CHAPTER 4

You reach the centerpiece hall of the tower; it is, held high above a series of black metal stairs; the air is cold and rusty; you see now a throne of metal; and a stormy cloud of red and black; above you, something indescribable: it is an inhuman immensitude; as if the world was stretched so thin as to see every single pore.

And sat upon the throne: the cold dead husk; knelt before him, the shade of a man; before him, inside the heart of the corpse: a vastness of worlds; twisting, they are, into a green-lit stairway to heavens.

"Mildrich, betrayer! Come out of your hiding holes! From all the corners, from all of the foundations, and from all of firmaments; come out you accursed devil! Come, and atone for your crimes! " He yells out;

"They can be only repaid in blood..." you yell out "For all the lives you have spat upon; Death!"

The screams echoe throught the hall.

"I hate it...I hate it all!" it's raspy voice spits out "And I hate you most of all!"

"Lay down, cur!" you say

"Lay down...?! I am already dead! Always was...and like you...like all the nupcial beings that tread this shell of worlds; void! Void you are, for you do not know the schism that is your life! Slaves you are to the masters that you are, yet you are...so thinly filled with...a locust of nothingness! So easy was it to fill...an army of things...their minds, with meaningless things...But for what? For what I say! For the Death of all of you!"

And it so that the shade extends a hand; a single streak of flashing blue lightning flies; rushing past you;

Mildrich the Foul, Betrayer; is dead, now, truly!

And the stair of hearts; beyond; a citadel of green; a world of light, evergrasping! Your heart is filled with amazement, and looking at it now, you feel like you belong there...

"What is it...?" you ask

"It is Eden..." Baelund replies "No...it is...the future...or the past...no...it is a land akin to ours...no! It is The land! But it shall never be ours..."

"And who says that? If it is before me...I might as well reach for it."

You approach the throne; you start to climb the stairs...

And what became of you...only time will tell.