Ethaniel looked uncomfortably at the shadows that surrounded him among the trees. He thought he could feel a hundred eyes falling on him, pushing him down, tearing him apart in cold rage. With a trick of the light, they were there, with a gust of wind, they were no more. His eyes ran across the swinging leaves and finally found their way to where Alladria sat still, her eyes so cold they could have frozen him where he stood. He had said all he had intended to say. Spoken all the words he had carefully chosen on his long walk to their forest. Now he awaited in silence for their reply. And the silence was slowly gnawing at him. When he thought he could no longer take it, Alladria finally moved, and slowly prepared to speak for the first time since he had addressed her.
        "Like everything you have told me, the lies you speak now will open the wound you have left in our tainted heart. How can we believe that anything but deceit flows from your lips, if the words you said you would die by, you forsakened in the one instant they would have changed our fate? How dare you place upon me the salvation of our world when to do so I must take your every word as true? How may we believe that this fantastic tale you bring is real, that this danger will indeed be the end of us? How can you expect us to live by your words, when you were not willing to die by them? Are you so arrogant as to believe that by a word uttered, you would have our allegiance once more? You betrayed us when we stood by you. You abandoned us to die for your fear. We followed you once into fire as you asked. We followed you once into darkness as you pleaded. We would even follow you into death. We will no longer follow you, anywhere." Alladria's words were harsh, and somewhere in his heart Ethaniel believed he deserved them.
        Something reminded him of how he had failed them, but it was so much like a dream, so much like seeing yourself through someone else's eyes. He knew he had promised them life. He knew he had promised to die for them. But in the end, he had feared, and he had abandoned them. He was about to speak, but Alladria continued her words.
        "You almost destroyed us because your promises were so great you could never keep, and yet you made them, and swore by them... And when your words shattered before us as you lay down your sword and walked away, you shattered us and ripped a part of us away... Now you come to us, your broken words on lips, your shattered pride in hands and you ask us again to follow you into darkness and fire? You offer us nothing besides words and a broken sword. Tell me, are you so blind that you see us walking the same path alongside you, our hearts singing the joys of freedom, while yours silently weights its guilt? Have you nothing that you value as you value your so-called life? Is there nothing you would rather die for than see destroyed? Is there nothing you would give your life for? The words you uttered, the words we followed, the words you forsakened unto the ground as our lives, they live on in our hearts as reminders that words are of glass, and promises are made of wind..."
        "I do not wish your deaths. I do not wish to condemn you to anything worse than I already have. But without action, there will be no future, no life, and it will have been all in vain. You ask for proof, have you not seen the distant fires rising from where there should be only water? Have you not felt the coming darkness swallow each day more and more of the time we should bask in the light of the sun? You ask if there is anything I would give my life for... I would give my life for the future of our world, and by laying down my life that day for you I would not have been standing here, as I am now, to warn you of the danger that comes from beyond the mountains. I do not ask for your trust, I could not ask for your allegiance, and your lives were never mine to take..." He thought he saw the look in Alladria's eyes change at that moment. The ice in them melted to reveal a most powerful fire. Without letting her gaze dig deeper into him, he continued, choosing his words carefully. "I beg only that you listen to my words once more, and try to see the wisdom and the truth within them before you and your people succumb by fault of your own fears."
        Alladria stood up, what Ethaniel thought to be hatred calmly contained within her voice. "If we fear, it is because you have taught us to. If we mistrust, it is because we have seen in you deceit. We will not fight, we will not kill, we will not flea. Not by a word of yours. But by ignorance we can err as we can err by trust. I shall go with you to the eastern mountains and I shall see with the eyes of peace what in your words you describe as doom. Then, if your words have been faithful, we will heath your pleas and into the farther mountains we shall go. But no matter what we see, we must ask you not to accompany us on our journey. Your resolve and your courage are still questioned. Your sword will be of no use if no confidence is laid upon it. Understand that while your warning will not be taken lightly, you are not welcome to walk among us. You will go beyond the forest and await until I emerge."
        He turned to leave as he had been told, but still asked one question. "You do not fear walking this path with I alone beside you?"
        "I can indeed wish for a more deserving companion; but if you are to be my guide, then so it shall be. I may not be of the same will I once was, but if we are faced with death, I shall face it with the same resolution I once did. If the darkness consumes us, then it shall be so... We need not fear our own demise if it is only us who tread down this singular path. My being no more will no more affect the flowers on the fields than your leaving stopped the birds from singing, nor the children from playing. Abandonment does not fall that hardly on us when it is not followed by endless darkness and undying flames. We are not made of glass that by one touch we shall break. We bend as the willow that reaches to touch with its leaves the quiet pond. We are the seed hidden inside the fruit, and though the outer may fall and blacken, the inner survives to complete its purpose. But like the willow, the fire would consume us, and like the seed, the eternal darkness would imprison us. We are more than ephemeral thoughts surfaced with haste, we are the poetry carefully thought and written. But even that poetry, as beautiful and perfect as it might be, will not endure forever. As all that has been, and all that is, it too is doomed to be forgotten. We are all just waiting to be forgotten, Ethaniel. We merely have no haste in seeing it done. Go now, and wait for me on the edge of the forest."
        "Do not be long." He warned. "My words to you may be hollow, but hear the meaning in my voice. The darkness rises again. Time will not be ours to enslay in this path once more."
        "If our chances have been squandered, it is you who have done so. Do not think that you are wiser. I have lived your life time and time again. Time is what I know of, and of what I understand. Go!"
        With a last lingering look, Ethaniel bowed his head slightly and turned away slowly; his hurried steps swallowed by the wet earth beneath his feet. When only his silhouette could be made out among the trees, Alladria saw her people emerge from the shadows.
        "Please, allow us to accompany you into the eastern mountains." Ayan asked.
        "That will not be necessary. I am surely capable of such a journey alone. Even if by leaving this forest we are diminished in our greatness."
        Eron looked towards the path Ethaniel had taken as if the man was still standing there. "Do you believe in his words once more? Can the deceit be erased so quickly by a collection of dubious suggestions?"
        "I do not know what is in his heart, but he has no reason to come to us with such a story. He is no fool, he knows we will not be so eager to trust him, and yet he comes, with a story of rising fire and consuming darkness. There have not been such stories in so long. Could it be that after such long time, we will be again at the mercy of a greater peril than ourselves? We have been prisoners of our own for far too long. There is nowhere for us to go. If the fire and darkness have truly come to overtake us, we will be lost."
        "We must find the child..." Eron said firmly.
        "Let us first determine the nature of what is upon us..." Ayan said calmly. "Nothing will be gained by judging that the end of time is finally upon us if it is truly not."
        Eron turned to her, caution always present. "But if it truly is..."
        "Then one must be surrendered." Alladria said gravely.
        "He is at the edge of the forest." Eron informed.
        "I shall join him. Make the necessary preparations. If he is right about what lies beyond, there will be a journey to be taken. As much as I do not desire it, his presence on that journey would be indeed required. It is he the only one who can find the child. Even if he does not know it."
        "Good luck, my queen..." Ayan whispered.

