, holding a red arcanic symbol on its back. It had red, crimson armor, with glowing red streaks running across it. The helmet, however, was held in its left arm. When Asteri looked at its face, it was a face of pure wrath. It spoke in a dangerous, menacing voice. "It's time to end you and your pathetic life."

It clenched the king by the throat, jamming its claws through his neck. The king's eyes rolled up in indescribable pain, as the acidic, poisonous blood went through his body. It then ripped, slashed, ruptured and torn the throat of the king. The blood of the king spewed out like a fountain, splattering on the skin and clothing of Asteri. It then slammed the king's body onto the pavement, rose it's foot up, and splintered the king's skull into fragments. The blood seeped into the pavement and splattered on the wall. It turned its neck slowly to face Asteri. "Look, your beloved father is now reduced to a lifeless body." Asteri's mind at that moment was breaking down. "His head, his face, are now scattered as little pieces on this very pavement." it hissed, the voice surrounding Asteri. "Run. Or you'll end up even worse than your father."

Asteri, completely traumatized, ran blindly into the forest. He tripped on branches, fell on sharp rocks, tears streaming down his face. The further he went on, the more cut and bruised he became. He didn't know where he was, or where he was going. He didn't know which direction was home, or what he'd do when he got back. He didn't know if he'd survive in this forest, or if there was anyone to help him. To him at that moment, it was the end of the world. The end of everything. The end of his life. Eventually, he lost all strength. He was bleeding, weak, and tired. It's the end, is all that he thought. All that he thought, as the darkness of the forest surrounded him.

It became night, and he was all alone. Cold and alone, cold… and alone.

A twig snapped. Something was coming for him… but what? Even if he tried, there was nothing he could do, absolutely nothing, that he could do. Nothing. It came closer, closer and closer. What was it? What did it want? What was it going to do to him? Is this the end? It growled, fiercely. Like the growl of a murderous creature that has finally found its evening snack. That was the sound it made. He saw it. It was a wolf. A werewolf. And it was about to kill him. He closed his eyes, and waited for it to all end…

Black. All was black… until Asteri opened his eyes, and saw that two figures were protecting him. They prevented the creature from getting close to him, and apprehended it before it could do anything to harm him. They saved his life. One had horns protruding from to the top of his head, and was wearing a t-shirt that faded from white to green. The other wore a red shirt with a black plaid atop of it, akin of one of a lumberjack. Asteri didn't recognize either of them, but through the living hell he went today, he was glad that something was turning around for him. "Hey, back off." the one with the plaid shirt spoke to the beast. "Why are you going savage already? It's not even a full moon." The beast struggled to get free from the arms of the one with the plaid shirt, but to no avail. The one with the horns atop its head walked over beside him. "I think it's about time we get this poor kid out of here." it suggested. "Let's take him to the house and fix him up." The one with the plaid shirt nodded in agreement, then proceeded to pick up Asteri. They trod through the night under the stars, passing through trees and wildlife, until they reached their house. Asteri had fallen asleep the whole way due to the exhaustion and stress that fell upon him that fateful day.

Asteri awoke to the dawn of a new day, jolting upright in his bed. The first thing he noticed is that he had many bandages concealing his wounds, most likely from the two that saved him that day. He mustered the strength to rise from his bed, and walked around the household in a limp manner. He wanted to thank those two for saving him, but he couldn't find them anywhere. Eventually he collapsed on the floor, due to over-exhaustion, but one of them found him lying on the floor, and proceeded to carry him to the dinner table of their household, where the other one was sitting. "Settle down there, buddy. You shouldn't be walking around with that many wounds," it said. "If you were wondering, my name is Canavar, and the one with the horns is Tavros." Tavros waved, grinning back at him. "We've just kind of been always together, you know?"

Asteri wanted to show his gratitude, so he spoke back to them. However, he stuttered while trying to do so. "T-T-Thank you for s-s-saving me b-b-back there...!" is what he said. He had a warm feeling in his chest after expressing his gratitude, but to himself he wasn't exactly sure why. Tavros patted him on the head. "You're welcome." said Tavros."I'm not exactly sure how you ended up in that situation in the forest," spoke Canavar, "but you'll be safe here."

His words were true, Asteri was safe, and would continue practicing his magic, slowly gaining power while living with Canavar and Tavros. They all lived happily ever after… at least, not until the enigma returned. _

Chapter 5

The Dragon- [Part 2]

It arrived. What killed Asteri's father, and destroyed his kingdom all those years ago. What not only nearly ruined Asteri's life, but also ended it. What is feared, dreaded, and loathed. Somehow I knew this all. The knowledge of what happened to Asteri came to me in an instant. How this happened, I have not the slightest clue. But what I can infer with this information is that whoever is behind that window, is a major threat to all of us, and could potentially kill us all.

It tore down the wall with its hand, the wall crumbling to dust under the immense amount of force extruded onto it. For a moment we all stood there staggered by the pure pressure and terror this person held. "Asteri, where are you? I'm going to kill you." it threatened. I observed that Asteri was simply traumatized. It appeared that the nightmarish macabre that occurred that one day was rehashed in his mind. He froze in place, unmoving. Even the stars in his eyes came to zero. However, Tavros and Canavar came to their senses and stood their ground. "Back off! You aren't going to lay one finger on Asteri!" Tavros shouted. "Yeah, lay off. We aren't going to let you hurt our friend." Canavar said, glaring at the enigma. It paused, haltered its movement for a moment. "So you are the ones who have been protecting this insignificant runt?" it hissed. "I guess I'll kill you two first." It struck.

In a single second, blood splattered across the wall. Not a single scream was heard.

Asteri came to his senses, and looked at the scene below him. Blood was everywhere. "Canavar? Tavros?" he asked, calling for their names. No reply. Canavar was frozen in shock, along with Tavros.

But they weren't dead. No one was. I bled. I stopped the enigma from killing them both, and in return, my wrist gashed blood, poured onto the floor, walls, and roof.

Why did I do that? Why did I save them? Why did I risk my life to protect these people? Until now, I felt no emotion. I was cold, lifeless. A living body. But now I have protected these people at the cost of my own life. Why?

I decided to stop asking myself questions. Right here, right now, the person standing in front of me has threatened these people, people I will not let die at their hands. I will turn the enigma into nothing, no matter what it takes. I have reversed this situation, and will do it again. Everyone right now is frozen in shock. This is my chance, my opening. This is how I will win. Using my crippled, bleeding arm, I gather all my strength, and launch my fist with all my might straight into the enigma's guts and innards. It screeched with a horrid blare of grief and agony, struggling against the severe pain inflicted onto its body, breaking and shattering its teeth from the brutal impact that has been applied. A force greater than the power of the sun has been put into place. Every atom in that place simply became into nothing. He blasted back, moving at a speed faster than the blink of an eye, every single part or aspect of its body broken and shattered.

I have reversed this situation. I have reversed what was to be a drastic, grief filled situation, into one of hope, and contentment. I have saved these people at the cost of my own life, and will die knowing that. At that moment… I collapse.

I am dead, is what I thought to myself. The moment I saved those people is the moment I died. Now I am nothing in a world of nothing. Everything has become nothing. Surrounded by nothing. Spaced out by nothing. Brought together by nothing. Is this where I will spend endless eternities? Forever becoming nothing, only able to think about the time when I was something. Time is now nothing as well. Seconds are illusionary. However, I refuse to become nothing. I refuse to become nothing forever, to the end of no end. I refuse to die.

But how will I live once again? Asteri, the magician, cannot revive the fallen. How I know this is unknown to me, yet I know it's the truth. This means there is no way to come back to life, and I am fated to become nothing.

No. There is another way. I reversed the situation during the last moments of my life, turning what was to be the end into another chance. I will do it again. I will reverse the state of my death into one of living. I will reverse fate itself. I wi-

Everything… everything hurts. Every nerve in my body has been ruptured, every muscle sundered. Yet I live. Even though everything in my body has fractured, shattered, split to pieces, I live. From my living corpse of a body, I hear a voice. "He's… alive!" it alarms, with grief in its voice. Another follows, also pained. "What? But… he was dead for sure. Everything in his body broke!" The first one speaks again. "Now that he is alive… I can heal him… I can save him."

My body mends back together in seconds. My muscles form together, my bones gather, my limbs snap back in place. I look at my hand, opening its palm and closing it, turning it around. I nod towards Asteri to show my gratitude, but notice there are tears streaming down his face, most likely due to my death, that was then averted. I look over to Tavros, who clenches his fist tightly while lamenting over the same reason. His voice falters as he sheds his tears. "Why… why did that man try to kill… all of us? Why?" Canavar weeped in silence, not a word escaping his mouth. The scene was agonizing. I rise up in a solemn manner, and without a single word or movement escaping me, rouse them to feel better now that everything is ok. They all still cry, but feel much better than what they felt before.

Canavar spoke. "Well… that was very, very morbid, but the next time that thing comes near us, I'll make it wish it was never born." Tavros agreed, and started getting riled up. "Yeah… yeah! I'll beat it into next Sunday! I'll turn his head into a bowl of brains, I'-" Asteri started getting worried over the vivid ambitions that the two were making. "Guys… that's a bit much, you can stop now…" he said, in hopes of stopping them before they went over the edge in what they planned to do. They nodded simultaneously. "Yeah, we got it. Sorry." the two said in unison.

However, I noticed something was off. The energy given off by the enigma surrounded the premises. It survived my severe strike, and even returned to tell the tale. It spoke to me through telepathic means, and hissed this: "That punch hit hard, but it isn't enough to kill me. You may have lowered my strength, but I can still make you suffer." At that moment, while we were cheering up, getting over the despair brought over them, it only took a second for all of us to be restrained helplessly by thick scales wrapped around our bodies. Thorns dug into our skin, causing severe pain to all of us. We struggled helplessly.

The figure appeared out of the shadows, it's yellow glowing eyes causing unease through the bodies, souls and minds of others. It larked and trudged towards us, an unearthly growl escaping its mouth. Once it was in clear sight, it's heavy wounds were exposed. Its face on one half was fractured and shattered, yellow glowing blood pouring out, melting the ground below. It glared at us with a face of draconian intensity, so intense that it could break someone's soul if one were to see it. No matter what we did to escape, it was unsuccessful and only caused more pain and suffering. Asteri spoke up, struggling and grunting as he spoke. "Wait… I read about this…" he spoke, "Yellow… glowing blood that melts whatever it touches..." he continued. "Scales as hard as diamond… you're… you're a…" he stopped his sentence in sheer terror. The enigma gritted its teeth. "A dragon, yes." it answered back. Asteri was traumatized once again. "But not your everyday, ordinary run-of-the-mill dragon…" it conveyed, "I am the prince of dragons, and I can fully manipulate anything, anything related to dragons." It paused. "Do you know what this means, Asteri?" it hissed, expecting an answer. Asteri simply froze there, still traumatized by the sheer terror. Canavar and Tavros struggled in silence. I only watched. "I can freely control my whole entire body, to no avail. These appendages restraining you are a part of my body, Asteri." it taunted. "It's only too bad that I can't kill you at this very moment, as I do not have the strength needed to do so. If I could… I'd make sure you'd die an agonizing, horrible, terrible death."

