I was dreaming. In my dream, I saw a dark and open space. High before me was an oaken throne and upon that throne was a man. I saw his face, grave and old, and his blue eyes appeared luminescent as they gazed down on me. They burned me, and although I shut my eyes, I still felt his intense gaze with every nerve in my body. Around my neck a noose appeared in the form of a silver necklace, and it choked and strangled me. I grabbed hold of it in desperation, but suddenly I was only holding a naked sword in my hands and it cut them with its open blade. I let go and the sword fell to the ground. The room was gold and all around me and it glinted brightly in its brilliance. I gazed around in wonder and I squinted and shielded my eyes with my hand. There was a large window in the room, and I looked outside and saw people, thousands of them. Suffering held them all in his arms and his skeletal face looked down upon them mercilessly. When Suffering saw me, he dropped them all and they fell screaming and yelling into the emptiness below them, and I cried out for them. But then the room I was in fell suddenly as well, and I felt weightlessness in the descent. I struggled to climb out but there was no door and the window had grown too small to fit through. It kept shrinking and it changed color to silver and suddenly it was on my hand as a ring. A bright light like an explosion took place and suddenly, I awoke.

Drake woke up suddenly with a loud cry. It was quiet and dark out and the only response to his outburst was the loud beating of his heart. He listened to its sound, as well as the others in the night, the creaking of his wagon and the breathing of his roommates. He felt sick and dizzy, and he leaned over to the side of the holding wagon to throw up. He was chilled and shaking with beads of sweat all over his body. He lay back down and tried to breathe evenly to calm himself down.

He hadn’t had a dream like that since before the battle, but they seemed to have increased in intensity even since he last had them in his father’s lands . He hated them. They gave him physical pain, but the new factor that Drake especially feared was the feeling that Drfuil was still there, waiting, watching and commanding him, using his dreams to influence him. Ashton suddenly spoke to Drake out of the dark, “You haven’t had a nightmare for a while.” It was an observation, but it started the conversation.

Drake sighed and sat up. Lying down made him woozy, but so did everything else at the moment. “You never mentioned it before.” He said.

In the dark, Drake could barely see Ashton shrug, “I didn’t really know who you were before. I didn’t want to bother you about it until I knew you wanted to talk.”

“What makes you think that I want to talk about it now?” Drake responded without any real aggression.

“Well, you have already told me all your other dirty secrets. You might as well tell me this one too. Besides,” he added, turning to his side to face Drake, “everybody knows that talking about nightmares makes people feel better. And you owe me for disturbing my peaceful rest.”

Drake looked away into the wilderness. He responded anyway, “I’ve had dreams like this for a long time. Even before this whole mess started. Back when I was home, I had dreams I didn’t understand. Once I had asked our court soothsayer about it, but he didn’t say anything meaningful. But that’s normal, isn’t it?” he said suddenly, turning back to Ashton, “All dreams are weird; they are just the subconscious mind going crazy. My father claimed I had some residual seer blood in me, but that was just his propaganda. The dreams don’t mean anything, no matter how intense they might be.” He suddenly gagged and threw up again over the side again. “Before I was here, though, they never made me so sick like this.” He said wiping his mouth.

“What do you usually dream about?”

Drake waved his hand as if it didn’t matter. “Random stuff mainly. The dreams don’t sense, Like I said, it doesn’t matter.”

“Drake,” Ashton said sternly, “Don’t lie to me. You can’t ignore them, especially if they keep getting worse. Especially if they are connected to the god, Drfuil.”

They stared each other down for a moment, Ashton willing Drake to speak. Drake broke. “Fine, I’ll tell you.” He ran his hands through his messy and dirty hair, “I see Drfuil in my dreams. He’s still there, I can feel him watching me and waiting for me. I know he hasn’t given up. I know that he won’t give up. I see other things too, strange visions and things that I don’t understand. A city of gold is usually there.”

Ashton sat up as well, giving serious thought to Drake. “When did these dreams start? After you met Drfuil?”

