text: “Well, I heard that the end of the world was somewhere beyond the borders of Ravensguard. Beyond the forest of Dunloch. There’s a door I’m told. A door that will bring you to another world.” Rebecca finished, taking a sip of her mead. Her eyes flickered between the couple on the opposite side of the table. Erik stroked his chin, all the while looking at the ceiling. Harper, on the other hand, kept her focus on Rebecca. “How do you know this?” Harper asked, pulling the sleeve of her shirt over her stump which was muscle memory at this point. "A wizard told me,” Rebecca answered as she flagged down a passing Goblin for another drink. “Of course, my lady,” he sniveled, hobbling away to a back room. The group was silent for a moment before Erik joined the conversation. “This wizard,” he began, narrowing his eyes in Rebecca’s direction. “It wouldn’t happen to be Feardulra would it?” Rebecca’s eyebrows lifted momentarily before falling back down. “Yes,” she said through gritted teeth. “How did you know that?” Erik smiled and leaned back on his chair, making it creak loudly, as he put his hands on the back of his head. “Just a hunch,” he grinned, catching a look from Harper. A look that said they needed to talk. “Excuse us for a moment,” he said, taking Harper by her only good hand and pulling her off to a quiet corner of the inn. “So?” Erik asked, a great smile on his lips. “I don’t know,” Harper huffed, stress consuming her. “It sound’s legitimate enough but...” “But what?” Erik exclaimed, bewildered at Harper's hesitation and disappointed by her lack of excitement. “I just don’t trust her,” she mumbled, looking over Erik’s shoulder at Rebecca. “There’s something about her, Erik,” “Look Harper,” Erik stated, taking her by her shoulders. “We’ve been trapped in this hell for far too long. How many times have you died? You have to be sick of it! So many deaths and too much disgusting mead. I know what you mean about Rebecca; I don’t trust her either. For now, though, she’s our best and only hope of going home.” Harper didn’t say anything at first, her mind drifted to different scenarios. Betrayals, double-crosses and the eventual freedom she hoped to win. “Ok, let’s do this,” she said. Erik ordered two more mugs of mead before returning to where their future guide sat. “Ok Rebecca,” he began, pausing only to look at Harper. “We’re in. But no funny business. Strictly work.” “Of course,” gushed Rebecca, gripping her mead tighter. “Well, let’s get started with the planning then.” All through that night and the next night and the night after, the three of them sat and planned out the entire journey. From how much beef they would need to how many shoes they would go through. After the third night, they had exhausted every possible problem they could think of and racked their brains for a possible solution. “I think we’re ready,” Rebecca had finally said, draining the last drops from her mug. “Ready?” gasped Erik, looking at the small map that was laid on the inn’s table in front of them. “We haven’t even decided what we might do if we came across an orc pack that far side of Dunloch forest?” Harper threw her head back, laughing harder than she had since she arrived in this world. “We can’t plan everything and besides,” she chuckled. “Orc’s haven’t been seen that far east in decades.” Like that the planning was over and the trek had begun. Harper and Erik were happy to see that Rebecca kept to herself for the most part. Rarely joining in with their talks and always sleeping away from them, Rebecca spent most of the time sharpening her two daggers that they usually kept on either hip. The trip across the flat plains that surrounded the city of Ravenguard was largely uneventful. The only thing of note was when they came across a troop of lost actors. Weary and tired, the troop had gotten chased for miles by two Terriv’s, great hairy monsters that came out at night and hunted the warm blooded. Most of the troop had perished but those that survived were grateful for what food Erik gave them and what medical help Harper offered. After that, other than a brief glimpse of Ravensgaurd thick black wall’s it was quiet until the forest. It was in her that they lost Rebecca. Having gone through so much with her, Harper and Erik found it hard to speak about afterwards. Ambushed at night by a cluster of enormous spiders, they were able to escape with their lives. Unfortunately, with their last look back they saw two spider’s dig their fangs into Rebecca’s soft pink flesh. Rebecca, a great guide, never made it to the door she had sought after for so long. Finally, after weeks of stumbling around in the forest, they left the wood behind. Then came the fields. As far as they looked in every direction were fields. Some were empty but most had cropped beginning to grow. *All these crops with no people to eat them*, Harper thought. After a couple of days of eating mushy potatoes and carrots, a creaking old, wooden house seemed to sprout up in front of them. “This has to be the place,” Erik announced, eyeing Harper as he spoke. “No way that it ain’t.” “I wish Rebecca was here to see this,” Harper murmured, pulling her sleeve up as far as it would go. “She’d know if it was or not.” Erik could only shake his head. He knew they both thought the same guilty thoughts whenever Rebecca was brought up. How they had run while she had died. Left her there, all alone. “Well, she wouldn’t have waited out here anyway,” muttered Erik, pushing open the door. Harper grabbed a hold of his arm with her good hand, half tempted to turn and run. As the door creaked open, Harper felt a pull. The world around her grew too bright, the whiteness was like a knife in her eyes. She screamed as she fell on her back, the ground soft and clean, the white light spinning and spinning. Just when she felt like it was too much, when the tears started to form in her eyes, it all stopped. *Blackness*. She couldn’t see but felt a presence off to her right. “Harper?” a familiar voice called out. She felt something big and black being removed from her head and suddenly the world came into view. *White*. She had never seen a room so white. Two fluorescent lights shone down from above and her eyes narrowed as she tried to make out the figure to her right. “Harper!” the voice cried out. “You’re out of that world finally.” As the light faded, Harper found herself in a hospital. The woman beside her... Kindly, old, loving. The older woman took Harper’s hand in her as tears streamed down her face. “Harper, thank god!” she wailed. “Thank god!” For a second, Harper couldn’t make her mind work. Her lips wouldn’t move and she could only sit and listen to her mother cry. *Mother! Yes, this is my mother.* “Mother?” she croaked, her voice aching. “What’s...” “Shhh honey,” her mother said soothingly. “The doctor’s say that your voice will need time since you haven’t used it in years.” “Years?” Harper croaked once more, trying to figure out what was going on. “Years. Yes, dear.” her mother said, a look of sympathy passing across her face. Holding up a large black plastic box, her mother finally answered the question that Harper had been trying to form. “You’ve been wearing this headset for two years, Harper,” her mother admitted, not looking her daughter in the eyes. “You’ve been trapped, dear. We couldn’t take you out of there without killing you.” A single tear dropped down Harper’s cheek as she looked down at her two good hands.