A complex weave of lines with tiny spots dotted in was invading my vision. They evolved into many glowing humanoid shapes all around me. I tried breathe but failed completely. Irritating.

A vague familiar female shape was still clamping to my right arm. Another glowing shape was clinging to my left leg.

Suddenly I felt an eerie kind of fear rising up in me. Desperately I tried to keep this fear at bay. Wherever I was, running in panic into the unknown is just stupid. Changing to a stable stance helped a bit. It was weird, but suddenly I could feel ground under my feet, which seemed to increase my resolve in weird way. In the meantime I could sense a sort of direction where the source of the fear should be. Complete nonsense. Without a visible danger there is no reason for fear.

At the edge of my mind I could feel something pressing my right arm and my left leg. It wasn’t the source of this weird fear though. After a few moments the humanoids around me started to run away, partially moving through each other. Mobilizing the last wisps of a clear mind I had I managed to stay put. The pressure to my arm and my leg increased considerably. It doesn’t hurt so I ignored it for now.

Still everything was strangely muted. Most of the lights had disappeared into the darkness now. The dots of light I were gone as well. Slowly the fear faded away.

After I had recovered enough to think clearly again I looked down. My body was glowing in a faint blue light. As this all made no sense at all I wondered where I was. Shouldn’t I be dead?

“Where are we?” I managed to voice somehow.

It sounded wrong and muted in a intangible way.

“I-I don’t know” came a distorted voice from below.

“In hell?” came from the woman in front of me. She still held my arm.

“I think, therefore I am!” I stated.

“Where are the fire pits?” the woman asked.

“Th-There are no fire pits!” the young man confirmed.

“Shouldn’t we follow the others?” inquired the woman.

“Not without a reason.” I replied.

“Point taken.” the woman agreed.

“O-Okay?” came the voice of the guy from below.

The woman let go of my arm and looked around.

“There is a faint light in the opposite direction they went!” she observed.

“You can stop clinging to my leg.” I told the guy at my leg.

“O-Oops. I didn’t notice!” he replied and let go of my leg.

With a groan he got to his feet.

We were in what looked like natural cave. The walls were rough and irregular. In one direction there was a shimmer of light. The other ghosts were gone for good.

“We look like I would imagine a ghost.” I mused.

I eyed up the two faintly glowing shapes of the others. The woman was smaller and guy a bit larger than me.

“I would opt to go to the lights. Maybe there is a reason to scare everyone away, but I want to know what it is.” I announced.

“At least we have sort of a goal. Prodding around in the darkness isn’t efficient.” the woman replied.

“I’ll go wherever you go.” the lanky guy added.

“Let start with the path of Light then. Since it is awkward to talk with you without knowing your names. I am Alessia.” she offered

“It is.” I agreed.

”I am Michael.” I added.

“Gordon.” divulged the lanky guy.

Cautiously we started to walk towards the faint shimmer. In a way moving a limb felt utterly strange. It worked somehow but everything related to my body felt somehow muted.

“I’m feeling unreal.” I let the others know.

“I agree.” Alessia confirmed.

Gordon simply nodded.

Gradually the light got brighter. After an indeterminable length of time we arrived at a large cave. The complete surface was covered with pale small lights. They illuminated the cave with a pale eerie white light. Is this a kind of afterlife? How are these lights powered? Electricity? We stopped few steps away from the first lights in the floor. They started to appear just as the tunnel met the cave. I closed in to the nearest light and squatted to examine it further.

“Be careful. We don’t know what they do!” Alessia warned.

“Everything here is frightening!” Gordon added.

The crystal jutted out just a few millimeters out from the floor. I had a square profile with clipped corners with roughly a centimeter to the side.

“Let’s see.” I mumbled and warily touched the crystal in front of me.

“Stop idiot!” fumed Alessia. She pulled me back.

The crystal faded as I touched it and left a small hole behind. I felt a faint tingle for a moment.

“You could have been exploded or something!” Alessia yelled.

“I’m still alive?” I retorted.

“Men!” she sighted.

“Please be careful!” Gordon pleaded.

“I felt only a short tingle.” I explained to them.

“It’s your life.” Alessia quipped.

“I’m feeling more dead than alive at the moment anyway.” I was feeling really weird.

Determined to find out more I continued to touch little crystals. Each of them winked out of existence as I touched it. After dozen of them were gone I noticed the general numbness fading a bit.

“I feel somehow more real.” I said.

I looked at my finger and it seemed to look a bit more solid to me. I turned to the others holding my hand in their direction.

“My finger looks different.” I waved with my hand.

