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Ten minutes later, Viren had lead Clark and Lana down the stairs of his home into the basement. Lana's leg was gradually feeling better since Viren had healed it, but she still had to lean on Clark for support. He didn't mind, but he knew Lana was upset about not being able to take care of herself. He tried to ignore the uneasy feeling he felt around Lana and followed Viren obediently.

Soon they were inside a dirty-smelling room with walls and floor made of mud. To the side, there was a large opening that lead out into the massive field Clark and Lana had been in on their first day in Sogni Dromen. Clark didn't understand how this would make him feel more at home until he looked to the other side of the room. There were a couple of wooden stalls holding two of the strongest, most beautiful horses Clark had ever seen.

"This is the stallion. His name is Elsu," Viren announced, standing in front of the first stall. Inside was a horse with a silky coat of black fur. It's mane was fair and straight and hung about his face loosely. His onyx eyes watched Clark and Lana with curiosity.

Viren moved over to the next stall. "And this is the mare - Anstice."

Anstice was even more attractive with fur as white as the clouds hovering in the sky overheard. Furthermore, her eyes were a deep entrancing shade of blue.

"Wow…they're beautiful," Lana commented, her mouth practically dropping in awe.

"Would you like to go for a ride?"

Clark couldn't deny that the horses were amazing creatures but…riding them? The last time he'd ridden a horse was a year ago while dating Lana. He couldn't even remember how to hold the reigns.

"I'd love too!" Lana exclaimed.

"I don't know…"

"Is Master Clark still upset?" Viren asked as he patted Anstice on the nose lightly.

"I…" He swallowed with embarrassment as his eyes shifted from Lana to Viren, "I just sort of forgot…how to ride…"

"Oh, there's no shame in that, Master Clark…no shame at all. You can ride with Mistress Lana while I take Anstice," Viren explained happily. He quickly opened Elsu's stall and guided the stallion to Clark and Lana.

"No, I'll just let Lana ride. I'm kind of tired anyway…" Clark retorted nodding in agreement at his own resolution.

"But why? I'm sure my enchantment of Mistress Lana's ankle is helping considerably, but it won't be fully healed until tomorrow. She surely can't ride with a twisted ankle." Viren opened the other stall and scrambled up onto Anstice's bare back.

"Won't we need saddles or reigns?" Lana asked with uncertainty.

"The ride is much better without them. The horses don't mind at all." Viren lightly kicked Anstice in her flanks. "Let's go!"

"Wait!"

But Viren didn't hear Lana's shout because as soon as he kicked Anstice, both Viren and the mare flew across the fields like a bullet. It had to be five times faster then a regular horse trotting in Smallville.

"We better catch up with him," Lana said, not keeping any eye contact with Clark. She limped up to Elsu and petted him.

"Here," Clark offered, kneeling down next to Elsu's side so that Lana could use his thigh as a stool. She carefully stepped on Clark's leg and then swung onto Elsu's back. The horse sniffed softly.

"You coming, Clark?" she asked, now forcing herself to look at him. "Viren's right about my ankle. It still hurts."

Clark clenched his jaw together and looked down at the ground.

"I suppose I can go alone, though…" Lana guessed, about to kick Elsu into a run.

"Wait," Clark finally stated. He glanced back at Lana. "I don't want to feel like this around you as long as we're here." He took a breath, hoping she wouldn't snap at him for what he was about to say. "Can we just…pretend this morning's conversation never happened?"

She turned towards him in a serious glare. "Why?"

He looked away from her, keeping his focus on Elsu's mane. "Because everything I said to you came out wrong. What I meant to say was that…I want you to be there for me as much as I'm there for you. You're one of my closest friends – and right now pretty much the only friend within a one hundred mile radius – and…I realize that you owe me one in the crisis department. So the next time I need someone to just listen to me or be there for me…I promise I'll go to you first. Okay?"

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Clark Kent."

"I'm not," Clark confirmed wholeheartedly, finally making eye contact with her.

Lana finally curled her mouth into a smile. "You better hurry up and get up here or we're leaving you behind. Right, Elsu?"

The horse neighed loudly and Clark laughed.

He then climbed up behind Lana and sat down, feeling very nervous, yet excited at the same time. Lana looked back at him.

"Ready?"

He hesitated, then slowly slipped his hands onto her waist. "No, but go ahead anyway."

She smiled and then turned back to the front. "Let's so, Elsu! Let's find Viren!"

Clark tentatively kicked the stallion in the sides, hoping he didn't regret it.

And suddenly, like a cork off a bottle, Clark, Lana, and Elsu went rocketing across the grass. A violent wind flew in their faces, tugging at Clark and Lana's clothes and hair. Clark gripped Lana's waist as if his life depended on it. Her hair was tickling his face and made him laugh as it's wonderful scent twirled around him.

Blurs of grass and sky blended together around their bodies, painting an unknown picture as they gained more ground. The sun's rays cast a thin dark shadow next to Elsu who seemed as though running this fast was as easy as a walk. His hoofs pounded in the ground to the beat of Clark and Lana's hearts, giving them a burst of excitement and energy that hadn't been released in a long time.

As the stallion gained more speed, Clark unexpectedly felt Lana lean back into him and grab his thighs with her hands.

"Oh my gosh! I feel like I'm gonna fall!" she shrieked. Even though she sounded scared, she continued to laugh ecstatically.

"Well don't grab me! Grab the his mane!" Clark yelled back with an uncontrollable grin. He took Lana's hands from his legs and wrapped them around two large handfuls of Elsu's smooth black hair.

