I had been terrified that Samuel was going to stay in my room that night and start his tutoring. However, the old man had been merciful and had left me soon after explaining what it was he was going to teach me.

He told me how very important the alchemy was that swirled within each sphere and that it was a very difficult process to procure them. However, he explained that they had been doing so for years and years and that they wouldn’t be running out of them anytime soon. In fact, he believed there to be almost an abundance last time he’d checked their wares.

He’d called these balls of magic Alchemy Spheres but said that most people of the Refuge just called them spheres. He then went on to crack a horrible joke, saying that the Alchemy Spheres should have been given the nickname ‘The Magician’s Balls’ but when he saw that I wasn’t laughing he kindly made his leave.

I was expected to see him that next evening. I’d asked him why not the next morning and he reminded me that tomorrow was actually the Day of Gratitude! A day celebrated by all the people of Auracle and even some of the neighboring kingdoms. This was a day to be thankful for all that the Almighty had given you but those ideals were lost a long time ago. Now, in my opinion, it had turned mostly to a day to gorge on food and get as drunk as possible.

How long had he been in that damned dungeon? Was time in this reality the same as the outside worlds? Perhaps Samuel would answer these questions for me. Right now though, I could smell something delicious wafting into my bedroom where I laid up in a bed that was way too big for me. Maybe Deborah would want to join me one of these nights?

I slapped my face hard. What had gotten into me? Was I no longer a young man of the Almighty? Where were these thoughts of lust coming from? I let my hand caress the strangely smooth horns that sprouted from my head. Of course, I knew where these thoughts came from.

A knocking came to my door but I didn’t rush to open it. It wasn’t that my body was achy from the day before, in fact, I felt downright energetic today! But… I didn’t trust anything or anyone in this place. For all I knew, whatever had made that knock was there simply to bring me even more misfortune.

And so I waited for whoever it was to leave before I dared open the door. It turns out that there had been no need to be fearful. A note was stuck to the outside of my door using a mixture of what looked like honey and wax. I shut the door behind me before reading the message.

Ira,

You are cordially invited to dine with Leader Nagheed on this fabulous and wonderful day of gratefulness. This will be a three-course meal beginning with a light salad, followed by a honey glazed ham of hearty proportions. For dessert, expect an airy cake with a thin creamy frosting. All of this will be prepared by Chef Arloc who will also be saying this evening’s prayer. We hope to see you there!

-Judge Samuel

Dressing Attire: Birthday Suit (Just kidding. Please wear formal attire. Do not come naked.)

The thought of food made my mouth water and my stomach growl. Was I really considering going to this dinner of theirs? What if it was a trap? Just another one of their ways to test my abilities? Maybe it really was just a meal and I could relax. Either way, I didn’t have anything to wear.

I walked over to the closet and opened it. The inside was filled with clothing of all types. Long sleeves, shirts with ruffles, and even a onesie it appeared. I picked a white linen cloth shirt from one of the rungs and held it up to my body. It was a perfect fit. Had these people of Refuge been waiting for me? How long had these clothes been here?

In the back of the closet was a black and white formal button down with a fresh flower clipped to the shoulder as was customary for men of the Kingdom of Auracle. The color of the flower was also important because it signified how important the wearer was. I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw that the flower was blue which was WAY more than a priest boy should be wearing. This told me that I was merely borrowing the room from someone else. Surely, these people didn’t think I was worthy of a blue flower. But then again, these people were weird. Did Samuel really crack a nudity joke? Wasn’t he too old for that? What kind of priest was he?

I waited the rest of my day in my room, expecting for someone else to come knocking and wishing my presence elsewhere, but no one did. I was left in my room for an entire day of peace and it was amazing. To wonder that I had taken these kinds of days for granted in the past. Not any longer! I took this time to take a few naps, read some of the scriptures that had been left on the podium, and even found a cupboard filled with snacks that I helped myself to.

The next set of knocking came right when I guessed it to be dinner time. Feeling a bit bored, I clothed myself in the dress attire and hoped no one would laugh at the fact that I had a blue flower on my shoulder. I was just about to walk out the door when my eye caught the goblet of strange spheres. Something inside me told me to take a few of them. I decided that it must have been my instinct rather than my inner demon and so I did take a few and shoved them into my pocket.