For a while, we all simply stood there. At that point, the blood from the dragon had burned a hole deep enough that should someone fall in it, they would die. The dragon spoke up. "Actually, there might be a better way to kill you than dying by my hand, in pain and agony… even though the thought of it is quite satisfying." It smirked, and its blood-bering teeth became exposed to the light of the moon. "I'll host a gladiator battle to not only eradicate you, but increase my social standing," it suggested, "and even if you happen to survive, I'll just kill you myself. No matter what happens, it only benefits me." Canavar could only let a few words escape his mouth as he continued to struggle against the restraints. "What… are you?" It stood in silence for a few moments, then answered. "I am Drav, and if you happen to survive the grueling gladiator battles tomorrow night, I will be the one to end your miserable life." Drav bared his teeth, then stared directly into my eyes, speaking right to me. "And you… don't try anything… outlandish. It will only end in grief." And at that moment, he tranquilized us all, slowly causing us to become unconscious. Everything blurred around me, all sounds around me becoming muffled and distorted, as I lost all my strength and succumbed to the hell before me.

Chapter 6

Endgame

Hellfire. Everything around me burns in an agonizing fire. My skin begins to peel off from the flames. The pain is unbearable. I look around me and see a horrific chasm of crimson red. There is no sky, only a roof of jagged stalagmites. It seems to be endless, this world of red fire. Everything around me burns, until I am no more.

I awake, my eyes twitching open in a sudden movement. A strange dream… or vision came over me. It felt real… surreal. I take a look around. White. White everywhere, an endless stretch of white with no depth of perception. I spot Asteri, Canavar and Tavros in the distance, who have also just awoken. Asteri held a wand, Canavar an axe, and Tavros barbed brass knuckles. I look at my palms and notice I'm holding absolutely nothing. We walk closer together so we're not as spaced out as we were. A look of worry or frustration appears on our faces. "Where… are we?" asked Tavros, looking frantically around the room. Canavar replied to Tavros' question. "I have… no clue. I really don't know what's going on, either." Tavros looked down and noticed he was holding brass knuckles. "And where did these come from?" Canavar noticed as well, as he was holding an axe despite never grabbing one. Canavar contemplates this with as just as much confusion as Tavros. "Yeah… where did these come from? What in the…" Asteri paced around in circles frantically, hands on his head with a extremely stressed expression. He muttered to himself with stress in his voice. "What are we going to do… what are we going to do.. wh-" Water appears from seemingly nowhere in the white room, and spreads throughout the room. It then gathers together, and begins to form a blob, then a humanoid shape, then a man. The man appears to be sharply dressed, with luxurious clothing. He had very deep blue eyes, with a thin yet bright yellow ring at the inner edge, that seemed to glow in the shade. He had a translucent sea tint around his whole attire of clothing, and had webbed fins as his ears, blue among the edges, white on the insides. His formal clothing resembled that of a butlers clothing, his undershirt visible with a tie, overlapped by a vest, with an open jacket that donned coattails at the bottom. It seemed as if he walked, talked, and acted formally and politely in every action he did. He smelled of newly blossomed roses. The man bowed to us in a formal manner. "Good evening gentlemen." he greeted us, with a hint of an accent. "My name is Ekvador, and I will be your escort to the Colosseum of Codas. Come with me, gentlemen." He continued walking towards seemingly nowhere without a moment of pause. We shrugged and followed him as he passed through through a seemingly unseeable wall.

Once we all went through the passageway, we came to a blood-stained arena caulked with the aura of fire, death and bloodshed. A visible distorted red barrier blocked our way from entering the field. No one was currently on it, but the field was stained with blood and weapons dug into the dirt. Many obstacles and platforms of varying elevation filled the field, from trenches, pitfalls, ladders and bridges, the place was jam-packed with butler turned towards us after reaching the red barricade. "You will fight against many different people of many different species. However, there is one rule you must follow." he instructed. "You cannot kill anyone. You may severely injure them, but cannot kill anyone under any conditions. The reason for this is so that we are always provided gladiators to be our fighters, and never run out. Good luck." Ekvador then proceeded to evaporate into thin air, presumably through his water abilities. We all clenched our weapons tighty, just as a loud cheer and applause of the audience watching the battle uproared around us. canavar and Tavros looked at each other, worried. "Do we really have to do this to escape this place?" Tavros asked. "I… I think… yes." The gate deactivated. Asteri looked out into the field. "So this is it." he said, tears forming in his eyes. "This is the end."

At that moment, all the gates deactivated, and the first one to come out were battleworn warriors, some in human form, others in their true forms. Winged monsters, to blood-scarred gladiators started swarming out from all sides. We were pushed out by guards against our will, and sent into the battlefield below. A steep hill surrounded the perimeter, and we all tumbled down the hill, avoiding spikes, chainsaws, and other death traps. Many projectiles were aimed sporadically at the hill in seemingly no direction, eliminating many gladiators before they made it to the chasms. Arrows and javelins all the way to electromagnetic impulses and geothermal grenades were launched in our direction. I rolled out of the way of many of them, some tearing my clothes apart. I noticed a giant pitfall was at the edge of the slope, and had to jump before I fell into the abyss, never to be seen again. I look at the slope after descending it, and notice that Asteri, Tavros and Canavar are still sliding down. Projectiles are bouncing off Tavros' horns, which seem to not take any damage whatsoever. Canavar uses his axe to deflect the projectiles, making sure not to hit anyone by accident. Asteri has put a magical barrier around himself, protecting him from harm's way.

My plan was to wait for them to come down, but I noticed a hoard of hostiles making their way towards me. I looked into their eyes, and saw sorrow and desperation in them. I could not hurt these people, but I'd have to stop their path. I ripped out a pillar from the ground to make a wall between them and me. I could build a barricade out of the pillars that surround the arena. It shouldn't take too long, and it should be able to hinder their attempts to attack us, at least for the most part. "Kill him and his allies! We will become legends! We will be unimpeded at last!" a loud voice shouted, standing atop the mob. I stopped dead in my tracks. They have been told to target not just me, but these three people? To become famous? To be- Wait, if the he rules say that we cannot be killed, they will have to restrain themselves. "Let's deny the rules and get straight to the killing! Go, my men! Get them, cut off their heads!" the voice yelled once more. Seem's I've been proven wrong. Asteri, Tavros and Canavar have touched down, fully descending from the deathtrap of a hill. They notice the mob of gladiators coming in their direction. "Why are they all coming for us?" Tavros asked, as they all braced themselves. A look of fear spread across their eyes. The mob neared closer. The crowd started to roar, and chant these words: "Bloodshed! Bloodshed! Bloodshed! Bloodshed!" If it had to be this way… it will be. If they want to end the lives of these three, so be it. But I won't let them get any closer than here.

In the hectic situation, I ripped a pillar from the ground to defend myself from the mob. I held the pillar in my hands, and waited for impact. T-minus 10 seconds to impact. They seem to be blinded, controlled. T-minus 8 seconds to impact. This could mean they are being mind controlled, but by who? T minus 6 seconds to impact. Ah, of course. The man that has been telling them to kill these 3 people and I. T-minus 4 seconds to impact. Even if they are controlled, T-minus 2 seconds to impact. It makes no difference if I break every piece in their body before they get to me.

The pillar shattered into a million pieces, sending almost all of them into the skies. All that made contact with the pillar were decommissioned, permanently. The closest one to the pillar was about 10 kilometers away when the pillar made contact with him. Some made it out of harm's way, but I simply slammed my foot on the ground and created a extremely deep ravine that demolished the whole entire arena, sending cracks that ran so deep lava could be seen. Everything ended quickly.

My arms and feet fractured from the immensely severe force exerted on my body and the area around me. I stood in agony, until I heard the sound of running footsteps approach me. "Are you ok?!" Asteri yelled, as he ran towards me. He stopped his momentum, and tried to catch his breath, exhausted. He then cast a healing spell successfully mending my wounds. I thank him silently. "That was totally mental, dude!" Tavros said, still shocked by what just happened. "Dude, if Asteri didn't put up that shield, we would totally be toast!" Canavar stepped in. "It's fine though. You saved us from being assassinated by those people." They all smiled, grateful for what happened. "Oh yeah, the shield." Canavar remembered. "Asteri put up a shield so powerful that we didn't get a scratch on our bodies. That was cool, right Asteri?" Asteri bashfully smiled. "Y-Yeah…" he said in a reluctant manner. The crowd was silent, and no one spoke a word. Seemingly everyone was in disbelief. For a while, we simply stood there, until I heard a familiar voice. It slithered into the ears of everyone, sending fear and terror through all. "Good morning." it said. It appeared on a wide, holographic screen as soon as it said those words. It bore a paralyzing smile. Asteri looked up at it in sheer terror. Canavar and Tavros struggled to keep a straight face without showing their fear. The crowd didn't speak a word, but every single one of their faces showed terror on their faces. "As you can tell, that round was a bit… sudden." Drav continued. "However, did you know that the little boy in the blue starred hat is actually the prince of the Magic Kingdom?" As soon as he said those words, the crowd snapped out of their fear almost uncannily and started to show resentment for Asteri. They moved as if they were being controlled, and started shouting rude remarks at him. "Burn in hell rotten wizard!" one yelled. "I'm glad your family is dead!" another one remarked. Asteri seemed to be mentally breaking down. Drav simply let out a small laugh.

"Would it be fine with you all that this lone… 'prince' fought to the death with my most trusted servant?" The crowd agreed with not one of dissent. "Yeah! Send him into the pit! Send him to die!" one cheered. "To death!" another said. In a few moments, the whole crowd began to chant. "To death! To death! To death! To death!" they chanted. Tavros and Canavar were trying to conciliate Asteri to the best of their abilities, but to no avail. No matter what method they tried, Asteri was breaking down. Tears rolled down his face. He went blank. Drav spoke once more. "Well then… shall we begin?"

In that moment, a giant wall of light appeared in the back of the arena. All that passed through it became magically repaired instantaneously. It passed through the 4 of us, and what used to be a decimated arena was now a fresh, new repaired one. The voice of Drav slithered into our ears. "This is a one on one battle, so I'm afraid the rest of you will have to sit down and watch your little friend there be torn up into pieces." Canavar and Tavros stumbled back, shocked at the remark. A statue of a stone dragon behind us morphed into titanium seemingly instantly. It then restrained us by morphing into 3 broad that coiled up around our waists. Canavar and Tavros struggled to escape, but they could not break out of the coils. Asteri simply stood still, as the crowd continued to shout a death chant. Tavros and Canavar yelled at Asteri to tell him to snap out of it, but not a word reached him. He was frozen. The gate at the other far end shattered into a million pieces, and a silhouette stepped in as the dust surrounded it. The crowd went silent. The dust cleared, and a man in a formal suit revealed himself. It was Ekvador. The crowd went wild, and cheered unrestrained. The hologram revealing the face of Drav deactivated as Ekvador walked slowly across the flat arena. "Why must I fight a impotent runt such as yourself?" Ekvador belittled. "I'll give you some room to breathe to see what laughable power you hold." Asteri simply stood there, traumatized, unmoving. The crowd continued to roar. Ekvador's expression changed from one of dissent to one of confidence. "You seem to be traumatized. In that case, I'll snap you out of your trauma." Ekvador summoned scalding water from his finger pointed to the sky, levitating over it in suspension. He then performed a flicking motion and the scalding burned into the skin on the left Asteri's face. Asteri snapped out of his frozen terror, and a face of terror slowly grew on his face as his pupils moved to the area of impact. He placed a hand over the burn wound, then looked at Ekvador, trembling in fear. Ekvador bore a sinister grin as soon as he saw Asteri's reaction. "Now then, Asteri… are you ready to face your demise?"

