Day 115

Breathing heavily, Kai trembled as he turned his attention towards the artifact in his hand. Sensing his companion's shift in focus, Caleb looked up at Kai, their gazes meeting momentarily before returning to the artifact.

Still looking at the artifact, Caleb whispered, "What on earth just happened?"

Kai slowly shook his head as he whispered in reply, "No idea."

Caleb pulled away from the the artifact and looked at Kai's face as he asked, "Was this in the legends?"

"No. Most definitely not." Kai replied.

"Well, the monster is dead." Caleb said as he pointed with his ax to the carcass at their feet.

Kai snorted, shed a tear and nodded while saying, "Yes, yes it is. You know it was crazy to try and kill the monster right?"

It was Caleb's turn to laugh and cry, "Oh yeah, I totally underestimated what we would be up against; thank the gods for your magic artifact!"

Day 114

Kai ducked and rolled away from the vicious attack, drawing his sword from the scabbard and then took advantage of the beast's loss of balance due to the missed strike by slashing at his foe defensively, hoping to gain some space to maneuver. The creature evaded the strike easily, stopping to assess it's attackers.

Caleb and Kai held their ground, trapping the hideous monster between themselves and the cave. For a moment, hunter and hunted stood immobile, quietly assessing each other.

Before them stood a truly fearsome foe; a four-legged fiend with bulging muscles rippling beneath bright orange scaled skin. Dirty black bone spikes jutted out down it's spine, leading to a thick, short tail, whipping viciously back and forth. It tilted it's head to one side, two eyes on each side of it's head blinking as it regarded them.

Caleb let out a primal scream and launched himself at the monster, ax held above his head. Caught of guard, obviously unused to being attacked, the beast almost allowed himself to get hit. It's astonishing flexibility and agility allowed it to twist to the left of the attack, the massive ax blade smashing into, and glancing off, one of the spikes on the beast's back. As it twisted, it's powerful tail smashed into Caleb's side, denting his armor and causing him to fly several paces away.

Kai ran into the fray, slashing and lunging repeatedly at the creature, trying to keep it from following up on it's previous strike. The distraction gave Caleb just enough time to get up and return to battle before the creature overpowered Kai.

As he watched Caleb fight the monster, Kai was hit with the sudden realization that they could never defeat this foe, it was much to powerful. In the very instant before despair triumphed, Kai was overcome by an urge to reach into his satchel and pull out the artifact.

A light as bright as the sun emerged in Kai's hands, temporarily stunning the three combatants. Almost instantly, the beast turned towards Kai and lunged once more, straight at him. Instinctively, Kai held out the artifact between himself and his attacker; what happened surprised them all.

A beam of the white light shot out towards the oncoming behemoth, causing it to let out an unholy bellow of raw pain and anguish; black smoke poured out from where it's eyes used to be, and it fell to the ground in mid leap, scraping along the jungle floor towards Kai.

The white light faded, leaving Caleb and Kai staring dumbfounded at the corpse of the dreaded forest monster; now clearly dead at their feet.

Day 113

They rushed down the small hill as quickly as silence would allow, although the beast was clearly already more than alerted to their presence. They positioned themselves so that the beast couldn't possibly attack them both at the same time, allowing whichever one wasn't attacked to ambush the monster from behind.

Had they thought it through fully, they would have realised it was quite obvious that the beast would attack Kai, the bearer of the artifact. And so it was, as they stood there waiting in the jungle heat, sweat pouring down their backs and face; that the creature leaped out from the blackness, straight towards Kai.

The sudden attack almost ended him right there and then, but Kai managed to dodge the lunge at the very last possible moment, ducking beneath the lashing claws streaking towards his face.

Day 112

"Oh gods! Is that the...Oh no..." babbled Kai.

Caleb quickly slapped Kai with the back of his right hand and quietly stared into his eyes for a few moments before whispering, "Are we ok now?"

Kai took a deep breath then replied, "Thank you, yes, I'm fine." He was shaking, and sweat was now beading on his forehead, but he did seem to have things under control.

Caleb nodded, then said, "Ok, so he's in the cave, and he's angry. He must have sensed the artifact."

Kai said through trembling lips, "What do we do?"

Caleb unhooked his axe from it's harness, cracked his neck and turned to Kai before replying, "We wait for it to come out, and when it does; we kill it."

Day 111

Strewn across the ground were hundreds of carcasses in various states of rot and decay; the horrid stench emanating from the vile feast almost visible in the pre-dusk light. The clearing in the forest that began just after the crest led to a large, ominous looking, cave mouth.

Kai turned to Caleb, nose still wrinkled from the smell, and asked, "So, now what?"

Caleb replied quickly, apparently he'd been thinking about this on the way, "OK, we don't know if this beast hunts at night or during the day, so we have to be careful; we certainly don't want to be surprised."

"But we have the artifact on us, so, I guess it's safe to assume that if the monster was here, he would have sensed it by now?", Kai asked.

Before Caleb could answer, the world was torn apart by a deep, bowel loosening, bone shattering roar; a growl that shook not only the earth beneath and the trees around them, but their very souls.

Day 110

Caleb thought out loud as they walked, "Hopefully the power of the artifact isn't enough to keep the monster away from his lair. It's our only hope of finding the beast."

As usual, they walked in silence for most of the day, only talking when crossing over another old wooden bridge, which clearly hadn't been maintained in decades.

Late in the day, when the sun was beginning to set, they were climbing out of a relatively shallow natural ditch, when Caleb turned to Kai and exclaimed, "Good lord man, can you smell that?"

Kai wrinkled his nose and grimaced, replying through gritted teeth, "How on earth wouldn't I notice that: It's rancid, putrid...hellish even!"

Forcing themselves to go on, they made their way over a small crest and through a thick bush and were quite suddenly faced with a hideous view.

Day 109

Caleb paused for a moment, deep in thought, then said, "Well, we know just wandering around the forest isn't gonna do us much good; since the artifact just keep the monster away."

Kai replied, "Right, so how will we be able to get close? I'm certainly not going to leave the artifact behind!"

Rolling his eyes, Caleb said, "Of course not, that's our only advantage here." After taking a moment to pull out a small twig that had gotten stuck in his hair, Caleb continued, "I say we go to the lair. All beasts have a home to which they return in order to feed or rest, we just need to find it."

Kai nodded his understanding, "So that way he comes to us, and we can lay a trap, great!"

Day 108

They walked out into the courtyard and the crisp cold air bit into their faces heightening the sense of impending danger. The nobleman from the previous night were assembled in the courtyard; apparently news of their offer had spread quickly. After a frustrating series of questions, warnings, advice and heated argument, Kai and Caleb were finally allowed to set off back into the forest.

When they stepped out through the small door in the large gate, Kai turned to Caleb and whispered, "You're sure about this, right?"

Caleb answered, "We have the artifact, we can use that to our advantage."

Kai took a deep breath, steeling himself for the grim task ahead. He looked over at Caleb, seeing determination and resolve, which somehow soothed his concerns and focused his own emotions.

As the compact dirt and open sky gave way to the softer earth and canopy of the forest Kai turned to Caleb and said, "Now what?"

Day 107

Kai nodded, feeling Caleb's sincerity. He was about to reply when he noticed the massive ax blade protruding from behind Caleb's head.

"What the hell is that?", sputtered Kai as he pointed towards the large weapon.

Caleb reached behind his back, made a small jerking motion, then brought the huge weapon around to his front. He hefted the ax in his right hand for a moment, then grabbed the large handle with his other hand and swung it in the open space to their left.

Kai's jaw hung open as Caleb reattached the weapon to the harness on his back. His training valued agility and control, and he'd watched in rapt fascination as expert duelists battled in the arena, but good lord did that thing look like it could do some serious damage.

Caleb had a large smile on his face as he said, "Gods, how I missed that feeling of weight."

Kai just shook his head as they walked back up stairs towards the courtyard.

Day 106

He was inspecting the engraved hilt when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Kai turned to see Caleb smiling back at him.

"What?" asked Kai.

Caleb continued to smile and said, "Who would have thought? Mr. Ambassador knows how to use a sword."

Kai was getting used to Caleb's sense of humor, so he explained, "I am quite familiar with the art of swordsmanship. From a very young age I received schooling in the martial discipline; countless hours were spent practicing dueling in the academy arena."

Caleb stifled a good natured laugh and said, "Well then, I guess we'll see if all that training paid off today, won't we?" His tone taking a sudden turn for the serious, Caleb continued, "This isn't practice though, we are going to be fighting a real beast, so be careful."

Day 105

As the Warmaster discussed the various armament options with Caleb, Kai's attention drifted towards a glint he saw coming from a more inconspicuous weapon rack, mostly covered with an old dirty tarp and shrouded in shadow. He strolled over, trying not to call attention to himself. He'd lost his sword just before entering the cave that led him to Caleb, so he was rather eager to get his hands on another; however he doubted he would ever find another so perfectly suited to him.

