Standing at the bottom of the hole, I didn’t quite plan out how I would get out. I tried digging my fingers in the wall of soil, but I wasn’t strong enough to keep climbing. Every attempt ended with layers of dirt falling like grains of sand in an hourglass as I sank. Betty watched, and eventually, she nudged me when I slid back down.

“What? Can’t you see I’m already struggling enough?”

She lowered her entire body closer to the ground as if to say, “Hop on.”

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” I uttered as I swung my right leg over her back, mounting her like a horse.

Betty sprang in the air using the power of her hind legs, clawing her way up the hole with relative ease. We reached the top in a blink of an eye.

“Yahoo!” I chuckled victoriously. “Why didn’t you say something sooner!” I patted her smooth ivory neck. She turned halfway around, acknowledging my comment with a nod.

We stood there for a moment. I was trying to adjust myself to the world with my newly expanded mental map. I knew we were in Lavarund’s National Park, located in the southwest portion of Lavarund, complete with massive forests and rolling hills. I needed to head directly north to get to Lostonia’s port and travel across the Bolt Sea.

“Let’s go, Betty.” I leaned forward, and she galloped ahead.

The bright stars acted as our compass, guiding us north. Paired with a full moon, the night hardly felt dark. It wasn’t long before we found a dirt path, which was the park’s main trail. I thought it would be better if we ran alongside it, rather than on it, in case we ran into any travelers. It was late summer, and the weather was already starting to cool off, making it a popular time for visitors to camp out.

We were cruising along, gentle breezes reinvigorating my spirit, but my heart sunk as soon as I heard some voices coming from the trail. I tightened my legs around Betty’s torso, and she came to an immediate halt. She lowered herself as if she knew we had to keep quiet and out of sight. Fortunately, the grass was high enough to keep us covered.

“And I really can’t say it enough, but I’m so happy to be here right now, away from everyone,” a man said.

“Yeah? Anything else going on you want to talk about?” another man replied.

I poked my head just above the grass, peered through the trees, and saw two men atop horses, carrying lanterns at their sides. They were strolling at a snail’s pace.

“It would be nice to get this off my chest.” The man sighed. “My daughter has—now please, you must keep this between you and me. No utterance of this to anyone, understand?”

“Of course.”

“My daughter has been teaching herself necromancy.”

“You can’t be serious?”

“I wish I wasn’t. I caught her in her bedroom, summoning the skeleton of a-a…” The man shivered. “…a dead mouse.”

“That’s disgusting!”

“I know, I know. I have no idea what I’m going to do.”

“They have special cities with programs now where you can send her for that sort of thing, and they’ll take care of her. I’ve heard nothing but good from ‘em.”

“Yeah, I know. I just want to see if maybe I can correct it myself. I don’t want to give up my little girl to strangers.”

“If it’s too stressful at home, though, it might be best to send her away. She’ll thank you in the long run. Better than having the Silver Army knock down your door. They take it so seriously.”

“I just want her to stay far away from the Southeast.”

“What’s there?”

“Are you serious? Neh-Neh-Nezura.” He shuddered. “Even if she went to Orbavue, that would be horrid.”

“Calm down, she’s not going over there. She’s a good girl from what I’ve seen. Nezura is a town of filthy rejects. Besides, I think King Mozer is going to take care of them soon.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I mean, you know the king’s stance on those pesky ‘mancers. He wants their whole society to collapse. He did away with their savior, Akara, and now they’re really crumbling. I wouldn’t be surprised if he sent the Silver Army down there to finish ‘em off.”

“Gosh, you certainly know a lot about this. But that would really be something, wouldn’t it?”

“Yeah, so tired of having to share Lavarund with them. Have you ever met a ‘mancer?”

“Aside from my wannabe daughter, no, I haven’t. Thank goodness. They’re putrid souls. I’ve got no interest in interacting with them.”

“I’ve never met one either, but I had a few friends who bumped into one on the road one night; they almost took care of him themselves, but he got away. A damn shame.”

“Hey, how come the horses have stopped?”

The horses stared directly at Betty, even though she was entirely covered by the grass. My heart sputtered in my chest. I could see the men’s faces peering in our direction through the glow of their orange lanterns.

“This is odd,” one of the men remarked.

“I wonder if the horses see something in the trees?”

“Obviously, they do; otherwise we wouldn’t have stopped. Use your brain now.”

“I don’t like this.”

I really ought to go up to them right now, command Betty to tear them apart limb from limb with her vicious jaws. Make them wish they had never said such foul, uninformed opinions. I could do it. They’re right there. No one would ever know; no one else is around. The power in Betty’s claws could make them beg. All I had to do was just say the word. Perfect opportunity to exact my revenge; yes, I could start with them.

