Chapter 3
Arius hesitated for a moment, his legs shaking beneath him. The blue portal behind the creature flickered ever so slightly, but there was no way out, the rift closed now except for the alien woods around him. He swallowed hard and took a step forward.
The creature turned ever so slightly, gesturing with his head. His eyes faintly sparkled, leading the way down a narrow trail between the weird trees. Arius walked with his silent footsteps, each step stabbing pain into his muscles and his heart thumping ever more fervently.
The forest itself appeared to be alive. The darkness moved with his steps, shifting into colors that danced upon the foliage that did not belong in the natural combinations he had ever known. Numbers and cryptic symbols he could not read fluttered in his eyes, then disappeared.
"Why… is everything… like this?" he whispered into the darkness, not really speaking to the creature.
The gaze of the creature flicked towards him. "This world. responds to those who see beyond the given. Patterns, threads, suggestions of truths. you recognize them in a different way. Many of them see it the way they would expect in a forest, even with the granted sight. But you. you can see much more than most others."
It stopped, its shining form bending slightly in the rays of light. "My name is Esin," it went on, its voice resonating in his mind. "And you—are a rare breed, human. Extremely rare, in fact."
Arius's stomach twisted at the idea. "So, all of these people are also."
"As me?" Esin repeated, his words rumbling through his mind in a deep vibrational hum. "No, I don't think so. You are someone who is able to look past the clues, past the trends that only a select few could ever hope to identify."
Numbers and colors lurched and writhed through his visual field with frantic violence, twisting away from recognition, pulsating with his desperately beating brain. It was as if the world around him was alive, listening.
Esin sniffed again and took another step backward. "It was curiosity that brought you here. But Myre is not a place for the inexperienced. Few people survive their first days. Even fewer who think as you do."
Arius swallowed hard. His heart beat rapidly. The blue portal shimmered faintly in the background of Esin, and Arius could not forget the impossible journey that Esin had just Undertaken.
Esin's eyes gleamed in the light. "If you want to live, then follow me. But remember that all that you see here works according to rules that your mind will never begin to understand. Truths… are worse than death."
Arius's legs trembled as he stood. He nodded slowly in agreement. He had no choice. The world he had been brought into had already seen fit to take from him.
As they ventured deeper into the forest, Arius became aware of the thickening of the air, the light reflecting weirdly around the trees. The darkness twisted abnormally, whispering as it moved by. It was as if every fiber of his being whispered that this world was alive, and this perception was the law here.
Arius looked up at Esin. "How. how do I survive here?" he whispered. Esin's eyes twinkled with a faint light. "To survive, strength is not the goal. It's the knowledge of comprehension. You need to learn how to interpret the threads… or you will be undone by them."