Asteri and Ekvador stood face to face, the roar of the crowd surrounding them from every side. Canavar and Tavros shared the same faces of immense stress and anxiety for their friend on the battlefield. They could not think of a word to say, and simply stood there in silence. Asteri stumbled back, pained by the injury, terrorized by the fear. He fell to the floor, and crawled back as Ekvador sauntered towards Asteri, looming over him. Ekvador scoffed. "If you're too scared to fight, you will simply die here." He extended two of his fingers, aiming at Asteri's head. A boiling orb of water appeared in the air. Tavros screamed. "Don't die here Asteri! Don't let your life end like this! This can't be the end!" Canavar followed "You have to live, not just for yourself, but for all of us! You can win this!" Asteri listened to those words, and snapped out of his shocked state. "Y-You're right…" he said, stumbling to get up. Ekvador looked dissatisfied, then grinned once more. "So you will fight… excellent." he exclaimed. Asteri, although still terrorized, managed to get into a defensive position, his wand extended towards Ekvador. "Don't come any closer!" he exclaimed, struggling to keep his composure. Ekvador's grin disappeared. Boiling hot water gushed out in a geyser to the sides of Ekvador, which then approached Asteri in speeds faster than bullets. Asteri braced himself and summoned a rectangular shield to obstruct the damage it would cause. It blocked the stream of water coming towards him, but the water reflected off to the sides, and moved behind Asteri, digging straight into his back. Tears flew out of his eyes, and he fell to the ground, dust falling around him. Tavros and Canavar were frozen in fear and terror as the crowd began to roar in a crescendo. Asteri's face was filled with despair, as he struggled and convulsed as he attempted to get up. Despair surrounded him, he had lost all hope. Ekvador dug salt into his wounds with his words: "I was the one who killed your mother, Asteri. It was wonderful watching the life drain from her eyes." Asteri broke. Asteri mentally shattered at that moment. The stars in his eyes disappeared at that moment. He looked up at Ekvador, his blank, cold eyes puncturing Ekvador's soul. "What. Did you say?" Asteri said coldly. Ekvador stumbled back. "Drav killed my dad… and you killed my mom…" he rasped. "You killed... my mom…" Ekvador realized Asteri's danger, and quickly attempted to restrain him, by sending water through the ground and straight into Asteri's mouth, attempting to drown him to death. "I underestimated you," Ekvador said, "but I won't let you move any more than this." Asteri struggled, but could not move. He began to lose consciousness, his world fading to black.

Asteri collapsed, unmoving, unblinking, his eyes wide open. His mouth was opened, water pouring out of it. Ekvador stood over him, grinning, yet it was slightly visible he was nervous. Canavar and Tavros stared in pure disbelief and shock. Their faces had sorrow written over it ten-fold. Ekvador gestured to the crowd, and shouted. "Asteri, the prince of the Kingdom of Constellations has been defeated, and killed." he stated, and the crowd roared in celebration. They cheered, hugged, and cavorted in joy. It was over, it seemed. It was over.

Asteri got up. Quickly. Seamlessly. He got up from his dead position and stood up, without the slightest of a noise. Ekvador was still celebrating with the crowd when he noticed. He didn't have the chance to turn around. He simply knew that Asteri was right behind him, about to make his move. Even if he tried to move at that moment, it would've been no use. Asteri had him cornered. "This is for all you've done." stated Asteri. He rose his finger up to the sky, pointing to the heavens. The sky went pitch black, all the clouds seemingly dissipating. Constellations interconnected through glowing white beams appeared in the sky. Time seemed to slow down. The constellations in the sky all flashed in light, and started to gather a beam in Asteri's finger. The stars in his eyes came back, glowing a heavenly white, the same glow as the constellations. Asteri closed his eyes, and became one with the stars. "Starscape Tessellation!"

Asteri floated up as the ground shook around him. Everyone was in disbelief at what was happening. The sky slowly became brighter as Asteri's whole entire eyes became white, beams of light shooting out of them. White, glowing cracks appeared all around his body, with rays of the light of stars coming out until he was only a glowing white figure. He pointed down at Ekvador, who was frozen in shock. Seemingly infinite monumental orbs of blinding light smashed and collided into Ekvador at lightspeed. The orbs of light pelted onto the battlefield faster than the eye could see, eventually becoming so bright that all anyone could see was the light of the stars.

The battlefield was decimated into shambles. Whatever was there is now history. The audience escaped before the carnage became a maelstrom, but Ekvador remained. He was in a horrid, dreadfully awful state. Most of his skin were shattered like a porcelain pot, with blue acidic lucent blood leaking out of gashes. He lived, but seemed as if he should've died in his current state. Asteri was simply collapsed on the ground, still breathing, but unmoving. Tavros and Canavar were at a loss for words, simply gaping at what just occurred. For a while, everything sat still. No one moved or spoke a word. We simply stood in our places, and it remained like that for seemingly an eternity.

Until one of us began to move. Ekvador stood up, his bones shattering and breaking, his joints moving in an unearthly way. He seemed to be twitching ever so slightly every second. He pulled his blood ridden hand down the right side of his face, his pupils shaking erratically. The blood stained his skin. He walked slowly, eerily, towards Asteri. Tavros and Canavar were still restrained, and so was I. Asteri turned around, and saw Ekvador standing over him, the blood dripping down his body, burning through the clothing of Asteri. Ekvador grinned. "I will make you suffer."

Asteri tried to run, but he was out of all forms of energy. Ekvador scoffed, then clutched his hands around Asteri's neck, his nails digging into Asteri's throat. The acidic blood on his fingers burned through the magicians skin. Asteri screamed in agony. "How does that feel? You could never beat me from the start." belittled Ekvador. Tears formed in Asteri's eyes, as he felt unbearable pain. Tavros and Canavar were losing control of their emotions as they watched Asteri suffer. Ekvador laughed, then slammed Asteri's face onto the floor, fracturing the rocks. Blood leaked from the impact crater. Ekvador seemed to enjoy every moment of this. "Once I'm done with you, you will be wishing you were never born." While he had Asteri's face pinned to the ground, he used his free hand to smash Asteri's left arm brutally, breaking the bones inside of it. Asteri let out an agonizing scream of pain. "You are a pitiful creature, Asteri." trivialized Ekvador. "I'm about to put you out of your misery."

The sky blackened. The kingdom was silent. The whole entire arena was in shambles. Wind gusted through the debris, kicking up the dust. Tavros and Canavar were losing it. They could not handle what was happening to their friend. "I… I can't deal with this any longer." spoke Tavros. "I can't just watch my friend be tortured and do nothing about it." Canavar nodded in agreement. "If this goes on any longer, I'll snap." he added. He looked up to the sky. "Tonight's a full moon, Tavros." Instantly, Tavros understood what he meant. Tavros looked down, and considered the idea. He looked at Canavar to see what he thought. It was clear that on Canavar's face it was the only way. "I understand." spoke Tavros, and the two held their hands in embracement.

Asteri could only think about pain. The pain and suffering induced on him. He felt pain everywhere in his body, and could not take any more. His screams would not be heard any longer, he thought. Asteri thought that he could not move no longer, live no longer. Time ended here, he thought.

Ekvador stood over Asteri, disgusted, yet pleased he is still alive. "You're hanging on still?" he depreciated. "I'll give you a nice dose of acid blood." Ekvador gashed open his wrist, and held it over Asteri's back. Ekvador scoffed. "Suffer." The acidic blood instantly melted into Asteri's robes, and burned, melted and scalded into his skin. Asteri was breaking from the impossible pain imposed on him. His world has become one of suffering. His world has become one of despair. His world was about to end. He managed to strain out his final words, reaching out his hand to nothing, staring into the end of his world. "Someone… help… me…" His arm fell to the ground, and all was done.

Everything stood still. The wind flowed through the area, being the only sound settling in the silent ruins. I stared at Asteri, realizing I have done nothing to help him. Ekvador stands over Asteri, simply staring. His deadpan expression becomes a small grin. Tavros and Canavar are nowhere to be seen. Asteri does not move, or breathe. Everything stands still. The full moon emerges over the ruins, rising above the horizon, casting two figures into a silhouette. It's immense size covers the sky, shining through the clouds as it makes its reveal.

Immense energy splits the air, colored in green and red, sending shockwaves through the sky. The clouds seem to vaporize, and the moon shines brighter. The arcs of colored energy fly around the arms and legs of the silhouettes, covering their entire bodies, causing their shaded figure to change form. Mystical lights prance around them as glowing lights appear on their clothing. The energy around them increases exponentially, causing the sky to flicker out, the stars to flicker out, but not the moon. Everything shook, everything rumbled, as if the whole entire world was falling apart.

Everything stopped, for a moment. Time froze in place for that one moment, and nothing moved. There was no color, only the green and red lights in the sky, in the moon. Everything at that exact moment… stopped. But when it began, the whole world shook.

A immense shockwave blasted and smashed through the air, shattering windows, and sending massive amounts of gravity onto all that passed through it. It ripped through Ekvador, sending him flying into a nearby pillar, shattering it. Asteri was seemingly unharmed, but I felt that something was ripped out of me and shattered once the shockwave blast passed through me. It felt as if I had something nullified, something halted until moven once again. It felt as if the very own power I held was simply nullified, and disabled. I couldn't move my body as soon as it passed through, and the energy pushed onto my body, immobilizing me. I could not move. No one could move, and right before us stood an unstoppable force. Just what was this power?

Under this immense power, everything stopped in their tracks. It was as if a gate suddenly closed in a constant stream, preventing any use of what was once there. The two figures surrounded by an aura of sheer power descended from the shadow of the moon, falling out of sight as they fell below the ruins of the colosseum. We simply stood still in awe at what was happening before us, and the only option we had is to stand still as the time passed around us. The remains of what once was the gate began to fall through the floor, passing through the ground, and disappearing from sight. I could sense the aura of energy drawing closer towards us, the pressure unbearable. The flash of green and red lights filled my eyes as the two silhouettes approached us. The iris of their eyes shone a magnificent green and red respectively, and a swarm of euphoric, energetic lights encompassed them as they sauntered towards us. One of the figures rose their hand up slowly, and snapped their fingers, and at that exact moment, the lighting changed to reveal what was once cloaked in shadow.

The two figures reveal their ascended forms, the sheer intimacy they put on our surroundings overwhelming. They resembled celestial gods, from their aura to their attire. It seemed as if nothing could stop them, and anything that attempted to would be stopped dead in their tracks. They stood over Asteri's unmoving body, silent. They stood as still as Asteri lay on the shattered rocks below, solemn, silent. Not I could sense an emotion of sorrow radiating from them, so intense that it would make any other person shed many tears. Asteri did not move. Asteri did not breathe. It must of meant that Asteri was somewhere else. Somewhere out of this world.

They stood, and grieved in silence. But somehow, I could sense they knew how to correct what went wrong. Somehow, I knew they had the power to bring someone back to life.

Chapter 7

Starscapes

The stars cover the sky on this mystical night, spread across in various constellations. The moon casts down its light on the ruins of the colosseum, directly onto the two figures. They moved Asteri's body into the moonlight, and kneeled. They appeared to be extremely distraught at what happened to their friends, donning saddened expressions as they knelt. They looked at each other, and slowly nodded, as they knew what they must do in order to save their friend.

