“Then tell me… what am I here to learn?” I asked Kain, “Why go through all this trouble?”

“Discord? Leave us.” Kain commanded.

“Glady.” Discord huffed, “You are always too serious, and it’s literally more boring than listening to Sparkle yammer on about potion recipes. Taaa~”

And in a puff of smoke which… somehow made the transformation into a flock of birds, Discord, the only creature who hadn’t tried to assault me or kill me was gone. I felt strangely alone, and Fray hadn’t awoken yet. Silence filled the white space between Kain and I.

“You are here to learn the meaning of loss.”

I scowled, “I already know what loss is.”

“Good! Then you won’t be surprised.”

Glaring at the bearded creature, I prepared myself for another uncomfortably close experience, something that I had not wanted to happen again. To my surprise, Kain did not move from where he stood, instead only reaching out with his hands, I felt a shimmering behind my mane, and then pain exploded in my skull. It was enough to wake Fray, who was immediately panicked and pulled from my head in a way that nearly brought me to my knees.

“Fray!” I called out.

Fray reached out for me with his small arms, “Ramp! Please do not let them take me!” it called, beginning to cry, “You promised!”

Working through the pain, and the haze that came with it, I lashed out and began rushing towards Fray.

“Let Fray go!” I roared as Kain simply glared at me as if I were a mere annoyance, “Why are you doing this?”

“Because Fray is my property.” Kain said simply, “My creation. I get to decide where it goes, who it chooses.”

My hooves reached out for my floating friend as I advanced towards Kain and I managed to clasp around Fray’s form. Glaring at Kain, I noticed that something had changed in the look he was giving me. It seemed that he was having trouble concentrating. Thinking quickly, I tried to further disrupt the power, but placing my hooves in the direct line of Kain’s attack caused a burning sensation to cut into my nerves, making me withdraw the limb in pain and forcing me to let go of Fray, who was still struggling to be free of the robed creature’s telekinetic grasp.

“What gives you the right?” I barked, jumping in front what I assumed was Kain’s assumed telekinetic line of sight on my friend, “You’ve done nothing for it!”

“It?” Kain asked, laughing squarely at me, “You don’t even know if Fray is a male or a female!”

The burning sensation returned, casting me aside and making me curl in pain. It was worse than the first time, as if the shorter distance was enough to make the intensity of whatever power he wielded even stronger.

“Why should that… matter?” I coughed, trying to get up and have another go at Kain.

“What do you even KNOW of Fray?” Kain asked, “Do you know where Fray comes from? If it has another name? Do you know what it likes? What it dislikes? Why do you care?” Kain roared at me, “Are you afraid to lose its power? It’s ability to understand concepts quickly and analyze situations faster than you ever could on your own?”

“No!” I retorted, rushing directly for the robed madman, “I don’t know all of those things! And I don’t care about its power! We didn’t even NEED it until we came here! I care because…”

Kain stopped moving Fray where he held my friend inches from his grasp.

“Because?” Kain asked softly, tilting his head in my direction and raising his bushy white eyebrows, “Because what?”

“... Fray is like a son or daughter to me. It never mattered much to me what gender Fray was.” I explained, coughing just a bit, “After what I’ve learned about it, just taking care of it… I figured Fray would either choose one in time on its own, or that it didn’t have one.” I admitted, “I don’t know everything about Fray, and up until recently, I didn’t really care. I just wanted to get back to my life, but that has changed!”

Kain continued to hold Fray where it was in midair, spinning the creature as it sobbed, eyes closed. My heart ached seeing Kain handle Fray like that, seeing Fray shake and cry. I felt like a father, about to lose his child and unable to do anything to stop it. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew that I had to try something.

I was certain that Kain was just stopping to mess with me. If I could just keep him distracted long enough… maybe I could…

“Then why are you here?” Kain asked, his voice echoing across the open spaces, drilling into my brain.

I prepared myself, standing on back up on my own four hooves. Kain seemed somewhat surprised, and it never occurred to me why. All that mattered was getting Fray back from that madman.

“I came here because Fray wanted to come here, because coming here was important to it, and because I had ignored that fact for far too long.”

