We set off after a quick breakfast in hopes that we would figure out the purpose of this cavern. I decided to put off discussing the strange haunted hair stick for the future since it didn't seem to be a threat to Meera. As we walked in what I dearly hoped was a straight line, I would occasionally see the familiar flash of white signifying the mouses passing.

It was about an hour into our morning walk when we ran across our first obstacle of the day. We all stared dumbfounded at the massive ravine stretching into the mist. The ravine couldn't be real since we walked along its edge in both directions for an hour. In fact, this whole place made no sense. We walked around the circumference of the cavern in what I think was half a day or so, to begin with.

As we walked back toward the place, we found the ravine. Snow was forming ice balls from the mist and letting Meera try and throwing them to the other side. We all stopped in our tracks when one of them struck nothing but air and stayed floating in place. An uncomfortable thought came to me, and by the looks on May and Snow's faces, they must have thought the same thing. An invisible bridge. I lowered my staff over the edge and began walking, eventually hitting something unseen by us.

I checked around, finding that the 'bridge' was roughly three feet across, still narrower than I would like under the circumstances. I turned to the girls. "Well, should we turn back? I am sure we could find a way to reopen the exit if we looked around enough. Or failing that, break it down." Unfortunately, no one else wanted to turn back after going this far. I sighed, and without thinking too hard on it, I stepped off, my foot slamming down on the invisible bridge. After testing it by jumping a few times, I returned to the group who looked like they were going to rip my flesh off for my stunt.

I shrugged and looked around at them. "Alright, I think Meera should have a rope tied around her waist. Since May has the best balance, she should tie herself to Meera and take the lead. I will take the rear and keep an eye on Snow. Is that alright with everyone?" No one argued, understanding why I didn't insist on everyone being tied together. After all, if an adult fell, it was nearly guaranteed the weight would drag the entire group down with them. On the other hand, Meera weighed so little it would barely move an adult should she slip.

We only made it a quarter of the way across when May suddenly stopped. Meera, who was on all fours crawling slowly with her eyes closed, bumped her head into May's leg, startling her into opening her eyes. She screamed and started to panic, but Snow, who had stayed close behind, wrapped her arms around her and began saying soothing words to calm the poor child down. After I made sure they were both safely in the center of the bridge, I turned to May, asking why we stopped.

May, who had taken my walking stick while I kept the steel rod, turned to the side to see the problem. She was waving the staff in front of where the bridge was supposed to be. I frowned in thought for a moment, then asked May to try moving the staff further out while I did the same on the edges. We found the bridge to our left with a small space about a foot and a half wide that we would need to step across. Easy enough for the adults, but this wasn't boding well for Meera.

Instead of making Meera try jumping over any empty spaces, we made a harness and strapped Meera to my chest. She argued at first, saying that she could walk on her own but in the end agreed to it since it would make things easier for the rest of us. I handed my steel rod to Snow to keep track of the bridge while I followed right on her heels.

It felt like we continued like that for hours, but it was probably no more than thirty minutes when Meera suddenly screamed at May to stop. May, who had just jumped to another platform, froze with one foot in the air. She slowly placed it back down before using the staff to feel ahead. Unlike all the other times we had to step or jump over a gap, there was no space on this particular platform for the rest of us.

May's face, already sweaty and pale from the stress of the day, turned whiter as the staff swiped through open air. She slowly turned to stare at Meera before thanking her. Meera shook her head then patted her shirt where Nina's jade hair stick lay beneath. "Nina told me to stop you, but she said her power is running out, and she doesn't know if she will be able to help again, so we have to be extra careful."

We all nodded, and I kissed Meera's forehead. "No, sweety, it is thanks to you that Nina had the power to spot our mistake. I will have to buy both of you a gift next time I have the chance." Both May and Snow agreed with my words though none of us knew if giving Nina a gift was possible.

Meera was quiet for a few more seconds, then nodded before pulling a jar of glow goop from her ring. "Nina said to try painting the edge of the platforms with this to make things safer." I grinned. Yep definitely need to buy these two a gift. I nodded to Snow, who took the jar then passed it over the gap to May.