        Ethaniel reached the edge of the forest and looked back, almost expecting Alladria to have been behind him the entire time. He shaded his eyes from the sun and turned towards the eastern mountains, finding that the light coming towards him was not from the sun, but rising from beyond the mountains.
        "Is that the fire you spoke of?" Alladria's voice asked from behind him.
        He turned to her with a startle. He hadn't heard her approach. Regaining himself quickly, he nodded. "It comes from beyond the mountains, from where there should be nothing but water. So why does it burn incessantly, for nine days and eight nights already?"
        She didn't answer. Instead, she stared at it with an almost mesmerized expression.
        He stepped towards her, wondering if her attention was still on him. "It will take us no less than a day and no more than two to reach it." He informed.
        She turned to him, her expression blank. "Close your eyes."
        Not knowing why, he did as she asked. He hardly believed she would have chosen this moment to bring him any harm. As soon as his eyes were shut, he felt somewhat dizzy, as if his balance was being lost. When he felt as if he were going to fall, he opened his eyes to find that he was looking straight into the fires they had seen from a distance. He turned away from it to shelter his eyes and saw Alladria kneeled down on the ground, her eyes closed. Her reaction a mystery to him.
        "Is it causing you pain?" He asked, concerned.
        "Do not worry yourself. Blame will not fall upon you if I am gone." She said without truly moving.
        "That is not--" He stopped himself short of finishing the sentence and tried to turn back towards the fire to see where it began. "Where is the ocean?"
        "Gone." She responded without looking.
        He turned back to her, wondering how it would be that she would have to determine the nature of something she did not see. "If yo--"
        "We must leave now." She said suddenly, as if he hadn't started speaking at all. She got up and turned away, her eyes still closed.
        He hesitated for only a moment before joining her side.
        "Take my hand." she said.
        Knowing all too well that he should never question her words, he did as he was told. She held his hand firmly, as if that was what kept her up. When they had taken a few more steps, she stopped and turned towards him, her eyes always closed.
        "Close your eyes." She whispered, as if her voice refused to exit.
        Barely had he closed his eyes, he felt himself sway, her hand no longer holding on to his. He felt as if he were about to fall. He didn't really noticed if he had lost consciousness, but when he opened his eyes again, he was lying on the edge of the forest, Alladria nowhere to be found. Still looking about him, he got to his feet and started towards the inner circle of the forest.
        "Alladria?" he called out, no reply ever reaching his ears. He ventured deeper into the forest, but it seemed empty of anyone and anything. He was sure he had already reached and passed the circle, but he hadn't been able to make it out among the other trees.
        "Alladria? Are you there? What was it you didn't want to see? Is it what I have said? Is the darkness and fire of the ancient days coming forward once more? Answer me!" As soon as he spoke it, he regretted the tone of his last words, but by then they had already been uttered. He thought maybe they would appear then, even if to warn him that such tones would not be tolerated. But all he heard was the echo of his own voice throughout the trees, and then nothing but morbid silence. He wondered if they had left already, for the mountains on the west; it was then he heard the voices. They started as whispers, really, then began to rise as the shadows around him shifted and transformed. With some effort, he was able to separate Alladria's voice and follow it back towards the circle.
        "I shall go beyond the realm of the riesta, and into the land the alisers once ruled. I shall bring back the one promised to stop the darkness." Alladria spoke slowly, her face seemingly drained. A light gone out in her eyes.
        "I will join you." Ethaniel volunteered. The others turned to him, but he could not read within their eyes.
        "It is my land." He added. "And although I have been away, I should know its ways still."
        "You may serve as my guide once more." Alladria announced dryly. "But be warned. If there should come a moment when you once more lay down the sword you spoke by, you will find we are not as forgiving as you accept us to be."
        "I will not let you down." He said confidently.
        She held a hand up. "We will not discuss this any further."
        She rose from where she had been seated and came towards him as the others seemed to form a circle around them. He wondered what it was he was expected to do. Their manners were still as much a mystery to him as they themselves were. He looked towards all the others that now surrounded them, but their eyes never went near him. Not knowing if he should speak or even what he should say, he remained utterly silent and still.
        "Come closer." Alladria said suddenly, stretching her hand for him to take. A bit apprehensively, he took the offered hand and let her draw him closer into an awkward embrace.
        "You have offered us your words and your sword once more..." She whispered slowly, her voice almost a monotone. "None of us have ever gone very far. Most have never left this sanctuary... Despite the mistrust you have awakened in us, I find there is wisdom in choosing you as my guide. This does not mean, in any way, that our faith in you has been restored."
        Her words ended swiftly and he found himself waiting for something else. He felt it was now he should speak.
        "I ha--" he started, but his words mutated into a scream of agony as the dagger was plunged into his back. With the pain, he tried to push himself away, but found Alladria held him tightly in her arms.
        "It will all be over soon." She whispered as he still tried to release himself from her powerful grasp.
        "Why?" He managed to gasp, his voice emerging as a barely audible whisper.
        "It is for you the only way." She said softly, as if the words had been meant as some sort of comfort or explanation for what she had done.
        He no longer saw the trees or the sky. He no longer saw any of the others. In his despair and confusion, his mind managed to grasp the fact that he still saw the ground, her shoulder, her hair. His eyes darted aimlessly about, realizing there was a sort of cloth being held over them, surrounding them like a dome and isolating them in darkness from the others. Despair, all he now knew, forced him to gather his strength and try one last time to tear himself away.
        "I won't let you go." She whispered calmly.
        Despite her soft tone, he struggled even as his strength failed him. His legs faltered, but she held him still with a force he couldn't account for. He barely heard the sound of the blade as it fell to the ground. Everything around him blurred and vanished until all that remained was Alladria's voice whispering words he didn't quite understand.
        "It is the only way..." She said again.
        His confusion no longer mattered, he knew his heart would soon give in to the silence. He thought she called out to him, but he could no longer answer, could no longer utter a sound.
        As the cloth descended on them, Alladria set Ethaniel down on the ground and released him beneath the cloth. She stared down at the blood on her hands. His blood. In silence, the others gathered slowly around her.
        "Did you hold him?" Ayan asked.
        "Yes." Alladria answered weakly, her eyes never averting from the crimson stains on her flesh. The blood would wash off, but the stains would be forever with her. It took her a few moments to realize the others were speaking to her once more.
        "You must go now." Eron said.
        "I will return with the child." She whispered, her voice never wavering.
        "Our fate is in your hands, my queen." Ayan reminded her.
        "Yes." She said somberly, the red still drawing her stare. "It is..."
 
 