Arcane symbols appeared around Asteri, as a constellation map formed around him, glowing an astral white. Starscapes surrounded him, a collection of the astral lights in the sky. The astral projection was encircled by twelve mysterious symbols, belonging to twelve highlighted constellations. At the center of it lay a sphere encompassed by static as it distorted in an erratic manner. Whatever was once there was now broken and dysmorphic, all the symbolism it once help drained away.

The astral map encompassing Asteri began to revolve at an exponentially rapid momentum until it became only visible as a blur. As it spun, it began to ascend, holding Asteri within. The stars in the sky began to dim as the light of the moon began to intensify. The sky began to flicker out, as if it was losing energy, and the ground beneath my feet began to thunder. The two figures looked up at Asteri, silent and solemn as they watched him ascend into the skies. Asteri's wounds began to seal in a blue lucent light as he rose.

The map of constellations stopped in its place, holding Asteri in front of the opulent moon. The moonlight shone down upon Asteri, his eyes still closed as he was held inside the map. The two figures looked up at Asteri, hope visible in their eyes. They looked at each other, and nodded. They closed their eyes, and let the power of stars and the moon combine.

At that moment, the moon shone a blinding ray of light upon Asteri, until all that was visible was his hazed slanted silhouette. The light exponentially grew brighter, so bright that all I could see in the world around us was light. It continued to increase in its radiance until everything was engulfed in light.

Asteri awoke. His eyes flashed opened, and he started breathing heavily in shock. He looked frantically, as if he nearly died, then gazed as his own palms. The two figures have reverted back into their original forms, Canavar and Tavros. They smile, happy to see their friend again. Asteri looks up, still in shock at his re-awakening, as tears form in his eyes. "I… I thought I died.." he said, looking up at his two friends. "I... I thought… I'd never see you guys again…" Canavar shook his head, with a melancholic smile. "We'd never let you die, Asteri. The whole universe could come after you and I wouldn't let them even touch you." he said, then gazed off to the side in deep thought. Tavros closed his eyes, and turned to face the moon. "No matter what happens, Asteri, we will always be by your side. Always." he stated, and faced Asteri once more. "You were the best thing that ever happened to us, and you better believe it." Asteri smiled, tears flowing down his face. "Thank you… for everything you guys have done." he said. "Thank you for giving me a light in my darkest hour."

Chapter 8

Into the Void

I lay there, processing all of what I have seen. Tavros and Canavar appear to be living gods, and I come to the conclusion that Asteri may be one as well. As for myself, I am not sure, as all traces of identity tied to me have been broken, as if they never existed at all. It seems that the cancellation effect applied to me, which has sealed my physical abilities, has been shattered, so I may move again. They must have removed it for Asteri if he was able to move. In that astral projection around Asteri, what was that fractured sphere in the center of it all? And more importantly, what was the meaning behind the projection in the first place?

"Hold on, that person we took into our house should be around here." notified Canavar. "Where is he?" Tavros looked around, and spotted me, still wrapped in metal. "Oh, there he is." he says. He rips the metal apart, freeing me from what once restrained my body. "So, you've seen a lot, haven't you?" Tavros said as he looked off to the side and scratched his head, as if he were apologizing for trouble he caused. "Well, you know more about us now, so that's… something, I guess."

Canavar looked towards the debris that was once the gate of the colosseum. "We should get out of here as soon as possible." he said, shaking his head. Asteri nodded. "I want to go home," he said. "Let's get out of here." Tavros showed his agreement with a quick gesture and we all proceeded to walk towards

\the remains of the gate, with Canvar leading us. The place was cold and desolate, a thin layer of fog surrounding our feet. The wind breezed around us, producing a quiet howl. We eventually passed the gate as we walked, and continued until Canavar suddenly stopped, stumbling. "Why'd you stop?" asked Tavros, looking over Canavar's shoulder. "Look for yourself." replied Canavar, pointing down to what was below. It turned out we stood at the edge of a cliff, leading down to a seemingly endless void. "What in the…" Tavros said in disbelief. "But there should of been something here… but now… nothing?" We stood there, trying to think of a reason why and how this appeared before us. It went on for a while, as we thought of possible theories and ideas. However, it quickly stopped. I sensed something behind us… we all did. We all knew what that aura was, that intense pressure.

Drav.

Drav appeared behind us, without a word, without a sound. We knew he was behind us, but for some reason, we could not turn our heads. I looked down, and realize he paralyzed our bodies. Somehow, I could see him, somehow I could perceive what was behind me. Rain began to fall upon us, as a storm began to brew. The atmosphere became foggy, as the rain began to pour on us. He seemed to notice as well. "You… you really are something, aren't you?" he said. The others seemed confused, but also terrified that they knew Drav was standing right behind them yet they could not move. "So what they said was right, wasn't it?" he muttered to himself. Drav's face was relaxed, yet I could sense the fury causing a hurricane inside of him. Canavar managed to let a few words slip out of his mouth. "What… do you mean… by that?" he struggled to say. It seems that he wasn't only paralyzed, but in agony at the pain that Drav set upon him. "You… know him?" Drav's eyes slitted at the remark. "No, not personally. However, he is straight in the path of my plans, so I must rid of him before anything else begins to get in my way." Asteri's eyes widened, not only because he was in terror, but the fact that he realized my imminent danger.

Drav performed a simple gesture with his hands, and seemingly instantly, Ekvador appeared. Ekvador himself looked completely recovered, as if nothing happened to him in the first place. He held a solemn composure. "Ekvador." Drav said, looking straight at us. "Send them to the Void." The slightest smirk appeared on Ekvador's face. He nodded in a respectful manner, and spoke. "Gladly."

The four of us, paralyzed in our static state, were terrified. We could not move our bodies, yet we twitch, and struggle, attempting to break free. Ekvador's footsteps drew closer and closer to us, and with every step, the sound grew louder.

In a sudden motion, he stopped in his tracks. We stood there, but we could not turn to see why he stopped, or just the fact that he stopped at all. Moment's passed by and no one said a word. We did not know why he stopped, or what he would do next. Drav gave Ekvador a signal, and began to walk away. Ekvador's smirk turned into a murderous grin, and he smashed the cliffside we stood on into fragments with one slam of his foot. The immense shockwave pushed us back, but we could not do anything to aid our dilemma. When I glanced to the side, I saw Asteri bawling a stream of tears, but Tavros and Canavar had an dissonically calm look on their faces. Their face was in the same state that they were when they resurrected Asteri, as if they knew what would happen next. We continued descending downwards, but the Void drew closer. It was clearly visible, as it absorbed all light around it, leaving a spot of nil as if was simply expunged from the world. Asteri attempted to scream in agony, but the Void drowned the sound out. I attempted to move, but to no avail. The situation was seemingly hopeless, as if there was nowhere else to go. The void neared closer, erasing everything that touched it. It came to a point that all we could see was the Void. There was no way if we could tell that it was close enough to erase our existence, as there was no perception around us. All we could do was wait for the end.

All we could do could never save us.

Chapter 9

Reveal

A flash appeared in my eyes, and time around me slowed down. I deemed this was not because I was slowing down time myself, but I processed the events around me at such a speed that the illusion that time begun to slow down began to arise.

The dilemma I faced appeared to have no solution. Despite the odds, I reached out my hand, and released something from the depths of everything that represented me.

I awoke to the sound of the roaring air around me. I looked to my side and noticed Canavar and Tavros in relaxed positions, as if they could care less about what was happening around them. Asteri was screaming in terror but the sound of the wind drowned his voice out, causing me to hear a muffled sound. They seemed to be in the same state they were as they descended into the void, albeit they were shocked for a moment by the sudden change in situation, but soon after went back to what they were doing. We appeared to have been teleported in the air, the altitude we were in seemingly reversed in value.

I looked down, but the area around me was incomprehensible. There were so many different fantastical places and areas I could not describe it. However, I was able to determine that our current landing place would be a waterfall surrounded by autumn leaves. I tapped Canavar on the shoulder, who opened one of his eyes when I did so. He seemed to understand immediately, and prepared to halt our momentum. As we continued to descend, Asteri gave up on wailing and simply pulled his knees to his torso and gently sobbed. The waterfall continued to near towards us as we fell in the sky. Tavros impaled a bird with his horns on the way down, and was currently trying to pull it off in frustration. Canavar was preparing to halt our momentum, and Asteri's hat began to drift off his head, provoking Asteri to pull it back on. "We're about to hit the ground, hang on." Canavar notified. Tavros gave a thumbs up while still focused on removing the bird off his horns, and Asteri seemingly didn't receive the message at all. "By the way, if our altitudes were reversed, we should still be falling into the void, right?" Tavros inquired. "How come we are about to land somewhere completely different?" Canavar shook his head. "The winds are strong, and we were quite high up in the sky." he answered. "We must of been pushed in a direction that caused us to land here. Speaking of which…" We appeared to be getting extremely close to the precipice that held part of the waterfall surrounded by autumn leaves. The landscape seemed to blur around us as we neared the water. Canavar held out his hands, the water nearing closer, and closer, and…

Right before we hit the water, our momentum stopped instantaneously. Canavar released the seal, and we splashed down onto the water. Tavros stood up, holding the dead bird in his hand. He tossed it off the edge of the waterfall, and looked over the edge. Canavar pulled Asteri up, and he stopped crying at that moment. Asteri seemed to be a bit dazed by what happened, stumbling at his feet, but he soon adapted to his surroundings and circumstances.

I noticed that a very powerful presence surrounded us, and so did everyone at my side. We looked in the direction it was emanating, and saw a small figure, located on a higher precipice of the waterfall, directly behind where we were facing. It was hidden amongst the shade of the autumn trees. It called down at us. "Wow, did you just fall out of the sky and stop all of your momentum?" it sneered. "That's a bit underwhelming if you ask me. Usually one would hit a ton of tree branches which would gradually slow down your momentum, but here you just stopped. Actually, at speeds like that, you'd probably die before you even got to the ground level." Canavar sighed. "You sure do talk a lot." he said, pulling off a resentful expression. "Come down here so we can get a better look at you." he requested. The figure continued to talk. "Actually, I can see you all just fine from here." it said. It then proceeded to point at us, placing its judgement based on our appearances and miens. "Here we have the werewolf with a massive ego, the clumsy hakutaku, a child, and some weird loner dude. What a great family we have here. Who's the mother, the hakutaku? I sure wonder." Asteri appeared to be offended. "Hey, you didn't even say anything other than 'child'! Where's my depreciation?" It seemed disinterested in Asteri, and glanced off to the side in disregard. "Ah yeah. Well you're a teeny tiny child, so you're worthless to me. So there you have it." Asteri's eyes watered up at the remark. "Oww…" he wailed. "Well, you asked for your depreciation, so there you have it. I hope you're happy." It began to sneer after insulting Asteri. Asteri began to cry afterwards, causing Canavar and Tavros to shoot dagger piercing glares at the figure simultaneously. "Lay off, will you?" Canavar said. Tavros added to his statement. "Or I'll make you regret ever being born." It continued to sneer. "Nice cliche one-line-" as it was about to finish a sentence, it's whole body froze up due to Canavar stopping the momentum of its body. "-r." it finished, now sweating due to its stressful situation. "Ah." it said, it's voice showing signs of worry. "Wait, if you were able to stop my momentum, that must mean you are…" it faltered after its realization. Canavar freed the figure from it's brace. "Now, come down here, will you?" Canavar ordered. It sighed. "Ok, fine." it said, and it leaped into the sky, twisting through the air, and landed with a thud onto the water, head first. It collapsed on the waterbed, and groaned. "Agh… that did not go as I planned it to…" it murmured. It got up, its clothes soaked. Asteri giggled at it's failure, causing the figure to show irritation. "Keep your little mouth shut, will you?!" it demanded, which only caused Asteri to laugh even harder than he was before. It's irritated face then relaxed slightly, and it stood in a defeated position. Tavros had a slight smile on his face in reaction to the event. "By the way, what is your name?" Canavar asked. The figure sighed. "My name is Koe." it replied attempting to squeeze the water out of its clothing. Koe had oriental styled clothing with paper lantern earrings. He wore a grey, winter jacket, along with black jeans. His eyes were a light shade of crystal blue, and his hair was a silver white. Atop his head were two ears similar to a fox, which had white fur on them and a light pink interior. Koe also wore oval-rimmed glasses Behind him were seven large tails that were very fluffy. "Anything else you want to say?" Koe asked, rhetorically. "Yes, actually." Canavar answered, "Why are you at the waterfall? Judging by your appearance, you should normally be in the colder climates, no?" Koe looked over to his left and bared a slightly stressed expression. "Ah, about that…" Koe confessed, "I'm actually a bit lost."