He slowly pulled the tarp off to one side, revealing the source of the glint beneath: A beautiful, albeit dusty and grime stained, sword. Kai blew the dust off the grip and grabbed the sword, gingerly pulling it from the rack. He slid his fingers along the side of the blade wiping off the dust; it was still incredibly sharp. Passing the sword from hand to hand a few times, Kai tested the weapon's balance and weight. Two quick slashes through the air made it clear he had been wrong just before: this was the weapon for him, perhaps even more perfect than his old sword.

Day 104

Caleb nodded and said, "You have a problem, we are offering you a solution. Do you want to make it difficult for us, or do you want to make it as easy as possible?"

Warmaster Gryl gulped and just stared back in silence. Kai was stunned, where was Caleb getting his confidence?

Caleb smiled and said, "Exactly. Now, tell me, what have you got?"

Back on familiar ground, Warmaster Gryl seemed to regain his composure and led them towards a weapon rack on the wall nearest them.

Kai was almost totally lost. Even though he'd trained extensively with a dueling sword in his youth, like every other young boy, he'd never been very interested in the art of war. The rack was covered in strange weapons, most of which Kai had no clue as to how they would even be used.

Day 103

Instead of the path towards the meeting chamber from the day before, Reginald turned down a flight of long stone stairs. Torches set in the walls at regular intervals provided light to what would otherwise be a very dark place indeed. The stairs opened to into a very large room filled to capacity with a dizzying array of weapons and armour; the castle's armoury.

Various men were scurrying about, presumably maintaining the many weapons, but one stood out; Warmaster Gryl. The man strode over towards them with a confidant gait, a grim expression souring his face.

Reginald spoke first, "Gryl, give these two whatever they need. They wish to challenge the monster."

Warmaster Gryl's jaw dropped momentarily, before he quickly composed himself and said, "You were lucky enough to survive the forest once. Are you sure you want to flaunt your luck in fate's face: Not only return, but with the intention of slaying the monster?"

Day 102

Caleb looked Reginald in the eyes and said once again, "We'll slay the monster for you."

Incredulous, Reginald replied, "Whilst I appreciate the offer, I'm not sure you realise what you are offering. We have sent out multiple hunting parties and no-one has ever returned alive!"

Caleb was unfazed, "And supposedly no-one ever left the forest alive, right? Trust me, we aren't just average travellers; all we ask is that you supply us with some weapons and armour, and we'll take care of the rest."

Reginald was speechless for a while, but eventually a look of resignation came over him and he said, "Alright, as you wish, I'll have Warmaster Gryl get you whatever you need, follow me."

As Reginald walked off in silence, Kai turned to Caleb and whispered, "Well that wasn't too hard was it?"

Caleb nodded and whispered back, "They're desperate. Even though he think we'll just die like everyone else, his desperation means he can't bring himself to refuse the offer."

Day 101

They finished their breakfasts in contemplative silence then Kai went to the bathroom whilst Caleb finished getting ready. Apparently, sometime during the night a servant had left fresh clothing. Caleb changed into the new clothes; he had to admit, it felt good.

Caleb walked out into the corridor where Kai was waiting for him, satchel in hand, accompanied by Reginald. The Lord smiled broadly when he saw Caleb and said, "Good morning! I trust you slept well? The breakfast was to your liking I assume?"

Slightly flustered by Reginald's early morning enthusiasm, Caleb took a moment to answer, "Yes and yes, thank you very much." Reginald turned and began to walk back towards the meeting hall where they'd been yesterday. As they walked, Caleb said, with no segue, "Kai and I would like to offer to slay the beast for you."

Reginald froze, turned slowly and asked, "What did you just say?"

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Day 100

Kai smiled and said, "A good night's sleep and a hearty breakfast, what else could a man want?"

Caleb thought the attitude odd, given his companion's reaction to his plan the night before, but he was grateful for it regardless. He stood and walked towards his own platter of food. He grabbed a freshly baked bread roll, ripped off a chunk and spoke as he ate, "Well, we're certainly going to need the energy; even with the artifact, it's not going to be easy taking down the forest beast."

Kai's smile faded slightly and he paled just a bit as he asked, "And you're sure that's our only option?"

Caleb grabbed a couple grapes from the tray and before popping them into his mouth replied, "I don't see how else we can get out of this? Do you?"

Kai looked down, closed his eyes and mumbled, "No."

Day 99

A gentle knocking on the door woke Caleb from a less than pleasant dream. He forced open his eyes, the morning light streaming in through the window remarkably bright.

A serving girl gingerly pushed open the door with one hand, a food laden tray in the other. Silently, she moved over to the table and set down the tray; a quick curtsey and she scurried back out of the room without ever saying a word.

Caleb pulled the sheets to one side and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Just as he was pushing himself up, Kai burst into the room, fully dressed and with a large smile on his face, holding his tray of food in one hand, an apple in the other.

Kai beamed, "Good Morning!"

Caleb, still half-asleep, squinted at Kai and asked, "What's got you in such a good mood?"

Day 98

He opened the door to his room, smiling sadly as the door let out a small creak. Caleb closed the door behind him and strolled over to the window. As he stared out into the night, he felt a certain tranquility; a sense of peace that he hadn't felt since that fateful day. He snickered to himself, it seemed so very long ago, but, it had only been a few days since he set out on this journey with the ambassador.

Back in his cabin Caleb had been impressed and overwhelmed by Kai's title and formal way of speaking, but  in their short time together, Caleb had already found that the ambassador was anything but the confident and imposing figure he'd appeared to be that first day. He was pure of heart and well intentioned to be sure, not to mention brave, however, his inexperience showed.

Whilst apprehensive about his plan to hunt the monster, the feeling of purpose it provided and the anticipation of going into battle once again soothed him somehow. Caleb glanced up at the stars and said good night to his wife before making his way into bed, falling asleep with a smile on his face.

Day 97

Kai pursed his lips, took a deep breath and nodded. He didn't like it, not at all, but he had to admit, Caleb had a point; it was the only way.

With that, they agreed to discuss the plan further in the morning. After what seemed like an eternity traveling, a good night's sleep in an actual bed was much to enticing to put off any longer.

Caleb stood and made his way to the adjacent room, bidding Kai a good night as he closed the door behind him. With not a moment's hesitation, Kai removed his clothing and threw himself into bed. A quick turn of the knob shut off the lamp lighting the room and Kai swiftly drifted into sleep.

Caleb took his time in the hallway before opening the door to his room; enjoying the fresher air, as well as listening for any late night sounds.

Day 96

Once more, Kai was stunned. How on earth were they supposed to kill this monster that several hunting parties had not been able to? Maybe Caleb had some sort of secret plan to escape during the hunt? Desperately seeking confirmation, Kai asked, "I see, so the plan is to just escape during the hunt, since they wouldn't dare follow us into the forest, right?"

Caleb shook his head once more and said, "We can't do that either. We wouldn't know where to go, we need to gain time until we can find out where the next gate is."

In what was now becoming their usual, one of the two was rather overwhelmed during a conversation; in this case it was Kai. In an attempt to reconnect with reality Kai asked, "So, let me get this straight; you are genuinely suggesting we offer to go into the dark forest and kill the evil monster?"

Caleb replied, "Exactly."

Day 95

Caleb grimaced, then said through gritted teeth, "Well, I think the only way we're gonna get out of this, is if we hunt that monster down and kill it."

Kai's eye widened even further and he yelped, "Are you insane? How are we gonna do that? They've sent multiple hunting parties after it. Unsuccessfully!"

Caleb replied quickly, as if expecting this reaction, "Yes, but, we have something they didn't have."

Kai whispered, "The artifact."

Caleb answered, "Exactly."

Kai was silent for a moment as he digested the suggestion. He vigorously rubbed each thigh with a hand as he thought. Caleb had a point of course, they were indeed obsessed with the monster and there's no way they would be allowed to escape until their hosts found an answer. Kai asked, "Can't we just tell them about the artifact, ask for help?"

Caleb shook his head and said what they both already knew, "You know we can't do that, they'd just take your precious artifact. Our only option is to offer to slay the beast ourselves."

Day 94

Caleb closed his eyes and rubbed his face with his right hand as he thought. Suddenly opening his eyes, Caleb said, "They seemed to be bordering on obsession with the monster on the forest, right?"

Kai nodded and replied, "Yes, that's what I'm saying, they're not just going to let us leave until they're satisfied with an explanation for how we survived. Let alone if they find out we have a magical artifact that wards off the beast!"

Caleb continued, "Right, so the way I see it we have two choices: Either we somehow escape the castle, which seems like a less than ideal option, or we do something about the monster."

