“So yes?” my Personio friend asked. Her King lazily leaned back in his throne, and held back a yawn.

“I spoke to Arkel and the Queen.” his voice cracked, and held up his green fist and coughed. “We have decided that you cannot accompany Mariel. You are a Personio, and so you will live in your Personio society.”

Karym’s eyes widened significantly. She muttered something under her breath, then spoke.

“You can’t do that! I’ve lived my entire life serving your highness, and then when a once in a lifetime chance like this comes along, you and your fat head just ruin it!” she yelled.

The King looked extremely offended. He gave the guards behind us a look, and then both of them rushed at Karym. From the Personios I’d seen so far, Karym seemed a bit small for her age. Then again, the guards that attacked her were males, and were trained for this. All Karym was trained for was helping the old Personio she lived with survive. Of course she knew how to shoot an arrow, but that skill was useless at the moment.

One guard grabbed her around the waist and hauled her in the air. The second ripped his sword from its sheath and pointed it at her neck. A blood curdling cry erupted from Karym’s mouth. Tears poured from her eyes. It all happened so fast.

I had no time to react. All I could do was stare with my eyes wide. The Personios seemed so peaceful, except when an intruder like me had appeared at their front door. But in the village, everyone seemed so at peace with themselves and others. But now, a King ordering his guards to threaten to kill another of his kind, that was horrible.

“Let me go, you idiots! Please, let me go!”

The King rose from his chair.

“How about we bring all the villages together to watch your death, so they can understand better why never to insult me!”

He turned to me.

“Human, you have seen and learned enough about my kingdom. Leave now or die along with your friend.”

My throat was clogged with snot. Tears dripped one by one from my sore reddened eyes. At the moment I wasn’t even thinking about Karym, how I could help her. I was thinking about how the Personio King admitted that I had a friend. Karym was my friend. Even if she was a dream, or an illusion, I would not let her die.

I conjured all my strength into my arm. I curled my delicate fingers into a fist, and punched the patrol holding the sword in the throat. I was astonished to watch him fall to the ground, clutching his throat, gasping for breath. I never knew I was that strong. Back in my own world, a blow like that couldn’t have hurt a fly. But it seemed different here. . .

I had no time for deep thoughts. The King was yelling for backup while I recovered from my shock of newfound strength. It was weird, this was what had happened with the Mardaugs. When I fought one of them, I had a strange kind of strength suddenly.

Guards poured into the throne room from every opening. Their stomping boots echoed along the high ceiling. Some reached out for me, and others for Karym.

“Kill them both!” cried the King. “Kill them with your swords, your hands, your teeth! I don’t care! I want them dead!”

Swords flashed through the air at this command. I felt several blows come my way. Miracly, I dodged them all. Karym wasn’t doing that well. She was bleeding continuously from the various wounds made by the sharp swords. Bruises formed on her skin where she was hit by the guards.

How was I dodging all this? I felt like a superhero. Except I wasn’t. I was escaping every attempt from the guards at my death, while I left Karym in the dust. With this new conscience, I grabbed Karym’s arm, and forced her out of harm’s way with my newfound skill.

Slowly we made it towards the door.

The King had been so focused on murdering Karym and me, that he forgot to place some guards outside his palace.

“Run.” I growled. Karym obeyed with no objection.

We ran with the wind, not stopping for breath or to look back. We ran and ran, when finally reaching a small hole shielded by a tree. I dared to look back. The guards were nowhere to be seen. I let out a breath I didn’t realise I’d been holding.

I pushed with my remaining strength Karym into the hole, then followed myself.

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We waited a minute to catch our breath. All I heard was our heavy breathing, and on top of that the swords clashing.

It’s over, I reassured myself, the palace is behind us. We’re safe. But a big part of me doubted that.

“Where to?” I panted.

Karym paused, then answered,

“There’s a small exit in this village. Generally there shouldn’t be, but it was used by thieves, but they never made it back out. Of course I’ve only heard of it, but it’s our best bet. It would take us about a day to walk all the way to a guardian village, where an entrance would be. Even if we got a ride, the King is high on our heels. I think we should find the exit.”

