I awoke in a stupor, once again far from home, and it took a few minutes for the darkness that clouded my vision to subside, revealing a scene that I knew for sure was from my journeys. I stood in the ring, ready for the final battle of Colossus, and my opponent wore the same smug look that I remembered him having before I had handed his ass to him. This time, however, I had become much more powerful, and I needed only hit him with a couple strong attacks to down him. I stepped to the center of the ring and raised my hands in a gesture of victory, but to my surprise the spectators didn't erupt into cheers as they had before. I turned back to look at the fallen warrior, but to my surprise he had risen, his sword held steady in his hand. I used my psynergy and summoned a colossal earthquake, even opening the ground and causing it to swallow him in its maw, but he re-emerged moments later unharmed. Fear began to grip me now, knowing that my enemy was invincible, but then Babi intervened, separating the two of us and focusing his attention on me.

"There are many secrets in this world." His voice sounded oddly distorted as he spoke. "Many secrets, and one that you must learn before you can destroy your enemy." His eyes seemed to bore into me and I shrank back, but then he just turned and walked back into the crowds.

"Wait!" I cried as he left. "What secrets? What do I need to know?!" I ran after him, still shouting, but the only answer was the murmur of the crowd, and the old man was nowhere to be found. I sighed and sank down on my knees in despair.

It was about that time that I woke up, and began to think through the dream that I had. I could easily see the many similarities to the dream before it, and I knew that this could not be a coincidence. It was some kind of a message, perhaps from somebody who knew the answer, but apparently I was going to have to figure this one out myself. On my last journey I had taken several of my friends with me, but on this one I knew that I could bring nobody with me. Garet and Felix were sick already, and my wife was five months pregnant – I could hardly ask any of them to accompany me.

'There's always Ivan.' The thought came unbidden to my mind, but I shrugged it off. For some reason I knew that Ivan could not come with me, and I had already resolved to see this through, regardless of the result. I glanced down at Jenna, who still lay with her head resting against my shoulder, and smiled, one of my hands moving reflexively down to stroke through her soft dark hair. I began to wonder if she would understand why I had to leave, or if I should just go secretly and not tell her. I realized immediately that I had to tell her before I left. I would have to research a few things anyway, and that could take a while, maybe even as long as a week. I realized the journey itself wouldn't take long. With my teleport abilities, I could travel practically anywhere in Weyard in the blink of an eye, but I had to know where I was going before deciding on a location.

"Mmmm.." Jenna moved slightly against me and her eyelids fluttered open. She glanced up at me. "Good morning, honey."

"Good morning." I smiled and leaned back against the headboard of the bed. "Well, I don't have much to do today, so I suppose I'd better get to studying."

"Studying?" She looked at me questioningly, her head tilting to the side as it often seemed to when she was curious.

"Mmm-hmm." I commenced telling her everything that had happened over the last few weeks, finishing with my dreams and the connection between them. Her brow furrowed as she listened to the tale, and by the time I reached the end I could see that she was sharing my concerns concerning Felix and Garet. She sighed and laid her head back against my shoulder.

"I don't like it – knowing that you're going to be gone, but I know why it's necessary." She spoke quietly, and I could hear from her voice that she was both worried and slightly afraid. "At least I have some time before you leave – I may at least be prepared to handle it."

I couldn't think of any response, so I just pulled her closer to me and closed my eyes. It was going to be a difficult time in the next week or so, I knew, but I also knew that I had to see this through, regardless of what I truly wanted. Both Garet and Felix could die if nothing was done, and I knew that whatever had happened to them had been caused by Alex when he attacked us on the mountain. I could start work later, though – for now, I just wanted to lay back and find some comfort holding my wife in my arms.