Kai was about to After a moment of silence, Kai asked, "What do you mean, do something?"

Day 93

This area was just as luxurious as the the way they'd come to get to the meeting hall, if not more. The servant accompanying them came to a stop, pointed to two adjacent doors and said, "These are your rooms; I'll be back in the morning to fetch you. Good Evening." He then scurried off once more before they even had a chance to thank him.

As soon as they were alone, they quickly made their way into one of the rooms, closed the door behind them, and sat down around a small wooden table. Almost at the same time, they both spurted, "The artifact!"

Kai smiled, then began thinking out loud, "So, it would seem that this monster left us alone because of the influence of the artifact. Either that or we were just incredibly lucky."

Caleb nodded, then asked, "So, I guess the question is, do we tell them?"

Kai looked at Caleb, dumbfounded, then replied, "I don't think we can do that. I mean, what do you think they would do? Just let us leave? They'd probably try and take it from us."

Day 92

The gathering went on for several hours more; arguments breaking out constantly, mostly about topics unrelated to the issue at hand. Throughout the evening, Kai and Caleb strained to steer the conversation away from the question of why they weren't attacked, fearful that someone would find out about the artifact.

During a lull in the conversation, Reginald took the opportunity to end the meeting, "Well, I think our guests have had quite enough for one evening." He pushed his chair away from the table and stood, then continued, "We can continue our conversation tomorrow morning." He nodded to Kai and Caleb and said, "For now, let me have someone take you to your rooms."

Everyone bid them a good night, even Lord Harlon, who's crankiness was apparently a constant and not at all personal. A servant scurried to the table from a hidden corner in the room and offered to lead them to their rooms. As they followed the servant towards an archway which opened into a long corridor, they saw the other people at the meeting were also disbanding; each walking off in a different direction.

Day 91

As if he were explaining a simple math problem to a child, Kai said, "Excuse my interruption Lord Harlon, but like we said before, we are simply humble travelers from a distant land who became lost and found ourselves in your dark forest. We knew nothing of a foul beast. If we did, we most certainly not have ventured into it's domain."  As Kai spoke, Reginald smiled, clearly used to Lord Harlon's outbursts, and glad he did not have to interfere yet again.

Kai's explanation was apparently enough for Harlon, as the line of question turned from their origins to exactly how they had survived; Lord Harlon asked the table, "So, why were they not attacked then? They were in the dark forest at night for God's sake!"

As Caleb listened attentively, he thought about their day in the forest. Not once throughout the day did they see any wild animal other than the mosquitoes or bats. At the time neither of them had even noticed, but in retrospect it did seem odd. Why would it be that this monster would attack any whom dare enter the forest, but leave them alone?

As assembled nobles had asked the same question out loud, a moment of silence followed. In a flash of sudden realization, Kai and Caleb made intense eye contact and silently shared the same epiphany, "The artifact!"

Day 90

Just as Reginald was about to say something else, Lord Harlon interrupted, "Why were you in the dark forest? Everyone knows it's a dangerous place! Where did you come from anyway?" At this point, the veins in his forehead looked just about ready to pop.

Obviously unsure about how to answer the question of how where they came from, and completely intimidated by the man's raging, Caleb could only stare in silent discomfort as the nobleman ranted.

Kai had been traveling the various worlds for a while now, and even though he was also quite intimidated by what was going on, he did have more experience in having to lie about where he was from. He took a deep breath, prepared his best ambassador's voice and steeled himself to interrupt.

Day 89

Caleb and Kai exchanged confused looks before Caleb turned to face Reginald and said, "We don't really know what to tell you. We had no idea the forest was such a dangerous place, we took no special precautions in crossing it." He paused, took a drink of water, thought for a second, then continued, "Except covering ourselves in swamp mud in order to fend off the mosquitoes."

The gathered nobility collectively expressed their distaste for the idea through various groans and grunts. Warmaster Gryll was the only one who recognized the ingenuity and resourcefulness involved, expressing his approval via a covert nod in their direction.

After the outburst subsided, Reginald went on, "Unfortunately, whilst they are indeed bothersome, the mosquitoes are not the foul beast we were talking about." Caleb noticed Lord Harlon was becoming rather agitated, face reddening as he began to realize he wasn't going to get his answer today.

Day 88

In answer to Kai and Caleb's confused expressions, Reginald explained, "The forest is home to an evil creature, a foul beast that preys on all who dare enter it's domain."

Lord Harlon, seated across from them, continued in dark and somber tones, "Several hunting parties have been sent over the years, but none have ever returned."

Lady Lisan added in a girlish tones, as if excited to be contributing, "At first we would send accomplished hunters or even volunteer nobleman, longing to further their reputation; of late however, hunting parties are composed of condemned men."

Warmaster Gryll interjected, "We are forced to travel around the great forest when traveling to neighboring kingdoms, making the cost of delivering merchandise very great. Our economy is suffering greatly. And that, is not great."

Reginald smiled, nodded, then took control of the conversation once more, "So, as you can imagine, we are most anxious to discover how it was that you managed to survive."

Day 87

Thankfully, Lord Reginald broke the silence, "Here are our guests!"

Jolted out of their surprise, everyone got up at the same time and made their way towards the newcomers whist exclaiming various salutations. After a lengthy five minutes of introductions, Kai and Caleb were sat at the two remaining seats around the table, expectant stares all around.

Servants brought tall pitchers filled with fresh water, whilst others brought glasses; once everyone had been served Reginald once again broke the silence, "Everyone, let me introduce you to our guests." He gestured, prompting Kai and Caleb to say their names to the table.

Reginald then continued, "You're probably asking yourselves why you've been invited to this table. The reason is quite simply this: You are the first people to ever leave the dark forest; dead or alive."

Day 86

In a rather awkward coincidence, but Kai and Caleb said at the same time, "Pleasure to meet you, Reginald." Their host laughed, and shook his head, as both of them turned red.

As they continued further in, the world became increasingly luxurious in every way; each detail they noticed was more lavish than the last. Impressed at the man's obvious wealth, they were even more impressed by Reginald's apparently down to earth and pleasant attitude.

He took them around a corner, around which was an already open doorway leading into a vast ceremonial hall. In the center of the large room, was a massive oak table, a dozen or so people already seated.

As soon as they walked in the door, all heads turned towards them, and silence dominated the air.

Day 85

When neither Kai nor Caleb said anything, the man just nodded, turned, and said, "Follow me." and proceeded to walk back through the door he had just opened. They shared a look, shrugged their shoulders, and walked through.

Inside was yet another corridor, however, it was like stepping into a different world. Lined with plush carpeting and appointed with polished wooden furniture, it was in stark contrast to the spartan stone they'd just been walking on. As they walked the man spoke, "I am Lord Reginald Fyndolf, and I'd like to welcome you to my castle."

Kai and Caleb were both unaccustomed to dealing royalty and/or nobility and so they were unsure how to act, or even what was expected of them. As they fumbled for an adequate reaction to the man's introduction, he interrupted them, "Don't worry, we don't give too much importance to formalities around here. You can call me Reginald."

Day 84

They crept along the hallway, as if they had broken into the castle. Hyper-alert, each sound frayed their nerves a little further; why were they just being allowed to wander freely? Without warning, a door just behind and to their right opened and they heard a deep voice boom, "Welcome! I'm sorry to have kept you waiting!"

Startled, they whirled around and stared at the man with wide eyes; Kai even went as far as to let out a small yelp. The man let out a jolly laugh and said, "I apologize, I didn't mean to scare you, I get a little overeager sometimes."

Caleb studied the stranger; he was tall and quite rotund, his clothes were clearly made from materials more expensive than the one's that had been offered to them. His expression was completely dominated by the large smile stretched all over his face, which was, admittedly, disarming.

Day 83

Once again left alone, Kai and Caleb continued to be stunned by how trusting these people seemed to be of them. They tentatively pushed open one of the doors and peaked inside; on the other side was a long empty stone corridor with several doors along each side.

They stepped through and closed the door behind them. Caleb lead the way, whispering as he walked, "I can't be the only one who feeling like there's something strange going on here, right?"

Kai's reply also came in whisper form, "Whilst I've always been a firm believer in the good in people, preferring to be disappointed every once in a while rather than suspect people's intentions, I'm inclined to agree with you on this one; I smell a foul plot afoot."

Caleb turned and nodded, then said, "Alright, we are agreed then, stay alert. For now though, it seems as if we don't have much choice. Let's just play along until we can handle on the situation."

Day 82

The entire situation still felt rather odd to both of them, but Kai and Caleb were soothed by the warm welcome and subconsciously decided to just go with the flow and see where all this was headed. They hadn't heard anyone following them all day, they could afford to accept these people's hospitality.