Drake shook his head, “No, before that, long before that. As far as I know, I have always had these dreams. They never made me this sick before. I just brushed them off.” Drake chuckled halfheartedly, “When I first met Drfuil, I thought that I was dead or simply seeing things. Or even still dreaming.”

Ashton considered what he said, “I have heard of people who can see the future. There are none in my village, but I have heard of oracles existing in other places. They see things and interpret what they see for the benefit of the people who hear them. Maybe you are like the oracles and experience visions of the future.”

“No.” Drake said firmly, “I don’t believe in oracles. It’s just the universe playing tricks on me, nothing more.”

“Maybe the universe has an unusual sense of humor. But let me ask this,” Ashton said, bringing up something he had thought of a while ago, “you said that it was completely random that you came into the presence of Drfuil, right?” Drake nodded. “So, you would say that it was an incredibly remote occurrence, especially to you.”

“That is correct; it was an improbability that we would find the entrance in the first place as it moves around constantly. We also mistook it for a set of ruins filled with treasure, ignoring all the obvious signs that it was something else. Even Drfuil said that in all his years of existing, it had never happened before.”

“So then,” Ashton concluded, “How could you have visions of an event that was virtually impossible to happen? Could it be anything other than Fate when two points of impossibility align?”

Drake didn’t like Ashton’s words, “It could be a lot of things, Ashton; they could be unrelated events.”

“No, seriously,” Ashton persisted, “Let’s think about this. If you have the ability to see the future, we might be able to control it and-.“

“Ashton, we are not talking about this.”

“It would be really useful if we could know what destiny has for us.”

“THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS DESTINY, ASHTON, SO SHUT UP. I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT THIS!”

The Ashton did as he was told after Drake’s outburst. But, after a moment, Drake turned around and faced the other way, Ashton spoke again, “What is your problem? Why can’t you see this clearly? Visions of the future are not that unusual, why are you so against it?” Ashton waited for an answer but Drake didn’t give it to him, “Is it something with your visions?” he prodded, “did you see something that upset you?”

“It’s not the visions, Ashton. They re not even visions anyway, they are just dreams.”

“Then what is it?” Ashton asked. “Why does this upset you so?”

Drake gnawed thoughtfully on his finger. Then he spoke, “It’s something Drfuil said. He told me that I would eventually put on the ring and embrace his power. That I would give up my life as a human. He said he had seen it happen, that it was my destiny. I can’t believe it. I will not believe it. I will never give up my belief that I am in control of my future.”

Ashton replied glumly, “Strong words for somebody stuck in a cage.”

Drake snorted, “I still have choices I could make! To eat or not to eat. To sit here or over there. To put on this ring,” he grabbed it and held it up for Ashton not to see, “or not put it on. I will not be a puppet for Drfuil.” He dropped the ring and let it dangle loosely. “I will not do it.” He looked outside to the wilderness again.

“I understand.” Ashton said quietly. The nights in the wilderness were all the same to them. The lanterns were all dimly lit and they only cast vague shadows everywhere. Still, they looked outside as if new scenes continually unfolded before them. They didn’t talk about it but instead watched the night.

“Tell me something of your world, Drake.” Ashton asked. The wagon jumped a bit as it rolled over a rock. The repairs to the wagonn after the battle did not have a fantastic quality and Drake worried the wagon would simply fall apart soon.

Ashton often asked Drake about Leasdon, his native land, it gave them something to talk about in the long hours. In the darkness, outside of the caravan there was no light, so Drake spoke about the stars and moon while they waited for the new day to begin.

It was the sixth day after the battle and even in the sleeplessness of the night, the caravan still felt tense and excited. Drake and Ashton felt a similar tension within themselves. On one hand, they looked forward to a change in their circumstances. The cages and prisoners had gotten old already, maddingly so. But they were also uncertain and slightly fearful about what would happen when they did reach the “endless city.” What will be their position inside the city? Will they still prisoners there? Will they be sold as slaves? Will something more terrible beyond their imagination happen to them? Drake and Ashton secretly thought that to be the most likely scenario. They tried not to think about it, but the moment of departure was soon approaching.