She gripped the mane as Clark said, but she noticed that Clark's hands were still around hers. His head was looking over her left shoulder, eyeing her with enticement. She glanced over at him, now realizing his face was only centimeters from hers. They both smiled at each other, feeling like little kids again, living out their wildest fantasy. They were flying.

It was only now that Clark truly left his old feelings of hate towards Sogni Dromen behind. This rush on the back of Elsu could never be experienced by any other human being anywhere else. No Smallville horse or even an All-American racehorse could run this fast. No other place on earth could gave as green of grass or blue a sky as this place. How blest was he to be here? And not just be here…but be here with Lana.

Both of the teens were so entranced in each others eyes by now that neither realized that Elsu was gradually slowing down his pace until he came to a full stop next to Viren and Anstice.

Viren smiled at Clark and Lana. "Have fun, humans?"

Clark and Lana immediately turned back around and noticed Viren. Their cheeks reddened and Clark quickly slid his hands back to where they were before Elsu had started off.

"Yes. It was amazing," Lana said, realizing that the smile on her face was too big to erase.

She looked down at Elsu and slowly stroked the horse's neck. Elsu turned towards her and neighed softly.

Clark smiled at the connection the stallion seemed to have with Lana, and then looked up in front of them, only now taking in the new scenery.

They were standing at the top of a low hill which dipped down into a small group of thatched-roof houses. Beyond that was a pair of two steep-looking mountains, trapped by a thin ring of fog flowing around them. Other then this, there was nothing but grass and sky.

"Is that a town?" Clark wondered. Lana looked up at the houses and mentally thought the same thing.

"It's most commonly called Durtulugo – the Last Place. At least, that's what everyone that lives there calls it." Viren explained matter-of-factly.

"Why's it called that?" Clark asked.

"Because it's the last above-ground area anyone inhabits before you reach The Mist's castle – any territory beyond it is…" Viren leaned in and whispered, "dangerous."

Clark and Lana exchanged worried looks, but decided not to let Viren's words shake them. Clark turned his head around as he said, "Well, we should probably head ba – "

When he face was completely turned, he stopped his sentence. The forest they'd just galloped out of not moments before had disappeared. In its place was the never-ending field they were all beginning to get annoyed by.

"It's – gone," Lana stated stupidly.

"So it is," Viren retorted, looking behind him also. He smiled. "What a shame. I guess we'll have to ride Anstice and Elsu to The Mist's castle."

"What! Who said we were going there?" Clark asked, looking at Viren suddenly.

"I did, silly human. That's where all your kind go. It isn't a bad place. Just very large…and very lonely."

"I don't understand. Why are we going there? You said something about us finding the Mist, but you never said anything about its castle," Lana explained, feeling just as confused as Clark.

"My dear mistress, it is tradition that any new comers must go to the Mist's castle first. You will stay there for the celebration, and then you will prepare the certain supplies needed and begin the journey," Viren proposed as if it were as simple as riding Anstice or Elsu.

"Celebration? What celebration?" Clark asked.

Viren sighed and shook his head. "We will continue to talk while we ride. We are wasting time." Viren nudged Anstice and the mare broke into an easy trot.

Clark did the same to Elsu, and the horse galloped up to Anstice, walking slowly beside her.

"It is very rare that humans come into this world. When they do, everyone will hear about it. Because they believe that each knew set of humans will give them another new chance of finding The Mist, they hold a glorious celebration at the castle in the human's honor. It's truly beautiful."

"What if the humans are like us – confused and want to go home instead of having a party with a bunch of fake dream creatures?" Clark asked rudely.

"This celebration is meant to honor you! If you did not wish to be honored, then you wish to be Enchanted!" Viren snapped angrily, causing Anstice to stir uncomfortably.

Clark wasn't sure what being 'Enchanted' was all about, but he was pretty sure it wasn't a good thing. He decided to just go along with Viren's odd tales. It was better than arguing.

"Okay, so how long until we reach the castle?" Lana asked curiously.

"About half a day if we don't run into much trouble," Viren explained, looking back at the brightly lit sun as if it were a gigantic grandfather clock.

"Speaking of which," Clark broke in, a slight twinge of worry in his voice, "we aren't going to run into that tiger again, right?"

"Who knows? Amon sleeps when he sleeps…and strikes when he strikes. It's true for the other evil creatures like him also. They have no ruler."

"When I saw him last night, I looked into his eyes…it felt weird…like I was slowly becoming paralyzed…" Lana tried to explain, equally nervous about the thought of seeing the tiger again.

"Yes…his eyes are deadly. They will lead you into his grasp…so slowly…until…"

KA-BOOM!

Lana jumped and Clark wrapped his arms fully around her waist. They joined Viren in looking at the sky, where the sound had come from. In a split second, the cheerful sky had been pulled away and covered up by monstrous black clouds. The thunder, which is what caused the startling noise earlier, continued to rumble threateningly.

"Amon is near. We'd better take shelter in Durtulugo before he comes."

"What?" Lana asked. She'd meant for it to be louder, but it came out as a sort of soft scream.

Clark never remembered a time when he was this scared or worried for Lana. He shuttered at the thought of seeing that tiger almost attack her again. On normal occasions in Smallville, he wouldn't have been so paranoid. But this was a totally different place – one, he still feared, didn't allow him to use much of his powers.

He kicked Elsu gently to quicken their pace.