After dressing themselves in simple the simple cotton peasant clothing they been offered, they felt refreshed and rejuvenated, infused with a fresh energy. Kai's satchel was still dirty however, so he asked if perchance they might have a replacement. After covertly switching the artifact from his old satchel to the new, they were ready for whatever came next.

Dalia kept smiling and being nothing but polite to them as she led them across the massive pavilion once again. The workers weren't afforded the same courtesy however, they received shouts and admonitions aplenty.

As they reached yet another side of the large space, Dalia pointed to a pair of doors and said, "OK, this is where I have to leave you; make sure to come back later and visit!"

Day 81

Looking them over, she turned to Kai and said as she pointed, "You should find clothes that fit you over there." She then turned to Caleb smiled, and said, "You're about the size of my late husband, those clothes over there will fit you."

Stunned that the treatment they were receiving, especially how casually Dalia had shared such a private detail of her life. Caleb asked, "Excuse me, I mean no insult, but why are you being so nice to us? Why are you treating us like old friends?"

She seemed surprised at the question, as if the answer was somehow obvious, but answered anyway, "How else would you have us treat you? It's not everyday we get visitors here, let alone from the dark forest, at night!" She shook her head and laughed, then went on, "There are a lot of curious people who want to know all about you."

Day 80

The humid heat was almost too much to handle at first, but given the cold lashing they'd just been subjected too, it wasn't all that bad. The two men who'd led them there said goodbye and left, closing the door behind them.

Unsure of what do do, they just began to wander inwards; when they were quickly intercepted by a large woman with rosy cheeks and a friendly smile. She was clearly busy, and apparently in charge, as she was interrupted multiple times by various workers whilst she was talking to them, "Hello! You must be the two strangers they told me to expect! Welcome!"

Kai and Caleb were certainly surprised, and a little intimidated by the large woman at first, but her kind expression and friend, if brusque, manner quickly won them over.

She led them through the large room, casually the work being carried out at the various stations they passed. Eventually they reach what seemed to be a storage area of some sort, large shelves lined the walls and the shelves were filled with neatly folded clean clothing.

Day 79

The shock of the freezing water splashing off his head and down his back made Kai scream like a little girl; which prompted Caleb to break down in laughter, the day's tension releasing all at once. As he was bent over, howling his amusement, he too was the target of a splash. The laughter stopped abruptly, but then started up again, this time joined by Kai.

Once they got used to the cold water, it became a pleasure to wash off the foul mud, and the cool liquid actually soothed the various mosquito bites. Eventually they were clean, soaking wet, but clean. One of the stable hands directed them towards a small wooden door in a wall a few steps from where they were standing.

Given the size of the door, they were rather shocked when they opened it an stepped through. Inside was a massive hall, with what seemed to be hundreds of people, mostly women, engaged in the various stages of the castle's laundry service.

Day 78

The guard led them around a wall in the courtyard; on the other side were several horses tied up to metal rings set into the stone. Two men dressed in simple peasant clothing were washing the animals using water from a large trough nearby.

The guard smiled and said to the men, "Here you go, I've got another two for you. When they're clean send them to Dalia."

The two men nodded and went back to scrubbing the horses. The guard then turned to walk away, but first looked back and said, "They'll wash the stink off of you, then you can get some clean from the Dalia. Once you're presentable we'll see what we do with you."

Caleb opened his mouth to thank the man, but he was already walking away, engaging in banter with another guard. He was about to comment on the whole situation to Kai, when one of the two men whom had previously been washing the horses threw a bucket of cold water at his face.

Day 77

As they were about to justify themselves, the guard motioned them across the threshold and through the massive gate; he seemed uninterested in their explanations.

As soon as they stepped through, they were overwhelmed by the shear scale of the massive structure they found themselves in. The small doorway they'd stepped through led into a courtyard of epic proportions, shear stone rising up into the sky on all sides.

The interior of the castle was crawling with human activity, which was in stark contrast to the seemingly primeval jungle they'd just come out of. Stable boys led horses along the edges of the courtyard, kitchen servants carried food in various stages of preparation, and several people seemed to just be congregating in the the area, casually discussing the day's events.

As they walked to where the guard was leading them, Kai leaned over to Caleb and whispered, "Can you believe it? This castle is bigger that some cities!"

Day 76

The man's face was lit by the light coming from the lantern he held up in his right hand. They could see he wore a helmet, and the iron tip of a spearhead shone above his left shoulder.

Caleb and Kai glance at each other, apprehension in their eyes; was it safe to just walk up to an armed soldier in a strange world? alas, they didn't have much of a choice and so Caleb took the initiative and shouted across the black field, "Good Night! We are just wayward travelers looking for shelter."

The soldier's expression became even more confused looking; he must have deemed them nonthreatening however, as he waved them closer and said, "Come in, quickly, it is not safe to be out at night!"

They shrugged and made their way towards the small door in the massive gate. As they approached, the guard twisted his nose and shifted away from them as he said, "My goodness, you smell foul!"

Day 75

The light's apparent proximity spurred them into a run; unfortunately the light's were no where near as close as they seemed in the jungle night, and by the time they arrived at the gates, not only were they exhausted, they were now drenched in a mixture of mud and sweat which would frighten away even the most fiendish of monsters.

Tired and foul smelling, Caleb and Kai stood there staring up at the gargantuan castle gate, walls and towers. Mouths agape, neither had ever seen anything of similar scale and, at the moment, neither was sure they weren't dreaming.

They were shaken from their state of shock as a small door in one of the large gates opened with a creak, and a man walked out and called to them, "You there! What's your business? Why are you traveling at night?"

Day 74

Now covered in stinking mud from head to foot, Caleb and Kai continued onwards towards the massive spires jutting out over the jungle canopy. The few hours of sunlight that remained were rather blissful, but then night fell, and with it came the bats.

At first, one or two bats flew by overhead and were the topic of interested discussion between the two travelers. Then, a few more flew by, then more, then ever increasingly more, until the entire sky above was blotted out by the dark cloud.

"What hellish place is this?" said Caleb nervously as his gaze darted around the swarm above.

Kai shook his head and replied, "I don't know, but I don't like it any more than you do." He look ahead and said as he pointed, "Look! Those lights ahead must be where we're headed."

Day 73

Kai immediately sunk in waist deep. The thick brown mud was warm and even more foul smelling than he'd imagined, but the pool wasn't excessively deep and could trudge along at a decent pace. He heard Caleb jump in behind him; the mud making a sickening sucking sound rather than a splash. Caleb caught up to Kai, and when they reached the other side they decided to cover themselves in the mud in order to keep away the mosquitoes. A quick submersion was more than enough to ensure a uniform coating.

Kai placed the satchel on the bank before pulling himself out of the pool. Caleb just sort of rolled onto the shore, eager to get out of the muck. Caleb stood and made a face of disgust as he said, "No wonder the mosquitoes keep away, this stuff is rancid!"

Kai smiled and nodded, but said, "True, but notice that? That's how it feels to not be attacked by blood sucking parasites."

Day 72

They ran towards the tree, grabbing onto and tearing off branches and large leaves as they made their way. As soon as they got to the tree they realized the plan would never work, and so kept moving, now using the newly picked branches to swat away the mosquitoes.

Eventually, they came across what seemed to be a large lake filled with horrendously dirty stagnant water, but then realized it was actually a thick brown mud with a fetid stench.

Since the lake was in there way, and it seemed any way around would delay them far longer than they would like, the both turned to each other and said at the same time, "We go through?"

His time in the army provided Caleb with a certain pragmatic take on situations such as these. Kai, on the other hand, was horrified at the thought of wading through the sludge. The final motivation came when he noticed the mosquitoes avoided the mud; he held his satchel above his head and jumped in.

Day 71

As the day progressed the weather became less oppressive, the sweat eventually stopped flowing, the heat less debilitating. Unfortunately, with the evening came the mosquitoes; large, almost grape-sized black demons, hellbent on draining their victims of blood. At first, Kai and Caleb tried to swat them off as they came near, but this tactic soon proved useless.

Eventually, desperate to escape the onslaught, Kai turned to Caleb and screamed, "I can't stand this anymore, I feel like I'm being eaten alive!"

Caleb grimaced in pain as he was bitten yet again, swatted the offending insect off his arm, then turned to Kai and replied, "Let's try and find a cave or something; maybe we can cover the entrance with some leaves and branches to keep them out!"

Looking around it quickly became clear that there weren't going to be any caves in the jungle. Just when they were about to despair, Caleb pointed out a large tree the was bent over in such a way that created a small nook that might serve their purposes, "There! I think that'll work!"

Day 70

Once the excitement of seeing the massive castle began to wear off, the oppressive heat made itself known. As they walked down the hillside they had appeared on, sweat almost immediately beading on their faces.

The jungle canopy provided shadow, but the heat within seemed all the more oppressive, the greenhouse effect coupled with the incessant buzzing of flies created an environment that made them wish for the burning sun.