Cautiously Alessia came closer and carefully examined my finger without touching them.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“I’m not convinced.” she stated.

“It doesn’t hurt at all.” I carefully examined my finger.

Alessia groaned. “Men are so stupid! They may be dangerous nonetheless!” She crossed her arms below her chest.

Gordon remained silent and watched.

One by one I winked out further crystals. Gradually my body became more and more solid and my senses sharpened.

At some point Alessia came into the cave, too.

“I’m sure I will regret this!” she quipped and started to touch crystals too.

A few minutes later Gordon joined in. I continued watching out for changes.

After a while, a noticeable part of the cave had darkened already. The crystals I touched vanished only partially. There was a part of it left in the hole. I tried a few more crystals, but there was no tingle and they simply felt like some crystal.

“It looks like I am full somehow.” I announced. I still felt strange, but a lot better than before. I sat down on the floor observing Alessia and Gordon absorbing more of the crystals.

After a while Alessia joined me, while Gordon was still busy. Finally he was finished, too.

“You don’t look like ghosts anymore.” he observed looking at us.

“Yes. I look right again.” Alessia confirmed.

“What shall we do now?” Alessia asked.

Gordon and me remained silent.

“Do we have to follow the rest now or did anyone see another exit? ” Alessia looked at me.

“I think there is nothing else we could do at the moment.” I shrugged.

“Ideas?” I looked at Gordon.

He shook his head and sat down in front of me.

“Maybe there is more you could do!” a female voice behind me suggested.

Gordon’s eyes were opening wide and as his jaw dropped literally on his chest. Alessia turned her head while I jumped to my feet with a tactical getup before facing the voice. In front of us stood a gorgeous woman with jet-black hair reaching down to her hips. She had fair skin and her eyes were glowing in a faint orange light. She wore a simple yellow dress that left nothing to imagination. She looked young, but had a dense vibe of old age around her.

“Who are you?” Alessia furrowed her brows.

“So wary!” she laughed.

“I can help you to understand your situation and maybe even give you some advice how to proceed. All you have to do is hearing me out. I am here because I have to. Normally I would just wait until this mess is over. You piqued my interest. You can call me Solana to answer your question.” She sported an amused smile.

“Why should we trust you?” I asked her, curious how she would react.

“Well. I am the only source of information you have.” she chuckled.

Alessia looked a me tilting her head.

I shrugged.

“Well. I think it won’t hurt to hear you out.” I looked at Alessia.

She nodded back and got to her feet. Then she crossed her arms under her chest.

“Shoot.” she firmly pressed her lips together.

“Now. I think I’ll start with some information. We can move on to the advice later. You are here because the king of Arhithrea has ordered to perform a summoning ritual which causes souls of dying people from an other world to reincarnate at the place of summoning. The gods who support the ritual usually give them some extraordinary powers. The king wants to use these people from other worlds for his pointless wars. This ritual requires the consent of the gods. Unfortunately we vote and the warmongers have a majority. I am here because everybody has to attend this summoning. Normally I don’t interfere. You are in the Eternal pathway at the moment. This place is timeless, so no mortal will notice how long we linger here. Unfortunately in the end you will arrive at the summoning circle, where the so called heroes will be taken into custody by the Kings men.” She frowned a bit.

“I don’t want to fight in anyone’s wars. And I don’t want to die in these wars either!” I confessed.

Alessia and Gordon nodded.

“There is no way for a hero to avoid the rituals destination. With some help you may somehow handle the situation arriving there. Having collected power of your own will certainly help. It doesn’t protect you from their mind controlling and mind reading magic though. Heroes are weak at the beginning since they often have no experience in fighting or magic. It isn’t that hard to establish control right after the summoning. An established control is much harder to fight later on. I can help you within the limits of the summoning. You have to take care of yourself thereafter. While I can’t offer you an easy out, my support should give you an edge with your own plans.” She smirked.

Assuming she was telling us the truth, it was mess! We would need every advantage we could get to deal with a government. There basically two ways out of this. One is to be powerful enough to escape from the ritual. As far as Solana could be trusted that might be impossible. Another possibility would be to make them loosing interest in us. Just leaving us alone would be optimal. Escaping a place that hadn’t tight security of an army camp should be easier. Gordon remained quiet, but seems to listen attentively.

“You mentioned advice in the very beginning.” Alessia pointed out.

“Well. Acquiring as much energy as possible is a good start. You will be able to turn the energy into real magical abilities before you exit this place. You all reached your maximum individual capacity. There is a rarely used ritual which would allow you to get additional energy capacity. It is restricted for use for powers you all get.” Solana explained.

