As I stumbled through the portal, my senses reeled from the sudden transition. The air felt different, charged with an otherworldly energy that prickled my skin. I landed hard on uneven ground, surrounded by others who had been similarly whisked away from the chaos back at the cafeteria. The portal shimmered behind us, a gateway between the familiar world and whatever lay ahead.

Valanor, the figure clad in golden armor, stood at the edge of the crater, his gaze fixed on the portal where we had fled the monstrous dragon. His expression was grim, his features illuminated by the faint glow of his armor. I couldn't help but feel a mix of awe and fear at the power he had displayed moments ago.

"Everyone stays close," Valanor's voice boomed, cutting through the tension that hung in the air. "We are in the Veil now, a realm beyond your comprehension. It is not safe here."

The ground beneath us trembled as if agreeing with his words. I glanced around, taking in the strange landscape that stretched before us. The sky above was a swirling mass of colors, hues that I had never seen before. The ground was rocky and jagged, with strange plants that glowed softly in the dim light.

"What... what is this place?" I stammered, unable to fully grasp the reality of our situation.

"This is the Veil," Valanor repeated, his tone grave. "A realm between realms, where the laws of magic and physics intertwine in ways that defy understanding. We are fortunate to have escaped Mal'Zak's grasp, but we are not out of danger yet."

I looked back at the portal, half-expecting to see the dragon emerge from it at any moment. But the shimmering gateway remained silent, a silent sentinel between worlds.

Me and Zac shared a silent look, I could see the fear that he was feeling, and I felt the exact same way, but I was reassured by the steady presence of Valanor.

“Recover yourselves, we are leaving this place we must make it to the arch” Valanor’s voice cut through the silence.

I looked around at my dusty, unfortunate companions seeing the weariness and fear that was present in their expression. Hours before we were in the cafeteria eating breakfast and bacon, God what I would do to have some bacon right now. Instead, we were in this place, The Veil, where cracked grey ground spread out before it met the jagged peaks that seemed to loom over us. Little plant life besides weird crystalline flowers popped up from here or there.

One member of the group decided to lean down and pluck a flower. Just before his hand was about to touch the flower, Valanor ripped his hand away.

“You worthless little sack, you don’t know anything about this world yet the first thing you do is go to reach for a plant you have never seen in your life.”

“I...I didn’t know” the man stammered

“Well don’t do anything but walk and keep your eyes on a swivel” Valanor states.

The annoyance at being tasked with keeping watch of us seeps into his voice. My curiosity gets the better of me.

“What would have the flowers done to him” I ask, tepidly.

“Nothing, they’re harmless, it was best to teach this lesson where there is no danger. The veil contains many dangers, some seen, some unseen. Now no more questions! We march for the arch” Valanor barks.

We start moving across the grey plain and towards the looming craigs in front of us. The dust we kick up seems to be speckled with flecks of silver, gold, and red.

As we marched towards the looming crags under the guidance of Valanor, the atmosphere around us grew increasingly tense. Every step felt heavy, laden with uncertainty and the weight of our newfound reality. The ground beneath our feet shifted in subtle ways, as if the Veil itself was alive and reacting to our presence.

I notice a dust being kicked up in the distance by figures that I could barely make out. I go up to valanor and tap him on the shoulder, a metal ringing as I make contact with his shoulder. He turns about almost hitting me in the face with his pauldrons.

“What?” he looks down at me.

My hands start to shake as he looks at me, but I ask, “What are those things in the distance?”

He sets his gaze on the horizon and notices what I am talking about, grumbles under his breath, and then turns around to look at me again.

“Those are doomhowlers as they get closer you will hear their piercing wail” he grunts and turns away seemingly unconcerned about these doomhowlers.

As they get closer and closer more people begin to notice and a nervous buzz seeps into the air. Many people begin to slow down just to be barked at by valanor to keep up as he continues his unbreaking pace.