I broke into a sprinting gallop and lunged, thrusting myself in-between Kain and Fray, headfirst and right into the line of telekinetic energy that held Fray in place. I don’t think I’d ever quite felt a physical pain as harsh and mentally breaking before as the one I’d felt that right then. I don’t remember what Kain was saying just before I did so, because my memory’s not that great when it comes to the moments before I throw myself into harm’s way, but what I do remember, is the conversation that Kain and I had as I was fighting off the urge to faint.

“... So Fray is that important to you?” Kain asked, “That you’d throw yourself over and over into the fire?”

I couldn’t speak, but could only stare defiantly up at someone I was certain could kill me at any time he liked.

“Simply nod yes, or nod shake your head no.” he suggested in an airy tone, his gaze and strength unrelenting despite his uncharacteristically casual attitude at that moment.

I nodded my head.

“So you would?”

Again, I nodded my head.

“What if you were to die?” he asked, “What if your last action were to be trying to save Fray’s life? What if I told you that if you say ‘no’ now… that I won’t kill you? Would you still try to save Fray?”

I nodded my head. He increased the pain somehow, still as unmoving as a statue.

“How about now?”

My body was beginning to spasm, and I was certain that I’d black out. I had to nod my head, I knew I had to, or else I really would die, and Fray would go with me. Call it instinct, intuition, love… I just knew I had to. Up… just a little more… then down… just a little.

“That’s all very fine and good…” Kane frowned, “But what about Fray? Would Fray do the same? He hasn’t heard… nor seen… any of this. I made sure that all he’s witnessed is darkness, and all he’s heard is silence since he called out your pitiful name.”

Kain changed his focus directly to me. I heard Fray hit the ground, released from Kain’s grip. In his place, I was lifted, the tendons in the pale, bearded creature’s hand flexing, bulging under the skin with effort and malice. I could not struggle, I was far too weakened by the assault on my mind and body, and simply hung limp in the telekinetic grasp of Kain.

With the flip of a hand, the clenching of a fist, Kain snuffed out the last bit of defiance in my eyes, and sent me crashing to the ground. The last thing I heard was a rushing in my ears, and the sound of my heartbeat cease.

The last thing I saw was Fray stirring at my side.

I don’t know how long I was unconscious, I don’t even know what the extent of my injuries were. My memories to that end are limited to fading in and out of awareness, hearing the screams of a dismayed Fray, and finally a bright, white light.

And then I awoke with Discord standing over what should have been my corpse, and Fray crying against my ribs.

“Welcome back to the land of the living and, in your case, barely alive.” Discord grinned, “Congratulations, you… are not a shadow. You’ll still have one though, especially with Scootaloo and her boyfriend hanging around.” Discord teased.

“Hey!” Scootaloo exclaimed, “Featherweight is NOT my special somepony.”

Featherweight narrowed his eyes at Scootaloo, “Well geeze, when you say it like that… I don’t think I’d ever want to be anyways!” he huffed with indignation.

I rolled my head around to look at my companions. Featherweight’s leg was almost entirely consumed by whatever curse, infection, or disease the shadows had inflicted on him. The same went for Scootaloo’s wing. They were both very agitated… and I could see why, as both of them winced occasionally. Fray looked up at me, and I managed to weakly gather the poor creature up in my forehooves, cuddling it close to my chest. I was only a little thankful that Fray was too busy sobbing to ask me questions or even talk to me. My friends were still in danger, and I still didn’t have ANY of the answers I’d hoped to find there.

“Kain… you… what have you done…?” I croaked, “What… is going on with them? What did… what did the shadows do?”

“They are becoming Shadows themselves.” Kain said simply, “Welcome to lesson two. The dangers of leadership.”

The robed figure stood, and cast out his hands, both of them this time. I tried to stand, but was unable and was once again forced to watch as something horrible was done to my friends. They ceased moving, closed their eyes, and became suspended in midair.

“I’ve stopped them from making it worse. I can’t stop the spread entirely, but I can give you some time to get them to a hospital, and eventually be on your way to curing them.”

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t all that horrible. Maybe Kain’s actions there were actually helpful, but still. The pain in my chest was wavering and I felt I’d soon be able to properly move again.

I breathed a sigh of exasperation and relief, if that makes sense, “So… there IS a cure?” I asked, “I just need to get them to a hospital?”

Once again Discord showed his charm, “Alright, I’m gone again… there’s just so much Chaos to wreak and so little time! Listen, Kain…” he turned into a literal representation of the name, a walking-stick with a long beard and Discord’s signature eyes, as he began mocking the tall creature with a mouth that moved on a hinge like some sort of insane, cartoon puppet, “When you’re done, just give me a ring and I’ll ‘walk’ them out!”