“Come on, let’s keep moving.” The men pulled the reins on their horses, and they continued their slow trot on the path. I waited until they were far enough away before I patted Betty on the neck, and she raised her head. I gave one last look in their direction and sighed. “Let’s not waste any time,” I uttered.

Betty sprinted ahead while I rode on her back, dodging trees as we continued our trek north.

***

King Mozer found himself walking down a corridor in the castle with a tall, broad-shouldered man by his side. His face had chiseled features, but he recognized the angles.

“Father, you’re not supposed to be here,” King Mozer said.

“Is that how you greet your deceased parent?”

They drifted together on a straightened path, but Mozer couldn’t turn left or right; he was anchored forward. His feet stepped ahead without his control.

“What’s the meaning of this!” Mozer peered down the hall, which continued to stretch on for an eternity.

“Do you remember the day when we had that talk? About how no one would respect you because you’ll only be known as my son? Until you’re old, and I mean old, the people of Lavarund will only see you as a prince. An immature, cocky prince who was given royalty only for being born to the right family.”

“I remember.”

His father grinned the same devilish way as his son. “And I groomed you to be who you are today. Far more heartless than your mother or me, you were going to stun the world. My life was sheltered, and it came as a surprise to be disrespected when I took the throne. I made damn sure that would not happen to you. And you know what you did?” He paused as he waited for Mozer to answer, but Mozer knew how to manipulate the chess-match conversation with his father.

“I became far more successful than you could have ever dreamed. People don’t remember your legacy, but more importantly, the people of Lavarund fear me,” Mozer stated.

His father held a tight-lipped grin. “I showed you this. You remember this day?”

A door suddenly appeared in front of them, and they halted. King Mozer kicked it open without hesitation, glaring at his father.

“Tsk tsk,” his father said, “your antics will only hold you back.”

“Go ahead, lead the way, show me again for the millionth time!”

They stepped through the doorway, entering a chamber in the basement of the castle. His father teleported deeper inside, down an aisle of cellars. Mozer kept his head forward while groans of pain came from his periphery. Going through another iron door, they entered a prison of stone walls. A man was chained up against the center, cuffs around his ankles and wrists. His father approached the man with a sword, looked back at his son, and scowled. “Why are your eyes closed?”

King Mozer smirked. “Because I’ve seen this a million times in my dreams. My childhood was scarred by this event.”

“You mean blessed by this event!”

“Sure. But I’m not going to give you the satisfaction this time.” Mozer kept his eyes sealed when he heard the blade glide out from the sheath and swipe through. When he opened his eyes, he saw himself as a 10-year-old boy, staring ahead, jaw ajar.

“You should give me your respect.”

“Why? Just because you’re my father?” Mozer mocked.

“Let me show you something,” his father said, and the walls around them faded into a different room.

Mozer found himself in the giant confines of a familiar house. Blood stained Mozer’s armored plate that Leopold Smith had designed for him. Leopold was on the ground, motionless, covered with stab wounds, and Mozer clutched the bloodied sword.

“I was proud of you that day.” His father stepped by his side and put his hand on Mozer’s shoulder. “But you did something which also made me so disappointed.”

Mozer grinned.

“You can lap it up all you want, but it might come back to haunt you, like I can in your sleep.”

“You’re hardly a haunting.” Mozer snickered.

His father pointed ahead to a preteen boy escaping from the house.

“You let him go.”

“He was just a kid, for cryin’ out loud.”

“And you didn’t stop him,” his father scolded.

“And you want to know why? Because I think it’s eviler that I torture him with that memory. Besides, this happened years ago. Why do you even care?”

“You didn’t stop him.”

“You said that already!”

“You didn’t stop him.”

“I’m about to vlarking stab you myself! Why does it matter?”

His father’s voice shifted to a female voice he recognized. “Because I’m going to stop you.”

Mozer’s blood ran cold. He stammered backward and locked gazes with Akara. She stepped closer to him.

“I already killed you,” Mozer said, hiccupping with anxious laughter.

Akara marched forward with fire blazing in her pupils. Mozer stopped himself from stepping further backward. “I’ve already killed you.” He grinned. “Since none of this is real, you know what? I’m actually glad you’re here because you want to know what I’ve been dreaming about ever since that day I stopped you? Come now, why don’t you give me another kiss?” He leaned his head forward and closed his eyes, but searing pain erupted through every bone of his body, forcing him to scream.

Mozer shot up in his bed, covered in sweat, shivering. He was overcome with nausea for a moment. The woman lying next to him in bed sat up and stared at him with her head tilted. “Is everything all right?”

“Don’t ask questions! Just go back to vlarking sleep!” Mozer jumped off the bed and ran to the bathroom connected to his master bedroom. He sat in there until he felt his body and mind reach a state of homeostasis before climbing back into bed. For the rest of the night, he couldn’t fall asleep.