***

        The forest was silent and still, not even the wind daring to penetrate its calmness. The few rays of light that infiltrated its gloom revealed Ethaniel's body amidst the fallen leaves and large roots. A voice came from the shadows softly, as if its words were meant for no other ears. The voice brought forth the memory of yesterday.
        Ethaniel felt his world still into the darkness of his mind. He heard surrounding sounds only as background noise. In it all, one sound stood out. There was a voice in the shadows, a voice that he remembered. The voice reminded him of long ago. He understood few of the words, but their meaning was no more clear because of it.
        "To wait to see the reflection of our illusions in the fire... We run towards their images even as we flee... For in the promises we made, they were reborn in ashes..." The whisper continued, echoing throughout Ethaniel's mind.
        The fire burned his flesh, and he turned back towards the darkness. There was a scream. Was it his? Was it even real? His eyes snapped open. Alladria was in the nearby shadows, staring blankly at him. "Come," was all she said.
        "You killed me..." He whispered, voice stuck in his throat.
        "Are you not alive?" She asked with what he would have thought was a smile. "Come."
        His confusion dissipating slowly, he stood up and followed her wearily. "Where are we?" He was finally able to ask.
        She kept walking, nothing in her action indicating that she intended to answer, much less that she had actually heard him.
        He walked faster and caught up with her, dodging the low branches and bushes enough to walk by her side. "We're not in the forest of Ilian anymore. Are we in the land of the alisers?"
        "No. "
        "Where are we, then?"
        The vegetation began to thin and he no longer had any trouble walking beside her. He looked at her face, and saw something  change when the answer started forming on her lips. "We are in a place long abandoned. It has been deserted for... for almost as long as it has been."
        "Why are we here then?" He asked. "Is the one you search for in this place?"
        "We must find another first. To aid us on our journey."
        "In the search for this person to stop the darkness and fire?"
        Again, something shifted in her expression. "Yes." She answered.
        "Why is he here? If this place is deserted?"
        This time she ignored him, but he still had one question to make. "Is he of your kind?"
        "No. None of us have come this far." She answered quickly, but her tone was annoyed. Ethaniel let her walk ahead in silence and left it at that.
        As if the trees could be forced into answering his questions, he turned his attention to them. They looked normal. But then again, they had always looked normal, even in Ilian, they were just as he remembered them. And for the first time, that had occurred to him as being strange, to say the least. He was about to suggest something to himself on why that should be, when he almost ran into Alladria. She was standing there, looking up. He took a place beside her and turned his glance in the same general direction she was looking to. He saw a rock formation, darkness against a clear blue sky. Then, on the top of the cliff, he saw something else. Surprise caught him, and in the instance he blinked, the image seemed to shift. He tried to focus on it as best he could, trying not to let the sunlight interfere. The image seemed solid this time. He practically snapped his head around, trying to confirm what he saw in Alladria's eyes, but there was nothing in them. He turned back, afraid the figure would have vanished, but it was still there, unmoving. In the clear light he could see it, and it was a man.
 

        Rathenn climbed with determination the rocks leading up to the cliff he had been admiring from the ground below. When he was at the top, he walked slowly to the edge as if he were a one-man procession. He stood at the edge and looked down, finding the view not at all encouraging. Then he looked up and saw the bright and open skies. Remembering why he was there, he closed his eyes, and felt the wind, remembered the wind flowing past him, the faraway sounds becoming null. With his mind soaring in his memories of a time long gone, Rathenn jumped. He plunged through the air, wishing to soar like a bird. His arms spread wide, the wind in his hair, his eyes closed, he felt like he could fly. He wished that moment would last forever, but he knew he would soon fall to earth. The wind played with him, taunted him, rushing past, never once threatening to alter his destination. With a smile, he soared to the impending finale, his heart still overjoyed by the flight.
        Unknown to him, two figures watched his journey in quiet marvel. One with nothing more than mild curiosity playing in her enigmatic features, the other with a silently growing sense of despair and helplessness. Alladria finally closed her eyes and spoke a silent chant. Her words carried away by the wind, her will embodied in them, they surrounded Rathenn in a quiet whirlwind and set him down gently on the sand. He opened his eyes with surprise when he realized he was standing on solid ground. He quickly saw the two strangers approaching him and analyzed them carefully, his gaze settling solely on the woman as she walked towards him. Ethaniel followed wearily a few steps back.
        "Is the gift of life so meek," she spoke suddenly. "That you should squander it in one single flight?"
        In what seemed to Ethaniel a strange reaction, the man looked away, as if ashamed of his earlier actions. His eyes drifted to the blue skies, and then to the ground beneath his feet.
        "One more flight I wished." He whispered half to himself. "Even if in death it would end."
        Then he looked at Alladria, hesitantly, the shame clear in his eyes. "Forgive me, my queen."
        Ethaniel froze, his mouth opening instantly, but no sound ever emerging. His gaze fell on Alladria accusingly. "You said none of your kind had ever left Ilian."
        Alladria let a smile form, even though she still looked at Rathenn. "None of us have."
        "Then I do not understand." He whispered.
        "You need not." She whispered.
       Rathenn did everything but completely ignore Ethaniel as he took a place beside Alladria as they once again began to walk. His words were swift, but the answer to his question seemed to have been present before it was even mouthed. Despite it, he spoke anyway. "My queen, is the end upon us once more?"
        Alladria nodded. "We believe it is."
        "You have my loyalty, of course." He bowed slightly and stopped as they came to a shade beneath the trees.
        Alladria sat herself on a large root and smiled. "I knew I would."
       Rathenn's gaze then shifted to Ethaniel, and they merely looked at each other in silence. Ethaniel felt as if the other were expecting something from him, a reaction, a word, maybe, but he didn't know what it was.
        "I see his eyes are empty." Rathenn finally announced.
        Once again, Alladria nodded. "As is meant..."
        Ethaniel looked from one to the other in search of answers. "What do you mean my eyes are empty?"
        Alladria was the one to return his gaze, but if there was truth coming from her words, he couldn't tell. "He means only that you do not know what or who he is."
        "No, I do not." Ethaniel agreed with exasperation. "Nor do I know what we are doing."
        Rathenn looked at him, a new strength emerging in his words. "You do not know much, aliser. Leave it be as it is."
        "Rest." Alladria told Ethaniel. "We will leave after nightfall."
      Ethaniel was about to protest. He was about to say that he was not tired, nor did he need that much time to rest when such danger was depending on their actions to be stopped. He was about to say all that, but as his knees almost bent, and his eyes seemed to complain, he chose silence and let his eyes do as they wished and slowly close.

        "You must step into the fire." Tamor said. "Or it will consume us all."
        Ethaniel stepped closer, the flames dancing in the reflection of his eyes. "This is a dream." He said even as his skin felt the heat surrounding him.
       "You must step into the flames!" The man shouted, his voice commanding. Ethaniel turned away from the flames towards the voice that spoke to him, but the face he expected to see was no longer there. In Tamor's place stood Alladria, her face pale, her eyes nothing but black holes.
        She stared at him accusingly, anger in her voice. "You have failed us."
        He opened his eyes and sat up, his face still dripping with sweat. To his utter surprise, Alladria was sitting in front of him, her eyes opened, but unfocused. He stared at her in silence, wondering for a moment if she was awake. As soon as the thought had formed in his mind, her stare fell on him. He shifted uncomfortably, finally settling in front of her on his knees.
        "You should have stepped into the fires." She whispered. Still in silence, Ethaniel remained as he was. Alladria leaned in closer.
        "You have failed us." She whispered, placing a hand gently on his face, her touch burning his flesh. He awoke in screams, rolling over until he was sure the pain was truly gone. Still caressing his face, he stood up, only to find Alladria standing there, her gaze steady on him.
        "Are your dreams haunting you?" She asked.
        There was something in her voice besides curiosity, but pushing his paranoia back alongside his dream, he answered curtly. "No."
        Rathenn looked at him curiously, but spoke to Alladria. "His eyes do not seem as blank."
        "No matter." Was Alladria's response.
         Ethaniel reached back into his dream, but it chose to flee and went into hiding among the surrounding darkness of that strange forest.
        "We must go now." Alladria whispered.
        Ethaniel started to move, but realized that she was not, neither was Rathenn. "Where are we going?" He asked.
        "Into the land of the aliser." Alladria said briskly. It was obvious she did not want to go. It was obvious she would go. But the seconds she took to start walking after the phrase was said was sufficient to remind Ethaniel that she was not above fear.
        "Take my hand." She said to him finally.
        "We should do this another way..." Rathenn whispered, supposedly only to her ears.
         Alladria hesitated, her hand wavered. She turned back to Rathenn. "Time... it is all we have."
        Rathenn stepped closer, his voice nothing beyond a whisper. "We are no longer in Ilian, your words have their costs here." He turned discretely to Ethaniel, only to make sure he was being as cryptic as the situation would allow. There was still much they were unwilling to share with him.
        "It will be faster..." Alladria whispered, her hand still reaching towards Ethaniel, still unsure.
        "Faster, yes. In every way."
        Her hand moved, then folded and withdrew slowly. She fully turned to Rathenn. "We shall do as you suggest, Rathenn. But I am still unsure. It has been too long."
        Ethaniel moved slowly, and stopped beside them. He was still silent, still didn't know what to say, what to do. The others seemed to notice him after a long moment of silence. Without even looking at him, Alladria turned and walked away. Ethaniel hesitated, waiting to see if Rathenn would follow, and when he saw the other would not, he was even more confused. He took off into the forest where she had gone and found her in its darkness. She didn't look at him, or at least, he thought she didn't. Night had long fallen, and beneath the trees, the moonlight had no chance of defeating the darkness.
        "What are we waiting for?" He finally asked.
        "Rathenn is right. If we move too fast, we risk everything... And if we move too slow... everything will be lost just the same..."
        Ethaniel let the silence that followed her words sink in and prolong itself slowly. "Who is he? Why is he here?"
        He thought he saw her smile for a moment. "You do not trust him."
        "No."
        "And things shall always be as they are..." She whispered with a tone of amusement.
        "What?"
        "Nothing... Leave me, Ethaniel. I must consider our options carefully."
        Ethaniel hesitated briefly. "You did not answer me."
        "Rathenn is no concern to you. No harm can come from him."
        Ethaniel left as she had asked, but he would form his own opinion about their strange companion.

