Winter, Julius, Ican, and I all wave goodbye to the tribe. They cry and sob over the departure of their divine beast. I can’t help but feel a tiny bit bad for them. Regardless, we resume our journey.
After following the dirt path for quite some time, it gradually morphs into a path of gravel. We must be close to something. As we walk, a massive wall comes into view over the horizon, with a giant full moon peeking above the top. It is one of the most beautiful and picturesque things I have ever seen in my life. Ican cannot help but howl at the top of his lungs.
"Does your brain chemistry make that irresistible to you, or did you do it to be dramatic?" I ask, slightly amused by the event. Ican laughs a hearty laugh and we make our way to the gate of the wall.
As we get nearer, it becomes clear that whatever lies inside the walls is not welcoming of visitors, at least, not at night time; the gates are locked shut. No matter. I socket my portable hole spell focus into my gauntlet and easily create a tunnel for us to walk through on the wall. When we reach the other side, we are greeted with a loud, bustling marketplace full of stalls and shops. This place is this busy during the night? How many people live here? I suppose I did underestimate the size of the walls; they may have been the largest structure I’ve ever seen in my life, even rivaling the Empire State Building.
As we walk through the walled city, we draw looks of foreign ire and curiosity from many figures. One thing I notice is that this dimension also has non-human intelligent races. Several people I see appear to be human at first, but turn to reveal animal-like traits. I hope that doesn’t mean what genetics implies it means. I laugh at such an absurd notion. Others, still, look completely foreign. By far the strangest humanoid we pass is a creature with the lower half of a gargantuan arachnid.
"Where exactly are we going?" Asks Julius.
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"A superb question. Everyone needs sleep. Even Winter and I do, but for us it’s more about mental exhaustion rather than physical weariness. We will rent two rooms for the night at an inn." I see Ican yawn as I mention this.
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We enter the inn, which is much quieter than the city street. The innkeeper, a middle-aged balding man, jolts awake at his desk as we enter. "Two rooms, please."
"Sure. That’ll be 47 fyles." Nah. I use my Cognitio (Mind) Disruption spell focus on him, and he hands us the keys to two adjacent rooms. Damn. Especially for a medieval inn, this place feels more like a hotel. My thoughts are correct. It has three floors and five rooms on each floor, truly a much more massive place of rest than most others. I allow Julius and Ican to share a room, as I suspect they have much more in common than I do with any of them. As Winter strides into my room, I place my hand on his head and deactivate him for the night. "Nighty-night." His red eyes stop glowing and he slumps over.
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My dreams are rough. I see a white-haired man with feet of bronze and a golden sash in front of me. His eyes pierce through me like blazing fire.
"…Jesus?" I ask. I cannot hear my own voice.
"You have said so," he responds. His voice is like rushing water. I am so overcome with emotion that I run towards him. But before I can embrace him, he vanishes. My mind is pulled from the void and lives a thousand twisted lives, each more wicked than the last. I gnash my teeth in sorrow and pain. I see the rise and fall of one trillion kingdoms through twelve dimensions; I see the halls of time and the people that run through them. In my agony, I cry out to the darkness, "What’s it all for? WHAT’S IT ALL FOR!?"
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I awaken with a start. Morning light creeps through my shaded window. I look down at myself. I need to clear my head. I go to the bathroom of the inn. Surprisingly, it has working plumbing. It’s been almost 8 months since I’ve seen my own face. I slowly remove my mask and look at myself in the mirror.
A pulsating faceless humanoid looks at itself in a mirror. [https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1136080780368543925/1138255460022100029/image.png]
Never better.