Small plants and rocks poking out of the steep slope flew by in my vision, blurring into oblivion as I fell down the chasm.

Above me, my companions were in a similar position, yet they still hadn't given up, thrashing around in the sky in a meagre attempt to control their fall.

Above us all, the huge wing hid behind the mountain once more. It arrived from somewhere around where we walked some time ago, making me change my opinion - it had just arrived instead of being about to soar to the sky.

The only one who I couldn't see was Algier, who after a moment of struggle sped up in his fall, overtaking me nearly immediately.

Even he didn't manage to save himself, how could I?

Slowly, my limp body aligned - falling back-first towards the blizzard-covered ground.

Even though things moved at a rapid pace around me, I found some peace and quiet in it, looking at some random plant or rock sticking out of the mountain, which focused on more as if it hovered in the air before me instead of moving fast in relation to myself, and listening to the deafening sound of the wind blasting in my ears.

I looked at myself, at my clothes - specially made with my thoughts in mind on top of the beautiful blue that followed me around for already half a year, representing the first magic I could do. I have come so far, from mere dreams of adventures and modest intentions of being an archer to being on an actual adventure, with powerful allies and a consequential goal, and most importantly, wielding magic all the while.

I was proud, confident and content. I accomplished so much, with determination skill and luck, I arrived where I was.

He there I was, falling down at breakneck speed towards the ground, hidden behind a veil of moving snow. Neither a rock nor a fluffy meadow - an unknown.

The wind swirled, whistling by my ears, deafening me. So grand and powerful.

And then, it crashed.

Just like a few moments before, a tsunami of moving air struck me from the side, this time pushing me into the slope moving so fast in the periphery of my vision.

Pain, that's what I felt before stopping to feel that too.

----

"Let's see, a stinky wizard, few of those deranged ones, and a boy. Good haul it what it is." It stopped for a second, enlarging its lungs and looking up. "Thanks, Malfoy!" It shouted.

I was lying in the snow, my head half-covered and freezing. Cold though, wasn't the worst of what happened to me. I couldn't feel my left arm past the elbow joint, my legs were mangled and I had a gaping wound on top of my stomach.

To say I was in pain, would be an understatement.

Before me, a giant white ape swung Algier's corpse around. I don't know how, or when it caught him - but what it did to him was in no way better than the state I was in.

Suddenly, the white-furred beast turned its head's black bead-loke eyes staring at me daggers.

"Oh, the boy survived... What a peculiar specimen!" The ape's mouth turned in grotesque ways, as it spoke, spilling fresh blood from inside.

A few steps later, its fur-covered foot was right next to my motionless head. Then, its monstrous head lowered, stopping right above me. I saw it in the corner of my eye.

"Cutie, aren't you? Persevering in such unfriendly conditions... Lying to yourself constantly, with hope still - yet without any foundation for it."

Hope? I lost it long ago... The beast didn't know a thing about me.

"As if, in an illusion of bravery. Truly saddening that you must go through such torture, now - let go, let me taste you, little darling..."

Mouth opened, head lowered. Unbearable pain followed, with no vocal cords to convey it to the world.

----------------

"Are you okay Adam?" Stellmo broke me out of a deep thought.

"I... Just think I forgot about something..." It was that deep, overpowering thought that always haunted me after leaving the house to do something, a feeling of loss and un-remembrance.

"Eh, don't think about it. It's a weird thing that happens to everyone at some point - mainly due to stress." He explained, not really lifting the eight off my mind.

I looked away from him, following his suggestion and trying not to think about that haunting feeling. We stood before the Gate, ready to enter - around us, grassy plains and small hills poking out from the ground.

And then, it hit me again.

Green grass sticking out of the snow, barely visible among the disturbed powdered whiteness, reddened by the blood from all around.

Half-covered, corpses laid in the snow - mangled and brutalised, with teeth marks and torn-off pieces here and there.

White-furred leg poked in the side of my vision, insinuating the existence of a terrible monster.

"What happened??" Stellmo asked me worryingly, with a raised voice.

I looked back at his face, realising the shriek of shock and horror I let out a few moments ago, before doing the same again - this time scared by my companion's face itself.