        Rathenn merely stood there, looking up at the sky with a solemn face. Ethaniel watched him carefully, trying to understand, trying to pull something from his own mind. He knew it should be there, but it fled whenever he tried to grasp it. Rathenn continued to dream, staring out into the nothingness that seemed to be the sky above. He seemed aware of nothing else, not the forest, not the ground, not even Ethaniel's glare searing into him.
        He hadn't even noticed Alladria had emerged and joined them. "Should we go through the rocks?" She asked Rathenn.
        "The sands are faster." He answered immediately, his trance having been broken by her voice.
        "It will be easier to stray." She said calmly.
        "It will be less dangerous." He countered almost immediately.
        Her voice lowered itself to a whisper. "I will not place myself above anything else."
        "The sands will be faster. The rocks will cost us too much time."
        "Through the sands, then." She agreed with a slight nod. And as soon as she did, she started walking, nothing but a glance in Ethaniel´s direction to indicate that he should follow. Rathenn walked silently beside Alladria as Ethaniel followed. He watched their surroundings amazed as they walked through the forest with precision in the darkness, only to emerge in a veritable desert.  Nothing lay before them but night and sand. He slowed down a bit, noting silently that walking through a sand desert couldn't possibly be faster than if they walked on a solid rock surface. Knowing all too well that he would not an answer if he inquired on why they were taking that particular path, he chose silence easily. He trudged through the sand easily enough, but not as easily as his traveling companions. To them it seemed no different than anything else. Ethaniel grinned inwardly and hurried up to catch up with them. As he resumed his steady pace, something made him look back, mere curiosity perhaps.
        "Where's the forest?" Ethaniel gasped suddenly, afraid the darkness would have followed them into that deserted place as well.
        Rathenn was the only one to stop and turn to face Ethaniel, but there was no surprise in his eyes. There was nothing at all in them, not that Ethaniel actually thought he would have made anything out in the darkness. "The forest is where it should be," he said calmly, promptly turning back and continuing his walk.
        "No, it--" Ethaniel's protest started, but as he turned around he found everything was as it had been before. The skies, the forest tainting the darkness behind them. He hesitated for a moment, stuck in his confusion.
        "Ethaniel." Alladria called from afar. He still lingered on for a moment, then sped up.

        They walked for a very long time, but Ethaniel couldn't really tell how long. He looked around them, far in front until the horizon, and far back to where he had seen the outline of forest disappear farther back. All he saw was sand, never changing, never altering. Then something struck him as odd, there was no wind. The night was completely still. "So we simply walk until...?" He said out loud enough to be sure the others heard.
        "Until we reach our destination." Rathenn answered calmly. "Why would you stop before?"
        "Well, I wouldn't. But do we reach my world by merely walking across a desert?"
        "Why not?" Rathenn asked with an amused tone.
        Ethaniel thought they, or at least Rathenn, was having fun at the expense of his confusion, so he merely glanced his way and walked forward. He was quite content with not knowing where they were going, as long as they got there safely. He wouldn't even bother with how long it would take for the sun to come up. His mind was playing little games with him when suddenly the others stopped. Alladria kneeled down abruptly on the sand. Rathenn stopped beside her and lowered himself next to her. The colors of the sky melted and changed. The darkness seemed suddenly threatened.
        "When will we be at the crossing?" Alladria's voice came as a faint whisper.
        "It is not far now." Rathenn replied with certainty.
        Ethaniel approached them slowly. "Alladria, are you tired? Maybe we should stop for a while..."
        "We will rest at the crossing." She managed to whisper, her eyes seemingly lost. Her face turned towards Rathenn, but her eyes remained wherever they were. "Take my hand?"
        "Of course." He said, helping her up. She regained her pace within a moment, and soon it was as if they hadn't stopped at all.
        Ethaniel turned to the skies, they were still dark, the stars unknown in their pattern. He wondered if he would remember the pattern of stars of his home, if he would find them familiar or stranger still. As he gazed towards the horizon, he tried to picture them, twinkling there in front of him, shaped in light against the ruling darkness.
        "We are here." Alladria's voice announced.
        Ethaniel looked at the sand and darkness surrounding every inch but the sky. "Where exactly is here?"
        "The crossing." Rathenn answered in an awed whisper.
        "We shall rest now." Alladria said, sitting herself down in the exact spot where she had stopped. Rathenn never moved.
        Ethaniel paced around in the sand, trying to notice something that might be hidden from his eyes. When he finally gave up, he turned to Alladria with a quiet look of frustration. "So this crossing is nothing but an imaginary line on the globe?"
        Alladria looked at him, something resembling confusion in her tired eyes. And that's when Ethaniel truly noticed it, she was tired. More than she showed. Her eyes had lost something. And strangely enough, Rathenn seemed even more determined, more confident. And once again, he couldn't understand them as much as he tried.
        Seeing the other two seemed content with sitting in the sand and resting, he did the same. He sat down, then found his body refused to hold him, and as much as he tried to avoid it, he was sure he was lying down when his eyes finally closed.