Both Ashton and Drake knew there was nothing they could do about it at this point. They had lost their chance at escaping already. Drake had resigned himself to whatever might await him in The Endless City when he gave up on escaping. Ashton had resigned himself long ago. He was simply glad Drake would be there with him. Truly, Ashton and Drake gained great comfort from one another.

“I find that hard to believe, Drake.” Ashton said, responding to Drake’s explanations about the sky. “What holds up the stars in the sky? Should they not fall down into the ground?”

“No, listen to me,” Drake pleaded somewhat frustrated and waving his hands exaggeratedly, “the lights are so far away that the gravity of the land does not pull them toward us.”

Ashton thought about it carefully. “If it is so far away then how come you can see it?”

Drake let out a sound like a wind tunnel running through the village. “Forget it; I guess you will just have to see it.”

“You say that about a lot of the things you describe,” Ashton observed.

“Well that’s because it is true! There is nothing to compare it to here, so you have no common ground to base the imagination on.”

“I think you are simply making these things up. There is no way these can be real, and you cannot even explain it properly.” Ashton did not actually believe that, but he enjoyed the reaction he got out of Drake when he said it. Drake practically strangled Ashton with his glare but Ashton just laughed at him. Some of the stuff he said was too fantastic to have been simply made up.

“Let me tell you,” Drake continued, “when I get back to my world, I will take you with me, and I will show you everything we have talked about. You will understand then, and you will be amazed. Even I will gain a new appreciation for the beauty of my world after I leave this place.”

“I appreciate the offer, Drake. But I would like to return permanently to my home before I die. I am sure Leanoth is as great as you say it is, but you understand my desire don’t you?”

“Of course, Ashton. After all, you need to show me around your village too, right? But I will not let you return without you seeing the wonders of my world. It’s a matter of honor now.” The lanterns were almost at full brightness now and Drake could clearly see Ashton nod his head. They both knew that the possibilities of getting back home were small, but they didn’t say it. There was no need. Another day had started in the wilderness, the last day for the caravan. The camp started stirring in the morning and Ashton sang a song to pass the time, a slow and tragic one, the kind he enjoyed the most.

My struggles have not helped me as I warred against life

The wind changes flows and brings only strife

I heard the wind say as it passed me on by

That god is not dead, he was only a lie

My heart is a fire that never gets cool

But my hands cannot work, I am only a fool

Around the caravan, Drake noticed a different feeling in the air. Anxiousness. Ashton sang his song, but Drake watched the soldiers and wagon personal move around him. No longer were they the joyful soldiers who had practically paraded around the caravan the last few days. They spoke quietly with one another and they walked everywhere quickly with their heads down. The whole camp was subdued, like the calm before the storm.

A little way away from the wagon Drake and Ashton occupied, Lieutenant Fallow trotted on his grey horse, and he was a tired man. Sound sleep continued to elude him, and now that the day of departure was here, he was not well rested. If he was jumpy and tired before, he was having anxiety issues now. His men were similar to him; they all feared what was coming next. The portal was not a spell for mere mortals.

They had come to the wilderness through the portal, but it was a horror they were forced to endure. Fallow remembered what it was like, the dark chasm had opened up before the caravan and had swallowed it whole. He thought that he would die and that the whole Caravan would perish into its unknown depths. The spell casters had said it was perfectly safe and that the spell had been proven useful over millennia of trials, but none of the men in the caravan were comforted. If not for General-Commander Soul leading them through it, Lieutenant Fallow doubted anybody would have gone through it. Its horror was absolute.

The last few days for the men of the caravan were filled with the thought of home, family and The Endless City. But underneath their joy was a hidden fear they tried to ignore. The day had finally come, though. They were departing from the wilderness, and they were going to pass through the portal again. Lieutenant Fallow felt sick just thinking about it.

He rode with his men alongside the prisoners. Even his horse looked woeful as it plodded along with its head down. If Lieutenant Fallow didn’t know better, he would have said that they were marching to their graves, not their homes. He looked at the prisoners. and envied them a little. With their minds gone, they would not have to witness the true terror of the portal. He took a deep breath and tried to relax. The caravan was the quietest he had ever heard it.