"Lost?" Canavar repeated, his expression turning skeptical. "Yeah. I strayed too far from the border from my territory, and encountered an extremely threatening dragon. For some reason, he let me live, muttering something about a deal he made with someone. He threw me out here, expecting me to die to the cruel world of nature, as he couldn't kill me himself." Tavros looked up with a wondering expression. "Drav couldn't kill you himself? Why is that?" he said, attempting to think of a reason why. When Koe heard the name of the Dragon Prince, he at first seemed confused and did not recognize it, but a few moments later, he felt fear and dread. "That name…" Koe said, looking as if the world flipped him off his own two feet. Canavar sighed. "That person is quite troublesome. Even uttering his name brings dread into the emotions of others. This has gained him the title of 'Drav the Dreaded'." Tavros shook his head, and looked towards Koe. "So you're lost, right?" he said. Koe's eyes slanted. "Yeah, I am. Did I not just say that?" Koe said, bearing his irritated personality. Tavros seemed as if he didn't even notice the slightly hostile nature of Koe, and continued to talk. "Well, I know my way around here, so if you need to go home you can come with us." Koe seemed skeptic about Tavros' claim. "You actually know the way around here?" he asked. Tavros shrugged. "More or less." Koe's skeptic look intensified.

"Do you know, or do you not know?"

"I know. If you don't believe me, you're free to say here in the forest, by yourself, all alone."

Tavros' ultimatum convinced Koe to join our party, albeit reluctantly. Following Tavros, we began to push forward, stepping out of the waterfall and onto the grass. We pushed through the autumn coniferous trees, until a small dirt path appeared, which we began to follow. The trees line up with the path neatly. As we walked, Koe bered his skepticism "So, if you really do know your way around here, where are we going to next?" Koe asked. "I mean, it's kind of very hard to believe that you know how to get around this place, considering how large this area is, and the fact that you just claim you know exa-" Before Koe could finish his sentence, Canavar put his palm over Koe's mouth, silently telling Koe to stop talking. Koe was surprised by this sudden gesture, and seemingly lost his train of thought, now becoming silent as we trekked. While we continued to travel along the dirt path, I noticed the many creatures that existed there. Like the initial forest I occupied, there were fairies, prancing about in the forest, illuminating the area, against the lighting of the dawn. Tavros observed the bright scarlet tinted sky and the sun seeping into the horizon. "It's getting dark, and we need shelter for the night. Let's stop here for today." he concluded. Canavar nodded his head, showing his agreement with Tavros's statement. "However, we do not have any supplies for shelter on us." Canavar noted, "So we will have to gather the materials." Tavros beared a weak smile. "That shouldn't be a problem. Everyone, stay here. Canavar and I will gather the materials for a tent and a campfire" he disclosed. He then looked directly at me. "Unless, you want to come along with us." I showed agreement to his offer, but decided to remain near Koe and Asteri for a bit longer.

Asteri and Koe stood where they were ordered to stay as Canavar and Tavros pushed into the forest. Koe scoffed. "Tch. A campfire. How boring." he slandered. "I could easily create a comfortable heater and such…" Asteri seemed piqued by Koe's mumbling. "Then why don't you just do that?" Asteri asked, with a brooding expression. Koe's expression grew concerned, and he looked off to the side. "Well, the last time I tried to use my magic, things didn't go so well…" he said, scratching his head nervously. Then Koe suddenly jumped up, as if he was snapped out of sleep. He then pointed at Asteri, irritated. "Hey! Who do you think you are, trying to get all buddy-buddy with me?" he yelled. Asteri shot his hands up in surrender. "I-I'm sorry, I was just curious!" he apologized. Koe's sudden irritation dissipated, his ears lowering. "Ok, sure…" Koe said, and he continued to mutter and complain aimlessly, as Asteri sat and watched.

Canavar called out for me, pushing aside the shrubs strayed alongside the pathway in order to create an opening. "Are you coming, or not?" He called out, patiently waiting for me. I proceeded to walk towards him and follow him into the forest. The oak trees surround us as we traverse throughout the trees, slipping throughout the landscape.

We continue to meander through the trees until a small opening is cleared in the sunset lit forest, where an indiscernible material unraveled itself in a tiled manner against the dirt and grass, at the center a massive tree, which appeared as if besides its outer shape, a whole other dimension manifested on the inside, colored in a swirling mist of blue, that occasionally flashed to static. Tavros stood beside it, staring down the unreal tree in a wistful manner. He appeared to be eyeing a bizarre object that seemed absurd in possibility. It, alike the tree, had the effect of an inner dimension along the inside of its shape, but what occurred in the shape was a maelstrom of disarray, chaos and static represented in abstract imagery. This bizarre object hung from the tree alike a fruit would do the same, and hung just over Tavros. The moment I laid my foot onto the tiles, the object fell, straight onto the palm of Tavros, who then threw it to me, which I caught and held in the palm of my hands. "This tesseract, as we now call it, represents an unfathomable amount of information that very few can grasp." Tavros spoke in psychedelic manner. "That of what has occurred in this land has been one of destruction and rebirth." Canavar attached, speaking in the same manner.

They paused for a bit after uttering those words, changing their demeanor from their divine stature to one that is less overwhelming. Tavros shook his head, in an apologetic manner."Sorry about that. But everything will fall into place. Including what you hold in your very palms." Canavar came behind me and laid his palm on my shoulder. "You can go back to the camp now," he said. "This is just what we wanted to show you. We already have the supplies, and by the time you arrive at the camp, we'll have it set up." After Canavar said those words, he slipped by a thin tree that was in my view and disappeared without appearing on the other end. Tavros simply faded out of my sight.

Left with the tesseract with my hand, I returned to the campsite.

Chapter 10

Ambush

As the moon rises, I push through the bushes and shrubbery, and meander through the trees, until I stumble upon the dirt path that we traversed not too long ago. Trees with faint shadows surround the path with the sky died a twilight blue and purple, blending in as the moon peeks above the horizon. I noticed how the once deciduous trees have become evergreen trees, meaning we must be heading in a colder appeared behind me, appearing out of seemingly nowhere. I turned my head to get a better look but when I did he was seemingly replaced with Canavar. The moment I turned back Tavros was now in front of me instead of behind me. "Illusionary, right?" Tavros said, "Canavar is able to prohibit things, but I can manipulate perception and illusion. That's how Canavar disappeared behind the thin tree, even though that should've been impossible. Then again, nothing is impossible around here." Canavar looked up at the twilight sky, where dark clouds began to loom over. "It's getting dark, we should head back to camp." Tavros nodded. "Lets g-" Before he could finish his sentence, a bright white explosion appeared behind the trees, sending shockwaves all throughout the area, shaking trees, as the area became foggy, and rain began to drizzle. Strangely, the area was not damaged at all. Canavar's expression became stern. "That could have only been Asteri. We have to get to camp, now."

When we arrived at the scene, there were many bodies scattered around, their blood staining the grass and trees around. Embers burned around the camp, surrounded by evergreen trees. Rain began to pour down, The embers beginning to smolder. The camp appeared to suffer major damage. A foggy atmosphere surrounded the camp, as the rain fell. A groan arose somewhere in the camp, and we walked towards it. Koe and Asteri lay face down the dirt, mud and grass, heavily cut and bruised, but still alive. We turned over their bodies, their faces dazed, breathing heavily. When they saw us, they smiled, knowing they were safe. Tears began to form in Asteri eyes, as they both lost consciousness due to shock.

Tavros picked up Asteri, holding the magician in his arms, and Canavar did the same with Koe. "Who… did this?" Tavros said, his face showing severe concern for the two. Canavar, his face also showing severe unease, only shook his head. A sharp sound echoed in the mist, as the fog began to surround us. Something lurked in the fog, invisible to our eyes. The sound of its footsteps surrounded us, coming from seemingly no direction. We were paralyzed, as it closed in on us. I could sense its presence, but not its location. It came closer. My heartbeat began to increase. Where was it? Where was it going to attack from? I had no answers to these questions.

A sharp light glinted off the rain. A razor blade held by a gloved hand bordered on the neck of Tavros. "Stop." said a voice, "Don't move, or his neck will be slit." I could not distinguish the sweat that began to overcome us from the rain pouring on our bodies, nor could I decipher what was behind Tavros. "You're going to slit his neck? That's a bit tasteless." Canavar said, preparing to use his abilities. The figure smiled, barely visible among the fog. "That is where you are wrong." it said, putting the blade in Tavros's hand. "He will slit his own neck."

It's smile turned into a murderous grin. "Do you understand? He'll take his own life. It won't be my hands that will be covered in blood. His will." it averred, placing his hands on top of Tavros's eyes. "I've already put him in my control." Tavros's eyes became lifeless, his pupils staring thousands of miles, as if his own soul was ripped out of his body. The figure lifted a body that lay deceased in the dirt. It's head was covered in blood, dripping down its face, it's eyes filled with static. "I commanded this one repeatedly bash his head against a tree," the figure said, as it picked up another body, whose face was covered in slits and gashes, and an empty socket where an eye should have been. It's missing eyeball was on the floor, its optic nerve still connected. The eyeball was also filled with static. "And I commanded this one repeatedly lacerate his face with a razor blade, until he died of blood loss and shock. In addition, I made him scoop out his own eye with a kitchen spoon. Case and point, I can do much worse to your little friend here than command him to slit his own neck."

Canavar's face turned dangerously grim. "What was the reason for killing all of these people presumably on your side?" The figure's smile vanished. "They outlived their usefulness. When I saw they could not kill the targets I was assigned, I decided to slaughter them all." it said, scratching its neck. "Anyhow, I'm becoming impatient. It's better to murder you all while you're here then wait. And I'll start with your little friend here." Canavar tried to move to stop the figure, but his eyes became filled with static and he dropped to the floor, lifeless. Tavros held the razor blade tightly, causing his palms to bleed. He moved it towards his neck slowly. His pupils stood still, as if they stared at the edge of the world. The figure laughed maniacally. "I may not be able to control you fully," it said, consulting me, "but I can at least paralyze your muscles. You will watch everyone you know die at my power." The razor blade continued to advance towards the neck of Tavros, the hand gripping it tightly, causing blood to gush through it. His arm began to shake as the razor blade neared closer and closer to Tavros's neck. A demented smile appeared on Tavros's face, as the blade came inches away from his neck.