        In the darkness of his dreams, the skies of his home were clear, they were so clear... And yet he knew, that in the moment his eyes eased open and he awoke, their pattern would be lost once more in the darkness of his dreams. And so he stood there, admiring them, until they blinked, then shifted, and then were gone. He searched around for Alladria and Rathenn, but they were nowhere to be found. Darkness swallowed everything, and he saw the world as if by the faint glow of moonlight. The world was sand, only sand, while near the horizon shadows taller than the tallest trees began to form. He stared at them, even as he walked towards them. He would never reach them, but they were there, he knew they were. He dared the light to reveal their true form to him, but the light, stubborn as it was, would not obey. He stopped in the sand where he was and strained his eyes, trying to make out the shadows that stared back at him from the horizon.
        "You will never reach it." A voice told him from behind. "It is not there for you."
        He turned back, and saw Rathenn. "Can you reach it?"
        Rathenn smiled, the same enigmatic smile he always seemed to display. "Of course I can... if I go with you..." he whispered.
        Ethaniel stared at him, the phrases making no real sense to him. He turned back towards the structures, but they were no longer there. And he was no closer to finding what they were than he had been before.
        "You have to go now." Rathenn said slowly.
        "Where?"
        Rathenn smiled, his hand pointing towards where the structures had been. "There."
        He was about to say that Rathenn had said he would never reach it, but as he opened his mouth to speak, Rathenn took to the skies. He watched his flight until he had vanished into the darkness, and then he turned again to where the structures had been, but in their place, stood only fire. He stared straight at it, and it charged towards him. It burned his face, and he awoke with a scream trapped in his throat.
        "Help us..." the voice pleaded.
        "Help us!" Another commanded. A thousand voices soon surrounded him, each in its different way echoing the same words. "Help us..."
       He awoke with voices that made no effort of trying to escape his ears. It was Alladria who spoke, but the words themselves were unclear. Then it was Rathenn's voice, they were arguing calmly. Ethaniel opened his eyes slowly. Alladria had her back to Rathenn and he was on his knees, one hand on the ground. Something shifted across his back. In Ethaniel's mind, the first image he had seen in the cliff returned. He blinked, and it was gone. His eyes locked on Rathenn with  near horror as the image he had seen returned into his view and stood right in front of him. Rathenn was standing, arms stretched back as if in sudden pain. Alladria sat there, in the sunlight, for it was now day, her eyes closed, her lips moving silently. The argument had died suddenly, and there was nothing but silence among the sands. But the only thing Ethaniel saw was Rathenn. Wings emerged from his back, wings more like those of a dragon than ones of a bird. They were dark and light at the same time, depending on how the sunlight reflected on them. Rathenn's face seemed to stretch and his color shifted slightly. His hair grew shaded in the same color of his newly grown wings. Alladria turned to him, a blank expression in his eyes. With an almost shy smile, he spread his magnificent wings and kneeled facing Alladria.
        "Thank you..." He whispered imperceptibly.
        Alladria approached him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Get up, Rathenn. There is no need for that."
        Ethaniel hadn't gotten up, he was still lying there, in the sand, motionless, his eyes locked on the strange being in front of him. "What are you?" He let out in a strangled whisper.
        Rathenn turned to him, his ever-present amusement in the form of a quiet smile. "What are we all..." he replied, "but prisoners of our own dreams?"
        Ethaniel couldn't manage to stop staring, the image seemed to haunt him somehow.  Rathenn regarded him slowly, either doubt or confusion now in his eyes. "Is my appearance that much to you?"
        Ethaniel shook his head and managed to turn to Alladria, truly moving for the first time since he had been awakened.
        "We may go now." Alladria whispered, her voice coming out strained.
        Ethaniel watched as they walked ahead of him. He observed the way the light shifted across Rathenn's wings, the way he seemed to walk with no more difficulty than before, as if the sand wasn't even there.
        "Rathenn?" Alladria's voice came suddenly.
        "Yes?"
        "Lead me..." Without another word, Rathenn joined her side and held her arm firmly.
        Ethaniel noticed it. "Alladria, are you all right? What is it?"
        "Nothing to concern yourself with."
        With a silent gesture, she released herself and continued alongside them.
        Her steps were slower, but no less firm.
        Ethaniel approached her slowly, cautiously. "So, how do we find this person?"
        Rathenn turned to Alladria, slight amusement showing in his eyes. "He doesn't know."
        Alladria nodded. Rathenn smiled. "This is amusing... always..."
        "What are you talking about?" Ethaniel asked, the annoyance no longer contained from his voice.
        Alladria smiled. "Nothing..."
        "When we arrive at our destination, you shall know all that is needed of you. That shall be enough."
Alladria faltered and fell, Rathenn kneeling down beside her quickly and silently. He supported her head gently, but did nothing else. Ethaniel approached slowly and kneeled down facing Rathenn. "What's happening to her?"
        "She will be fine." As if on cue, Alladria stirred and her eyes slowly opened. Without so much as a word, Rathenn helped her to stand, and without even a sign of an explanation, they started walking again, slowly. Ethaniel came up on Alladria's side and watched her for a long time in silence. "Who are we searching for?" He asked suddenly.
        "For the one who is to stop the fire and darkness." she answered.
        "How will you know who it is?"
        Her mouth opened immediately as if for an answer to emerge, but then it stopped, and her words came out into the following silence. "I will not."
        Ethaniel stopped, and his eyes turned instinctively to Rathenn. But the answer to his queries were as silent as his own questions.
 
