At this threshold, one world ended as another began. Lush green ended abruptly, giving way to an endless sea of sand that stretched across the horizon. Even the light hills, inclines and other features of the Landsea vanished beyond this point.

"Are you certain that this is the way, lady Melthaine?" Levion turned to look at her, and Melthaine nodded.

"With the Landsea at war, we cannot travel on our own, and this place has always been in motion, I would not hope to find anyone who I could count on. Anywhere but here." Melthaine took a deep breath. "This does not mean that we will be without danger. Whatever happens, you must stay with me, alone you will not survive."

"That much I understood, lady Melthaine. But your and Ellyrie´s condition is what worries me. Do you think you can make such a journey?"

Ellyrie looked down at herself with a sigh. He was of course right. Gale, rain and hunting had left them a dishevelled mess. Their clothes were little more than rags, and what little they had for supplies were used up days ago.

"Maybe we can't, but I would rather die on the road to salvation than wandering aimlessly." Ellyrie´s voice was little more than a whisper, her throat dry and scratchy.

"It is nothing that we can handle, I am sure." Melthaine was leaning against Ellyrie for support, and took the first step forward. "If we ever do get separated. Follow the music."

The first step was nothing but slightly unsteady. With the second all changed.

The warmth was the first thing Ellyrie felt keenly. Before they had stood in a chilly but comfortable summer morning, now the sun was ceaselessly burning down on them. The fresh air was dry and stale, making her cough.

"We cannot linger." Melthaine had taken another step, and Ellyrie saw how her feet were quickly swallowed by the sand, then with shock that she herself was sinking down as well. She needed no more encouragement.

The land itself seemed hostile. The sand fought them step by step, making every inch a battle, especially for Levion who had to exert himself not to sink. The air did not remain unmoving for long, scorching winds picked up and pushed against them, picking up sand that scratched across their skin.

And above all laid the music. A simple flute melody, quiet and sombre, barely audible.

They moved forward in it´s direction, and the further they walked, the more the land before them was filled with sights they had not seen before entering.

The ground had become uneven, with wandering dunes that carried metal objects reflecting the sunlight, spires and facades of large buildings littered the landscape, in large parts submerged under the sand, just like it tried to drag them under.

They walked past great statures of people and creatures, many of them with one, two or even three pairs of feathered or leather wings. They showed no sign of violence or even neglect, their surfaces as smooth and refined as on the day of their creation.

It was here that the music became impossible to follow. It would simply stop, fade away, only to begin once more, but coming from a completely different direction, sometimes from where they had just come from.

The sun now shone right above them, a remorseless fire that was sapping what little strength Ellyrie had left. Sweat was pouring down her body, and she grew slower and slower, every step she had to pull herself out of the flowing sands.

She struggled and fell, bracing her fall with her arms that now sank below the sand. It was a pleasant feeling, a comforting thought that spread through Ellyrie´s mind. She could simply let go, and be embraced in this warmth, lose herself and let go. Dieing like this, to the tune of the flute, it seemed like a lovely way to end.

Then she was dragged back to her feet by Melthaine and Levion, ripped from the spiral of her thoughts.

"It is not much further El, I promise you." Melthaine tried her best to smile, though the exhaustion was written across her face just as much. "You can hear it, right?"

The music had grown louder, and in the distance Ellyrie could see a flimmering image of a great building. The view spurred her on, enough that she could walk on her own.

As they got closer, the sands began to shift and move around them. They could see shadows appear just above the sands, in the shape of great fish that circled around them as they walked.

They had made it halfway, when the sand awoke. Ellyrie knew not else how to describe it. Before her eyes, shapes emerged, row by row. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, sand soldiers standing in perfect formation, blocking their way.

Ellyrie reached her hand down to her belt, but her grasp was too weak to pull the sword from it´s sheath.

The soldiers did not move when they approached, they stood still, blocking their way.

"Please, I apologise for disturbing you." Melthaine spoke, her voice as raspy and weak as Ellyrie´s now. "If I had another choice I would not have come here again."

There was no answer, the music continued to play, the same short melody in an endless cycle.

"I, we need your help." Melthaine brought her hands to her chest. "We will not be long, and you will never see me again, I promise."