Blood splattered from the neck, spraying all over the trees.

Silence filled the forest, the only sounds were the rain and the blood dripping down from the razor blade. The figure stood motionless. "Wh… what…" it voiced, "How… that's… impossible…" A razor blade was jammed into a neck, the blood splattered all over it. It was jammed straight into the neck of the unknown figure. Tavros's crazed smile slowly dispersed, as the figure stood still in shock. Tavros then in a flash movement jammed his elbow into the figure's nose, sending the figure flying into a tree, snapping the tree in half. Tavros turned around, and the aura around him became pressurizing. "My mind is worlds and dimensions beyond yours. Attempting to control it was your downfall." Tavros said, in a cold and threatening voice. "Do you know who I am?" The figure, breathing heavily and shaking, its face covered in blood, only shook its head slowly. "Have you ever heard of the legends of the Lunatic Moon Lords?" Tavros said, as the moonlight pierced through the sky. Fear shot through the figures eyes. "No… that cannot be… you should be… dead…" it said, as it dispersed into smoke.

At that moment, Canavar was freed from the control over his mind. "Tavros, where is he?" Canavar asked, seemingly ignoring the fact that Tavros hasn't slit his neck. "I, hopefully, killed him." Tavros said, with not a hint of remorse in his voice. "I see." Canavar said, "Just who was that?" Tavros shrugged. "I didn't get a clear look at him, but he appeared to be wearing a surgeon's mask, had black hair, and radiant yellow eyes." The rain began to turn into a light drizzle at that point, and the fog cleared. "Actually, I think I recognize him." Canavar said, observing the bodies and the blood. "He was the leader of all those gladiators back there. Probably controlled them all to attack us." Tavros sighed. "Well, now that that whole ordeal is over, we need to rebuild the camp." Canavar nodded. "I hope Asteri will wake up soon. Your palm is gushing blood uncontrollably, and it needs to be healed. Sometimes your insanity gets the best of you, for the better or the worse." Tavros shrugged. "It's fine. It's just a flesh wound." Tavros accounts for, which he then slathers the blood on his face in a war-style fashion. "It makes great war paint." I look over at Canavar, who shows slight discomfort at Tavros's 'war paint'. "Yeah. Sure." he remarks, and begins to repair the camp. "Let's just get this thing fixed and get Asteri to heal your wounds."

Chapter 11

Frostbite

The skies were relatively clear, the clouds making way for the dawning sun. As I walk into one of the tents, Asteri shoots up from his bed. "Koe! Are you ok?!" Koe, who appears to be resting in a bed directly opposite to Asteri, replies. "Yeah, I'm ok. The question here is, are you ok? Your head, I mean." he replies. Asteri looks at himself, clearly missing the blatant insult. "I… I think so?" he replies. Koe, acknowledging that his insult failed to overcome Asteri, simply groaned, rolled his eyes, and attempted to rest once again. Asteri then gets up from his bed, and greets me. He walks past by me and freezes up in shock. I turn to see what caused his shock and I find Tavros sitting in a bathtub outside his tent, filled with blood. "Hello Asteri. I appear to be taking a quite literal bloodbath." Tavros says in a heedless manner. Asteri couldn't think of anything else to say, as he was too staggered to do so. "Don't worry, it's not some other person's blood," Tavros says, raising up his palm from the blood bath to show his injury. "It's mine. I need healing."

Canavar walks out of his tent, still showing discomfort at Tavros's antics. "He's been bleeding so much that it's like he has an unlimited amount of blood." Canavar says, eyeing the tub. "It's concerning. He's concerning." Tavros relaxed in the blood. "If you're going to ask where the tub came from, you are only perceiving it as a tub. It could be anything else, it comes with my power over illusions and perception. However, the amount of blood in this very tub is most definitely equal to how much I bled overnight, so I'm in a very critical condition. I need healing." Asteri shakes his head in an attempt to escape his daze and runs to the tent grabs his wand. He runs back after grabbing said wand, and points at Tavros, who's bathtub has mysteriously vanished, only leaving a pool of blood on the floor. Asteri points his wand at Tavros. "Ok, I'll heal you Tavros, I cast Blood Infusion!" Asteri shouts out, and the pool of blood begins to gravitate towards Tavros's wound, and in a matter of seconds, the wound is healed as if nothing occurred, and the blood was stripped clean. Tavros smiles. "Thanks for the heal." Tavros says, smiling. But do you really need to scream your spells, or even use the wand at all?" Asteri sighed. "No… but it has a nice cosmetic effect, you know?"

"We need to get moving. Koe's home is not too far from here." Canavar says as he folds up the tents and pushes Koe out of his bed. "Agh… disturbing my quality sleep time, thanks for that." Koe says, irritated. "You're welcome," Canavar replies, ignoring Koe's irritation. "Now let's go. You should be able to handle the cold front that is your home the easiest. "Sigh. Fine." Koe says, and we continue our journey.

We walked for miles, but it only felt like seconds, as if we perceive time faster than it flowed in reality. I think back on what others have said, and I remember that Tavros mentioned his control over illusions and perception. He must of made us perceive time at a higher rate in order to make the trip seem faster than it was in reality. Koe and Canavar seem to understand what has just happened to the extend I have, but Asteri seems to only be confused. It seems that we have walked for miles, as I appear to be exhausted by the long trek. The path has faded, but the trees still remain separated in the direction the path has followed. In addition, snow appears to have befallen to the ground, and the environment in general. The evergreen trees surround us, spanning the hills for miles.

Asteri shivers from the cold, while everyone else shows indifference to the low temperature. "I-I-It's-so c-c-cold…" Asteri stammers, shivering and trying to warm himself up for heat, "How c-c-come you guys aren't f-f-freezing to death?" Canavar shrugged. "Eh. Cold never bothered me." Tavros smirked. "That's a total lie," Tavros replies, and looks up as if he was contemplating memories. "Back then you would always whine and complain about how much you hated the c-" Canavar prohibited the sound Tavros was making, and looked back, not showing his face. "We don't talk about the past." At that moment, Tavros's smirk turned into a full blown grin. "You're still trying to act cool? You're totally blushing right now, I know it." Canavar's ears and face seemed to turn into a reddish color. "Shut it, Tavros. Shut it. I don't need you ruining my composure. You can't tell if I'm angry, as my face could also turn red in such a moment." Canavar said, as he attempted to look away from everyone. Asteri noticed the scarf, and then noticed the winter-like clothing he was also wearing. "Wait, when was I wearing a scarf, jacket, boots and earmuffs, and gloves? And why is everyone else also wearing some form of winter-wear?" Asteri questioned, as he looked at at his clothing. Tavros smiled. "I put them all on you and the others when they weren't looking. Of course, Canavar saw right through it." Koe shivered, but it seemed to not be from the heat. "To think you can just do that… it gives me the shivers." Koe says, scratching his ears."

In a sudden moment, a voice echoed through the trees. "You thought you killed me, didn't you? I wouldn't say you were wrong for thinking so." the voice said, resembling the one who attempted to kill us all back in the camp. "However, you do not know much about me. You see, it is impossible to kill me, I am immortal. I can recover from every injury you put onto me. Despite that, I still feel pain, and I felt the need to fall back and watch you from afar." Koe talked back, expecting the voice that seemed to surround us to reply. "And why would you be telling us this? Wouldn't this be disadvantageous to your cause?" The figure's voice continued to echo throughout the mountains, coming from seemingly no direction. "My cause is to end your lives, for bounty money. The Red Dragon will pay well for your heads on a pike.", The voice paused for a moment, leaving only the wind gusting past us gently. "My name is Orvos. Unless you survive this, this will be the last time we meet. If you do, remember this name the next time we neet. Goodbye." The voice, now identified as Orvos, paused, and the wind began to howl. The trees shook gently with the breeze, as the voice disappeared instantly. We anticipated an attack, but nothing came. We stood there, waiting, but the only sound was the wind and the that moment, a shockwave shook the earth beneath us.

Chapter 12

Frostbite [Part 2]

The shockwave, and the intense explosive sound that came with it, rippled through the mountains. We looked at its origin, and it was set atop a mountain that originally held static snow. The explosion caused the snow to crumble down the mountain, setting off a large scale avalanche. The mountain that the avalanche was set off from was directly parallel to us, so we had a very slim chance of escaping it. The ground began to quake as the avalanche rapidly descended down the mountain. Canavar began running. "If we don't move now that avalanche will rip us to shreds!" Canavar shouted, as he bolted through the snow covered hills, filled with evergreens blanketed by snow.

Everyone began to run at that moment, attempting to outrun the avalanche. It appeared to be in vain, as the avalanche neared us with every step we took. Trees were flattened by the sheer force of the tsunami of snow, proving it would most definitely crush us and bury us, causing us to suffocate and most literally send us six-feet-under. The avalanche began nearing us, inching closer and closer no matter how fast we ran. It caused the ground to rumble as the sound of trees crashing down all around us rang. At this point it was only yards away from us, and it was only going to get closer. "We can't outrun this thing!" Asteri yelled, visibly showing exhaustion. Koe, also exhausted, agreed. "I'm… not… that fit, you know!" he said, taking breaths in between his words. "I'll… die of exhaustion… before that avalanche even… gets the chance to kill me!"

"Hey guys, have you noticed that there is a cliff at the end of this path?" Canavar said, now carrying Koe on his back due to Koe's exhaustion.

"What? Oh, wow." Koe said, showing fear and annoyance at the inconvenience that was ahead of them. "So, any ideas on how to prevent this avalanche from flattening us like a pancake?" Tavros asked, eyeing the edge of the cliff that neared us. Koe nodded. "I can set up a shield to stop the avalanche from destroying us, but I don't think I'll be able to hold it off for long." Asteri, who was now on Tavros's back due to his own exhaustion, was curious about Koe's claim. "Wait, you can make shields?" he inquired. "Uh, yeah I can. Didn't you see my powers when we were holding off those bandits?" Koe replied. "No, I was too caught up holding off the bandits on my own that I wasn't looking. What are your powers anyways?" Hearing Asteri's reply, Koe's face turned miffed, and he did not say anymore.

The avalanche gained on us, only inches away from our heels. Simultaneously, the cliff edge began to close in on us, leaving us in a dire position. As the avalanche and the cliff closed in on our position, Canavar notified us. "We have to break now! Get that shield up!" Right before the avalanche crushed us, Koe set up a shield. The avalanche flooded past the shield, and applied extreme amounts of pressure onto it. Canavar used his power to stop our momentum before we were sent off the cliff. "Why didn't you use that to stop the avalanche?" Koe asked, struggling to keep the shield up. "I can only stop an area of things at a time, the avalanche would of kept flowing anyhow and it would be ultimately useless." Canavar explained, showing visible stress at the state of the shield. The avalanche pushed past it extremely fast, flowing at rapid speeds past the shield. "How long is that thing going to hold?" Tavros asked, looking down below the cliff. "Not long, honestly. The pressure is too intense and the area is too great for this shield." Koe answered, sweating under the stress applied to the shield. "It will explode when it is broken, so that should prevent us from being buried under the avalanche." Canavar nodded. "So, when will that b-"

The shield exploded, sending us flying across the cliff. The flowing snow of the avalanche cushioned our descent, as we fell past the mid-air snow. The avalanche caused the elevation to increase enough that our fall would be safe, but we would still suffer injuries nonetheless. When we hit the ground, we fell straight through the snow. I landed with only my arms and my head sticking out of the snow. All that was visible of Canavar was his arm, and for Tavros his horns. Koe was nowhere to be seen, although a suspiciously fluffy object seemed to give away his location. A magicians hat floated down on top of Asteri's head, who landed with the most of his body above the snow, with only his torso being stuck in the snow for the most part.

