The room is filled with an overwhelming white light, which doesn’t dissipate despite covering my eyes with my arms. I feel my limbs stretch out in every direction, without a single hint of pain as if I was made of fog. They’re now several feet long and I’m unable to move them. They flow freely as if this was a lake of my own mind. My sight travels around my body, as if being carried on a chariot. I see myself from the outside. Strange images of a distant land start flying by.

I see a lavish stone building with square windows and a statue of a horse rearing up just outside. Numerous young people are walking back and forth, holding books, and dressed in strange garments. What was I seeing? Was this the past, the future, another world? I call out to them. To my surprise, they all turn their heads and look at me...wherever I am. They don’t seem to see me, but maybe they hear me? Some of them take a few steps back, looking around fearfully in my general direction.

It’s impossible; this isn’t real. I see my arms and legs begin to twist and stretch so far I can no longer see them, but it doesn’t hurt. This had to be some kind of dream. One last image I see completely shatters my chance at comprehending this; I see myself. I’m walking some four legged animal. It’s my face, but I look...happy. I’m wearing some type of shirt and pants. I’m also glancing where the sound came from. My stomach almost forces itself from my body as I drop. The building is now miles away and is my only sense of speed. My sight follows my body, never trailing behind in the slightest.

I fly by what seems to be a massive tree. It could have been the size of my entire planet. I soar by, at whatever speed I’m at, but I don’t seem to be passing this thing anytime soon. This tree dominates me with its presence. As if it could transcend my own will, I feel it digging around in my mind. This...tree looked to be made of crystal. Its branches sprout in every direction, almost like a star a child would draw, except completely consumed by elegance. On every branch, hang strands of teal transparent cloth, decorated with small orbs of light that orbit them. Five of the nine largest branches have odd gems or diamonds near the end, almost grown into the tree itself.

The branches holding the gems are evenly spread out from each other, with one blank branch in between them. They were different colors of the rainbow but each was the size of a city. Millions of small patterns were etched into the surface of each jewel with some kind of glowing creature inside them in the shape of an eyeball. They all watch me as I soar along, completely unable to move or speak.

I hear a strange, deep booming voice all around me. It’s as if a male and female were speaking the exact same phrase simultaneously.

“I dare not fathom the end of your fate Raiden, but it will not be here. For what you are about to go through, I shall grant you a single act of compassion. This act may be a gift or a curse depending on how you see it.” A massive bolt of lightning comes out of the tree and strikes my ribs were my wound is. Just as quickly as I got here, fall down a black hole. My internals beg to jump out my mouth. The air becomes so cold, it almost shreds my face. A massive planet comes into view. It's lush, green wastelands spread as far as I can see, with vast oceans isolating the occasional continent. One moment my face is almost frozen solid, the next my armor comes ablaze as if I'm being shoved through lava. I open my mouth to scream, but I'm force fed scalding air.

The ground comes closer and closer. Distant lands become littered with trees. I look around and see hundreds of my fellow soldiers, but they were barely recognizable. Without their armor, they'd simply look like burning leaves falling through the air. Some of them tumble, twist and flail as they fall. Others curl up into a ball and hold their legs tight.

I shove my arms out, as if I could push away the inevitable death that was rising to meet me. They were now their normal length and I could see through my own eyes again. I was heading directly into the middle of an open plain of grass. A stone brick hits my armor as it soars past me. It's joined by a few, then several, eventually thousands, falling to the ground long before I'd arrive. Even beams of wood and hay bales rush past, as if being pulled to the ground on their own. They seem to be stacking themselves into a structure that’s too far away to recognize. The end is a few seconds away and I shut my eyes and do my best to accept it.

My lungs scream at me for oxygen. My head fells like an ax had been put through it, and my vision is barely coming back. I'm still in the Minister's room. I blink a few times and try to move, but am quickly reminded of the wound on my side. It was still decently tender, but somehow sealed. The area around it doesn't have any type of gel, so it wasn't anything from our kingdom. It erupts lightly in pain when I press on it. If I had simply be left to heal naturally, I would be dead. There didn't seem to be any infection, or even inflammation. This must be a dream, there was no other explanation.

The sound of birds chirping drives me to try and stand. I'm exhausted, starving, dehydrated, and had no idea what to expect. My first thoughts were of everyone who was in the room. My vision comes back enough for me to see, but I had a long ways to go before anything was clear. I supported myself on the frame that held the massive white orb, which was now completely clear and empty. The king lays on the ground to my left. To his right was the Minister. They were both breathing unfortunately. The dizziness wears off enough for me to stand up without the orb, but all my muscles were pulled. I still owed it to my men to at least try and see if they needed me, not that I was much use at the moment.

