"I didn't expect that we'd have to go around a forest this vast." Kirk scratched his head when he scouted the span of the Antikwald from a hilltop.

"There is a reason for your map to render it stretching more than half the entire span of this land." Macario's ethereal body floated above the wanderer.

"I know that, and I didn't take up map reading for nothing." Kirk stood up and dusted the dirt off his pants; he took up the rucksack on the ground and slung it on his shoulder. "How many days would you think it would take us to get through this forest?"

"If we do not get lost inside, it will take us two and a half days, compared to having to go around and find the town nearest the Anti-, Antique, Anti-quald or what-its-name's borders. These Kr- Kree-... Ah, New Imperials should have just used 'forest' and be done with it."

"...which is anywhere from a week to two." Kirk cut Macario and looked at the horizon. "I'd better gamble with the forest than tire myself to get to a small town. Also, it's 'Antikwald'. Those hundreds of years must've gotten your thoughts in a mess or something."

"It has come to thought that if you really wanted to get to where you wanted to go that fast, why didn't you hire the services of this country's flying machines?" Macario followed behind his master who started to slant his legs downhill. "I've seen one of those imposing; large ships go by hours ago."

"They are fast, right..." Kirk stopped in the middle of the slope to look at the sky. "...but I ran out of Marks and, I don't think I have anything else besides rubies. I think we both know that right now, we are too far to get to a jeweler to sell one of the rubies."

"We are standing in the middle of nowhere after all." Macario shrugged his shoulders and resumed following his master who went ahead and prodded a dying, brittle bush out of the path. He hovered in front of the traveler and asked, "Why all the effort getting to this 'city very far south', as you told me earlier?"

"It's a gamble really, dear friend." Kirk stopped at the center of an earthen road, as if not trusting what lay ahead of the snaking path. "Heck, I don't even know if I'll ever find them there."

"Then all this is for nothing?" The revenant floated about and moved to the back of his master, and then to his right. "So what are you really looking for in this 'city far south' you were so enthusiastic with?"

"A family of nobles, or how I last remembered them. I don't know if they're even there. I was going for a talk with them and see how I can reclaim my domain with their help." Kirk picked up a stone and tossed it into the horizon; it made a couple of thumps against the earth before it ended in a rustle upon bouncing into a brush.

"That may cause a bigger political issue once your country and this country gets involved."

"It's not that I'd want them to bring this empire's soldiers to my doorstep. I don't really know anything at this point."

Kirk stared into the sky. The clouds were moving westward; feathery blankets glided past him, with some fading as they sped. He remembered hearing a large, yet jolly voice in his mind saying:

"You could work a little with your swordarm, young lord. I expect that you can impress me with your skill when you make it to Alberta. We shall spar to our heart's content."

Alberta: that where he should be heading.

How was that man now? He must be quite old at this time, and even his strength and stature was not immune to time's whim. Kirk hoped that the old brute's memory still held on strongly. He was looking forward to talks of the old days with ale and meat on a table with a good view. Yet the thought of another person entered his mind.

"Funny Macario, is that I can imagine that old man's daughter. Pretty creature I must say, but I never got to hang out with her long enough."

"This forest is starting to play tricks on your mind, but I'll play along. What did she look like?"

"She had the usual Imperial appeal: tall, but not as tall as I am of course. She rarely smiled, but you can't help but be happy when you see her do so. There's something in her that does make her seem to glow. Probably those long, dark locks that flowed against her fair skin."

"Typical nobleman's daughter." Macario floated ahead of his master. "I'd not be surprised if she has been married off to another lord by this time."

"Yeah. I should just keep moving and talk business once I get to Alberta."

There was no way a blade could dispel the many routes time could open to other people. This whole journey to that city in the south gave him both a rush of excitement, and a wave of sorrow in welcoming the unknown.

"I assume Master Kirk has a lot going in his mind right now. Tell me when you are ready to use your feet again."

"Well, sorry." The wanderer closed his eyes and shook his head a few times. "Besides, I have a feeling we would like it there, if we get there that is."

"I cannot vouch for you at this point. I've only lived a few centuries ahead of you, but I am not familiar with these parts of the empire. I had lived my life to cross swords, not to enjoy scenery."

"I feel I'm going to hate myself for this, Macario; knocking by their doorstep in my rather awful predicament." Kirk stopped in front of a forked path; the darkness was concealing whatever differences the roads had from each other. "I'd hope I won't start burning my rubies just to get to where we have to be. I wouldn't want to be at that house with nothing to pay tribute with."

The wanderer took a long sigh and took the path to the right but was stopped for going farther when he heard four gunshots that rang in the air.

"What was that?"

"Would you like us to take a look at it, Master?"

"Let's check it out. I'll need my safeguards first."

Blackness spread all throughout Kirk's form; they were small dots at first that grew into patches with each passing moment until his body became one with the shadows. He took the left path, where the random popping of rifles was accompanied by the abrupt cries of men and the rustle of leaves and brushes. He stumbled upon the body of a fallen rifleman on his way nearer to the source of the battle. The man was barely breathing; a bullet hole was found on his side.

"Not dead, but barely alive.?"

"He is safe for the meantime Master. There is a presence of a great deal of magical energy being released here. It is very close from where we stand." Macario did not float beyond where Kirk was standing. "If is best to be careful when treading farther into the ruin. Whoever did this to the man would still be here."

The two approached nearer to the place where the violence was ongoing. There was another body on the forest floor, but he was not as fortunate as the other wounded man. A bullet to the chest granted him a swift death. Signs of a gunfight were all around him; bullets that bore through trees exposed an inner layer of damp wood and random footsteps were scattered on the ground.

A phenomenon deep within the ruins of the castle broke the darkness of the woods; something of an unnatural brightness highlighted the remains of a courtyard and a strange circle of machines that created a dark tear that floated in space.

"That is the source of the energy indeed. Do you know what it is and what does it do?"

"I am not that learned in the science of machinery, Master. I do not trust this feeling."

Kirk was not the only person in the place. Two silhouettes were highlighted by the eerie glow of the machines. He could see that they were a man and a woman who stared at the dark rip.

"Do you think they're the ones responsible for this?"

"It is better for us to stay back and observe."

"Agreed, but you better be on the ready, just in case these two decide to turn to us." Kirk's hand posed as if it was holding a sword.

"Of course."

The revenant dissolved into dark and red ether; it wrapped itself around the stick Kirk held. This action transformed the rod into a long and wide weapon until Kirk held a black broadsword with unknown characters etched on the blade. He kept his distance from the two, observing what would happen next. A putrid scent was carried by the air to his nose, which prompted the traveler closer to the site under the cover of the ruins' shadow.

"Something stin-"

Air blew up and around the place, which caused the observers to step back from the dark tear. A huge beast's leg emerged from the rip, followed by a gigantic lion's head that roared and gulped in the air around it. Its other forelimb broke free, and the monster had enough force to slide the rest of its body. On the creature's back rested a goat's head; a set of ruddy molars was revealed when it let out a gurgling bray. What was supposed to be its tail was a third head; a pair of snake eyes gazed at the pair of strangers.

"Looks like we have a big problem here." Kirk went near to hide behind a broken section of a wall.

The creature stretched its limbs and poised to pounce; all three of its heads focused on the two.