“Okay.” I agreed. “Let’s find that exit.

And so we walked. More like jogged, actually, being afraid to be captured and exterminated by the King. I followed Karym, who only had memories of stories to guide her. We walked past gardens and gardens, never a single other person.

On and on we went for about two hours. It had been a lonely walk that seemed endless. But both our spirits were raised once we reached a tall brick wall, surrounded by bunches of barbed wire.

There was no reason to ask where the exit was. Neither of us knew. So I just followed my Personioin friend down the wall, away from the castle. Another hour passed the same way.

But finally we arrived at a tiny hole I would never have noticed on my own. It seemed that it was a rabbit’s, but was bigger and better made. Karym turned to me, an relieved grin on her face.

“It was real.” she whispered, and began to crawl down the hole.

I gingerly followed, never liking small spaces, even though I lived in one.

The tunnel went deep in the ground steeply. The smell of dirt filled my nose. I winced at every bug I came across. They crawled onto me, making me shiver. Buty Karym seemed to be having the time of her life.

Soon came a steep uphill. The tunnel got even narrower, forcing me to crawl in the shape of a ball. Sunlight began to creep into the dark hole, allowing me to see what was really around me. Roots stuck out at weird angles, worms slithered through the damp earth, and ants crawled along the walls.

Finally we emerged on the other side of the village now muddy and scratched. It was suddenly colder, with a sharp wind that passed through the new holes in my dress. I began to shiver, and clenched my teeth tightly. Not again. But then I saw that Karym was living through the same circumstances as me. A sudden warmth filled me. I wasn’t alone.

We locked eyes for a moment, and no one spoke. A large gust of wind blew my hair around, and did the same for Karym’s.

“So. . .” she said. “What now?” She looked scared now, all the desire to leave from before gone.

“Um, do you know any places where we could stay?” I asked.

“Well, there are some small stations around the mountain. We could go there, but I’ve never been.”

“And who lives there?” I questioned.

“I’m not sure. Personios, surely, but I don’t know what kind.”

“There are more of you?”

“Yes! Of course! There are many kinds of Personios, I’m just a subspecies.”

We both went quiet as we sank into our own, private thoughts.

I had so much to think about. Personios, who were Elves, Mardaugs, who were Goblins, this whole world, that was so different and unfamiliar to me, Buddy; was he a Personio?

Slowly, ever so slowly, the scenery around us changed. There was less and less snow, more and more healthy trees. I had no idea how long we’d been walking for, but I only started to feel tired hours later. When the trees sprouted colorful flowers, and there were scarcely any patches of snow anymore, did my legs start to falter. Apparently so did Karym’s.

“Break.” she commanded. I obeyed without question. We sat under a tree, its shade partially protecting us from the sun’s strong rays.

For a moment we both lay there, eyes closed, relaxing.

“Where are we?” I finally asked. Karym took a deep breath of the hot air.

“I don’t know. I once heard that there were villages like ours down here, but I guess that’s not true.”

“No,” I said, “I mean as a country, or planet even.”

Karym looked at me with curious eyes. She was sweating buckets, not meant to be in a hot climate.

Well, this mountain is called Mount Rabute, if that’s what you’re asking.”

I took a deep breath, and tried to ask this as clearly as possible.

“Are we on Earth?”

Somehow I knew what the answer would be. Magical creatures lived here, but then again I never really looked around my planet. I only had the small view of a busy street from my hospital room. And Rachel to tell me stories of her vacations to different countries.

I braced myself for Karym’s answer.

“What’s Earth?”

I cried out. I wasn’t even on my home planet. I was lost, with no way to get home. But what did home even mean? Did it mean where I was fed, but unhappy, or in a magical world where I was scared?

“Where are we!” I demanded. Karym looked taken back.

“Animus. The world of Animus.” she said quietly. Animus. What did that mean? I’d never heard the word before. It sounded foreign. Didn’t it mean imagination or something? Maybe it was dream. . .

I shushed the dark thought, and turned back to Karym, who had closed her eyes. I decided to do the same. My thoughts swirled around me like a tornado I couldn’t control. It was too much. All too much.

And I fell asleep.