The portal’s force seized him. He felt his body turn weightless. The world around him stretched and distorted like a painting left out in the rain. He floated in a dimension beyond gravity, losing all awareness of his physical form.

He moved fast through space — just how fast he didn’t know. The momentum jolted him forward like a rollercoaster towards an unseen destination. Without warning he became again aware of his body, and with dizzying speed he burst out of the portal, tumbling onto soft grass. For a moment his eyes stayed closed, the sensation of momentum rushing to his head. He felt disoriented. The soft blades of grass beneath him felt real. He slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, and adjusted his eyes to the new surroundings.

As his vision cleared, he found himself in a familiar moonlit setting, surrounded by a circle of stones. The thick forest around the stones was gone, replaced by an open clearing, and rolling hills.

He turned, and froze. Nothing could have prepared him for the scene before him. At the center of the stone circle stood a figure, a woman with long, dark hair dressed in a robe. In her left hand, she held an ancient leather bound book. In her right, a blood stained knife.

“Welcome, traveler,” she said and turned to him. Her lips curved into a wicked grin. Something sinister lurked behind her eyes. Then he saw the body on the ground beside her, laying in a pool of blood. It was Ardwyn, his friend.

Michael shivered with a deep cold as he took in the horrific scene. It really was Ardwyn. The thought didn’t quite register the first time. And he was dead, laying there, Ardwyn’s lifeless eyes staring right at him. A wave of nausea and shock went through Michael’s body.

“Ardwyn!” he cried out with anguish. “What have you done to him?”

“He served his purpose,” she said, her voice cold and detached.

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“You… you killed him!” Michael got up from the floor. His fists were clenched tight by his sides.

The woman’s lips formed a cruel smile. “In the grand scheme of things, his death means nothing,” she said. “And now, with your arrival,” the witch said, her eyes gleaming with an unsettling intensity, “the ritual can be completed.”

In that instant, Michael realized he too was in danger. He frantically looked around, searching for a weapon — a rock, a branch, anything. She had a knife after all and he was unarmed. But before he had a chance to do anything, the woman waved her hand and cast some sort of magical spell. A beam of light hit him directly in the middle of his chest. His feet left the ground, and he felt himself become paralyzed from the neck down.

Michael’s heart beat so loudly he felt like it was going to explode right out of his chest. Suspended in mid-air, he hung like a marionette with severed strings. The witch’s spell had made him completely helpless. He strained to move and free himself of the spell’s force but it was futile.

She approached him slowly, the bloodstained knife hanging loosely at her side. Her facial expression looked like a mix of madness and excitement.

“Do you know how long I’ve waited for this moment?” she said with a fiendish hunger.

“You’re insane!” Michael shouted, still being able to speak but not move his body.

“Insane? No. This is vision. This is destiny.”

“Whatever you’re trying to achieve, you are out of your mind.”

“I finally have deciphered the ancient runes. The blood of two World Bringers will unlock the portal. When I killed him, only half the stones awakened. Your sacrifice will activate the other half.”

Michael tried to draw out the conversation. He needed time. “Then what?”

“Ultimate power will be mine! I’ll cross not just between realms, but worlds. Every universe, every reality — all will be within my grasp.”

Michael grasped for some words that might save his life. He likely only had seconds left. What could he possibly say? He tried to remain rational but it was hard to when he felt he was right about to die.

The witch began chanting in some strange language, reading out of the ancient book. Her voice escalated with the final words, as she raised the knife, preparing to strike.

“Wait!” Michael yelled, feeling like this was his last chance. “Wait —“

But it was too late. The witch stabbed him in the heart with the knife. The last thing he felt was the cold darkness descend upon him.