A blue one. A green one. A white one. A red one.

If I managed to somehow escape this place then maybe I could prove to father that what I had experienced wasn’t a dream and that I had truly entered a new and strange world. As if the horns on the top of my head wouldn’t be strange or reason enough to believe me.

I exited my room and found that candles had been lit on the walls down one direction of the corridor and not the other. I took this as their bizarre way of showing me to dinner. As I walked, I passed through two spider webs and was constantly slapping at my skin where I thought I was being crawled on by the owner of said webs. This was a very creepy place to be alone. I wondered why the person who had lit the candles hadn’t already walked through the webs himself, clearing a path for me.

The candles ended at an open entrance, the sound of happy occupants coming from the inside. I took in a deep breath and rounded the corner. The table before me was long and covered in all sorts of colorful and wonderful smelling foods. The chatting people did not stop their conversations as I entered but only gave me kind nods, acknowledging my existence.

Samuel was there. Of course, he was. He waved to me to have a seat in front of him. Right beside Deborah who didn’t look up from her empty plate. Was she always this unhappy?

I walked across to that side of the table and sat next to the solemn looking girl. Samuel reached over and plopped a handful of leaves onto my plate.

“Eat your salad! Hurry, now, you’re late! And the next course is arriving soon!”

There was a small cup of what looked to be salad dressing and I poured it generously over the leaves. I took a bite and melted into my chair. It was so good. So very good. I poured a little more dressing on the salad and tried my best not to scarf it down like an animal. Deborah kept her eyes on her plate, thankfully.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her, finishing my salad. “Are you not hungry?”

Deborah shrugged. “I should be training. This is valuable time to be getting more familiar with my sword.”

I tapped my mouth with my cloth napkin as I knew was the proper way to do once seated at a nice table as this. The occupants of the table were a strange mix of people. I could see soldiers wearing some sort of plate armor that looked to have been forged just for nice gatherings such as these. This was a custom I had only heard about and thought it very weird that someone would wear armor to a dinner. However, it is what the King’s guard was always known for. Always at the ready. Apparently, these so-called guards of the Refuge had adopted the same habit.

A few other people were there that I had never seen. They all looked so normal and… happy. As if a young man with horns wasn’t sitting in their vicinity and that they weren’t having a feast in a strange world perpendicular to the real one.

Afraid of looking like a fool, I said no more to Deborah who continued her staring contest with her plate. Gauss noticed me from across the table and raised his glass to me. I picked up my own and did the same. I took a sip and about spit it out. What was this, pure alcohol?

“Can I get you anything else?” came a woman’s voice over my shoulder.

“Yes, could I get some water?” I asked her, my throat dry from nerves.

“Of course, sir,” she said and hurried off. Even the servants here seemed to be oblivious to the fact that I had horns. Had they been warned not to stare before I had arrived?

The woman servant was back within the minute with my water. She reached over me to place it down, her black hair getting into my face and tickling my nose. I leaned over trying to get out of the way and the next thing I knew I was flying across the room.

The sound of the explosion hit my ears sometime after I had fallen onto my back halfway across the gathering hall. Blood was splattered all over the walls mixed with the textures of all sorts of different types of food. The ground was a combination of the same vile mixture with pieces of broken furniture everywhere. The air was filled with smoke and my ears rung loudly. The room looked like a nutritional battleground.

I sat up and felt intense pain in my leg which was bent in a very odd way. I looked over to my side and saw the shredded-up dismembered arm of the woman who had been serving me. The spheres had rolled out of my pocket which was now torn open revealing a smoldering hole of flesh where a majority of my leg should have been.

For some reason, I found myself staring at the bright colors of the spheres. Blue. Green. White. The other sphere, the one that had been red, was now empty except for the fact that it was still discharging red smoke from a crack in its glass.

I let my head fall back to the ground. Frantically, I whispered random prayers to myself as the smell of food was replaced with the smelling of burning flesh.