As they walked, Caleb wiped a thick layer of sweat off his face, then turned to Kai and asked through labored breathing, "So, what's our story?"

Kai did the same, wiping his sweat-soaked forearm on his trousers, then answered, "I've found that people don't ask too many questions of you claim to be a poor traveler."

Caleb nodded and replied, "If you're poor, of what interest could you possibly be?"

Kai smiled, "Exactly."

Day 69

When he saw what Kai was looking at, Caleb's Jaw dropped and he whispered, "My god! What on earth is that? That has got to be the single largest man made building I've ever seen!"

Also speechless, Kai could only nod his agreement as he stared at the behemoth towering over the horizon.

Caleb tore his gaze away from the glorious castle, and asked Kai, "I suppose you’ve never been here before, or seen anything like that either, right?"

Kai continued to nod his silent agreement.

Caleb grabbed Kai's shoulder and said, "OK, we have to get moving, towards the castle seems like the way to go, right?"

Shaken out of his daydream, Kai thought about it and agreed, "Yes, if there's anywhere we are going to find someone whose has heard of any stories that may lead us to another portal, it seems like it'll be there."

Day 68

The brightness faded and the world began to come into focus. Gone was the dry northern landscape, in its place a lush green tropical jungle. Kai's eyes were wide with wonderment, he screamed, "It works! It works! I can't believe it actually worked!"

Caleb was equally stunned by what had just happened, but his reaction was to stand quietly and stare at his surroundings in awe. He'd believed that the portals existed, sure, but to actually travel through one, by holding on to an artifact no less, was, to say the least, terrifying.

Making a huge effort to speak, Caleb asked, "So, what do we do now?"

Kai continued to jump around and proclaim his joy, but stopped when he saw a large building on the horizon, tall spires towering above the jungle canopy.

Day 67

Caleb was certainly not convinced and was started to look around for something they could use as a rope, when Kai interrupted him.

Kai said, "Just hold on to the artifact. Please."

Caleb dismissed Kai with a shake of his head and continued his search, but was interrupted again.

Kai repeated himself, "Hold onto it please, I think I've got it."

Caleb just ignored him, bending over and grabbing a piece of dry vegetation that might serve as the beginnings of a rope.

Kai insisted, "Grab the damn stone will you?!"

Shocked by the ambassador's outburst, Caleb decided to indulge him; the sooner they got this out of the way the better.

The moment Caleb grabbed the artifact, he felt an odd energy flowing through him; as if he were being flooded by light. The world grew brighter and brighter; until all that remained was a bright white oblivion.

Day 66

"The legend that tells of the artifact and the way it glows stronger the closer you are to the final portal; it also says that of you are close enough to a portal, you can use the artifact itself as a portal." exclaimed Kai.

Caleb stared at Kai, an incredulous scowl on his face. He looked at the artifact in Kai's hands, not much larger than a man's fist, then looked up and said, "How on earth are we going to use the artifact itself as a portal, it looks like I can hardly fit my hand in there, let alone my entire body!"

Now it was Kai's turn to scowl at Caleb. He held out the artifact, and said, "Clearly you don't walk through the artifact as if it were a doorway. Like I said, I've haven't had a chance to try it yet, but theory goes if you touch the artifact and in your mind's eye see yourself passing through the portal, it transports you."

Day 65

"Why is it glowing?" Caleb asked.

Kai seemed enthralled by the artifact, but he managed to look away and answer, "Part of the reason the artifact is so important, is that it glows when in proximity to a portal! That way my people can use it as a sort of guide through the portal network; they say it glows brighter the closer you are to the final portal: paradise."

Caleb nodded, but was still a little lost, "And how does that help us in this situation exactly?"

Kai seemed irritated by the question, "That doesn't help us exactly, it's what else the artifact does that is going to help us! I mean, I've never tried it before, but the legend spoke of the glowing, so we can assume the rest is true as well."

"The legend? And what exactly can we assume?" Caleb was, once again, completely lost.

Day 64

"I don't know, but we have to do something. If we just try and run, we've seen what happens." answered Caleb.

"Well we can't just jump into the hole, can we?" shrieked Kai.

Just as they were about to give in to desperation, Caleb noticed something in Kai's satchel. It was glowing! More specifically, something inside was glowing.

"The artifact!" explained Caleb.

Kai grabbed his satchel from his back and said, "What about it?"

Frustrated, Caleb pointed to the glowing satchel in the man's hands and grunted, "Look at it man! It's glowing!"

As Kai pulled the artifact out of the satchel and into the open, his face lit up, both from the light emanating from the artifact, but also from what appeared to be shear joy.

After a moment of thought Kai burst out, "Of course! I'd completely forgotten! That’s the answer!"

Day 63

Caleb swiveled on his left heel and quietly screamed, "Kai, run!". Without checking if Kai was following, or if he'd even heard, Caleb sprinted off back towards the bridge and chasm. Kai did hear, and after a few moments of confusion and a quick glance down towards the farm, he too sprinted off after Caleb.

Caleb slowed slightly to allow Kai to catch up to him. As the two ran side by side, they took subconscious turns looking back towards the farm. Between deep breaths, Kai managed to say, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

Caleb let out a sigh as he ran and replied between labored gasps, "It is not your fault. You are not the bad guy. And someday we'll find a way to pay them back. For everything they've done. But for now...We need to get away."

They came to an abrupt stop as they arrived at the bridge. Bent over, with a hand on each knee, Kai asked, "How are we going to get down? We don't have any rope."

Day 62

"What do you mean they aren't men? What else could they be?" blurted out Caleb?

Embarrassed he'd kept the true nature of their pursuers from Caleb, Kai looked at the floor as he began to speak, "Well, it is said that they are embodiments of Morguloth's will; tireless immortal bloodhounds hell bent on hunting down their quarry."

Caleb went pale, "And you didn't think to tell me this when we were trying to distract them with fake footprints?!"

Kai began to to reply but then trailed off as he realized how ridiculous he sounded, "It seemed to work at the time..."

Caleb was watching the farmstead, lost in thought, unable to make a decision, when he saw something that made his decisions for him: Two man-sized figures, standing in the middle of a courtyard between buildings, staring right at him.

Day 61

As they approached the farm, they both realized something was wrong. There weren't any people around, in fact, there weren't even any animals around.

Kai asked, "Do you think your friend left? Abandoned his farm?"

Caleb replied with a grave tone to his voice, "Never. He had settled here, this was were he wanted to live out the rest of his days, he had a family here, a home."

Realization hit Kai like a hammer smashing into a blacksmith's anvil, "Oh god Caleb! What if Morguloth's men arrived here before us?"

A look of panic came over Caleb's face, "But, how is that possible, we watched them walk of in the opposite direction?"

Already feeling responsible for the death's of yet another friend of Caleb's, Kai cold hardly speak; but he managed to say, "Morguloth's men aren't exactly, 'men'."

Day 60

The continued walking towards the farm in what had now become their usual fashion; silently and deep in thought.

As they crested a small hill, the first buildings of the farmstead became visible; they looked old and worn, but strangely solid. A thin wooden fence marked the borders of the property; property which seemingly stretched out to the horizon.

Caleb turned to Kai and asked, "So, what happens when we go down? Does it hurt?"

Kai let out a small giggle then replied, "No, nothing like that. It's just like a regular doorway: You simply pass through to the other side."

Caleb took this in then asked once more, "So, when we get to the bottom, we'll be in another world?"

Kai smiled and said, "Exactly. I'm not sure which world, as each portal leads to a different destination; but certainly closer to where we want to go, and further from the men pursuing us."

Day 59

"I suppose those are things most people would have lying around in your average farm house." mused Kai out loud.

Caleb pulled Kai up off the ground with a quick heave and began to walk off in the direction of the farm whilst Kai dusted himself off. Kai jogged to catch up with Caleb, then settled into the brisk walk Caleb seemed to enjoy.

Shortly after the incident at the bridge, the farm came into view. It was a relatively small collection of wooden buildings, arranged into a square formation, creating a central 'patio'. The midday sun burned bright on the rooftops, creating a glare that made it difficult to look directly at the compound.

Kai turned to his companion as they walked and asked, "And what makes you think they're just gonna give us what we need?"

Caleb smiled and answered, "Let's just say Jarvis isn't my only friend in these parts."

Kai wondered more about Caleb with every passing moment. He was the exotic traveler from another world, but to him, Caleb was fascinating. Perhaps it was because, as many worlds as he had visited, Kai still felt a little lost in life, and Caleb seemed to be so sure of everything. But no, Kai couldn't say he was jealous of the man; after all, he did just witness the death of his wife.

Day 58

"Do all the portals portals induce fear to whomever come close?" asked Caleb.