        The silence that had planted itself between them had grown solid as they continued their journey. Ethaniel paid little to no attention on his surroundings, he knew it was only sand, and that that would be all he saw. Ahead, he could see Alladria and Rathenn walking silently, Alladria's steps seemingly each time more difficult. Every once and a while, she would slow down
        Ethaniel approached her slowly, trying not to move the sand beneath his feet.
        "Why did you choose to take this journey if you are too weak to go through with it?" He had meant it as exactly the words sounded, no accusation hidden within them, merely curiosity. But as they had come out, he knew his tone did not reflect his intentions, and he regretted the words even as they fled quickly from his grasp.
        She looked up at him, something nearing anger in her eyes. "You know nothing of what we are."
        "Because you never told me..." He defended himself.
        "Because you will never understand..." She whispered, but silently, Ethaniel wondered if that was the true reason.
        But there was no point in asking further, for in that moment, her eyes changed and closed. Ethaniel sighed and turned away, meeting Rathenn's gaze with surprise.
        "They are not as weak as you deem them to be. They can care for themselves well enough." The strange figure of Rathenn said after an awkward pause.
        Ethaniel merely stared back at him, a dangerous combination of worry and irritation slowly forming in the color of his eyes. "That's not what I'm seeing." He said.         "Have you not seen their power? Have you not seen what they are?" Rathenn asked. "Do you not know what they can do?"
        "Yes... I've seen it, in Ilian..." Ethaniel answered cautiously.
        "And if I tell you your presence does not affect her condition... that there is nothing you can do, do you believe me?"
        Ethaniel let the silence fall. The words seemed true, the expression in Rathenn's face everlasting, as everlasting as the amusement in his eyes. It seemed all a game to him. Finally, despite the knowledge that he was being led away from his former words, Ethaniel nodded. 
        The smile danced in Rathenn's lips. "Then, why are you here?"
        Ethaniel had no true answer. He had the words he had chosen in haste and spoken in front of the others, but now he found them lacking in reason.
        Content with Ethaniel's silence, Rathenn continued. "Do you not wonder, aliser, why she chose you to be her guide? Do you not wonder why, with all their power, they would need you?"
        "Yes, I do..." He admitted.
        Rathenn grinned. "And do you know the answer?"
        Ethaniel shook his head slowly. "No..."
        "Do you wish it?"
        "Yes..."
        "If you truly wished it, you would have it." Rathenn said, the grin never shifting from his face.
        Ethaniel stared at him with rising anger. "I'm sick of all your games!" He said finally. "These half-words with no true meaning. You talk, and yet you say truly nothing! And we walk and walk, but all that surrounds us is sand! We're walking around in circles for all I know!"
        "If we wished to walk in circles or even stand still all day, it would be our choosing, no concern of yours." Rathenn said harshly.
        "Yes, of course, because I am simply here. And because understanding is one thing you do not require of me." He turned away from Rathenn and walked angrily away, following the path they had taken to arrive at that place. The sands were feeling loser, a strange wind threatening to emerge.
        "Ethaniel!" Rathenn shouted as the other walked away. He stopped and turned around only to find Rathenn standing right in front of him, his large wings seemingly caging him. "Do not let yourself think for the smallest instant, that you will have your life as it was. Nothing awaits you after this journey. Do not fantasize it. I saw what you have done. What your fear and cowardice brought upon us..."
        "How could you?" Ethaniel let out. "You weren't even there..."
        Rathenn seemed to start a reply, then his wings merely folded, and he turned away abruptly. "No, I wasn't..."
        "Why do they need me?" Ethaniel cried out as Rathenn returned to where Alladria lied. "To enter the city? To cross the worlds? And why can't we simply find this chosen one and get it over with? We have no true obstacles..."
        "There is only one." Rathenn whispered, not caring if the reply reached Ethaniel or not. "Time. And it is the most dangerous of our enemies, for time brings death."
        "Then why can't we just go and find this person?"
        Rathenn turned to him then, something as recognizable as malice in his clear yellow eyes. "You do not find the child, aliser, because you do not wish it."
        Ethaniel had no answer, had no reaction, and if he had truly understood Rathenn's words, even he didn't know it. The only thing that struck him at that very moment, was one word. It exited his lips automatically. "Child?"
        Rathenn stared back at him blankly. Ethaniel would have pressed for an answer, but at that moment, Alladria came awake.
        "Can you walk?" Ethaniel asked kindly.
        Alladria took Rathenn's offered hand and rose. With a slight nod, she walked ahead, being quietly joined by Rathenn, and with Ethaniel following suite.
        "Do you trust his determination? He still needs time." Rathenn finally whispered when he was sure Ethaniel would not hear him.
        "He will find the child..."
        "Even if he does not know he should?"
        "I know you disagree, but we will tell him..."
        "And if the child does not step within the flames?" Rathenn asked.
        "Then I shall do so." She answered calmly. "It will delay them for some time."
        "Cannot another take your place?"
        She smiled. "No, you cannot take my place."
        He nodded, but did not accept nor deny such thoughts. "Would not another be willing?"
        "It is my responsibility. You know that, Rathenn."
        "And your heart is not unsure?"
        "My time will have come. I will be the one to atone for our mistakes... The words are not merely there. The feeling is surely found within my heart. My words shall not be empty."
        Rathenn waited for the silence to settle itself. He collected his strength, then even as they walked, his eyes locked on her. "Alladria... tell him... you cannot wait any longer... Even if you fear his betrayal, it is better to know now what his reaction will be."
        She returned his stare, and where he expected to see disagreement, he saw understanding. Alladria stopped for a moment, waiting for Ethaniel to catch up with her.
        "What is it?" He asked. "Are we stopping again?"
        "How do you think we will find the one to stop the fires?"
        He shrugged. "I don't know. Can Rathenn find this child?"
        "No, he cannot."
        "And you said you would not know who it was..."
        "Yes... The burden falls on you."
        If her voice hadn't been so devoid of feeling, he would have sworn she were fooling him. "How?" Was all he could muster.
        Her lips opened, but before sound was heard or words formed, her eyes closed and she fell. Rathenn came towards her and adjusted her head carefully on the sand. Ethaniel kneeled down beside them, silently observing that even though she seemed unconscious, her lips were still moving.
        "Is it serious?" He asked in a whisper. Rathenn looked at him with hollow eyes, no answer being forthcoming. "Can we find whoever it is without her?"
        There was a heavy silence, Rathenn's eyes never shifting, his mouth opened slowly, as if he considered his words. "We cannot travel without her."
        "But if she can longer guide us... How are we even sure we are going in the right direction?"
        "She will awaken and continue."
        "If her strength fails her again?"
        "I can assist her when her steps falter."
        Ethaniel leaned in closer, his voice a whisper. "And if she can no longer walk?"
        Rathenn eyed him with the same unwavering certainty. "Then I will carry her." He said with conviction.
        "If she can't make the journey, how will she get back? And then what will we do?"
        "Worry yourself only with finding the child." Rathenn said sharply.
        "I promised them my sword once more... just because we are no longer in Ilian does not mean my words aren't valid."
        Silence came between them suddenly, taking its place for a long while.
        "What are you staring at?" Ethaniel finally asked when Rathenn's stare bothered him to the point where his determination not to speak seemed irrelevant.
        Amusement seemed to dance in Rathenn's eyes alongside curiosity. "You speak in their words... sword, aliser, ilian... or had you not even noticed?"
        "No... I hadn't..." He admitted weakly. His mind flared, and his face hardened. "What I had noticed is that you know their words, you know their lives, you know their world, and yet you claim you have never left this place."
        "Yes." Rathenn said with a smile that Ethaniel was beginning to consider irritating.
        "What are they to you?"
        "Nothing... and everything else." Rathenn said with almost laughter.
        Ethaniel merely stared at him, and gave up. He left Rathenn standing there, the smile dimming and vanishing when he was no longer looking.

        Ethaniel was feeling tired. It felt as if they had been waiting there for a very long time for Alladria to awaken, but he knew it couldn't have been too long, the sun had not even moved. He took a seat on the sand not far from the others and found his body urging him to rest. Hesitantly, and almost automatically, he found himself relaxing against the sand. He closed his eyes wearily, but it wasn't as if he truly had any choice over the matter. His eyes would have closed at that moment, whether he ordered them to or not. Darkness came instantly, it was all he saw, and then the fire rose. It came to him, or he went towards it. It was everything he saw, it towered high towards the skies, erasing them. He tried to turn back, but he was frozen. He tried to call out for the ones he knew stood behind him, but he feared they would not answer. So silently he stood, glaring out towards the flames, letting them enchant him, letting them deceive him. And so he walked forth, mesmerized by their power, and they burned him. They were his fears, and they would consume him. He turned back, turned his face away from the flames. And there stood Tamor, face saddened, no anger in his eyes. He walked towards him, and it was Alladria's eyes that tore him apart. "You should have stepped into the flames..." She said quietly. But she wasn't even there. And then he saw, among the distant shadows, another figure. It stood tall and quiet, amusement long gone, nothing but regret and sorrow in his long face. His wings were folded and his confidence was lost somewhere. But he too, was never even there.
        He awoke with Alladria's voice. She was there, watching over him. Her eyes focused when she realized he was awake. The shadow of a long lost smile formed on her lips. "You know where the child is. Let your mind take you there. Do not try to think."
        "How will we return?" He found himself asking. 
        Alladria smiled, but there was no happiness in her face. "In darkness... all paths lead to Ilian..."
        He was on the ground, had he fallen? His face was burning, his flesh was warm. His words were a plea, but he himself could not hear them. Alladria stood there, but he knew deep within him that it couldn't be her. She said nothing, but her stare bore into him, her eyes always accusing.
        "Can't it be another?" He heard his voice asking as if he were frightened beyond himself.
        For a long moment, Alladria didn't answer. And when she finally did, it was no longer her. Tamor's question came tearing. "You would surrender another?"
        Ethaniel awoke suddenly, and the answer was lost in his dream. His eyes tried to adjust to the darkness that surrounded him, and he gladly welcomed the moonlight that quickly came to his aid. Through the night, the words of his dream echoed within him. But he could not remember if he had answered.
        Ethaniel rose and walked to where Alladria still lay unconscious. He kneeled beside Rathenn, his voice an eternal whisper. "Is she dying?"
        Ethaniel would have understood surprise, he would have expected sadness, but as Rathenn's laughter rose, he sat there with his confusion. "What is so amusing?" He asked when Rathenn calmed himself.
        "What does dying mean?" Rathenn asked, the remainders of a smile still floating on his lips.
        "That she will cease to be..."
        "Then yes, she is dying... They are all dying, Ethaniel... And so am I... And so are you. We are all dying. One moment or another."
        Ethaniel frowned. "I don't believe you've understood me."
        "I understood you perfectly. And my answer is valid. We are all dying, but we must find the child before Alladria is no more..."
        "Do we have much time?"
        "Enough..."
        Ethaniel sat down and looked at the sand beneath him. The grains started to form into something, but the image seemed long gone before it was even summoned.
        "Ethaniel... why did you betray them?" Rathenn asked suddenly.
        Ethaniel's eyes never rose from the sand, its figure still trying to escape his mind. He wondered for a moment, if he should answer, but his words escaped him before he fully considered them. "I was afraid..." He said. "I think... I don't really know."
        "You never do." Rathenn said with a smile Ethaniel could not translate.
        Alladria's eyes opened slowly and she sat up, Rathenn helping her to stand.
        "Do you wish to rest?" Ethaniel asked her kindly.
        "No, we mustn't stop now..." She said in a hurried whisper.