When we finally reached the other side, we were all drenched in sweat and shaking badly. I dropped to my back on the ground, completely forgetting Meera. Meera didn't seem to mind. We looked into each other's eyes for a second, then Meera lay her head down on my chest and fell asleep a tear caught on the bridge of her nose. Moments later, I felt two more crawl over and lay down beside me. None of us spoke as we stared at the shifting mist overhead. I glanced back toward the ravine only to see nothing but grass swaying in an unfelt breeze.

Snow was the first to move around. I felt her pulling at the knots holding Meera in place. I rolled slightly, letting her get a better angle while holding Meera in place. May noticed our movement a moment later and groaned as she got back to her feet. The coach appeared a second later, just as the knot came apart and the rope fell away. Snow and also got to our feet, and half stumbling followed May inside. We were all asleep almost before our heads hit the rather large (In my opinion) pile of pillows.

I woke once for a moment when I thought I heard a sound outside. Turning toward the window, I thought I saw a ten-foot ape placing a basket of fruit and a wine jar down before disappearing back into the tall grass. I was back to sleep almost immediately, assuming that wasn't actually a dream.

I found myself standing behind an old man sitting at a desk. He would grab a folder or binder filled with documents, scan them sign some while throwing others in a metal bin marked again. I tried to clear my throat to let the man know I was there, but no sound came. A few minutes later, another man entered. He was reprimanded coldly by the old man before grabbing all the documents from the metal bin and retreated from the room.

Finally, the old man's eyes caught mine through the reflection on his monitor. "Get lost, I don't have time to babysit right now." With a wave, the old man knocked me backward into a grey mist.

Images of different people flashed past so fast I could not get a grasp of what I was seeing. I stopped what felt like hours later in a massive room. The ceilings were at least a thousand feet high, and mosaic tiles adorned the entire room, depicting blood battles. All showing the same giant of a man in pitch-black armor cleaving his enemies with a massive sword. While I scanned the room, I swear the eye set in the pommels of the swords all turned to stare at me.

The movement to my side surprised me as I had thought it was a gigantic statue of the same man depicted in the murals. Only this version had a bloody cloth wrapped around his eyes that dripped black blood, and he sat on a blood-red throne. Sitting this giant was nearly thirty feet tall and the sword leaning against his throne was twice that. I shivered when I saw the same eye depicted in the murals swivel and blink in my direction.

Although the giant had his eyes covered, I knew he could see me; I could feel him looking into my soul. While the giant watched me, I studied him in return. His features were surprisingly similar to my own except for the two horns spiraling around his ears. Well, that and the fact that he is taller than some hills I have climbed in the last few months.

The giant gave me a warm smile. "Hello son, you should not be here. I sent you and your sisters away for good reasons... However, I can't very well send you away without a gift; after all, you're the first of your siblings to visit this bored old man." The giant reached into his shirt pocket, pulling out a glass bead with every color I could name and many more I couldn't swirling inside. "This is a tiny fraction of my luck. Use it well, son, and should you run across any of your sisters, tell them I said hi."

The orb flashed toward me faster than I could even think to react and passed into my being, giving off a warm feeling. The Giant stood up than waving me to follow. "Come, I must send you back to the lower realms, or my enemies will notice you, and that would defeat the purpose of sending you lot away."

While we walked down a long hallway lined with thousands of suits of armor, the giant kept looking at me. Each time he seemed more confused. Finally, his curiosity got the best of him. "Why do you stay in that form, I understand, while living among the mortals, but why here?" My own confusion must have shown because he stopped and fully faced me. He reached out, placing a single finger on my head. "I see you have angered some mighty entities in these few thousand years. The fates have sealed your memories as well as your true form. Interesting, I bet that will make for a good story when they have taught you whatever lesson they are trying to teach."

A few minutes of walking later, we stood before a massive mirror that showed the sleeping forms of the girls and me. The giant chuckled when he saw that. "That's my boy. I hope I get to meet them in person someday. Unfortunately, we must part ways. I can't hide your presence forever, and it is getting harder to keep my aura from harming your essence. Remember, this family is more important than personal power. That is something most of the so-called immortals seem to forget while clawing their way to the top." With those parting words, I was shoved into the mirror, waking in the coach amid a tangle of limbs.

I sighed as I pushed Mays foot from my face, the strange dream already fading away.