“What is the catch?” Alessia inquired.

I nodded at Alessia.

“Well. You are bound to make all choices as a group. It is more efficient than buying a certain power three times individually in cost of energy. Apart from that I may support with abilities having something to do with my domains. Unfortunately I can’t disclose the domains to you. Stupid ritual rules.” She furrowed her brows.

This group stuff looked promising, but I have a bad feeling about it. Solana was holding back something. I didn’t think that she lied, but omission?

“We are in this together and have common goals. We should use synergies if possible.” Alessia proposed.

“I am not really convinced it’s a good move, but we may need every edge we get against a government.’ I clenched my fists.

Alessia looked at Gordon

“I am sure you have a voice. What do you think?” She looked at him with a smug smile.

“I-I don’t really know, Alessia. But getting all we can get sounds good for me.” he blushed, looking at his toes.

Solana seemed to follow our discussion attentively.

After contemplating for a few seconds Alessia announced: “Well, then we should decide. I vote for this group magic thing. It will give us an edge.”

“I am in, too” Gordon nodded.

It sounded good. But my gut feeling didn’t like it. On the other hand getting some extra power may be crucial to get out of the situation.

Trust was still an issue.

Regardless of her story, we’re in this mess together. Together we may find our way out.

“Well. Okay. Let’s do it.” I shrugged

“Doubts?” Alessia asked.

“Gut feeling. Getting some extra options is a valid point. Let’s get over with it.” I sighted

“Fine!” Solana smiled happily.

“It’s quite simple. Arrange yourself in a circle and hold each others hand!” she pointed to the ground in front of her.

“Then you have to speak the following aloud in unison. I take care of the rest. Actually it’s quit a bit more complicated without competent support.” Solana made a slight gesture.

Then a short chant showed up in my mind in additions a few hints regarding posture.

We join our power to be strong! We bind our fate to be as one!

Simple enough. We chanted the silly lines in perfect sync.Thereafter some yellow lights weaved around us for a few seconds. As I looked at Alessia and Gordon I felt a strange subtle feeling in regard to either of them.

“Now you can touch more of the soul stones to fill your joined pool.!” Solana gushed.

Well. Lets try. Squatting down I touched another crystal. The tingle I felt was subtly different. We managed to dim about two to three times the area we had farmed before. It was a lot of simple but drab work. Finally the crystals stopped vanishing again.

“And now we come to the fun part!” Solana raised her hands in the air.

“Let’s go somewhere more comfortable!” she exclaimed while making an odd gesture.

After a flash of yellow light I felt a bit lightheaded for a moment. Slowly my sight returned. Now we were in a well furnished room dominated by yellow and black. There was a thick fluffy yellow and black carpet with intricate patterns. In the center stood a low table covered with a tablecloth in matching colors. Beside the table, opposing each other were a yellow couch and a black armchair. A chandelier composed of hundreds of glowing yellow crystals illuminated the room. Tapestries covered the walls. Guess the colors.

Solana walked up to the the armchair and let herself fall in the cushions.

“Take a seat!” she waved at the couch.

Alessia immediately walked to the couch an sat down at the left side. Gordon followed her a few moments later and sat down right on the other side. As I was finished assessing the room I sat down between them. It was much too soft for my taste. I literately drowned in the cushions.

“Welcome to the summoning ritual oh mighty heroes! I am now your patron in regard to the summoning ritual and the group ritual. I will enforce the rules of both rituals! That much for the official part. You should be honored since this is the very first time for me.” Solana gave us a wide smile.

The first time? I hoped the ritual rules were not too complex. Solana gave me a wink and smiled.

“I will guide you through the next parts of this. Don’t be worried. It’s nothing I can’t do. Since conflicts with the ritual itself could have dire consequences and the rules are quite complex I’d like to smooth out things for you which lead to a problem. Do you agree to that?”

“Sounds good for me.” Alessia chimed in. Gordon just nodded. I decided to trust her for now.

“Go ahead.” I nodded.

“Very well. All decisions will be decided by a vote. Each of you may sacrifice his personal energy to thwart a vote in his favor. I have to add this due to protocol to give you a chance to waste your energy. I will now begin to give you cases to vote. After a vote finished it will apply to each of you!” She laughed.

“You missed some of the facts upfront. I want to renegotiate!” Alessia demanded.

I nodded. This had far too many loopholes for our side. Gordon stayed silent.

“The deal was made and can’t be undone!” Solana decreed. She was smiling like a cheshire cat.

We exchanged worried glances.