Sebastien could feel the change in the air as he stepped past the threshold of the gate, not only did the sky seem to darken in just a few seconds that he had moved through, but the air hung with a dead chill. A suffocating air that pulled the hope from his body with every step. His gleaming sword glowing ever brighter in the presence of such intense magic. Its silvery smoke shone through the dark like a beacon but even the power of a sword forged in the hands of a mage with the breath of a dragon could do little for him now.<br/><br/>The soft twinkle of his companion slowly dimming as they moved deeper and the purple sky turned to that of a raven's feather. Even the star and moon above being swallowed whole by the trees that almost seemed to stand as tall as the mountainside from Sebastien's point of view. But he did not stop, feeling the dark presence only served to strengthen his resolve. Knowing he was coming here to cut its reign short and to give birth to a new era for these lands.<br/><br/>Then the voices came, creeping out of every tree, from every shadow, most he could barely understand. Others screamed in terror and agony wishing for their torment to end. Sebastien walked quicker, hoping that when he killed the dragon all these souls may be free. But their presence only served to hinder him. Every word, every breath, it became harder to sustain. Sebastien clenched his sword tight in his hand as he pointed its tip skyward, or at least where the sky once was, he wasn't sure it was even there anymore. "<br/><i><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4d4dff">Espoir manifeste.</span></i>" He muttered into the dark as a silver streak of light exploded from the tip of the blade, circling around the gleaming metal, leaving light sparkles in the air before it began to encircle him in its silvery glow, the warmth Sebastien had all but forgotten slowly returning just before he felt a disturbance much closer to him.<br/><br/>A few words, these ones much more clear to him than any others in the forest, his feet stopped dead in their tracks as he waited, hoping it would stop and the voice would disappear but it didn't. '<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#4d4dff">Could there actually be another living soul in this place?</span>' He thought to himself as he slowly began to turn in the dim light of his silvery light to find the source of the small tug.