A mysterious figure approached Asteri, while Tavros attempted to dig out of the snow, revealing his head. The figure looked down at Asteri with a menacing dreadful stare, one reminiscent of Drav's stare. However, this was very clearly not Drav. Asteri looked up at the figure and began to quiver anxiously in an abundant manner. Tavros stared at the scene unfolding upon him silently, with a slightly strained expression. The figure pulled Asteri up by his upper torso, with the same intimidating stare, yet in a disoriented way. Asteri, his arms hanging over the figures hands, only sweated nervously, with a loss of what to say. "Who are you?" the figure said, in a cold, yet un-malicious manner. "What are you doing on our territory? Did you not see the signs notifying you of approaching our territory?" the figure asked, studying Asteri. Tavros popped out of the snow instantly. "Get your hands off Asteri!" he yelled. At that moment, Canavar also immediately got himself out of the snow. "Someone's touching Asteri?" Canavar asked, his stance increasingly becoming pugnacious. Asteri still could not find any words for the increasingly hostile situations, and only became as nervous has he did before. The figure cocked his head in a pressurizing way, and he stared at Tavros and Canavar. "So you're looking to pick a fight, aren't you?" The figure said, its voice becoming fully cold, with only hints of hostility. "Then so be it." Once the figure said those words, he let go of Asteri, causing Asteri to fall on the floor ineptly. The area around the figure's hand began to freeze, causing the water molecules in the air to turn into ice. It formed a sword made of ice, which the figure gripped in his hand. Around the edge of the sword was a line of steam vapor edging the blade, which seemed to be superheated to a ludicrous amount. The figure pointed the sword at Tavros and Canavar. "I'm giving you one last chance to leave." the figure said, giving its ultimatum.

Tavros beared a dangerous smile. "I'm sorry, but I won't take your offer." Tavros said, distorting the area around him. "Instead, I'll leave you six-feet-under." Canavar stood silently, moving his body into a combative position. "You won't be able to withstand our power." said Canavar, "We will kill you before you even get move an inch." The figure did not show a hint of fear at their claims. It didn't even flinch, or move a muscle. "Very well." is all the figure said, as the battle begun.

Canavar dived in for an attack, but the figure caused the air to freeze, creating ice walls that blocked Canavar's attempts. The figure didn't seem to realize Tavros was right behind him, as Tavros warped the perception around him to make himself invisible from the surrounding environment. Tavros pulled out knives from seemingly nowhere, but it could be assumed these were also perceived invisible to others. He held the knives wedged between his fingers, and a demented smile appeared on his face. Canavar broke through the ice barriers, and attempted to lunge at the figure, but the figure swung its sword at Canavar, forcing him to move out of the way. The swing caused a crescent of scorching water vapor to elude from the figure's sword, causing the snow it touched to melt instantaneously, and it even cut into the dirt and stone below it, liquefying them into magma. Canavar dodged the attack successfully, and waited for an opening before attacking. Asteri has taken cover behind the top of an evergreen tree, as the area for the most part was submerged in snow. Tavros flicked a knife at the figure, still invisible to its perception. However, once the knife barely cut into the clothing of the figure, its reflexes worked at intense speeds, causing it to dodge the knife, which seemed impossible.

The figure seemed to realize that it could not see Tavros, so it went for attacks that covered the battlefield. It speared the snow below it with its sword, and unleashed a large ring of scalding steam around him, which cut through the rocks, hills, and trees in its path. Asteri climbed to the top of the tree in order to avoid it, which worked in his favor. Canavar stopped the momentum of the steam, but had to move out of the way due to the intense temperatures. Tavros barely escaped the attack, having the horns protruding from his head nearly cut off. The fluffy object in the snow nearly got hit by the steam, causing it to twitch. Suddenly, the object, now revealed to be Koe, started digging out of the snow. "What was that? Who did that?" Koe asked, bewildered and oblivious of the situation around him.

When Koe got out of the snow, everyone was caught off-guard, frozen in place and staring at him. "Huh? What?" Koe asked, still oblivious. He shook his head and looked at his surrounded, and he fell back from the shocking event before him. "Wait, you two are fighting my brother? Wait…" Koe faltered. The figure's weapon melted in his hands; he was frozen in place, his eyes wide open. "Kaon?" Koe said, revealing the name of the figure. "Koe?" Kaon replied back. "I thought Drav got you for sure. Didn't kill you, but did something horrible to you." Kaon's voice faltered. "Every second without you was so painful… do you know how much I miss you?"

Koe smiled, tears beginning to form in his eyes. "I feel the same way Kaon. I've had you on my mind this whole time. I was so scared when I was lost, but these people brought me back home." Koe rubbed the tears off with his sleeve. Kaon walked over and hugged Koe.

"You're safe with me now, Koe. Let's get back home. Oh, and take these people along too. I need to give them my thanks." Everyone had a warm smile on their face after this moment. As Koe and Kaon walked away, Tavros began to follow. "Well, you heard the guy. Let's go."

Chapter 13

Glacier River

As we followed Koe and Kaon, I noticed Asteri looking as if he was in deep thought. "Wait, so how did a deadly fight turn into a heart-warming moment almost instantly?" he asked, scratching his head in thought. "It's almost like no one noticed that it happened that fast, me included. I'm only noticing it now…"

Tavros shrugged. "Well, it was a nice moment in all. But Kaon is a huge threat, you know? I'm glad he's on our good side." Canavar nodded in agreement.

"He's on the same level as… you know who. The Dragon." Canavar said, being careful to not mention the Drav by name.

Kaon himself had the same coloring as Koe, however, he had nine fluffy tails instead of seven, no glasses, and icy cold cyan eyes compared to Koe's deep blue. He wore an arctic eskimos fur jacket with thick white fur trimming on the hood and wrists, and colored a dark grey for every other part of the jacket. The jacket was unzipped, yet barely open, revealing a sliver of the white shirt underneath, and dark blue jeans. Compared to his brother, his hair was quite unkempt.

By the time we had that conversation, we had already left the site of the tree covering avalanche, and once we passed another section of evergreen trees we were now spanning across a small glacial area, with a river that had the occasional small glacier.

"Step on this ice chunk." Koe notified us. "It will flow to the other side of this river." On the other side of the river held another evergreen forest, however, a town build with log-cabin buildings seemed to be on the other side. "A lot of strange things happen in this place we call the Glacier River." Koe explained. "Infact, not just here, but around this whole entire area. But, everything in this whole entire land is weird, so its not saying much." As Koe talked, a starfish encased in ice surfaced from the ocean. Everyone looked at it, mostly confused and bewildered on how such a thing could even happen. "My point stands. I don't know how half of the stuff that surfaces in this river even gets here." Koe said, picking up the ice-encased starfish. Canavar observed the starfish, visibly interested.

"Huh. I don't think starfish should even exist around these parts. The coastal areas and lakes in this place are at the bottom of this land. I wonder how they ended up all the way over here?"

Tavros shrugged. "Well, in this land of illusion, things like that are possible. You just don't question it."

The glacier we stood on had fully crossed the river, and landed to the other side. I noticed that the tesseract I was carrying begun to malfunction near the area, which it was not doing until we reached the river, and neared the town. We stood on the other side of the river, tall evergreens ahead of the ice we stood on, with a small log-cabin visible where an opening formed in the trees.

"We're here. Welcome to Borealis, the town of the Arctic." Kaon announced, with a small, yet visible smile on his face. "Before we talk, let's first enter the town." As Kaon began walking, we began to follow as we walked neared the opening in the evergreen trees. Once we neared the trees, we stood on snow, grass and dirt instead of ice. A wide dirt path was revealed to us, with trees bordering each side of the path. A checkpoint in a log cabin style was a fair distance away from us, with a sleeping guard inside. Next to the checkpoint was a small log cabin with a yellow light radiating from the windows.

The sleeping guard didn't even open an eye when we walked towards the checkpoint. The guard appeared to be snoring quite loudly, and didn't seem to notice us even when we arrived at the checkpoint. The guard himself was wearing The checkpoint was in the style of a tollbooth, and even had a long piece of wood blocking the area off. Behind the tollbooth window were objects such as a mug of hot cocoa, with marshmallows, postcards and pictures of the guard and other individuals, dices and other heterogeneous items. The guard appeared to be sleeping on an office swivel chair. He wore clothing that bared resemblance to a winter policeman's outfit and an eskimo's jacket. His hat rested atop his eyes.

Kaon walked up to the tollbooth and knocked on the window. The guard didn't flinch. Kaon sighed, and knocked harder, cracking the window. The sound of the knock and the window cracking finally woke the guard from his slumber. He jumped and staggered from the shock of waking up, causing his hat to slip off. The guard looked around with his eyes wide open, and once he noticed the presence of Kaon, began to sweat nervously.

"Hey, Sibir." Kaon called out to the guard, "If you can't do your job properly, there is a chance that while you're dozing off in that chair of yours, someone can torch the whole entire village." The guard nodded, showing his understanding. "Even if you can't, try to do your job properly. For the best of the village." Kaon finished.

Koe smiled. "He's really softened over the years." Koe said under his breath, trying to quiet his voice so no one could hear him.

"Anyhow, open the gate. Koe has been returned safely to the village."

The guard's eyes widened once again. "Koe? I didn't even see you there!" he said, stunned. Koe looked over to the side.

"Yeah, well thanks for noticing me now."

Kaon gestured us over his shoulder. "Open up the gate. I have a few guests I need to give my regards." The guard nodded.

"Right away."

Chapter 14

Aurora Borealis

We arrived in the village, and were surrounded by a peaceful atmosphere in the cold winter. Lights of warmth shone throughout the village held in lanterns. Homes that took an impressive turn on the architecture of log cabins surrounded us. Many kitsune strolled around the village, and so did some other mythological creatures, such as a tizheruk, who was standing around in a jacket having a conversation with a cream-furred kitsune. The people in the town were quite friendly, greeting us as we walked by. Tavros and Canavar smiled back gently, as Asteri waved in return to the friendly greetings.

Kaon walked side by side with Koe in front of us, as a feeling of general contentment and merriment arose from everyone in the village. As we walked down, various vendors and shops were spread across the village. Some sold things such as skewered fried fish and eel, which Tavros bought a few of, and others sold items like lanterns and clothing. Tavros bit into the eel, and looked satisfied with what he bought. "The food around here is really great!" Tavros said, with the food still in his mouth. Koe looked at Tavros, and raised an eyebrow.

"Hasn't anyone told you to not talk while eating?"

Tavros shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal, honestly."

"I'd like to digress." Koe replied. "Eating with your mouth open lowers people's opinions of you, and is just… disgusting in general. No one wants to see that." Tavros seemed indifferent about Koe's view on the habit. "The same thing goes with being a smartass, you know."

By that time we had walked away from the town and now climbed a road that curved up a hill. It seemed to be plowed for the most part, and was tiled with a stone brick pattern. Asteri looked up at the curve, and noticed a log cabin mansion. A mansion in the form of a log cabin. "Whoa… what… whoa… what?!" Asteri aired in disbelief. "Is that… a log cabin mansion?!"

