Emma was surprised at how much had changed just in the last hour of their walk.

When they had met Demeter, it was as though they were conversing alongside the bank of a small lake — a tree here or there, but nothing much in the way other than water. But now, a vast wilderness had spread over before them. But, as Emma learned, it was a surreal and deeply unsettling wilderness; as the forest kept thicker, the sea beyond them — the sea, that is, which is not solid — somehow still held at their backs, no more than a league away.

“Why is it that the water never moves from beyond our sight?” William asked with an edge to his voice that Emma saved a positive opinion on herself.

“I do not know, Mister William, but we should focus more on the horizon and what is in front of us, than dwelling on the past…” Emma replied.

But as Emma spoke, she barely heard her own words. Spatially, the oddness of this place was beginning to terrorize Emma, and she did not want to appear weak or feeble in front of this man. She was having a hard time just keeping herself together, she did not also need to focus on containing her emotion when they dwelt within a place which was beyond their comprehension.

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“Yes. Yes, young lady… you are right. Wisdom!” William said strangely as Emma saw him make a concentrated effort at willing himself beyond the madness of this place.

“And what in sweet lilies is this?!” Emma exclaimed.

Before them was a vast field and at the center of the field, a large building.

“I reckon that is the place we must get to?” William asked. “As for those creatures between us and it, I do not know.”

Emma had a hard time believing what she was seeing, which was absurd, considering her griffin encounter earlier. But across the field were a host of manticores — ferocious beasts with snakes for tails and lions for bodies. And the wings… the wings were a little much, as far as Emma was concerned. It was disconcerting seeing so many creatures she only knew from stories live and in front of her; prior to now, the only experience Emma had with the fantastic had been through radio or the rare moments of television she watched, like when she was watching a program as she stood outside the electronic shop in town. But to see them so close and in the flesh? It was unnerving to say the least.

“Manticores — they are violent demons,” a voice — Demeter — said to Emma and William from beyond the veil. “Use your cloaks to shield your presence. But be warned — if you have reason to shed your cloaks, such as for interacting with something in this world, you will have to shed your cloak. If a manticore sees you, it will not hesitate to feed.”