        They walked forward as the sands seemed to consolidate and shift around them. And still sand was all that surrounded them. The night, like all the others, was silent and devoid of movement. The stars were still unfamiliar in their pattern, and he started to wonder how long they would still have to walk before they could get to where they were going. To the place that had long before been his world.
        Alladria faltered, Rathenn supporting her immediately. Her voice exited slowly, as a whisper of a thought that had been started, but whose completion had never really been planned. "We were never meant, Ethaniel... never meant... too long... Find the child... I cannot hold you much longer..."
        "Hold me?" Ethaniel asked in surprise.
        Her eyes unfocused, they meant to close. "Until the edge--"
        "Alladria!" Ethaniel called, bringing her to focus on them again.
        Alladria's eyes opened suddenly and her words were once again silenced. She strained herself to remain with them. "Stay with me Rathenn," she asked. "Do not let me go."
        "I will not abandon you." He promised.
        She walked with difficulty, Rathenn supporting her every step as Ethaniel watched with preoccupation.
        "What do you whisper of, when you drift away from us?" Ethaniel asked.
        "Alladria turned slowly to him, then to Rathenn. Ethaniel would have sworn it was confusion showing in her eyes. She seemed as though she were willing to speak, but words were never formed.
        " Legends..." Rathenn whispered briskly. "Nothing more..."
        Ethaniel found himself once more retreating into silence in the face of Rathenn's attitude. He watched as Alladria orced herself to continue, steps even more difficult, her eyes constantly shifting. For a moment, the matter of how they would return with the child came back to him. And then the phrase formed in his mind in the form of Alladria's voice: "In darkness, all paths lead to Ilian." Well, he thought as he glanced around into the night. We have enough darkness to take us all the way to hell... Finding Ilian shouldn't be that difficult.    
        Alladria stopped and Ethaniel walked past her. "Why are you smiling?" She asked with genuine curiosity.
        He stopped and turned around to face her. He hadn't even noticed he had been smiling. "You once said that, in darkness, all paths lead to Ilian."
        Alladria faced him, surprise pure on her face. She disguised it quickly, and with a pale smile, said simply: "I spoke no such words."
        Her attitude was strange in his eyes. Ethaniel was about to say that it had been in his dream, but as he turned around once more, his words died instantly.
       
        Ethaniel stood there, suddenly frozen, his eyes locked on gigantic structures he hadn't seen even though they were right in front of him. His mouth was open, no sound ever left him. Only his mind raced, trying to comprehend, to remember. Like a lost dream, the image came to him, structures in the faraway horizon, buildings... This was the world he knew... The world he had left behind. He thought it should have brought more to him than an image... it should have brought faces, but there were none... there had never been any faces there. Only the buildings... only the streets... and not even they seemed real anymore.
       He forced himself to walk, pushed himself across the concrete, for the sand had somehow gone, as if the buildings had driven it away. He walked where Rathenn and Alladria walked, but when they stopped, he stopped with them.
        "Where is the child?" Rathenn asked him.
        Ethaniel looked around at the many faces surrounding them. Not one glanced their way. He shrugged. "I don't know."
        "Where do we go?" Rathenn asked.
        "I don't know... Where a child would go? What kind of child is it? There has to be more for us to go on... Are we even in the right place?"
        "We would not have come here otherwise..." Alladria whispered.
        Ethaniel thought she might have been drifting away again, or maybe it was only because he couldn't understand it all.
        "Why this child?? And why does it fall on me to find him?" Ethaniel finally asked in exasperation.
        "It is your world, it is your connection..." Rathenn said. "It is your will, we have no power over it."
        Alladria's lips parted slowly, her words flowing out with no less emotion than before. "Just find the child... You owe it to us."
        Even as they walked, Ethaniel wrestled with himself, his steps growing slower, his thoughts crowded. One single thought gnawing at him from the inside. "If the child refuses... can I take its place?"
        "I cannot describe the joy your question brings... But no, you cannot. Your time has gone. There is nothing for you there. Except to walk with me to the edge of the fire once more."
        Ethaniel nodded. He thought her words should have brought him relief, but they only summoned sadness. He was about to quicken his pace again, when Alladria's hand reached out and grabbed his arm. He turned back barely in time to aid Rathenn in supporting her as her legs failed beneath her. Ethaniel started to lay her down on the ground, but Rathenn took her in his arms and signaled for Ethaniel to accompany him. "We cannot stop now." He said only.