Kai thought for a moment then replied, "No, not all, but many of them do; specifically the ones under the influence of an Elemental. It's certainly a pretty good indicator of a portal."

Half-joking, Caleb asked, "So what, we just jump in?"

The color drained from Kai's face, the unnatural fear still weighing heavily on his mind. He swallowed then said, "No. No, we go back to town, get some supplies and come back."

"Supplies?" asked Caleb.

Apparently lost in thought, Kai took a while to reply, "We'll need rope to climb down... and lanterns; yes lanterns."

Caleb held out his hand in order to help up Kai and said, "Actually, the farm is much closer and probably has anything we may need, so we might as well just keep going and come back later."

Day 57

Kai pulled his gaze away from the pitch black void below and stared at Caleb's hand. Why was he so frightened? He'd never had a fear of heights before, and Caleb had just crossed the bridge without any problems. Mustering all his resolve, he slowly peeled his hand off the railing and desperately grasped Caleb's outstretched limb.

Caleb pulled Kai off the bridge and onto solid ground once more, and the man's sigh of relief was quite audible. Kai sat on the floor, panting like a man who'd just come up for air after being under water for several minutes.

Caleb watched Kai recover and said, "Now you know why people believe strange things about the crack in the earth."

Kai looked up at Caleb with bloodshot eyes and said with a tone of sudden realization, "Mr. Caleb, it seems we've found our portal."

Day 56

Kai jogged to the edge of the crevasse and peered into the dark depths. The bridge did not inspire confidence. As Caleb crossed, the wood creaked beneath his feet, and debris dislodged and fell down into the abyss.

Caleb screamed over his shoulder, "Don't worry, it's much safer than it looks!"

Kai screamed back as he took a slow first step onto the bridge, "It better be!"

As soon as Kai's foot touched the first board, and the entire thing didn't collapse, he felt slightly reassured; the decision to take the second step wasn't much easier however.

Caleb reached the other side and turned to watch Kai make his way across. He could see the sweat streaming down the ambassador’s face; in fact, Kai was shaking with nerves. Partly to save time, partly because he felt sorry for him, Caleb stepped back onto the bridge, reached out his hand and said, "Here, give me your hand, you're almost there."

Day 55

The bridge appeared unexpectedly, previously hidden from view by a small copse of tall red trees. Beyond the trees, the land dipped slightly, leading down to an old wooden bridge that spanned a narrow, but seemingly deep, crack in the ground. The crack appeared to bisect the entire landscape, stretching from as far as the eye could see from the east, to the horizon in the west.

Kai stared and said, "Amazing. What is this? It is as if the very earth parted in two here."

Caleb nodded and replied, "Indeed. No one knows exactly how it came to be. Most think it is the result of a particularly strong earthquake of some kind; others believe...a variety of stranger things."

Kai thought about that for a moment, then before he could could ask exactly what stranger things, Caleb had already moved on and was carefully crossing the old bridge.

Day 54

They arrived at the gate shortly after, the morning sun illuminating the battlements. The garrison was small, even for a town of this size, which only reinforced overall feeling of peacefulness. The guards let them out with a smile and a wave, wishing them luck and good weather for their journey.

Kai thought to himself how it was, against all odds, a rather pleasant morning. Even Caleb seemed to be relaxing a bit; he would sometimes close his eyes as he walked and enjoy the light on his face.

After some time, Caleb turned to Kai and said as he pointed into the horizon, "Up ahead we cross the bridge, then the farm is just over the first hill."

Kai wondered whether this would actually turn out to be a portal to another world, or just a drunken farmer's tale; the more he thought about it, the latter seemed significantly more likely. He was a hopeful sort of fellow though; the artifact in his satchel a testament to both his positive attitude and his perseverance during tough times.

Day 53

Kai and Caleb walked out the front door of the Boar's Hoof and headed towards the north-eastern gate of the town. A hearty breakfast in their bellies, they almost forgot the worries of the past few days; almost.

The town was already bubbling with morning activity, early bird shoppers and ambitious merchants lining the streets. Kai was just about to comment on the activity when a large cart being drawn by two large oxen almost ran him over and Caleb had to push him out of the way.

As he stood up and brushed dirt off his shirt and pants Kai smiled and said, "Well, that’s a great start to the day isn't it?"

Caleb stared at Kai, face stoic, and replied "Please, try and be more careful."

Slightly embarrassed, but still amused, Kai said, "I'll try and pay more attention, but you have to lighten up."

Day 52

 ***

 Kai opened his eyes. At first everything was pitch black and he almost panicked, but then he remembered where he was and his eyes grew accustomed to the low light. He looked around the room and saw he Caleb wasn't in his bed.

Caleb sat on the window sill, his legs hanging over the edge, staring out into the night, crying. Kai was comforted by these moments when Caleb showed his humanity.

***

The banging on the door woke them both with a start. Looking out the window, Caleb noticed it was the very crack of dawn. Jarvis opened the door and walked in carrying two large satchels.

He looked over the two travelers still in their bed, and shook his head as he said, "I'd assumed you two were gonna want to head out early, I prepared these for you." He put down one of the satchels he was carrying and opened the other to show them the contents.

Caleb got up and headed to the wash basin. As he splashed cold water on his face, he said, "You're right, we should head out early, thank you."

Day 51

Jarvis replied with a wry smile, "If you have spare coin, I have spare room."

Caleb shook his head and snickered, "Still the same Jarvis I see."

Kai was shocked at how Caleb was keeping up this facade of normalcy; as if he hadn't watched his wife be decapitated a few days ago.

Jarvis managed to say through his chuckling, "A man has to make a living, right?" He stood up and continued, "Don't worry, you always have a room in my inn, you know that. I'll have them get it ready."

A few minutes later, Caleb and Kai walked into their room for the night. The old wooden floorboards creaked as they made their way inside, reminding Caleb of his stairs at home. The room was small and modest, with room for little more than the two single beds and tiny washbasin.

Kai looked around, smiled, and said, "It's no palace, but it's certainly better than sleeping in the barn."

Caleb nodded and as he sat down on the side of one of the beds, he replied, "No doubt about that, no doubt about that."

First 50 Days Summary

Click on this link to download a PDF file of the first 50 days of the story as a single document.

Day 50

As he pulled out one of the empty chairs and lowered himself down onto it he said, "So, Caleb, now that your stomach is full, maybe you can tell me what you're doing here?"

Caleb turned to Jarvis and with a certain sadness, said, "We've been friends for a long time. So I hope you'll understand when I say that I can't tell you why we're here."

Jarvis didn't say anything at first, he just stared back at Caleb. Eventually he seemed to make up his mind about something and turned to Kai as he said, "It's not much of a leap to guess your secrecy has something to do with this one here, but I won't pry; friendship has to count for something right?"

Kai was relieved the man seemed to have dropped the inquisition, but he didn't like the look in the man's eyes; as if he was still investigating in his mind.

Caleb answered his friend, "Thank you. I'm afraid I'm going to have to continue to abuse your hospitality." Caleb shifted in his chair uncomfortably before continuing, "I don't suppose you have a spare room we could use for the night?"

Day 49

Thoroughly satisfied, they simply sat and lost themselves in their thoughts.

Kai wondered how it was that Caleb managed to appear so unaffected by his wife's death. Clearly, he had changed somehow, yet he was able to keep a cool head and guide them in their journey; perhaps it was the man's military training?

Caleb watched the strange ambassador stare off into the void, deep in thought. He didn't understand him. At times he seemed the experienced traveler, bravely exploring new lands; other times he seemed like a lost boy just trying to find his way home, trying to prove something to the world.

Jarvis cracked open the door to the small room and and poked his head through; after a quick surveying of the situation he opened the door fully and came into the room.

Day 48

They sat down on old rickety wooden chairs around a dusty table in a room that appeared to not have been used in years.

"Well, we certainly nothing to call anyone's attention in here." said Kai as he looked around.

Caleb seemed jolted out of some deep thought and said, "Jarvis keeps this room looking like this for a reason; don't be fooled by appearances."

Kai's gaze darted across everything in the room and he couldn't see anything special about it. He was about to comment on it when the door opened and two servers brought in a platter of assorted grilled meats, a basket of freshly baked bread and two large mugs of mead.

Both Caleb and Kai were entranced by the smells and all non-food related thoughts vanished. As soon as the platter was set down and perfunctory platitudes exchanged, the both tore into the delicious feast.

Day 47

Caleb screamed so he'd be heard of the din of the common room, "Jarvis!"

The man turned and his smile became even larger as he said, "Caleb! It's been a long time; it's good to see you."

"It's good to see you too, old friend." replied Caleb.

"And who's this with you? He looks too young to be a veteran." asked Jarvis as he look Kai over suspiciously.

Kai almost referred to himself as ambassador, but stopped himself in time, "I am Kai, a friend of Caleb's."