"Yeah." Kaon replied, continuing to walk up the path. "We're going inside."

After we finally made our way up the hill, we arrived at the patio of the log cabin mansion. We then passed the fountain in the center of the tiled path, which on the sides, there was green grass and flowers despite the temperature. "How come there are still flowers and grass when we're up in the arctic?" Asteri asked. "Oh, we have specific grasses that stay green in the winter and evergreen flowers. Koe answered. "Because of that, the patio stays like this all year long."

"Huh… didn't know stuff like that existed…" Asteri said, staring at the flowers as we walked. "You don't really know much of anything, don't you?" Koe remarked.

"We're here." Kaon announced, once we finally reached the door. "This mansion looks quite nice." Canavar remarked. "Who keeps it all in order?"

"Oh, we have various creatures and things like fairies help out. We do pay well." Kaon answers, as he opens the door. Once the door opens, a wave of warm air is felt as we walk inside. The interior is fancy but lax, with the appearance of a ski lodge with modern influences. Straight ahead of the entrance is a great stairways, with various halls to the left and right. We stood in the main lobby, which contained some chairs, sofas, and a fireplace in the middle. In addition, there was a pool table and unfinished games of chess. Asteri looked all around the place, taking it all in. "This place is… huge." he perceives. Canavar, while impressed, seemed skeptical. "As far as I know, you two are basically the only owners. Why would you need this much space?" he asks, while also taking it all in. "Well, we're not the only ones here. The guard, Sibir also gate guards this mansion, and there is about two more significant persons around here." Canavar, while listening, keeps an eye on Tavros and Asteri as they traverse the mansion. He is also keeping an eye one me as well. "Really now?" he asks. "Who are these two people?"

Kaon looks up at the chandeliers on the roof. "Ah, well, one of them is out at the moment so I won't mention them. The other is a dokkaebi." (Pronounced Tokkaepi)

"Dokkaebi?" Canavar inquired. "You mean those korean demons?" Kaon nodded. "Yeah. You can find the dokkaebi somewhere in the mansion. I'm not sure exactly where."

Kaon proceeded to turn towards the rest of us. "I will prepare some dinner in thanks for what you've done for my brother. Feel free to explore the mansion during the intermission." Having said that, Kaon walked up the grand staircase and disappeared out of view.

Canavar rubbed his eyes and spoke to us. "Well, I'm guessing you all heard the talk about the dokkaebi, so I guess we'll try to find it."

Koe looked to the side nervously. "I mean, I know him since he sort of lives here at the mansion, but his powerful presence makes me uncomfortable. Honestly, I'd rather just stay away."

Tavros shrugged. "Well, you can go with your brother. I don't see much else to do around here, so we're going to go and find him."

Koe looked to the left nervously, not really wanting to be included in this quest. "Well, you guys do you." After saying that, he began to walk up the stairs.

Asteri looked around. "So… where are we going to look to find this demon?"

Tavros shrugged, again. "I don't know."

Asteri, still looking around the main lobby we were still in, continued to ask. "What do you think he looks like?"

Canavar looked up. "Probably a intimidating, large hulk of a demon. One that inspires fear into others. One with raging flames, blue flames, that signify its upbringing." He paused. "I think that's what it would look like."

Asteri stopped dead in his tracks, visible shaking in fear. "Uh… actually, I'm good. I'd rather not look for him." he said with a nervous tone in his voice. He started to walk back slowly, hiding behind the three of us.

Suddenly, we felt a very strong presence. Tavros, who was lightly sweating, simply said. "Not again… what's with these pressuring presences?"

We all stood, ready to encounter what was coming for us. As the presence drew near, the flames of the fireplace turned blue. Under his breath, Canavar said "A dokkaebi…" Suddenly, a large shadow began to loom out of the shadows cast by the blue flame. Large horns of a demon were seen on its shadow. Asteri shook in fear at what was to come. The shadow loomed closer, and grew bigger with each step. Then, we saw it. The dokkaebi. The demon. It was there, and it was…

Really small. Around the same exact height as Asteri. And it looked pretty young too at that, having the same appearance in age as Asteri, maybe even younger. Asteri himself was just confused, and so were we all. He looked harmless, but we could sense that he could do some serious harm.

The dokkaebi seemed to be just wandering around with no real aim to his direction, moving around in an absent-minded manner. In addition, he didn't seem to notice us. We now stood confused at what we thought was threat, now revealed itself as a small child. He had orange eyes and orange-brown rusty hair. His horns protruded out of the sides of his head, pushing out with a slight curve. They were colored brown. The horn seemed to be hollow, as inside were blue flames that appeared through psychedelic carvings in the horns. They seemed to reside inside the interior of the horn. He wore a plain white t-shirt with a blue flame emblem, and camo boxer shorts. Along his wrists were what appeared to be grey arm warmers that centered at his elbow and didn't reach the palms of his hands. At the end were two bracelets, one made of blue flames, another made of metal. On his legs were basically the same attire, as he donned grey leg warmers that centered around his knees, and below his socks and basic sneakers were rings of blue fire surrounding his shins. As stated before, he appeared to be exactly the same height as Asteri.

He turned around, noticing us. "Huh? Who are you guys?" he asked, caught off guard by our appearance. He seemed to focus solely on me, Canavar and Tavros. Asteri wasn't in clear sight.

"Well, my name is Canavar, and this is Asteri, Tavros, and the other guy." Canavar said, introducing us. "Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm Tujaeng." the dokkaebi replies. "Uh… what are you people doing here? And… Asteri?"

"Wait a second…" Asteri says, coming out behind a corner. "Tujaeng?"

"Wait… Asteri?"

"Tujaeng? It's been so long since I've last seen you..." Asteri said, tears forming in his eyes.

"Yeah… it has, hasn't it?" Tujaeng replied, looking down, to the side in sorrow.

Tavros looked over at the two. "Huh. I honestly didn't foresee that. I usually do foresee events like this, but..."

"He befriended a dokkaebi?" Canavar inquires.

"Apparently so. It's not that hard, actually." Tavros justifies.

"Huh. Next thing you'll know, this guy next to us will have some connection to some celestial god."

"That isn't too unlikely."

Tavros and Canavar pause for a moment, and look directly at me. Tavros looks up, and says: "...Honestly, I don't think it's unlikely at all."

Chapter 15

Unfold

The two talked with each other, sharing their reunion at the mansion. It seemed that they were friends for what seemed to be their whole entire life.

"Tujaeng, do you know how much I've missed you?" Asteri said, with a tone of serious sadness in his voice. "Once the kingdom fell, I never got to see you again after that. It's been so long… too long."

"If I'm going to be honest here, it was the same exact way for you. I was actually waiting for you outside the castle door. Once the attack began, I barely escaped. They… they nearly killed me." Tujaeng replied, looking to the side. "I… I didn't know where to go after that. I was kind of lonely, didn't have any real parents except for yours."

Asteri silently listened as Tujaeng continued to talk. "I was lost, lost in this world with no idea where I was going. I didn't realize it at first, that I was building up immense strength. I didn't fight back then, so I didn't really know…"

"So… but… what about all the stuff you could carry without effort? Back… then?" Asteri questioned.

"Ah, that. Honestly, I thought that was magic. I… didn't really know much about anything. Not even about myself..."

"Yeah… about that. I didn't realize you were a dokkaebi…"

"Well, actually, it may come as a surprise to you, but I didn't realize it either…"

Tujaeng looked down, with a stressed expression. "Honestly, every time I try to remember my past, it feels like it was just… erased."

The Day the Magic Kingdom Fell

Tujaeng stood at the door of the castle, waiting for his best friend Asteri to emerge from the doors. He appeared to be noticeably smaller than he already was, as the same was for Asteri at this time. The guards have accepted his presence among the kingdom, but still show discomfort. Tujaeng seemed to be unaware. "Hey, when is Asteri going to come out?" Tujaeng asked. The guard was startled a bit, but continued talking nonetheless.

"Oh, not yet. I'm afraid." he answered. "It's not even sunrise yet. At this time he would have just woken up.

Tujaeng looked disappointed. "But… aw, oh well…" Tujaeng trailed off, walking away from the guards. He decided to let himself in if no one else would. He used a staff that has always been with him, and phased through the stone walls of the castle. As he had found his way into the castle with ease, he could help but grin at his accomplishments.

He quietly made his way up the staircases and hallways, making sure no one could see him. He passed wizards, magicians, nobles, knights, and not a single one noticed him. He believed this was due to him being a master of stealth, but it was most likely because they were all distracted by the feeling of dread that overcame them. Tujaeng, however, was immune to this sudden feeling, and made his way to the top of the tower.

At the top of the tower, he saw Asteri talking with his father, the king of the kingdom. It was dawn, sunrise, the 3000th anniversary of the kingdom. Mist surrounded the tower, but the landscape in front of it was in full view. The father talked to Asteri, as they stood on the balcony. "By the time you become king, I may not be there to aid you. But know that it will be ok." he spoke. "You are destined to become the greatest ruler of us all, my son. And know that wherever you go, whatever you become, I will always be there for you."

Tujaeng sensed something. Something… horrible. He saw a mysterious figure flying to the balcony. Its presence was overwhelming, it's pressure unbearable. Most would simply blank out at this moment, most would not be able to handle it. But Tujaeng only saw what was in front of him, a threat. A dragon. A Bakunawa. It's blue wings sprouted out, looming over the two on the balcony. Tujaeng ran as the King and Asteri stood, paralyzed by the pressure. The figure lunged for Asteri and his father, but Tujaeng pressed on. He wasn't going to let anyone harm his friend. No one.

The figure was only inches away from Asteri's throat. The situation seemed hopeless. Soul-crushing. Unescapable. But Tujaeng pressed on, nonetheless. Time appeared to slow down as he reached the figure. With all his might, Tujaeng launched his fist directly into the abdomen of the figure. The figure launched back, visibly damaged by the impact. Tujaeng, who was sweating at this point, watched the figure fly away into the mist that surrounded the tower. Then vanish.

Tujaeng looked back at the King, who nodded at him. The king was holding Asteri in his arms, who was unconscious. "Thank you for your protection." The king thanks Tujaeng. "What was that thing?" Tujaeng just shook his head, he didn't know. At that moment, Tujaeng noticed that a presence even more dangerous than the last arose. Something was wrong, seriously wrong. Tujaeng looked around, but could not pinpoint the aura. Then, at that moment, the shockwave that shook the world shredded through the kingdom. Tujaeng looked down, and saw a nightmarish scene. Everything was on fire. People, buildings, the whole entire city, engulfed in flames. He could only look at it, the smoke pluming, the shrieks filling the air, the chaos that fell upon the kingdom. Asteri, who seemed half-awake in this nightmare, only managed to speak Tujaengs name, and then slowly began to pass out. The guard from earlier came up to the balcony, not even able to catch his own breath.

"My majesties, the kingdom is under serious attack! I have been chosen to escort you out of the perimeters!" the guard said, with fear in his eyes. The king nodded and began to step across the balcony, but it was too late. The balcony exploded, shattered by an immense energy. Everything played out in a horrific sedate motion. The stone that made up the balcony shattered and broke, as Tujaeng stood on the edge of the balcony, while the king and Asteri stood on the other end. Tujaeng could only watch as the King and guard in horror watched him descend off the tallest point in the kingdom. Tujaeng could only watch as everything around him descended into dust ashes, everything around him fading to black.