And with that, he was gone again, leaving me alone with Kain, the very thing I hated most in life at that moment. Kain shook his head wearily, ignoring the outburst.

“Yes… there is a cure. But you will not find it in a hospital.”

“Where, then?” I asked, sitting up, “Where!”

Kane dropped his hands to his sides, but Scootaloo and Featherweight remained suspended, “In time… but first we have a lot to discuss. I have a reason for everything that I’ve done today, no matter how horrible it may seem to you.”

I narrowed my eyes, clutching Fray closely, “I’m listening… but it’s not like I can go anywhere until you tell me the cure anyways, so it’s not for my health or yours!” I growled, “Why are you doing this? What did I do? What did ANY of us do to deserve the misery that you’re causing us?”

Kain shook his head, as if disappointed, “I understand your anger, but I had to be sure of something.”

“And what ‘something’ was that?”

Kain went on to explain that Fray had actually saved my life, and that if it hadn’t been so emotionally and mentally close to me, I probably would have died. I didn’t see how that answered my question, but I was nevertheless grateful for Fray’s help. The small creature had gone silent, and I noticed that the coarse fur that had covered it was… basically gone, and it had returned to its normal consistency, which was akin to a rubbery little cloud-being. I stroked its mane, attempting to comfort my small friend.

“You see…” Kain continued to explain, “Fray is not one-of-a-kind in the sense that he’s not the only creature like himself. Trixie has one as well, though it is corrupted and broken. In fact, the whole reason she chose you was because she was certain this would happen, and that she could either learn from you or that you could break the control it has over her.”

“But… then what is Fray?” I asked, “Fray is nothing like Trixie’s… thing… and hasn’t tried to make me do things like I saw Trixie doing.”

Kain sat down on his pedestal, something which arose from the spot where he’d been standing in the middle of the white space we both occupied, and it crossed its legs under the robe it wore.

“Fray is a spirit.” he said simply, “A spirit of one of the last of my kind.”

It took a moment to sink in. The strange creature in front of me was not some kind of god, his power non-withstanding. So then what was he?

“I am a Skyllian.” Kain admitted, “And I am the oldest, and last of them. Most of us were not as long lived as I, but I have been around since long before Equestria existed. Allow me to tell you… just how everything really began. This is going to be a lot to take in all at once, but we’re all running out of time. The Spirits, and Equestria as we know it, are in danger.”

My ears flickered forward and I found myself being pulled into a vision projected by my suddenly… more agreeable host. In proceeding vision, Kain showed me the rise and fall of Mankind. He showed its great cities and powerful machines, machines not entirely unlike the ones we were developing in those days. He showed me the origins of Order and Chaos, the two most powerful forces in Equestria, which regulated everything in subtle and impossible to understand ways. Further into the vision, I found myself watching as the universe changed upon the activation of two great machines that had been designed to give control of those ultimate powers to my people so that they could completely control their own destinies. I watched as it went terribly wrong and a world that was unfamiliar to me changed into the one I lived in. Order and Chaos, and the forces that swore allegiance to each side, fought and died until equilibrium was once more established, and magic as we knew it came forth from the void.

And finally, I saw Kain. Kain, who had been in every part of those visions, who had seen every war that the Skyllian Draconi had waged, who had watched as everything had changed, and who had been a part of its cause, took one of the most noble creatures that Skyllians considered, and gave them the intelligence necessary to carry on a new legacy in our place. What had once been simply considered an Equine, became what we were then and are today: Ponies. Smaller, but more intelligent than our ancestors, Kain and his scientists, gave intelligent life another chance. I saw the rise of Celestia and Luna before they became Alicorns, and with their ascension to power, the final days and eventual voluntary fall of almost every Skyllian. Except of course Kain and a few survivors who disappeared into the wastes, until he was finally the last of them all, who watched over the machines that had begun the the end of a race. Somewhere in-between all of those events, I witnessed that Pegasi were born of Chaos and that Unicorns had been born of Order. Pegasi were more prone to magics that were not considered magic and spontaneity, while Unicorns were more apt to developing patterns for weaving spells, and were thus more akin to Order, which tried to categorize all things as a primal force of nature.

