As soon as the young man crossed the gate's threshold, there was the tiniest prick of power that set off a reverberation through the earth. The amount of energy was so minuscule that it wasn't readily detectable, but it was all the dragon needed to know someone dared cross into his land. A very sharp toothed grin glimmered in the dark, a low devious rumble forcing a few puffs of smoke from large fleshy nostrils.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ff0000">"Yes. Come, little prince who would be king. How well will you be able to fare against my tests, I wonder?"</span><br/><br/>***<br/><br/>The beauty of an amethyst dusk faded away the deeper Sebastien strode along the path, mostly because the canopy of trees above seemed to triple in abundance. Without the tinkering of woodsmen to chip away at the lumber, the trees remained undisturbed. Their limbs grew wild, thick, knurly. Over the passage of time, branches reached in every direction and even began to twist together. Soon the sky above couldn't be seen at all, plunging Sebastien into darkness with only the dim glow of the faerie for light.<br/><br/>The noble mage wasn't wrong in his feelings; many souls lurked here. They weren't seen at first glance, even with the help of magic- but the air was thick with them, making it heavy as if fading through a dense fog. It overlaid this place worse than any haunting ground most men could ever see....as this was no peaceful resting place. Not here, not in a forest that shunned these poor souls and kept them at arms length, unwelcome. So they remained in a state of wanderlust, forever plaguing the lands they set out to conquer, only to fall victim to this subjugation. Trapped forever with no sign that the gate to the other world would come.<br/>A strange loud shriek could be heard in the distance, filling the night with it's odd sound. The shriek turned into a mismatched trill, calling to another of it's kind far away. Within the night other such nocturnal creatures could be heard, many on the hunt in the shroud of darkness. Yet among these things, the familiar rhythm of familiarity ceased: no crickets chirped, no cicadas rubbing their wings together, no rustling of leaves. The nobleman appeared without all logical reason to have stepped into another world far from his own without falling through a magical portal, though those feet grazed across no such land. Oddly enough, the man gave no sign of turning back, the determination as bright as a beacon. This man would not be deterred.<br/><br/>The more Sebastien pressed on along the unsteady path, the thicker the air became. A quiet settled upon the way, as if surrounded by the enclosing walls of a tunnel. It was then that the voices began.<br/><br/>There was only murmuring at first. Faded, as if hidden behind stone in levels above. Mumbles. Barely a passing thought worth paying attention to. But as the canopy of branches no longer held space to see the sky above, the sounds became louder, more recent. A whisper brushed by Sebastien's ear, a simple breath of one word. Then to the right. Then the left. As the voices cascaded louder, so too did their frequency. Each step taken brought them out more and more, as if the brunette had activated a spell that awakened them off.<br/><i><br/>
<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#808080">"Newcomer?"<br/>
<br/>
"Why does it hurt so much?"<br/>
<br/>
"Where's my leg? My leg!!"<br/>
<br/>
"I miss my wife. Is my son here?"<br/>
<br/>
"The king lies! HE LIES!!"</span></i><br/><br/>On they continued, some becoming wails, some beginning to cry, the mere presence of someone from the living reminding them that their agony was only that: of phantoms long gone from the physical realm.<br/><br/>Soon, there was a small tug on his clothing from behind, the grip feeble and small, but no less jarring.<i><span class="fixed-color" style="color:#00ffff">"Sir...I'm lost. Won't you please help me?"</span></i>