In the end... What are we? Merely the sum of our bodies, all neurons and chemicals? Could I really be somewhere in that mess of flesh, blood, and tissue? Or am I less material than all that?

Could I be something more? If I could... would I dare? 

A mad god’s fever dream, a modicum of defiance in the face of entropy - a soul. 

Whatever I am, I am being torn asunder, taken to a place where everything that is and everything that is not are in eternal conflict. My essence would be painfully repurposed by both sides, were I only to give in. 

But I am unbound by reality, by cause and effect - I will endure, no matter how much it hurts. I will persist, and find hope in those like me.

I find her, a soul as black as night yet as distinct to me as the blazing sun. She struggles against chaos effortlessly, as she always has - I fight my urge to rush to her, and seek the others.

A lost rhythm that stubbornly beats on, entirely out of place here - cold, and getting colder. As I take the verdant soul into me, I remember my journey through Arden.

An ever expanding orb, absently taking in all around it, unaware of the danger in doing so - sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss. As I take the cerulean soul into me, I remember all my years of study.

An endless wall of calm energy, wearing dangerously thin against the chaos - the carefully hidden beast within inches from being unleashed forever. As I take the crimson soul into me, I remember the friends I’ve made and all the people we’re fighting for.

Finally, as I return to take the black soul into me, I remember the great acts of cruelty we have sworn vengeance against. And I realize that with her, I am now whole.

I am prepared to expend everything that I am to return them to the material world… but it is surprisingly easy. I simply refuse to let us fade away in the chaos between realms, and...

---

We were floating in the night sky. Or at least that’s what I was reminded of as I looked around us. Maeve, Wolfgang, Xenna, and Zyturak were unconscious, and though I couldn’t remember exactly what had just happened, I knew somehow that they would be okay. I took the time to study my surroundings a little more.

There was something… horrifying about this Space Between Worlds. I couldn’t place what exactly, but it made me feel so small in some intrinsic, inexplicable sense. My rising panic was quelled somewhat as I looked upon Maeve’s sleeping face. She wouldn’t let this beat her. Maeve’s sheer grit filled me with a reservoir of inner strength I didn’t know I had. 

Pushing aside the gnawing terror, I tried to make sense of what I was seeing around me. The Space was pitch dark in places, but pockets of light were visible here and there. Some stayed where they were while others moved in whatever direction they pleased. Unfortunately these pockets were few and far between. I couldn’t make much more out at this distance, but I did notice the distortion of the scar behind us. There’s a chance this won’t be a one-way trip, then...

Maeve: “Ugh… Did we eat it already?”

Seth: “Miraculously, no. We made it into the Scar.”

Maeve: “Could have fooled me. My body’s definitely telling me I should be dead.”

Her eyes widened at the scene around us… and then she just shrugged.

Maeve: “Wow, this is… not what I was expecting. I guess it’s a good thing the rift isn’t a straight shot to Bedlam, though.”

She wasn’t shaken at all. Never change, Maeve.

The others started to wake up, taking a difficult moment to come to terms with the situation.

Wolfgang: “As I thought. This foul place feels completely alien, with no hint of Arden’s power. I fear I won’t be at my best when we need it most…”

Zyturak: “Urggh… Something has taken notice of us. I am shielding our minds as best I can, in the event that anything decides to take further unwelcome interest.”

Xenna: “The aether is… everywhere. I can barely breathe…”

Seth: “If we need a moment to get our bearings that’s fine, but the sooner we can start moving the more likely we are to survive. This place is putting a heavy burden on The Anchor, I can feel it.”

Maeve: “Duly noted. Then, is everyone ready to start looking for Armistice?”

Wolfgang: “Er… one moment.”

He was struggling to move. I couldn’t blame him - we were simply floating in space.

Zyturak: “This close to Bedlam, I imagine much of our reality is going to rely on our thoughts and emotions. Simply imagine you’re flying and I bet we can trick this place into allowing it.”

He demonstrated by doing a few acrobatic flips. Zy was really in his element here! We spent a few minutes practicing. It might have been fun if we weren’t on borrowed time in extradimensional space.

