"There is a way!" Carter exclaimed to the sleepy group the next morning, "Listen!"
"A portal?" Littleton asked.
"Sort of," Carter verified.
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"We must go!" Nando yelled, as the hoof beats echoed through the forest, "They're coming!"
"Come on," Kenny said, as he frantically pulled Max to her feet.
"You're not going anywhere," the King said, as he and his knights appeared in the clearing, "Except back with us."
"Oh, they aren't going anywhere with you," Nando yelled, "You think that we'll let you do this?"
"You and your followers have no say in this. You are cast offs, misfits of society," the King said, dismissing him, "We have much to prepare for."
"Well, your chosen ones are with us now," Nando replied, as he raised his sword, "So your prophecy won't happen anytime soon."
"You can't stop us," the King replied, "This is what meant to be."
"Don't you wish you knew what they were talking about?" Max asked under her breath.
"Yeah, supposedly it is our destiny and stuff," Kenny replied, as they slowly backed toward the edge of the clearing, "What do you say?"
She nodded toward the horse, "They aren't paying any attention to us."
"Go," Kenny said, as they clamored on top of the horse.
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"There is a spell," Carter said, "A potion that can open a portal there."
"This is insane," Littleton interjected, "How is any of this real?"
"It's very real," Carter replied, "The only problem is that we don't have any control of where it will drop us in Ital."
"The only problem?" Jimmy asked.
"Well the most major one," Carter continued, "Once we get there, we won't have any clue where to look for them."
"Well if they are chosen ones," Ginny offered, "Somewhere holy and sacred might be a good place to start."
"Marbruk mentioned a King," Jill added, "Maybe some sort of palace?"
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"Think they realize that we're gone yet?" Max yelled over the wind hitting her in the face.
"They were awfully busy yelling at each other!" Kenny yelled back, as they galloped through the trees, "Maybe if we stuck around they would have told us what the hell was happening!"
"Doubt it!" Max yelled back, as they emerged in a green field, "Whoa."
"I don't think anyone is chasing us," Kenny said, as they slowed down by the stream, "Where do you think that we are?"
"Anywhere besides back there is fine with me," Max replied, as she leaned up against his chest, "What are we going to do? They're not going to stop looking for us."
"Yeah? This ceremony or whatever has to take place tonight, right? So if we can just stay away from them until them, we should be home free."
"I wish I believed that," Max said softly, biting her lip, "All this talk about our destinies . . . I really want my nice, boring, life back."
"Me too," he agreed, as they rode down the river bank, "Sitting on the couch, drinking beer, watching bad movies . . . kissing you."
"Is that all you want to do?"
"Nah. Warm shower too," he teased her, "With you all wet and naked."
Max giggled despite their circumstances, "That sounds perfect."
"We'll get through tonight first," Kenny replied, "When they realize that they didn't have their ceremony, we'll have some more leeway. We're getting out of here."
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"You fools!" the King yelled, "They're gone!"
"Good!" Nando shouted, "Your plan won't work!"
"We need them! They don't understand!"
"Somehow I don't think they would go along with your plan for world domination if you told them!" Nando retorted.
"We want to create utopia," the King argued, "By merging all the worlds together, and ridding it of conflict."
"By killing millions of people? By resurrecting Arcadia and Zakan?"
"You dare speak their names? They will eradicate you when this is over!"
"Somehow I don't think that is happening. Your chosen ones seem to want nothing to do with you."
"Oh, they will," the King sighed, as he nodded to his men, "Do it."
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"It's getting dark," Max said, as she gazed up at the sky.
"I guess we're sleeping on the ground some more," Kenny replied, "You want to keep going?"
"Go where?" she asked, as she stroked the tired horse's mane gently, "I don't know . . . I'd feel safer if we kept moving, like we were putting more distance between us and them."
"We haven't seen signs of anyone for a long time," he countered, "I'd say we lost them."
"They're so determined. They won't give up so easily."
"What the hell do they want to do to us?"
"It could be anything in this place. That's what scares me."
"I'll protect you," Kenny promised, "Always."
She turned to look at him thoughtfully for a long moment, "I know."
"You want to keep going?"
"This horse is about to drop. How about camping behind those rocks?"
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"We need some things," Carter said, as he scribbled the ingredients down on a sheet of paper, "Quickly."
"This is really going to work?" Jill asked, as he handed the slip of paper to her.
"It has to."
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Kenny held Max close to him, as they laid on the cold ground, "You're cold."