Lastly, the nature of Fray and his companions was revealed to me. They were trapped in the Chaos that lie just beyond the physical world. They were the basic spirits of the scientists and
Skyllians who had still been alive, stripped from their bodies voluntarily, so that they might live again in the form of what Fray had become, and learn what it meant to be at peace.

And then it was over. Kain stared at me, a sad expression.

“Now you see, I hope.” Kain whispered, “I had to be careful… I had to make sure that the Spirit that was with you had not taken favor of darker concepts and actions as a result of neglect and hatred.”

I breathed a heavy sigh, unsure what to make of what I had just seen.

“So why tell me all of this?” I asked, “Why not tell Celestia that we’re in trouble…?”

Kain stared right through me as he spoke, “She already knows… but Celestia and Luna are both occupied with maintaining things as they are, and Twilight and her group no longer control the Elements of Harmony, diminishing their effectivity.”

“So why. Me?” I repeated.

Kain shifted in his seat a little, as if looking for a way to make me understand.

“The Machine of Order is about to be activated. It will take about a year to spin up completely… when that happens, nothing but an activation of THIS machine that we’re in now, the Machine of Chaos can balance it out… but there’s a catch…”

“Go on…” I rumbled.

“You saw the destruction that the initial activation caused… it will happen again, and wipe out everything or change it all as we know it.”

I swallowed, remembering the fires, the magical storms, and the waves of unnatural destruction that plagued the world before Equestria.

“I need you to stop the activation. Your world needs a hero. Unwilling or not, it needs you. You have the potential for leadership, and you have experienced enough loss that you will, I hope, be less affected by the lives that will certainly be burnt away in the coming fires. The armies of Order will defend the machine until they fall under the sword.”

“And you’ve been watching over these machines for… how long?” I asked, accusingly, “How come you, who can stop a pony in their tracks with your… freaky floaty hands… can’t stop the Machine yourself?”

Kain shrugged.

“I can’t get back over to it. Somebody… or somepony… has taken over. The Machines choose new leaders based on what the leaders want and if those wants coincide with the machine’s desire to make the world the way it was programmed to do so. Order’s machine has taken a liking to someone new, and won’t let me in. It is also raising an army of golem-like atronachs to protect itself while it grooms that new leader.”

One heck of a side note… I’m just saying.

I asked Kain how I was supposed to stop an army. He told me I had a year to accomplish shutting down the machine and that, at some point, I would be put into a leadership position of some kind or other before then. Kain once again told me that despite a year’s time was available, time was still short, and he did not have much more that he could say that would matter. He did, however… have one last lesson to teach.

“Trixie…” he called, “Come in here.”

A door slid open on the far side of the chamber Kain and I were situated in. It opened upwards, sliding without making any noise except that of a hissing which one might expect from an angered snake. From behind the door stepped the white-haired, light blue mare that I had come to know as the catalyst for everything that had occurred. She was, at the time, a mare whom I both hated and was grateful for encountering. She stepped forward, emotionless.

“Trixie here is the one who lured you to this place. It was not my intention to have you come here so soon. For that, I have decided to punish her. You two will fight.”

“...What?” I asked, swallowing hard, “Why?”

Kain sighed as if exasperated by the question, “One, to release her from her bonds to her own Spirit, and two, to teach you how to kill.”

I scowled at Kain, “I am NOT killing Trixie.”

“That’s fine.” Kain shrugged, “Then Trixie will kill you instead.”

“Wha-”

In the span of half a second, I was pushed back on my hooves, a blast of magic from Trixie’s horn forcing me to brace myself against the somewhat slippery floor.

“Why are you attacking me?” I asked Trixie, “What have I done to you?”

Trixie only smiled, her darker side clearly in control, “It was our hope, or rather… Trixie’s hope, that you would be able to cure her of me. However…” she grinned, “Trixie’s own calling you here has dashed that hope, because in this realm Kain is in control, and Trixie can do nothing to stop what we are about to do. This is Trixie’s one chance to stop herself from being separated and sent back into Chaos.”

“I don’t understand…” I growled.

“It doesn’t matter. All you have to do… is die!” she bellowed, charging forward with a red aura surrounding her, tendrils of energy from it lashing out angrily against the air.

I dodged, barely, contacting Fray in the process, who had retreated into my head.

“Fray… I don’t think we should kill Trixie.”