His marshal rode up to him and pulled alongside. “Are the men ready, Marshal?”

“Yes sir, they are prepared. Or at least as prepared as they are going to be. They are all scared. I hardly recognize them as the same men who laughed and joked yesterday.”

“We are all frightened. Kami-sama be praised that we are going home, but how I wish it wasn’t through the portal.”

They continued to ride together, not speaking. The portal wouldn’t be so difficult if there was something for them to actually do or even work on, but the portal was purely the job of the spell casters. Inside the caravan there wasn’t anything to do. They didn’t need to tighten down the wagons, they didn’t need to secure their belonging, and they didn’t need to do anything to prepare the caravan. The scariest part about the portal was that they simply walked through it.

“Tell the men to make sure their amour is polished and that they look professional. We are returning home with pride as soldiers, not as beaten dogs. Understand?”

“Yes, sir” the Marshel said quickly. He turned and left on his urgent business. It was true that it was for the battalion’s dignity that Fallow wanted the armor and uniforms wore proudly. But he was really just giving his men something to do. The anticipation for the portal was often worse than the portal itself. Or at least that was what Fallow wanted to believe. “Truly,” he muttered to himself, “A thing for our nightmares.”

“Have the priests start the portal, Gatal.” Soul commanded. Both Soul and Gatal stood in front and off to the side of the caravan so they could have a good viewpoint on the happenings. Around them was a small company of body guards in their ceremonial black and dark grey uniforms. As they stood there, the caravan slowly approached them. It was curious for General-Commander to see the caravan without the spreading wildfire trailing behind it. The priests had been otherwise occupied recently.

Gatal sent Vorash the message, but General-Soul didn’t understand how he could. Gatal was at his side but Vorash was a mile away with the other priests setting up for the spell. Some sorcery of theirs allowed them to communicate over long distances, no doubt. The technique proved to be very useful for the general-commander in the past, and he had come to rely on it. He trusted Gatal completely.

“They are starting it now, sir.” Gatal said, straining as if looking at something far off.

“Good, how long before it becomes corporeal?”

Gatal said nothing for a second as if he was waiting for something. “He estimates ten minutes before it will become visible and an hour until it reaches maximum diameter, Sir.”

The general-commander nodded, satisfied. “How are Vorash and his spell casters doing?”

Gatal smiled, “He says they will do their job without any fault and without any assistance.”

“Of course,” Soul replied easily. The wind blew softly around them and fluttered their cloaks. Some of the guard shifted uncomfortably.

“Your guards are nervous, General-Commander,” Gatal observed, his attention still fixed elsewhere.

“All my men are nervous, Gatal.” Soul explained, “They have lots of experience with spells, but they do not really understand them. The portal brings to physical being their worst fears about it, and we force them to march into it. It would make any man uneasy, even me.”

Gatal smiled again and said, “Even the great General-Commander fears it, eh? I will have to remember that weakness in the future.”

Soul looked down upon Gatal and stated clearly, “I only said it made me uneasy, not that it compromised my judgment.”

Gatal laughed at him, “It really is a weakness if I can get that reaction from you. Come now General-Commander, our sorcery is not that scary. It is just using power to create. In essence, it is practically the same power as Kami-sama, just on a smaller scale. Well, it makes sense because that is where they get their power.”

“The ability to create with words rests solely with the divine.” Soul said staring off to where the spell casters were. “We mortals are forced to operate within the laws of nature in place. It would be unnatural for a human to be completely unaffected by such power. We fear it, and we worship it. That does not mean we like it.”

“Well, for a man who dislikes our sorcery, you sure use it a lot,” Gatal observed.

“I do what is necessary and what is best for my men and my god. If using the convenient abilities of the priests further progresses the Will of Kami, then so be it. I will serve as best I can. There was a time when I was afraid of the priests, but I am no longer. Now I only fear their power and what great and terrible things they are capable of doing. Transporting an entire army from location to location? I am glad that we both serve Kami-sama.”

