Such a heavy burden to bare. Saorise had always been active in maintaining as much neutrality as possible. In simply respecting life and all it had to offer, and practicing the give and take lifestyle that Leisha’s followers did. She had no ambitions, no set purpose or fate.

Yet within a number of weeks, she had found herself in such a critical position.

“Most with your lack of ambition are unable to stop themselves from asking why, but you already know the answer, don’t you?”

Saorise looked up at Leisha once more. Of course she knew why, the answer was obvious.

“Because I am the most likely to succeed”.

Leisha smiled, “I always did like your sharp mind”.

Saorise sighed, “Then, now that I serve him, how can I meet the others?”

“The dreams will guide you,” said Leisha, “After all, they are not simply dreams, you just have yet to learn to navigate them”.

“Navigate my dreams?” asked Saorise.

“When we interfere, either in testing candidates or in passing on our power, we are unlocking a sort of partial key to the Gate to the Upper Realm,” Leisha explained, “When our Warriors are selected, they gain further control over that partial key. Your heightened senses, the dreams and strengthened abilities are all thanks to you grasping that key, in order to better control them, you have to learn now how to turn it and when. The more you unlock, the greater your power will become, but beware, if you unlock parts of the gate before you are ready, you will be overwhelmed with the influence from the Upper Realm, and you will perish”.

“Then, the dreams…”

“They are the world of the gate, more commonly known as the Soul Realm. When you enter, you may traverse as you wish. But your time there is limited, for the more aware you become, the more likely others are to notice you, and not everybody is as forgiving as merciful as Excavor. Just because you bare the seed I have given you, does not give you automatic respect there. You may use that realm to find the others, to learn their names and, if you are clever enough, their origins,” said Leisha, “Every move you make there will affect the Middle Realm though, especially if the others are aware of the plain as you are. They will make countermeasure if they learn you as much as you learn them. Be cautious, my daughter. Cautious and quick”.

“The Demons, can they access the Soul Realm?”

Leisha grinned like a proud mother, “They can. It is the first place they can access, and all the more reason to heed my warnings”.

“I understand, Great Mother,” Saorise spoke, she looked out at the setting sun, “I expect you will have to go now”.

“I do,” Leisha replied, “But I can answer one last question”.

Saorise nodded, “Where is the Lower Realm Gate?”

Leisha tilted her head, “I cannot tell you it’s exact location. I can only say that Peter Octavius Westfold is not ambitious simply because he believes he can rule all the continent”.

Saorise’s eyes widened, “Then he knows-”

But Leisha was gone with the breeze, and Saorise’s question left unanswered. Saorise watched the autumn leaves float away, clutching the seed tightly in her hand.

The way Saorise saw it, there were four possibilities.

The first, and the most obvious, that Peter knew exactly where the gate was, and had determined that he would need to conquer the continent to get to it again. Perhaps it was somewhere at the southern tip? But even then, Saorise was sure she’d never heard of the Crown Prince leaving the capital for more than a month or two. It would take at least eight months of travel to reach the southern end of the continent.

The second, Peter had found the gate somewhere close by, and had been so utterly terrified by what he’d seen that he’d determined only the power of the continent united could stand against it. This was perhaps more likely than the first.

The third option was that Peter didn’t remember where the gate was, and was scouring the Continent to find it. Considering how terrifying Saorise had thought that dream was, it wouldn’t surprise her if this were the case. A child seeing that would become unhinged. Either Excavor had blocked it, or Peter’s young and inexperienced mind had done it.

The last option was more obscure. Perhaps, it wasn’t so much that Peter knew what the gate was, but rather he knew the conditions to access it, and was working to gather something, land, forces, relics, whatever it was, to meet these requirements. But this alluded to the fact that he knew about the Twelve Seals, and that he had to gather them. Saorise found it unlikely that Excavor would allow this knowledge to reach Peter before he’d been awakened.

This also meant however, that Saorise could not ask about the seal’s location. Her greatest resource in finding the source of the threat to this world, and she was unable to access it thanks to his inability to pass a simple test.

But then, if Peter had been trying to pass it for so long, perhaps it was not as simple as Saorise thought, at least to Peter. Saorise had been pretty sure from her brief encounter with Excavor though that she knew what the test required. Telling Peter though would probably mean he’d have to forfeit his rights to the sword. That he would be unworthy because he was unable to figure out the key himself.

Saorise sat back against the tree. She could not talk to him about it, nor could she give him hints or clues about how to pass, but she needed him to awaken. They all did.

“I cannot help him pass,” Saorise uttered into the wind, “But I can lay the circumstances for him to pass on his own, can’t I?”

The wind cut past her. An approval if ever she felt one.

Saorise’s eyes hardened.

“Very well, when the new day dawns, so does the path reveal itself”.