Only Levion continued to struggle against sinking. Ellyrie had stopped, and Melthaine fallen to her knees. "Please, if not for me, hear me out for Entu and Rana, the world is in danger and so is their legacy!" Melthaine had lowered her head, her words a last scream.

The music stopped, and the sands stood still. From one moment to the next they stopped sinking, and the sand army dissolved back into the golden mass it had spawned from.

When Ellyrie rose her head, the great building was now right in front of them, a small set of marble stairs lead through a hall of columns into a large round room. To feel solid ground under her feet was a mercy Ellyrie muttered thanks for to anyone who would hear it as she followed Melthaine and Levion inside.

This room was the only thing in this place that was not pristine. the ground was covered in pillows, with small bowls of fruit and water placed on a little table. Next to it was the one thing Ellyrie had not imagined in this place. A person.

The woman was very short, her hair going past her ankles and dragging across the floor, it was of the same pure white as her dress, woven from a fine silk yet without a hint of embroidery or colour. At her waist hung a little leather strap, which holstered three flutes, matching the one she was holding in her hands sideways.

"Were the last three times not enough, Melthaine?"

Ellyrie felt a shock at how empty the woman sounded, a tone completely bereft of even anger or annoyance.

"And why would you invoke the name of my elders so casually?"

Melthaine could not help but stare at the fruit with longing, but she forced herself to meet the woman´s gaze. "I would never speak of them in vain, Elodie. I meant every word I said. The eyes are no longer hidden, one is in the hands of a mortal who was graced by her."

Even in her weakened state, disgust dripped from her words as she mentioned the lady in white.

Elodie´s hands began to shake, she struggled to holster her flute. "So you failed, all four of you. And what can a caged songbird do that the four great princes could not? And what of those who follow you."

Elodie´s eyes landed on Ellyrie, who struggled backwards and fell, clutching her hands at her chest. The gaze of the woman was of an intensity she had not felt before. She felt utterly bare and vulnerable.

"You bonded with this one? Surely not out of choice, this weave." Elodie´s eyes widened as she turned back to Melthaine. "Just how terrible are things outside there that you would do such a thing?"

"I can, and will gladly explain, princess Elodie. But please." Melthaine´s legs were shaking. "May we eat? We have not, seen any food or drink for the last three days."

As much as a relief the meal was, Ellyrie could not feel comfortable with Elodie around. The princess herself did not eat, nor did she even move. She just sat and stared at Ellyrie, without blinking once.

In between bites Melthaine told their story, though no scene or memory broke Elodie´s gaze. When she ended, the princess lowered her head without leaving Ellyrie out of sight.

"So the world is descending once more, into her insatiable maw." Elodie spoke after a long silence. "And you wish to stop this. I admire your courage as always."

Ellyrie let out a sigh of relief as Elodie finally looked at Melthaine instead. "But what stops the lady in white from finishing what she started?"

"For the same reason she did not end the world in the last ages." Melthaine´s body was trembling. "For her own entertainment. Sure, she could end us with a snap of her fingers, but I would gladly accept that fate only to know I angered her enough to step in." She looked down at her clenched fingers. "I will not sit by as the world descends into carnage."

"And so you want my help." Elodie rose from her seat.

"Yes. As much as you want to mourn yourself, you know what powers you hold, princess." Melthaine stood up in kind. "Entu and Rana´s legacy is being drawn through the dirt, would you not wish to protect it?"

Elodie closed her eyes. "Hearing of what is happening out there breaks my heart, that is true. But my answer is the same as it was a thousand years ago. This songbird will not leave her cage."

"How much more has to happen until you wake up, princess!" Melthaine bit her teeth together, her eyes shot wide open. "She will have this world sundered until not a last life remains, and now enough people are playing a part for her that it may very well happen."

"Come what may, I cannot leave my cage, Melthaine." Elodie rested her hand on her holster. "I have a people to remember, a memory to retain."

She turned her back to them. "You may rest here for as long as you like, time does not matter in this place. And I will let you go as you are. But do not ask me to rejoin the world that I have no place in any longer."

She walked away, and the sound of her footsteps vanished as Ellyrie lost sight of her.

Melthaine was staring into the emptiness, her face flushed red. Finally she sat down again, staring at the ground.

Ellyrie did as well, and noticed the pattern on the tiles. At first she had taken them to be an ornament, as it covered everything, the ground, the columns, the very ceiling. But they were not.

They were tally marks.