Emeris and Versa lay at the door, clearly breathing as well. I’m about to check on them, when something catches my eye: sunlight. There was actual sunlight. Crawling on all fours, I make my way to a window and look outwards. Fresh green grass covers the landscape. Flowers and trees are plentiful. Our city looks like it had been cut out in a perfect sphere, and re-materialized into the ground. The edge was black dirt, with filthy stones paving the walkways of our streets. It suddenly stops and is met with the heavenly grass of the land. It hits me: we were alive.

It takes my brain a minute. How were we alive? What was going on? I couldn’t remember the last time I saw fresh grass. Seeing living trees nearby was like getting a surprise hug from relatives you thought were long dead. It was a common tactic to burn down your enemies nearest forest to cut off their nearest supply of wood. It was rare a Taraskan would live to see a real living tree.

I saw a land that had to be a fantasy. In the distance, was a massive red mountain, with some type of large bronze structure built into it near the top and off to the left. This had to be a dream again. Was I dead? I turned around and went to the window directly behind me. There was a mountain range covered with snow. The Minister's room provided a perfect view of our surroundings. There were distant cities that were clearly well-kept, but with no way to see their inhabitants from here.

I continue to gawk in disbelief until I hear movement behind me. Emeris and Versa start getting up. The Minister and his dog are still unconscious. Emeris sits up and looks around confused. Versa gets up, examines the room and strolls over to a window. How the hell was she recovering so fast? My jaw hangs open as she acts like nothing more than a rough night's sleep had occurred.

She takes a small glance, and then begins walking to the doors. She flings them open and readies herself for combat; not an Og Nag in sight. She slowly turns and looks at me. We silently decide that while this was all a wonderful bucket of horrible confusion, we needed to secure ourselves first. The door was still battered and had thousands of cuts and chips on it. If it hadn't been for the strong oak it was made from, it would have caved long before we struck the orb.

“Emeris, seal the door behind us.” I say, still in disbelief. Emeris slowly gets up and nods, with one arm shielding his stomach. Versa and I head down the stairs, constantly at the ready. There’s nothing. No bodies, no sounds, absolute silence. Not a single dead body, human or Og Nag. The walls are coated in scratches of our final battle. We were definitely in our city. My stomach flips, expecting to turn a corner and watch our survivors being devoured.

As we creep downstairs, the throne room is completely barren. Versa and I stop and stare. We know there had to be at least dozens of dead Og Nag and soldiers here since they were holding the hallway. There was still fresh blood on the ground, but only in a few, large patches. In the blood were lines as if a body had been dragged through it. There were only two lines though, both barely a few inches wide. Someone or something had been picked up and carried, leaving their heels to drag on the floor. Seeing as how it was still wet, this had to be recent.

The stairway down is eerie and has large heaps of stone carved out from it. Paintings had been knocked to the ground and trampled on. Tiny streaks of blood lined the stairs, guiding us to whatever fate we were going to find. There were no weapons or shields either. Just blood and marks everywhere.

We walk through the gate room and take the hallway to the dining hall. We hear the sounds of talking and armor movement. We peak around the corner and see around a hundred soldiers, sitting with the same confusion we had. Versa and I enter the room. It was both a chow hall and a general meeting area. The walls are lined with beds, occupied by the wounded. Dozens of our people run around, tending to anyone who needs it. A soldier looks over and notices us.

“General Versa!” He yells it loud enough for everyone to hear, and they all stand perfectly straight, with one hand on their sword and the other at their side.

“As you were, Cy. Report.” she calls out. Turning her attention back to Cy, who has a clipboard in his hand.

“Ma’am, we saw the Og Nag get up and run out of the city towards a nearby forest to...what we think is the west.” I sigh in relief. Sergeant Brutus is on a bed nearby on my right. He props himself up on one elbow. “Sir and ma’am, does this mean we’re safe for now?”

I cross my arms and try to remain calm. “The Og Nag leaving is unheard of. If they were in a small group of five or so, then they’ll usually retreat, but an entire army? There’s no doubt things have gotten weird, but we’ll handle it.”

“Ma’am, where are we?!” says another soldier who lays in bed, with one bandage over her eye. Versa shrugs and casually strolls around the dining hall.

“We should all be dead, and maybe we are. I thought that final fall into the planet was going to be the end.”

Sergeant Brutus looks around in shock. “Wait did we all experience that?! I thought it was just me!”

A soldier addresses me eagerly as I start following General Versa.

“Sir...what was that bright flash we saw?” I stop and face him.

“It was our weapon. It seems to have malfunctioned and to what degree, we don’t know yet.”

Versa stops pacing.

“I’m going to assume for the time being that we’re still alive. Raiden, set up scavenger teams and post some scouts. We need to gather our supplies so we can figure out what to do from here.” I nod and begin assigning roles to various lieutenants who clearly have nothing to do. I put one on the task of finding out how much food and water we had. A second was tasked with scouring the city for survivors. A third was to set up a watch at every point of our town for the Og Nag returning or any other surprises.