the man’s own momentum against him, Urake watched the screaming figure disappear into the undefined depths. He recalled having seen that face before. A long time ago. Last time he had seen that soldier, he had disguised the man in his own clothes and left him face first in a fire. Something was definitely not right. He couldn’t put his finger on it at first but thinking about it unearthed a few startling contradictions.
The icebound lake that was now a yawning crack in the earth. The fall from the cliff that was now nowhere to be seen. Then there was Brest and the surreal quality that everything had.
“I told you that I am not Brest.” Urake turned to see his friend dripping wet with frost forming in his hair and on his cloths.
“Who else could you be?”
“I'm Emeck. Don’t you remember?” The ground shook and Urake saw a crack forming a few feet away. Reacting he lunged forward and rolled to solid ground. Turning he watched helplessly as Brest, whose feet were encased in ice, fell with the crumbling earth into the abyss. The look of grim determination on his face was not fitting with the terror that should have been there.
“Emeck. Why does that sound familiar?” Urake shook himself out of the shock. Retreating from the edge, he started out away from the unstable ground at a walk. A crashing sound up the slope drew his attention. He watched as a figure tumbled down the hillside in a cascade of loose rock. When the figure got up, he recognized Brest, or was it Emeck? A flicker at his side drew his attention for a moment. He saw blond hair and glowing blue eyes for a moment before the image faded. He remembered that face. Someone close to him. Someone he wouldn’t meet for years. Not that face for years. A week and he would meet the child that would grow into that face. How was he remembering something that hadn’t happened yet?
Looking back up the hill, Urake started in horror as the figure waved to him, oblivious to the soldiers advancing at his back. Rooted to the ground, he couldn’t even shout out a warning before the soldiers cut his friend down. Free to move now, he realized that hundreds of soldiers were advancing on all sides. There was no retreat. No escape. Not like last time.
“This isn’t real. I haven’t been harmed.” Urake didn’t even bother lifting Ice Heart to his defense. There were too many to fight; however, if they weren’t real, then they couldn’t hurt him. Walking forward towards the unending waves of soldiers, he watched as the men rushed him before being repulsed by an invisible force. They attacked on all sides, but if Urake kept his arms at his side, their weapons got no closer than an inch. It couldn’t be real. He remembered last time and this was not it. The landscape flickered and, for a split second, was the inside of a cave. A moment later and the hillside returned, only there was not a soldier to be seen in any direction. With nothing else to do, Urake walked on until the landscape shifted again; this time the shift was slight.
A large boulder blocked Urake’s path. Walking up to it, he pushed it with a finger. A crack formed and the boulder split in two leaving an empty plain. Nothing but grass, waving in an invisible breeze, could be seen in any direction.
“So we finally meet.”
“Who are you?!” Urake held Ice Heart up and scanned his surrounding for the source of the voice.
“You know the answer to your question.”
“Eld’or… Show yourself.” Urake staggered as his surrounding spun into a blur before reforming inside a chamber. The feeling of the shift felt forced and unnatural. Far different from the previous shifts. The walls were constructed of black glass. The floor and ceiling was made of the same substance. The light that illuminated the room was provided by a star that seemed suspended from the peak of the ceiling. Emeck’s reflection appeared on the wall, but when Urake turned, he couldn’t see the youth. There was one other person in the room though.
“Emeck is quite persistent, isn’t he? His ill-advised attempts at finding you in here have had more success than I would have thought. Memory delving without the skill to remain an observer is a dangerous thing. You might mention that to him when next you speak.” Eld’or spoke with a softer voice