“Why should we not?” Fray asked, “Whomever is still in there is no longer in control and she is clearly in anguish.”

I shook my head as my left hoof struck the ground and my body began the spin that would eventually allow me to face Trixie’s back, “We can’t. It isn’t right. You heard the Spirit... it’s in control because of Kain.”

“We cannot best Kain either.”

My other hoof touched the ground, gripping as best it could for the next phase of the facing maneuver, “We need to disable her without doing permanent damage.” I suggested.

“How do you propose?” Fray asked, readying itself, “We need a plan.”

I grinned slowly, my back hooves hitting the ground behind me, eyes locking in on our opponent, body ready to spring, “Just follow my lead and help me dodge anything that comes our way.”

We lunged, extending a hoof towards a surprised Trixie, hitting her flank as hard as we could. It was my hope that it might cripple her temporarily, the pain maybe slowing her, but as I flipped back around, she was only angered and blushing a little.

“How DARE you touch Trixie in that manner!” she bellowed, preparing her next attack.

“It’s not like I’ve got a girlfriend to get in trouble with. You made sure of that.” I jeered, shrugging just a little.

Trixie roared, moving quickly for a hoof to my face. I dodged, barely, but I could feel Fray’s influence on my movements, and landed a hoof to her chest, sending the blue mare staggering backwards. I went in to knock her down, but found a hoof in my stomach, forcing me to my knees for a moment. A quick stomp from Trixie’s back hooves would have ended me, but Fray took control just in time, rolling me onto my chest. Taking the hint, I pushed myself back onto my own four hooves.

“We can’t keep this up forever.” Fray warned, “She is very fast. It is taking a lot of energy to keep up, and we do not have much left in reserve.”

“Just keep it up a little longer.” I told Fray, “We just need to pin her down, after that we can-”

Fray forced me to jump back to avoid a blast of magical energy.

“I am sorry, Ramp. I must keep us alive.”

Against my will, Fray lunged. It was too sudden to stop. In an instant Trixie found herself pinned and I found myself trying to punch her in the face over and over. Fortunately, Trixie was either dodging or blocking most of those attempts. It wasn’t long, however, before the Unicorn showed signs of tiring, and Fray took the chance to get up and bring our hooves down onto the mare’s chest. I tried to stop Fray, I really did. My back muscles twitched, trying to negate my unwilling assault, pulling with all their might. My efforts were not successful. Not completely.

I heard a crack. It made me feel sick, and I felt my resistance crumble. Fray released control of my body, having finally run out of whatever energy it accessed to do what it did. Trixie stared up at me, her mouth open and eyes wide as she gasped for air.

“Fray!” I roared, looking up at the ceiling above, “Fray, how could you?”

Fray recoiled a little at the anger that flared in my mind, “I… I do not want you to die!” it cried in my head, “I saved you once… I do not want to have to try again… what if I fail?” it asked, its voice wavering in my skull, “... I do not want to lose my best friend.”

Something in my mind clicked at those words. I knew the feeling, and I remembered when I’d said words similar to those to Aurora, who was once my best friend and lover.

“I… I am sorry.”

I shook my head, looking down at the gasping mare whom Fray had nearly killed using my body against my will, “No, Fray. I understand. There was a time once when I did something just as drastic to try to keep from losing someone I really cared about too.” I admitted, “That choice lead me to here, and lead to your… creation. I know why you did it.”

I stared down at Trixie once more. I could feel the guilt still radiating from Fray. I was not happy, but thankful for that… if Fray could take control of my body, then if it had no qualms about doing something awful to achieve our goal, I feared I would be unable to stop it.

“... do it…” she gasped, her non-Spirit self bleeding through, “Release me from this misery.”

I breathed in heavily, “No.” I countered as I stared at Kane, “No. I will not kill Trixie. She can be helped. I know it.”

Kain frowned through his white beard, “She tried to end your life. She started everything that has happened here today of her own volition. She may not be in control here, but that is not your concern, is it?”

“No.” I replied.

“Then kill her.”

I shook my head, “I’m leaving. We’re through.”

“How will you take your friends with you?” Kain asked, holding them in his telekinetic grasp where they lay unconscious, “I have them here, and you know you cannot take them without a fight, a fight that you cannot win.”

I narrowed my eyes, “You’d keep my friends because I won’t KILL somepony?” I asked, gritting my teeth.