“You are very wise to fear the power, General-Commander. It is healthy even. You truly are a man among mortals.” Soul took the compliment without comment. “The portal should become visible any second now, sir.”

Nobody spoke after Gatal did and it seemed like the whole unit held its collective breath. They looked off to where the spell casters would be and imagined the portal there already, half hoping it wouldn’t appear. Then it was there, a black dot existing in the distance, somehow visible despite the darkness. It was only about as big as a single wagon at the moment, but they all knew it would grow to engulf the entire caravan.

“Tell me, General-Commander,” Gatal said casually after the portal became visible, “How do you balance your devotion to Kami-sama, who has even greater and more terrible power than the highland order, with your repulsion of the priests.”

“You know the answer to that, Gatal,” Soul said, staring at the black sphere. “Kami-sama is god; the priests are just creatures with extraordinary powers.”

“Yes, but isn’t a land god simply a creature with extraordinary power as well?”

The general-commander tore his eyes away from the supernatural phenomenon and looked at Gatal curiously. “I don’t understand what you are trying to say. Kami-sama is god; I don’t understand how you could compare him with the highland order. We all live to serve him, and we find purpose and joy in doing so. The priests and Kami-sama are completely different.”

A shadow passed over Gatal’s face for a moment, “You are right. Forget I asked.” Soul nodded and looked back at the portal that was still forming. Gatal secretly berated himself. Soul was right; Gatal did know he was going to say that. He was stupid to think otherwise, even for a second.

Ashton looked outside of the wagon with crazy eyes. He peeked every few moments, and it was starting to get on Drake’s nerves. Ashton was losing it. “Will you cut that out? You don’t need to look every second; nothing is going to change that quickly.” Ashton turned away and sat down, but there was still fear in him. “Stop acting like a little girl. It’s just a portal, I already told you that. It is what is used to travel between the territories.”

They had noticed the spot about a half of an hour earlier and they had tracked its growth. What at first appeared to be a small black dot had grown to the size of a hill. It was spooky, Drake had to admit. It had all the appearance of a black hole to him, a drain in space time. It seemed to suck in everything around it with its dark tendrils that spread out and grew. It interacted with the atmosphere in the wilderness, causing disruptions. Sparks and lightning shot out from it and around it often as the matter lost and gained electrons. A dull roar had started as well, like a waterfall in the distance. But it wasn’t like Ashton could understand that. To him, it was all just a terrible phenomenon of horror and sorcery.

It wasn’t just Ashton either; Drake had noticed the entire caravan was afraid of it. The men acted in different ways, some seemed to offer continued prayers to their god, some mumbled silently to themselves, some stared at it transfixed, but most endured the terror in silence. Drake could not understand why they were so frightened by it. He did think it was spooky, but it wasn’t enough to cause such terror as he was witnessing.

“How do you know it is a portal?” Ashton said nervously.

“For the tenth time, I just know!” Drake said with frustration, “I’ve been through one before.”

“And it looked like that?” Ashton said, pointing towards the portal.

“No, I didn’t really see it-.”

“Then how do you know it really is a portal then?” he asked aggressively. “It could be something completely different. It could be a huge abyss-.”

“No, they wouldn’t go through it themselves then-,” Drake said reasonably.

“It could simply be a hole in space that we will simply fall down through forever-,”

“No, again for the same reason, and that’s not how the universe works-.”

“Or it could even be a large mouth of their god, just there to eat us.”

“Gods don’t consume humans, they don’t even eat, they-.”

“HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?” Ashton yelled, turning towards Drake, “How can you possibly know that! How can you be so calm?” He then peered back outside and said insanely, “We are getting closer and closer to it.”

Drake was worried for his friend, “Look, you are panicking and not thinking straight. You need to calm down, take a few breathes, and trust me on this. I just know these things. The portal is safe, and it has been in use for thousands of years. Please, calm down. It will be okay.”

Ashton stopped yelling, but he leaned up against the side of the wagon and stared at the growing and encroaching portal. It was clear he was not convinced. It couldn’t be helped, Drake figured. Ashton just didn’t see it.