Then the wails start, the piercing, chilling, and frightening noises that these doomhowlers make are enough to set anyone on edge. I glance over at Zac and see his face ashen and a sheen of sweat across his brow. I walk closer to him and lean down to whisper “If those things get any closer to us we get right next to Valanor and do not leave his side.”

Valanor suddenly halts and turns around to face us. He takes us in with a piercing glare, seeming to weigh us and determine if we should be deemed worthy enough to save. Then he asks a strange question.

“Has anyone had any weird glimpses or seen anything that would be abnormal to you.”

A resounding silence is met with his question, and I begin to sweat. Was that cave abnormal? That floating sphere within my mind's eye?

I chose to voice my concerns “Valanor would a small little floating sphere that I caught a glimpse of be considered abnormal?”

His heavy gaze turns to me, and I feel it pin me down with the intensity of his gaze.

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“Yes, that would be, what you just described to me was a core it is what makes all magic and powers available to the holder. The size and shape of it determines the strength of the holder.” He states briefly. Then he asks me to come over to him. I feel the stares of all the unfortunate souls that were sucked into that portal. He leans down and asks me to try to imagine the space that I was in and what was in there.

I close my eyes and I reach out with my mind seeking the cave that held the sphere, yet it feels as if I am grasping at the wind. Everything seems to be slipping away and through my mind's fingers. I scrabble at the impenetrable darkness that is my mind but to no avail I cannot bring back that dark cave with the floating sphere.

I open my eyes and shake my head. Valanor takes a deep breath of relief as I tell him the news. Which doesn’t make sense to me. Wouldn’t he want me to be able to wield these mysterious powers?

He turns back around to face the doomhowlers that are now mere miles away, their shrieking still a constant ring in our ears.

Then he disappears from where he was, all that was left in his place was a whorl of dust as it falls back down to the ground and a boot print. Then I look up and see him in the pack of doomhowlers. The six-legged monsters look like a mix of a parrot and a wolf that was given steroids. A large beak juts out of their face with beady eyes and feathers run down their body. Six stout but strong legs propel it forward digging deep into the cracked ground and propelling them forward. Long talons jut out of their feet tipped with metal that gives them even better traction.

All I can see though is that Valanor is playing with them. One of them lunges at his back and he disappears and appears above it slamming its skull into the floor. Then he turns around and throws a punch ringed in fire that produces a sonic boom as it goes through the abdomen of one of the doomhowlers.

He continued his massacre until the last of the pack turned tail and ran. All the while I watch with my mouth agape, maybe silently hoping that that could be me one day. With the power to do anything I wanted and to protect those that I hold dear to me.

He appears in front of us again covered in gore and blood and surrounded with an aura of oppressiveness. It throws all of us to our knees a metaphysical force that bears our souls to the ground. Just as soon as it appeared it was gone.

“Sorry I forgot that I wasn’t with my regular party.” Valanor grunts.

As soon as the doomhowlers were defeated so too were we on our way to this so-called Arch.

Valanor led the way with a determined stride, his armor gleaming in the strange light of the Veil. I couldn't help but feel a sense of gratitude mixed with awe towards him but also a sense of trepidation. The fear of what a person with his amount of power could do. Although, without his intervention within that dark realm, we would have surely met a dire fate at the hands of Mal'Zak.

Zac walked beside me; his usual chatter replaced by a somber silence. His eyes darted around, taking in every detail of our surroundings. I knew he was processing everything, trying to make sense of this surreal experience just like the rest of us.

The landscape of the Veil was unlike anything I had ever seen or imagined. The jagged crags that loomed ahead seemed to pulsate with a strange energy, casting long shadows that danced across the rocky ground. The air itself hummed with power, a constant reminder that we were no longer in the realm we knew.

As we neared the crags, Valanor called for a halt. He turned to address us, his voice echoing across the barren landscape.

"We are approaching the Arch of Eternity," Valanor announced, his tone grave. "It is a gateway that will lead us to safety, but it is also a place of great danger. We must proceed with caution."

The path leading up to the Arch was surrounded by steep drop offs and crumbling ground. Our party hiked onwards, the only untoward event that happened was another member of our party slipped and almost fell.