“I would.” Kain confirmed matter-of-factly, “Kill Trixie, and you can have your friends.”

“... It is the only way.” Fray affirmed, “Unless…”

“We come back later… when we’re more powerful, when we’ve got an army… when we can beat him.”

Fray nodded mentally to me. I was out of options.

“No.” I repeated aloud to Kain as my gaze affixed on his face, “I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I’m going to find a way to kill you instead.”

Kain looked at me, narrowing his eyes where he stood as if he were bemused.

“... I’m going to go back the way I came, and when I return I’ll have a way to destroy you, I promise you that. Stop me if you want, but I will not kill Trixie.”

I saw Trixie crying, but I couldn’t be sure why. Maybe it was pain, or maybe it was that I could not promise the release from her prison that she had been hoping for since our very first meeting. Her torso looked badly bruised, even through her coat, and she was having trouble breathing, something I could tell even through her sobbing. In spite of that, it was time to go and so, turning, I made my way away from my friends. It was the hardest decision I’d ever had to make because instead of turning them back from where they’d come, I’d let them tag along. When I should have realized the danger that they would face, I did nothing besides warn them. It was a lesson I would not soon forget. My hooves began taking me towards the strange elevator from which I had ascended into what I was assuming was the highest point of the tower.

“Stop.”

My ears twitched.

“What.” I growled.

“You pass.” Kain said, clapping his hands, “I know you’ll probably be confused when I tell you this, but everything I have done today was a test… and you have performed each perfectly.”

I tilted my head and stared back at the strange creature.

“Buck you.” I rumbled, “Why should I believe a word you say?”

Kain held his arms wide, opening his palms, “Everything so far that I have told you is truth. Trixie DID do all of this of her own volition, including calling you here and wishing for you to kill her. The forces of Order and Chaos? They’re real, and Order IS coming to categorize everything and stop the march of time. I am also the leader of Chaos as it is now, and one of the beings that helped create Ponies as a race. I AM cursed with immortality. Fray is a Spirit of one of the creatures that once ruled these lands.” he took a breath finally, “And you… are the Pony I have been looking for to take care of one of the Spirits, unleash its potential, and provide it with guidance. You and Fray are needed and, even if you both should become separated, I know you will find your way back to one another.”

I frowned at Kain, “I still have questions and I still don’t believe you.”

Kain nodded quickly, “I know. I do not blame you and, were things not becoming quickly more desperate, I would not have had you meet under these pretenses, nor would I have tested you so harshly.” Kain stepped down from his place as he continued, “All that I have told you will become revealed as true in time, I am certain of that.”

Then something amazing happened. The robed figure, Kain the Immortal, stood before me and knelt to my level, looking me square in the eyes. Fray ejected out of the back of my head of his own accord to stare back at Kain in kind with an angry scowl. The bearded creature bowed his head in mine and Fray’s direction and then he spoke again.

“I ask you to forgive me, my son.” He began, “And before you go, I wish to bestow upon you the thing you’ve desired most since the day that summer, six years ago, when you stared up at the sky, and wondered what it was like.”

Kain stood once more, and walked to the edge of the circle of light we stood upon.

“One more thing before I do so, however” he murmured.

I stayed silent, watching for further treachery, angry that Kain would change so suddenly, that I couldn’t hate the creature before me as much as I’d liked to have.

“The cure you will seek is upon the highest mountain in the Spineyback ridge, just north of Canterlot and the Everfree’s deepest regions to its east.” he revealed.

I said nothing still. I was unsure of what to think for a moment, but I continued to scowl.

“What do I have to do to recieve this… gift of yours?” I hissed at him, “What ridiculous task do I have to do, how much pain do I need to go through?”

Kain only smiled, and gestured over to the edge of the disk of light we were standing on, where he looked down below as I approached. The darkness below was all encompassing, and endless.

“All I ask from you, in exchange for the knowledge I have bestowed, and the gift I am about to give you… is for you to take a leap of faith with me.”

I sighed, too weary of the strangeness of my situation to argue. I had seen the impossible that day, and I had died and been brought back. Clearly nothing worked the same in Kain’s realm as it did in the world outside, or that I assumed was outside that little bubble of unreality. Not only that, but as much as I distrusted the Skyllian at that moment, it was also the only real possibility of escaping from further torture.

So I nodded, and we fell.