       Alladria's lips were moving, and with great effort, Ethaniel was finally able to understand words emerging from them. "To wait to see the reflection of our illusions in the fire. We run towards their images even as we flee. For in the promises we made, they were reborn in ashes...  Now we are lost. We are lost in our illusions. We are lost in our dreams. And we are lost within ourselves..."
        "What is she talking about?" Ethaniel whispered, his voice low enough so that it wouldn't easily disturb Alladria.
        Rathenn didn't move in the slightest. "Nothing..."
        "No," Ethaniel insisted. "I've heard it before..."
        "We must hurry. Please, leave her ramblings aside and focus on the child." Rathenn's voice was firm, but his tone wasn't commanding, it sounded almost as a plea.
        Ethaniel searched the streets, they brought back so many familiar sounds, faces, smells... His eyes settled on one of the structures he had seen in one of his dreams. "That building. He should be there."
        "Are you sure?" Rathenn inquired, already heading towards it.
        Ethaniel shook his head. "No... I'm not..." but he lead the way all the same.
        They stopped at the entrance to the building. It was all so unsure, so confusing. Ethaniel turned around, again and again, scanning the surroundings. His eyes racing through the streets. "He's near... I think... I don't know..."
        "Don't think... Leave your thoughts aside. Where is the boy?"
        "He should be here." Ethaniel said suddenly. "I know it."
        "Focus." Rathenn insisted. "Forget everything else."
        Ethaniel looked around the streets, wondering for just a moment, whether anyone found the scene strange, to say the least. People walked by, hurrying to one place or another. Suddenly, a group of children came running past, playing some sort of game. They ran by quickly, one of them staring straight into Ethaniel's eyes and stopping, mesmerized by the sight of him.
        "It's him..." Ethaniel whispered, even as the boy seemed frozen in place.
        The boys' friends carried on, seemingly content with chasing each other beneath the sun. And the boy stood there, eyes wide open, his gaze locked on Ethaniel. Rathenn quickly set Alladria down in front of the boy and supported her, her eyes opening immediately even as her lips ceased their silent procession. Her eyes seemed to bear into the child's gaze, her lips moved once more, this time, the words clear and precious. "We need you... Darkness and fire are upon us, and only one may surrender himself so that we may live. You are that one. I can no longer hold on, no longer stay... Will you be the one? Will you step into the fires and darkness that surround us? Will you save us?"
         Ethaniel thought the boy would have hesitated more. He thought the boy would have at least asked what they were... why he had to save them... why him... But no questions emerged, no sound at all. The child merely nodded, his gaze never leaving Alladria.
        She stretched out her hand to him, and with no protest from Rathenn, the boy took it, uncertainly at first, then with a firm grip. Alladria's gaze turned to Ethaniel and with what seemed like an enormous effort, offered him her other hand. He took it promptly, his eyes always on hers. Alladria's lips moved again, but there was no sound. Alladria's eyes lost their focus, her words died in the wind. Rathenn didn't even move, no sound escaped him. Even the child sat frozen, his eyes wide with terror and confusion.
        He stared into her eyes and lost himself in their darkness. A darkness which was soon surrendered to fire. He thought he saw something die in them. And as he realized Alladria's grip was no longer firm, he knew she was dead. The world spun around him, but in the dizzying vortex that soon surrounded him, he never let go of Alladria's hand. He tried to feel the ground, but suddenly it was gone.
        Darkness enveloped them, enveloped him.
        The memory came again. Just a flash...
        Green of leaves...
        Trees of forest...
        Were they back?
        The whirlwind continued.. Were his eyes suddenly closed? He wondered if he were blinded for a moment. The world was gone. Only his grip on Alladria's hand remained. He squeezed her hand tighter, afraid they might somehow stray apart. Afraid he would somehow open his eyes and find himself alone. Her hand started to slip away, despite his desperation in trying to hold on. And just as her hand was coming free, he could have sworn she squeezed his hand. His eyes opened.... Found only darkness. Something enveloped him, trapped him. Voices, whispers... Breath! He pushed and kicked sporadically, but something still held him. Embraced, entrapped. He twisted and turned in his dark prison and finally was free from the cloth that held him down. And what he saw was enough to stop his heart. He saw fire... And he saw forest. And one consumed the other even as he imagined the sound of the leaves burning.  But the fire rested only a few meters away, paused, awaiting, as it had always seemed.
        "I knew you would not let go..." Alladria's voice came suddenly. He whirled around, his eyes reluctantly releasing their hold on the flames. Alladria was standing there, her eyes always closed.
        Beside her stood the boy, his face mesmerized by the dancing flames. Ethaniel approached them slowly, and found her face followed him as if her eyes watched his every move. Ethaniel wondered if the others had abandoned the forest in time. He thought of asking, but something beyond Alladria caught his attention. Behind her, a few steps in the background shadows, was Rathenn. Standing confident as he always had. His wings folded calmly behind, his face unreadable in the reflection of the flames.  The world could end, and his face would not change an inch. The first image of Rathenn returned to his mind. The way he looked almost ashamed at the face of Alladria's reprimand. When he had called her Queen...
        Ethaniel walked slowly and stood at Rathenn's side. "Have you been here before?" He whispered.
        Rathenn's eyes never moved away from the flames, but within their range, Ethaniel was sure Rathenn's gaze was on him. "I have never been here." Rathenn said calmly.
        "How did you know who Alladria was?" Rathenn never answered. "She had not left Ilian... You had never come here...   How did you know? When had you met?"
        Rathenn's eyes drifted away from the fires and rested for a moment on Alladria, then he finally faced Ethaniel. There was a sort of amusement in his features.  "Mysteries are all we have sometimes, Ethaniel. Leave it as that. Your doubts no longer matter... Your fears are long gone... Your betrayal is no more... Nothing matters but that the child steps into the flames."
        Ethaniel wondered what he was to say, but his words and ideas vanished before they were even formed. He tried to understand what Rathenn was telling him, but it didn't seem to matter as much to him, not anymore.

        "Come, Ethaniel." Alladria reached out her hand and he took it promptly, joining her side. She turned back to where Ethaniel stood and said with what looked like nothing other than a smile. "You have already failed us once, do not do so again."
        Still paralyzed by the fact that it was the boy that had answered the calling, Ethaniel stood frozen. As he watched Alladria and the child walk towards the fire, faraway and long gone voices echoed in his mind as he saw the scene through his own eyes, as he had seen it once before.
        "You must step into the fire."  He looked straight into the old man's eyes, and realized he was looking up at them. He took a step towards the flames, then stopped as he heard a voice behind him, within him. "No!!" He cried out, but it wasn't him.
        Had he cried out? The memory blurred into the present as the little boy looked back at him, at himself. Ethaniel was silent, in both instants. And once again, it was Alladria's eyes which seemed to lead him onward. Into the fire.
        He looked at Rathenn and finally understood. They had met before. Maybe countless times. But he would never know it.
        Fire, darkness... It melded into one reality and consumed him. The darkness swallowed him, bathing him in a calmness he could not control. A dreamless slumber. Then came the true brightness of fire, dragging him from the silence to the thunders of its flames. He accepted it, and as if it were the first time, he opened his eyes and welcomed it...

        He opened his eyes to the bright intensity of the sun and saw countless faces surrounding him. For a moment, he thought there was a woman there, but as soon as his vision focused, she was gone. His eyes searched about for anything familiar, but the sky and clouds alone seemed to convey familiarity. The strangers hovered over him in whispers. He felt the ground beneath him and tried to move, finding it was somehow stranger than it had been before, though he didn't quite know why.
        "Are you alright?" Someone asked him. Without truly understanding what had happened, he nodded slowly. He wasn't hurt, he was simply... confused.
        "Can you get home?" A woman asked him as she helped him up.
        Home.... yes, he had a home... Get there? Yes. Yes, he could... Again, he nodded. His head spun and for a moment, he thought he saw fire... but it was gone with a simple movement. And the only darkness that awaited him stood in his own shadow beneath the sun. A voice seemed to reach him, as a silent prayer long ago lost, the echo that slowly vanishes into silence. He heard it clearly in one singular moment, briefly, and then it was no more. And in truth, it had never been at all...

       In the surroundings, only one man observed as the boy slowly walked away, the streets and buildings seemingly a wonder to him. The crowd that had formed when the boy had collapsed in the middle of the street dissipated quickly. He followed the boy for as long as he could, and when the child had finally vanished between the giant structures, the man took one last look at the strange city from the top of the building where he stood. He leaned over the edge and smiled. And with one step, he fell through the air, his body suspended as if waiting for the wind to catch it. And the wind taunted him, rushing past. And not one gaze found its way towards him. Not even as his golden wings opened wide and he took to the skies in a magnificent flight. He still looked down, one last time, and tried to see the boy. But it didn't really matter. For they would meet again... someday...  In the edge of forever...

 

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