Nameless bodies gained titles and history, as faces returned to their owners - still lying in the snow. Or was it stone?

Bruised eyes, torn-off ears and deep gashes gushing with fresh blood all painted a clear picture of pain and misery - an absolute decimation, in the worst sense of the word.

"Adam? What's wrong? You look as if you saw that Dra... red monstrosity all over again." Stellmo came closer, looking at me carefully.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Sorry, I just remembered how the Gate feels..." I lied.

He moved away, still glancing at me from time to time - but I was no longer under his scrutiny. I moved into my place before the Gate, in the middle of the formation.

Fenfallal looked back at us - then stepped through the whirlwind of colours.

Soon, it was my turn - and I was embraced by the feeling of breathless motion loss once again. Even after three times, it was a deeply unsettling and uncomfortable feeling, an unavoidable discomfort no one would willingly choose to feel.

Wait... three times? No, I have only used a Gate once before, my tongue must have slipped.

My lungs filled again, yet not with a cool and refreshing feeling, but with an icy breath of musk and rot.

We appeared in a dark cave lit dimply by some moss sticking to the uneven walls and covering the ground. It was wet, cold and it stank like a stable, yet different - instead of shit and dirt it smelled of rot and composing flesh.

Only after looking around, did I realise that using 'We' didn't apply to this situation. I was alone in the cave, with the damp ground as my only companion.

I took out a dagger from the sheath hanging below my waistline and went forward - cursing and looking around in place would not help anybody, there was no Gate behind me, so the only thing I could do was to push forward.

I stopped in the middle, in search of a way out - which I found relatively fast for its small size and hidden nature.

It was a narrow corridor covered by a curtain of moss, hidden in a crevice between two big boulders. I noticed it only because the falling moss moved a little as if the wind picked it up.

Behind the veil of moss, the corridor's walls hugged me before I stepped into another cave, this one much brighter - a hole in the ceiling let in some sun rays along with fresh air and a few petals of snow.

It was more circular, as if man-made, but apart from the weird shape and a hole above, this cavern was nearly the same as the one I was in before.

When I stopped below the hole, letting some of the snow fall on me, a weird voice rang in my mind, as if stealing my thoughts and directing them as it saw fit.

"Too high for you, little human. No tendon or bone would survive jumping that high, even if your muscles were big enough. The weakness of your flesh binds you in this cave, like a pig in a well." It was a serene voice, weirdly familiar yet I couldn't remember when or where I heard it before. Weirdest of all, it didn't surprise me at all, as if I expected it, or even awaited its coming.

"Who are you? How do I hear you?" I asked out loud, perplexed and vexed.

"Who am I? Who are you, to ask such questions? I have no need to answer you, with the opposite applying to you - you... might want to try your hardest to answer my questions clearly and comprehensively." It said sinisterly, its voice growing cold and threatening.

"Or what? As far as I know, you may be a manifestation of some insanity of mine, nothing that can harm me - even if, Fenfallal and others will soon find me, they have their ways." I said bravely.

The cavern trembled, rocks falling from the ceiling with pieces of moss around them like crowns of feathers - but unlike feathers, each stone fell produced a booming sound, and splattered shards in all directions.

I covered my face with my palms and crumpled around myself in a defensive position. Dagger fell out of my hands and clattered around the rock floor.

"Just a voice, you say... Big words for a mage who can't even kill a frogman. Those pesky little creatures... wild and animalistic despite their heritage, who can't even formulate a coherent thought without an aid, and you fail against them... Weak and spineless, I say you have no right to doubt my words!" The voice boomed with anger, echoing deep inside my mind, and ricocheting off of rocks and boulders inside the cave, finally manifesting in reality.

I looked up, behind and to the sides, in search of the voice's source, all for nothing.

Standing up, I the dust off and picked up my dagger, I hadn't yet decided if I should humour the enigmatic creature, but I came to the conclusion that I should at least play as if did.

"Oh great Voice, forgive my earlier impudence... I failed to realise your greatness." I said in the most humble tone I could muster.

"Finally you've come to your senses..., now tell me - for what purpose did you come here? How did you enter the cave? Answer me." the Voice commanded.