Jarvis was silent for a moment as he continued to stare at them, then burst out, "Well then, any friend of Caleb's is a friend of mine!"

Kai and Caleb both let out sigh's of relief as Jarvis continued, "Here, I have a quiet room in the back for you." As he led them towards a nearby closed door, he said, "You look tired, rest here while I have them bring you some food."

Day 46

Caleb stepped on the first of two small stone stairs leading up to the inn's door and stopped. Turning to Kai he said, "Now, try and act normal in there, remember we don't want to call attention to ourselves."

Kai smiled and said, "Why wouldn't I act normal?"

Caleb nodded and grumbled as he pushed open the door, "OK, OK I get it."

They walked into bright light, raucous laughter and the strong smell of the local beer. The inn wasn't overly large, but it seemed to currently be seating a good 50 people, all of which appeared to be engaging in joyous celebration.

Both Kai and Caleb were overwhelmed by the scene and quickly made their way to the innkeeper, dodging servers, patrons and flying mugs alike.

The innkeeper, like most in his profession, was a happy looking man with a beaming smile and a large round belly covered in a stained apron. He was screaming into the kitchen asking for more of something they couldn't make out.

Day 45

"You're right, my apologies. I'm just unsettled by everything that's been going on." responded Kai.

Caleb sympathized, to say the least, and said, "Actually, I happened to have my money pouch in my pocket when we escaped. We probably should get a good night's rest and a solid meal; we never know when we'll have another opportunity."

The sun was almost completely gone by this point and the street lamps were being lit as they walked down the narrow path. Their steps echoed off the cobblestone floor in the almost empty street.

Kai could see a sign hanging off the side of a building at the end of the street. It was dark, but the streetlights allowed him to make out the name, "The Boar's Hoof". He smiled and thought about how in each world he'd visited, inns always had absurd names; it was comforting somehow.

Day 44

Guarding the gate was a lone sentry, who seemed to be more interested in in daydreaming than being on the lookout for trouble. People were just walking in and out of the town without even a cursory glance. Kai supposed there wasn't much in the way of trouble to be had around here anyway.

They walked through the tall wooden gateway and into the town along with another group of travelers who arrived at the same time; no one gave them a second look.

"I remember an inn across town, they'll let you sleep in the barn and provide a hot meal if you ask nicely and help out with some chores." said Caleb as he headed into one of the meandering side streets.

"I do have some gold with me if we need to provide payment, we've found that it is universally accepted as currency, so it is what us ambassadors carry." replied Kai.

"It is best we appear to have nothing for now. We don't know whose watching or listening. Even in a small quiet town like this, trouble has a way of finding you if you're not careful." replied Caleb in a tone resembling that of a teacher lecturing a student.

Now slightly upset, but not wanting to make a scene, Kai said through gritted teeth, "I wasn't suggesting we flaunt it. I've been traveling for a while now you know? All I was suggesting is that we needn't sleep in a barn."

Realizing he'd offended the ambassador, Caleb said, "Fair enough, my apologies. Regardless, I recommend we keep it low key for now, draw as little attention as possible."

Day 43

"I hate to interrupt your enthusiasm; but we've arrived." said Caleb as he extended his arm towards the small town in the shallow valley coming up in front of them.

The town was small by any standard, but it was alive with activity. Smoke rose from chimneys, people busied around in the streets taking care of the day's last errands and merchants closed up their stalls for the day.

In the dwindling evening light, it was difficult to make out too many details, but the town seemed to be a thriving little community, sure to grow in the coming years.

"The man with the disappearing sheep lives there then?" asked Kai, also gesturing towards the town.

"The farm is a few miles north east of the town. We'll stay in town tonight and make our way out there first thing in the morning." said Caleb.

"Have you been here before?" Kai asked as they approached the gate to the town wall.

With the look of a man lost in thought, Caleb answered, "Once before, when I was in the army, we set up camp on the outskirts of the town, during the early days of the northern campaign."

Day 42

Caleb's experience as a soldier had allowed him to travel and see many distant lands, but the idea of different worlds seemed truly amazing to him; enticing somehow.

Kai said, "Our civilization relies on a certain energy found on very few worlds. All of our technology depends on this natural resource which is quickly running out on our world."

Caleb's thoughts were interrupted as Kai continued, "Our mission as ambassadors is to find a new homeland that has the same properties, and bring back proof."

"Is that what the artifact is for?" inquired Caleb.

"Exactly! The artifact is proof that the world I came from, before finding myself here, is a safe and resource-rich homeland for my people."

Curious, Caleb pressed, "Does the artifact possess this, energy, you talk of?"

Kai as smiling excitedly now as he spoke, "A very high concentration actually, the council will be extremely pleased!"

Day 41

Kai continued, "When my city's ambassadors left for our mission, we talked about not interfering in any of the worlds we might find ourselves in. We certainly did not want to be the cause of anything like the disastrous events destroying out world."

Caleb replied, almost to himself, "There are other worlds?" Then he continued, this time directed at his travel companion, "I suppose if there are two worlds, it makes sense there would be more."

Kai smiled, "Astute observation. You may be wondering if there are so many worlds, why we don't just pick one?"

Caleb felt slightly embarrassed, he hadn't really been thinking about anything like that at all; as usual, he was just trying to keep up. In an attempt to not seem like a total idiot, he just nodded.

Kai just moved on, "Well, that's where the differences between my world and yours come in. My world has some very special properties that very few, if any, of the other worlds I've visited have."

Day 40

"This isn't the first time I've found myself in your world." said Kai.

"You've been here before?" inquired Caleb.

"Well not here exactly, and certainly never this involved." Kai replied gesturing with his arms indicating the complex situation they found themselves in.

"So you know for a fact there are other portals? That why you're so eager to go following after a drunken bar rumor." accused Caleb.

"Well yes, I'll admit I've been through other portals; but like said, I was usually much more discreet and just popped out to look around. As such, I have no idea where any of them actually are here in your world." explained Kai.

"So mine is the first life you've ruined then?" asked Caleb sardonically.

Kai stopped walking, he didn't know what to say. He began to babble some apology, but Caleb interrupted him, "That's not fair, I'm sorry. You certainly didn't do any of this on purpose, and you've been nothing but polite, you don't deserve that."

Kai began walking again and said, staring at the ground, "None of this would have happened if it wasn't for me. None of it."

Day 39

They hid behind a thick cluster of lush green shrubbery that concealed them from the two men clad in black walking past. They watched as the two men stopped to look at the markings on the floor and continued onwards.

"It worked!" whispered Kai excitedly.

"Let's just wait until they're gone before we start celebrating." replied Caleb in a tone significantly calmer than that of his companion.

***

A few hours later, once they were sure their pursuers were long gone, Kai and Caleb stood and headed east; the men in black having gone west.

They had been walking for a while when Caleb broke the silence with a question, "So, this world of yours, is it very different from this world; my world?"

Kai answered, "In some ways, it is not so different at all, in others, it is so vastly different it may be difficult for me to explain it to you."

Caleb took it in, then replied, "That's not much of an answer is it?"

Day 38

All throughout the day, they could hear their pursuers in the distance. Even though they never saw them, the evil presence was most certainly felt. The constant pressure kept them moving at a nearly impossible pace.

In the late afternoon, when the sun was low in the sky and the world was flooded in an orange light, Kai and Caleb reached the end of the mountain pass; the shear stone walls giving way to rolling hills and farmland.

Caleb stopped, took a deep breath, and said, "We have make use of our lead on them."

Kai bent over, hands on his knees, and through labored breathing managed to ask, "What can we do? They're relentless. How are we gonna get away?"

Caleb replied, "Alright, so what we're gonna do is this: We'll walk onwards for a while leaving an obvious trail, then we'll double back carefully. Hopefully they'll blast past us, and we can sneak off."

Kai nodded, the plan seemed almost to simple, but since outrunning them was clearly not an option, he supposed this would just have to do.

Day 37

Each footfall echoed off of the high stone cliffs and brought a shiver down Kai's spine. He couldn't shake the feelings that someone was staring at his back. Throughout the day, he repeatedly snapped his head around but saw nothing.

As the sun reached it's zenith, Kai once more thought he heard something from behind. At first he ignored it as paranoia, but eventually the regularity of the disturbances convince him.

"Caleb, I hear something!" Kai whispered through gritted teeth.

"They're about half a day behind us. The pass carries the sound; they are not as close as they seem." replied Caleb as he stopped walking and looked back into their wake.

"How can you be so matter-of-fact about this?" blurted out Kai, finally giving in to the confused frustration over Caleb's massive personality shift.

"We have to keep walking, let's go." began Caleb as he walked on. He continued, "Whilst I had settled as a humble fisherman for the last few years, my life was not always so peaceful. Let's leave it at that for now, we can talk all we want later."