"I'll be fine," she whispered, as she looked up at the full moon, "I like lying in your arms. You make me feel safe."
"We'll be doing a lot more of this when we get home."
"After time in the shower?"
"Yeah, and the pizza, beer and hot tub."
Max snuggled in closer, "I love you."
"Love you too," he whispered, "Ssh, listen."
"No . . ."
"Lie still," Kenny instructed.
Max merely nodded, as they listened to the cracking branches in the woods. Please go away, she thought, please.
"I think they're gone," Kenny said after a while.
"Maybe we should go too?"
"Too late," a voice said from behind the rock, "Did you really think that you could hide?"
"Get the hell away from us!" Kenny yelled, as they leapt to their feet.
"You have a destiny to fulfill, and it can't be neglected," the King sighed, "We're running out of time, so we have to speed things along a bit."
"We're not doing anything that you ask of us," Max snapped.
"Oh, you will," the King replied, as his guards brought out Lupa, "She will die if you don't do what we ask."
"Don't do it!" Lupa screamed.
"Shut up, women," the guard snarled at her.
"We can't let him kill her," Max cried, as Kenny pulled her closer to him.
"Is this how you do things in this world?" Kenny asked, "By threatening to kill innocent people?"
"Choose," the King demanded.
"We can't just let her die," Max said, "Not because of us."
"I know," Kenny replied, as he gazed down at her face, "Max . . . before we do this . . . I love you, no matter what happens, that'll never change."
She nodded and fought back her tears, "I love you too. I don't know what I would do without you."
"What is your choice?"
"Let her go," Kenny finally said, "And we'll do you want."
"No!" Lupa cried, "You don't know what you're doing!"
The guard dragged her away, as the King smiled at them, "You could not have picked a better spot for the ceremony."
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"Almost done," Carter said, as he stirred the mixture on the stove, "Just a little longer."
"It smells like sewage," Skeeter offered.
"A few more minutes," Carter murmured, "Just wait."
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"Stand in the center," the King demanded, as a man appeared out of the mist, "We're ready for you."
"Who is that?" Max asked, as she stood huddled next to Kenny.
"You'll see soon enough," the King said, as he gestured to the rock circle, "It's time."
"Let's get it over with," Kenny said, not wanting to let go of her, "It'll be okay, Sweetheart."
"I know it will be," she whispered, "It's you and me, right?"
"Whatever happens, remember that. You and me."
"Let's begin," the new man said, as he approached them, "We've waited a long time for this."
"So we've heard," Kenny retorted.
"Take her hands in yours," he instructed, "Good. Now we begin."
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"Now we begin," Carter said, as he lifted his potion from the stove, "Stand back."
"Do you know what you're doing?" Jimmy asked.
"Not really. You want to try?" Carter snapped, "No? Okay then."
Pouring the mixture on the floor, he prayed that it would work.
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"Ando, fahn, goro, piep! Ando, fahn, goro, piep! Ando, fahn, goro, piep! Ando, fahn, goro, piep!" he cried into the night, "Here my call! Awaken within!"
"What's happening!" Max cried, as Kenny pulled her into his chest.
He held her close, "Max!"
"Ando, fahn, goro, piep! Ando, fahn, goro, piep! Ando, fahn, goro, piep! Ando, fahn, goro, piep!" he cried into the night again, "Here my call! Awaken within!"
Max clung to him, as the bright light erupted around them, "Kenny!"
"Just hold on!" he yelled, as the light swirled around them.
Ando, fahn, goro, piep! Ando, fahn, goro, piep! Ando, fahn, goro, piep! Ando, fahn, goro, piep!" he cried into the night for the third time, "Here my call! Awaken within! Arcadia! Zakan! "
Max screamed again, as the light encompassed them. Scrambling she reached out for Kenny, and couldn't feel him in arms anymore.
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"No!" Carter yelled, as light exploded from the portal in front of him, "No!"
"What's happening?" Skeeter yelled, as screams erupted from the floor, as the portal shut, "What the hell was that!"
"It's too late," Carter whispered.
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Max lifted her head, and gazed around the woods around her. Rising from the ground below, she smoothed the folds of the white robes she was wearing, before turning to the man in front of her.
"I feel so strange," she murmured, as she tried to clear the fog from her brain.
"What happened?" Kenny asked, as he studied the women in front of him.
"I know you," she whispered, as she brushed the waist length red curls from her face, "It's been so long."
"My love," he said, as he pulled her in closer, "Arcadia."
"Zakan."