"I... Came to find and kill monsters." I took a deep breath, feeling that It wouldn't believe my next words. "As for how I appeared here - ehh - I stepped through a Gate, that led me to the cave behind that wall." I turned around and pointed in the direction of the tunnel.

"You want me to believe that a 'gate' led you deep into a mountain? Do you take me for some mindless monkey?" The Voice scoffed, disgusted.

"No, no! You don't believe it, but it's true!" I tried my best to hold my cause, but the voice was relentless, shaking the cave once again in an attempt to intimidate me.

"If you say so..." It agreed ominiously. ", now tell me - if you had to choose, who from your companions would you want to rescue you? One person only." The Voice asked, irritated.

"I think... I would choose Algier... but I am not so sure..." I answered.

"Why? What defines him among them all as the best choice?" The Voice inquired, it wanted more.

The problem was, I didn't want to tell more. I didn't know in what state had my companions found themselves, nor if the Voice had seen them before. Thus, I risked.

"He is the tall mage... I think he would have the biggest chance at rescuing me as he controls Earth as if it were his own flesh..." I lied, it made sense, but if the Voice saw him even for a moment, I would be doomed.

"Earth? Doesn't he wear green clothes?" The Voice hissed, seeing through my lie immediately.

"Ye-Yes, it's a disguise, no mortal would guess his strongest point when he wears colours of the opposite!" I scrambled up the answer in a heartbeat, lying through my teeth.

The cave trembled.

"Liar! I've seen him do his magic, no earth mage can stop a fall from a cliff like that!" The Voice boomed, no longer in my head in the slightest, it was all power coming from outside, yet still from all directions at once.

'Cliff?' I thought, and then the images started to pour into my mind like an avalanche - a massive wing, snowy peaks and a cliff below which a blizzard ravaged the ground. Inside the snowy hell, a white monster - resembling a monkey - awaited.

Shock, a shudder went through my body, a spasm of disgust and past fear. I crumbled around myself and vomited, not paying attention to the cave around me.

When I looked up from between my thighs, with a way emptier stomach and with memories way clearer, I saw a completely different scene than before.

I stood on a flying island, maybe five metres wide in all directions, below were the snowy peaks from which I fell, to death once upon a time.

The ground was damp mossy rock just like in the cave, as if It was ripped from there and pulled above by some massive hand.

I looked up, and I saw It.

Abomination abhorrent, as if forged from my deepest horrors.

With wings fifty metres in length, as if of a hawk or an owl, causing torrents of air to smash in me from afar. Massive torso ripped from a panther and same legs, blending with the clouds in a magical mismatch of colours.

And the heads.

Two human, horned heads hung from the panther's neck, lifeless yet moving in sync with the worlds of the Voice.

One was frightened, looking blow, to the white expanse of snow trees and rocky mountains. A bony horn sticking out of its forehead, aiming high with its spear-like point.

The other, blood coated and in a deep expression of pain and fear. Yet as if it only started to become scared, sealed in the moment of surprise and horror. From its forehead, a bloody icicle stuck out, weirdly familiar and unsettling in the way it impaled itself deep inside the bone.

Two mouths opened as the Voice screamed.

"You won't tell Me when I am kind and merciful? Then I will rip the knowledge from your head!" It screamed horribly, sending vibrations through the rocky island I found myself on.

In a brilliant flash, three islands appeared next to mine, and on them three of my companions.

Fenfallal of the right, in his golden armour and encased in flashing lighting.

Behind him, Algier - in his green robe, which we left long ago on the road, before entering the Northern Overseer. Winds coiled around him, trashing his island and lifting him off the ground.

On my left - Stellmo, all in flames - his shield and sword in ready position, unscratched.

"What is this?" Algier shouted over the roar of his, and Voice's winds.

"I don't know!" Fenfallal shouted back, shock visible on his face, yet, lightning still cracked.

The islands were stood on suddenly expanded, covering the distance between us and the beast - merging into one, gigantic platform.

I looked to my left, only to see Stellmo charge mindlessly at the Voice, without a plan, without his usual defensive restraint.

And then, it clicked.

I realised.

And without a moment of hesitation, in one fluid movement unobstructed by doubt.

I reached for the dagger - and pierced my own head from below.