Day 36

Kai wondered how long Caleb would be able to keep up this stony facade; it was as if yesterday's events had never occurred. He'd clearly changed, darker somehow, but given what he'd gone through just the day before, Caleb was most certainly not acting as one would expect.

As they walked quietly through the pass, Kai could see evidence of previous travelers: discarded cart wheels, rusty tools and burnt out fire pits. There was an eerie silence in the cold pass, that somehow felt threatening. Desperate to break the silence, Kai said, "I want to thank you again for everything you've done for me. I really appreciate it, and I'm sorry."

"I did what I had to do, that is all. None of what happened is your fault." replied Caleb in a matter of fact tone.

Kai was worried about Caleb. Worried that something had broken inside the man and would never be the same again. He needed him now, and so he pushed these worries aside. This made him feel vile, but it wasn't the first time he'd had to let the ends justify the means.

Day 35

"Well, with the exception of yesterday, not much strange happens around here." said Caleb.

"If there is another portal to my world, then there would surely be stories of odd happenings in the area. Are you sure you can't think of anything?" asked Kai once more.

Caleb thought a moment then said, "I did hear about a man who complained some of his sheep would suddenly disappear in the night, as if kidnapped by spirits. Jolk down at the tavern told me about it a couple weeks ago. We just laughed it off as some crazy northerner."

"Hmm, that's thin at best, but it's the best we have. North then?" said Kai as he closed his berry stuffed satchel.

"It's just a drunken bar story, you sure you want to travel north through the mountains, on a rumor?" asked Caleb incredulously.

Steely resolve unwavering, Kai answered, "Like I said, it's all I have to go on, and I need to get back home. My people are depending on me."

"Alright..." whispered Caleb as he walked off into cold and narrow mountain pass.

Day 34

"Well, before we do anything else or go anywhere, we need to eat something." said Caleb as he walked out into the sun.

Kai suddenly felt famished; he couldn't remember the last time he ate. He followed Caleb outside and was temporarily blinded by the morning light.

When his vision returned, Kai saw Caleb move towards some vines growing up the mountainside and heard him say, "Since we have no weapons, are being chased and seem to be in a bit of a hurry, I suggest we collect some of these berries and eat as we travel."

"Sounds perfect, thank you." replied Kai before joining Caleb in picking the berries.

Though they were mostly unprepared for traveling, Kai's satchel would do perfectly for carrying a surplus of berries so they could have something to eat later as well.

"The cave portal I passed through to arrive at your doorstep yesterday will surely be guarded by now; so we must find another way back." said Kai as he nibbled on an extremely bitter berry.

Kai spat out a seed from between his two front teeth, then continued, "Have you heard any stories of strange creatures, people disappearing, mysterious travelers?” Things like that?”

Day 33

Caleb nodded; he most certainly didn't understand everything Kai was saying, but he was starting to get an idea of what was going on.

"So, what is your plan, what are you going to do now?" asked Caleb.

"I am going to complete my mission. Only death will stop me from returning with the artifact." Kai stood, then continued as he stretched out the night's knots in his back, "I realize you have done much for me already, but you're going to have to do more."

Caleb raised an eyebrow and said, "What would the ambassador have me do for him?"

Kai blushed, "I apologize. I meant I'm going to have to ask you for more. I need to find a way back to my world, so I can return the artifact."

"And you need me to be your guide here, since you have no idea where's where and what's what?" said Caleb.

"Exactly." replied Kai.

Day 32

The dawn light streamed through the cave mouth, signally the start of the new day. For the first time in years, Caleb had not slept.

Caleb moved to wake Kai, but saw his companion had slept about as much as himself; they shared a grim knowing smile.

"So, why were those men after you. Were the after the artifact, is that what Nali died for?" said Caleb.

"Essentially yes, the artifact is what they were after. Not because they want the artifact itself, but because Morguloth has ordered them to stop me from returning it to my home at all costs." replied Kai.

"Why would he want to stop you from returning the artifact? What would that mean?" asked Caleb.

"The artifact is proof that I have found the mythical new homeland of legend for my people." answered Kai.

"And Morguloth doesn’t want that because?" inquired Caleb.

"He is an evil man, with evil plans. His wealth and power grow on the back of the people's fear. The artifact is a symbol of hope; if the people aren't afraid, they would not submit to his will with such ease." explained Kai.

Day 31

Kai woke to the sound of something scraping on the rock floor. He opened one eye, squinted into the darkness, and saw Caleb walking out of the cave onto the small stone parapet that looked over the valley they had traversed earlier that day.

Kai sat up slowly, careful not to let Caleb know he was awake. He watched as Caleb lowered himself to the ground, sat with his legs hanging over the ledge and looked out into the night.

Caleb's back rose and fell as he took three deep breaths, and then he began to weep.

Kai thought about going out there, thought about trying to console the man, even thought about trying to explain to him the importance of his mission and the safety of the artifact. He knew however, that none of that would help, and sometimes, a man just needs to grieve in solitude; fighting with his inner demons.

Unable to watch Caleb cry alone in the night, Kai laid back down and turned away, trying to fall into the sleep he knew would not come this night.

Day 30

They reached the base of the mountains just as night began to fall. The waning dusk light was still just enough to be able to make out a  vast number of caves peppering the mountain side.

Kai turned to Caleb, still huffing from the day's run, and asked, "So we're gonna hide in one of these caves?"

Caleb just nodded then made his way up the narrow path that wound it's way up the mountainside.

Kai understood why Caleb would be upset, of course, so he didn't dwell on the man's recent silence. However, it did make starting a conversation feel awkward.

When it was clear it was too dark to continue, Caleb turned off the path and went into one of the smaller caves, it's entrance partially hidden by a large boulder.

Caleb sat on a smooth rock near the cave mouth, leaned back against the wall, closed his eyes and said, "We'll spend the night here, tomorrow we can figure out how we go on."

Kai quietly found a relatively comfortable corner of his own, and settled down for what would most assuredly be an unpleasant night.

Day 29

Caleb could simply not process the information. He began to hyperventilate and stood up.

"Listen! I know it hurts." Kai screamed.  He then continued in a softer voice, "I can't imagine how you feel right now, but we have to keep moving. They will not give up, and I can't stress how important it is that we escape; that the artifact is not captured."

"What? How can you...How can I?" whispered Caleb.

Then Kai resorted to emotional manipulation which he wasn't comfortable with, but felt the situation warranted, "Please, we must go on. Do it for Nali, don't let her death be for nothing!"

It worked. A sudden steel came over Caleb. He wiped the tears from his face and turned towards the distant mountains. He turned to Kai and said two words before jogging away, "Follow me."

Day 28

"Morguloth and his minions needs no reason to do evil, it is simply what comes naturally to them." said Kai as he looked away from Caleb, the man's sadness to much to bare. 

Kai stood up and walked over towards Caleb and put his hand on the man's shoulder. Caleb flinched at the unexpected touch, but Kai began talking again, "I'm afraid your wife was simply collateral damage; they were after me and the artifact, and she was simply in the way."

"In the way?" shouted Caleb, tears now streaming down both sides of his face, "She was picking vegetables for dinner! A helpless woman, the most gentle, kindest, most beautiful woman in the world! How was she in the way?"

"As I said, they are the very embodiment of evil, to them her very presence was enough of a justification for what they did." said Kai while looking away, back up towards where they jumped from.

Day 27

"Why?" Caleb whimpered.

"I apologize Caleb, it seems I have brought ruin into your life." Kai said as he sat up and turned towards the man whose life he'd most likely ruined. He continued, "Those were agents of the black legion, they must have followed me through the cave."

Caleb slowly turned his head towards Kai, a deep burning pain clearly seething in his soul. Taking a deep breathe in a desperate attempt to calm himself, he said through gritted teeth, "Why would they do that to her? My dear Nali. Why?"

"The black legion are the elite forces in dark lord Morguloth's army." said Kai, as if that explained everything. When Caleb simply stared back at him, tears streaming down his face, Kai continued, "Morguloth is the very personification of evil, a self-appointed ambassador himself, his only goal is world domination."

"But, why are they here? Why would they do that to her?" cried Caleb, his eyes bloodshot and his hands shaking.

Day 26

Caleb grabbed onto a clump of reeds growing on the shoreline and pulled himself out of the brown water. Other than the area around the waterfall, the lake was mostly stagnant, more of a swamp really.

As soon as he was done picking off the leeches that had attached themselves to his skin during his time in the water, he sat on a dry patch of thin grass, wrapped his arms around his knees and just stared at his feet.

Kai made his way out of the lake by grabbing onto the same reeds Caleb had used, and then collapsed on his back, chest heaving from the exertion. Kai wheezed between breaths, "Thank you for saving my life yet again Caleb; I hope to be able to repay the debt someday."

Caleb sat silent for a few moments, then said, "She's dead."