After a few moments, Ashton said, “The front of the caravan just entered.” Drake was startled at the man’s voice. It was calm, but unnaturally so. At this point, Ashton was much scarier than the portal.

“See ,everything will be okay.”

Ashton shook his head, “We don’t even know what they will do with us on the other side. We have no idea…”

Drake looked at Ashton and was surprised to see tears on his face. Unsure of what to do, he tried to comfort him saying, “Hey, we will be together, though. You know. We knew all along this was going to happen, especially after the night of the battle. I promise, I will stay with you, no matter what.”

Ashton suddenly started weeping. “I know,” Ashton said, sniffling and crying and babbling, “I knew this was going to happen; I knew it from the moment I was captured on the side of Carothos. But I always hoped I would somehow get back home, you know? But now, look at that. It is a monster. It may not kill us, but it is a killer nonetheless. Do you think we will be able to get back home after we go through that? I tell you, that is the end for us!” He then said softly, “I want to go home, Drake.”

Drake didn’t know what to say. Perhaps Ashton was right, that portal was the end for them. Home. Drake had thought about it a lot lately, but somehow his feelings had changed about it. Being away didn’t hurt anymore, not like it used to at least. The loneliness and fear used to be like a physical pain, but something had changed in him. The thought scared him. What was different inside of him? He knew that he wasn’t the same.

Ashton seemed to answer his question as if he heard what he was thinking. He looked at Drake with a strange glint, “You said that you had put on the ring before, right? And that Drfuil inserted his knowledge and thoughts into you that way? Maybe that is why you are not scared. Mortals would be frightened of the portal, but you are part god now, right? That would explain why you act the way you do. It would also explain why you know the things you do. You’ve lost your humanity!”

Drake was frozen, finding it difficult to deny Ashton’s words. He wanted to deny them, to say that he was still the same. He broke out in a cold sweat and felt his insides constrict. His visions from the night before erupted in his mind and he thought he felt the ring on his chest grow suddenly hot. He grabbed at it but it slid through his fingers. He was afraid now and he thought he heard the words of Drfuil repeated inside him, cold and hard. They told him that he had left humanity a long time ago.

“No, it’s not true,” Drake whispered to himself. He stood up suddenly and hit his head on the side of the wagon, creating a loud resonating thud. Ashton jumped in surprise. Drake felt dizzy and flopped down again, but the voice stopped.

“What are you doing?” Ashton hissed at him, coming up to him and feeling his forehead, “You’ve gone and cut yourself here. What were you thinking?”

“I am the master of my soul, I am not a puppet for Drfuil,” Drake said, still a little dazed. “I will do what I want.”

“Great,” muttered Ashton angrily, “next time you feel the urge of freedom come upon you, try not to hurt yourself.”

Drake chuckled, “Ashton, you’re a funny man.” Then he said solemnly, “I am still human, Ashton, I’m not going to give that up. Please do not give up on me either.”

Ashton bandaged Drake’s head and said, “This reminds me of when I first met you, beaten, bloody and sick. You didn’t give nearly as much trouble then.”

Drake chuckled again, “Thanks for helping me out then, by the way.”

“Shut up.”

Ashton completed the bandage. The portal’s dull roar had grown considerably louder, and as they got closer to the portal, it also became more and more distinct. To Drake, it sounded like a waterfall. “It’s the air getting sucked into the portal,” Drake said loudly.

They sat and listened to its sound. Soon, it blotted out most all the other sounds. “I am sorry for what I said earlier. I didn’t mean it; you are the most human thing I have met since I left Mt. Carothers!” Ashton yelled.

Drake shook his head, “No you are right. It’s okay! I’m not going to stop being me, though! Whatever awaits us beyond that portal,” Drake shouted pointing at it, “I am not going to change! Please, don’t you either!”

The caravan was halfway through the portal now. Each soldier, horse, and wagon disappeared the moment it went in, despite the prevalent fear. “I promise, Drake!” Ashton yelled again, his fear gone now. Drake couldn’t hear him, but he understood. Their wagon approached the portal and then was swallowed by it. They had left the wilderness.