As we arrived at the top of the craigs the Arch of Eternity stood before us, a massive structure carved into the heart of the tallest craig. Ancient glyphs ringed the outer portion of the arch glowing in an ethereal blue light. It shimmered casting a glow that seemed to defy the darkness of the Veil. The portal itself was a black sheet that sucked in all the light from around.

Valanor gestured for us to follow as he began to ascend towards the Arch. Each step felt like a journey into the unknown, my heart pounding with a mix of fear and anticipation. We were about to step through a gateway that would either lead us to safety or into further peril.

As we approached the base of the Arch, a sense of foreboding washed over me. The air crackled with energy, and I could feel a tingling sensation on my skin. It began to get harder to lift my leg to put it on the next step but as soon as we reached the portal Valanor turned to face us, his expression serious.

"Stay close and do not stray from the path," Valanor warned. "The Veil is unforgiving to those who underestimate its power."

With those words, Valanor led the way through the Arch of Eternity. As I stepped through, a surge of energy washed over me, sending shivers down my spine. The world around me blurred for a moment, and I was thrust into a realm in between, catching a glimpse of leviathans walking the plane but one turned towards me. Mal ’Zaks glowing rust colored eye pierced me as though he could see me. As soon as his gaze settled on me when I found myself in a completely different landscape.

We were no longer in the barren expanse of the Veil. Instead, we stood on the edge of a lush forest, the air filled with the sweet scent of blooming flowers and the chirping of unseen birds. Sunlight filtered through the canopy above, casting dappled shadows on the forest floor.

I looked around in awe, unable to believe the transformation. Valanor stood beside me, a faint smile on his face.

"Welcome to the Realm of Eldoria," Valanor said, his voice filled with warmth. "This is a sanctuary, a place of peace and magic."

The others in our group looked equally amazed, their eyes wide with wonder. For a moment, the trials and dangers we had faced seemed like distant memories, replaced by the beauty and serenity of Eldoria.

Valanor led us deeper into the forest, following a winding path that seemed to glow with an otherworldly light. The trees whispered secrets in a language I couldn't understand, their leaves rustling in a harmonious melody.

As we ventured deeper into the heart of Eldoria, Valanor's words resonated with ancient lore that painted a vivid picture of this mystical realm's significance within the Veil. He recounted tales of the Luminary Sentinels, towering guardians with eyes of emerald fire, sworn to protect Eldoria from any threat. The magic coursing through its ethereal veins was said to be the very essence of creation, a force that could shape reality itself in the hands of those attuned to its power. Valanor warned of a delicate equilibrium, carefully maintained to shield Eldoria from malevolent forces lurking beyond the Veil, eager to exploit its secrets for their own dark ends.

I listened intently, hanging on to every word. This was a world unlike anything I had ever known, a place of wonder and mystery.

Eventually, we reached a clearing in the forest where a majestic tree stood at the center. Its branches reached towards the sky, adorned with shimmering leaves that seemed to dance in an unseen breeze.

"This is the Heartwood Tree," Valanor said, his voice filled with reverence. "It is the lifeblood of Eldoria, a source of magic and protection."

As we gathered around the Heartwood Tree, Valanor performed a ritual of gratitude and reverence. He spoke words of thanks to the guardians of Eldoria, to the magic that sustained this realm, and to the resilience of those who had journeyed with us.

I closed my eyes and offered my own silent thanks, grateful for the chance to experience such a wondrous place. The trials we had faced felt distant now, replaced by a sense of peace and belonging.

As the ritual concluded, Valanor turned to us with a smile.

"You are safe here in Eldoria," Valanor said. "Rest and recuperate, for the journey ahead will not be easy. But know that you are not alone, for the magic of this realm will guide and protect you."

We had journeyed through chaos and danger, but now we had found sanctuary in the heart of the Veil. And as I looked up at the shimmering leaves of the Heartwood Tree, I felt a sense of hope and renewal wash over me.