Maeve: “Okay, great. But, now what? How the hell are we supposed to find Armistice in… this!?”

She gestured to the vast nothingness around us.

Seth: “I… have no idea. Wolfgang, do you think your sense of direction is still half as sharp here as it is out there?”

Wolfgang: “Hmmm… maybe an eighth.”

Seth: “That’s good enough for me. Try to remember this spot, it’s our ticket out of here. With no other leads, we’re going to have to go in a random direction and hope for the best.”

It wasn’t much of a plan and the expressions on the other’s faces reflected that. We headed 'west-ish', passing through the strange moving lights which occasionally reflected odd objects that could have only been Bedlam in origin every so often along our path. Frozen flames, dead yet grasping tentacles, floating clumps of terrain, and other such paradoxes were all we had to entertain us as we wandered aimlessly. 

Xenna: “This is going nowhere fast.”

She said what was on all of our minds. The scenery was completely the same, and the moving lights made it almost impossible to get our bearings. No matter how far we went in the same direction, we found nothing.

Seth: “Alright, let’s rest here. If anyone can think of a better plan by the time we’re ready to move out again, I’m all ears.”

No one said anything though, and we ate our trail mix in silence. It was a feat not to have everything fly out of our bags as we opened them, and the meal took much longer than usual because we had to eat a piece at a time or risk losing whole handfuls to the alien gravity. We packed up without a word.

Maeve: “...’west' it is.”

And we continued on. And on. A couple of days passed this way, and morale had really started to drop - along with our supplies. I don’t know what any of us expected when we entered the Scar, but I doubted dying of boredom was on the list.

Wolfgang: “I noticed that we’ve been erratically veering off course for some time now... I hope you have some sort of plan?”

Thinking of the reason for my actions, I realized my wandering mind had subconsciously started following the lights wherever they’d aligned. 

Seth: “Yeah… is it just me, or are the lights trying to guide us?”

Xenna: “You’re right! Look at that!”

A piece from a beautiful gold and silver structure floated in the distance, and the lights converged on it frantically.

Zyturak: “Incredible. Yreth Itself guides us.”

Excited for the first time in days, we flew at newfound speeds wherever the lights led us. The debris of structures increasingly littered the way, but we deftly moved around these signs of our approaching destination. Then we saw them - golden gates standing before a massive bubble not unlike the one The Anchor cast around us. 

As we got closer we noticed imposingly tall figures standing guard at the gates. They wore full cloaks with complicated script flowing all the way down, and their long, spindly limbs held up silver polearms that were twice as tall as we were. There was something unsettling about them on their own, but what really set me off was that their faces were hidden behind a disturbingly familiar mask… Maeve leaned in and whispered to me.

Maeve: “Weren’t those the same masks we saw in Ikterwal’s hoard…?”

They were similar to a human’s face - uncannily so - but minor details were off so frequently that the facsimile did little to invoke a friendly face as was presumably intended.

Wolfgang turned to us.

Wolfgang: “So Yreth’s attendants look like that and yet we’re the odd ones for revering nature instead? Typical…”

Seth: “I think I recognize them from very early recountings of the first wars. Scholars called these things Orderlies, and they were quite a vital part of Yreth’s initial armies. No one knows for sure where they came from. As Yreth’s followers they’re probably friendly… let’s just try to go in.”

We approached the gate. I lost my nerve immediately, so it was Zyturak who did the talking.

Zyturak: “Hello… we are here to see Its Eminence, Yreth.”

The Orderlies made no reaction.

Zyturak: “Er… may we enter Armistice, in hopes of achieving this audience?”

Again, silence.

Zyturak: “Perhaps we are expected…?”

The guards did nothing. Zyturak turned to us and shrugged, but then with a flash of light the gates screeched as if in protest and started to open by themselves, albeit painfully slowly.

Zyturak: “Oh… thank you?”

He didn’t expect a reaction and didn’t receive one. We hurried past the unsettling gatekeepers and into Armistice proper. I caught the briefest glimpse of the majesty of its golden architecture... before our bubble of safety collapsed and my retinas were mercilessly burned through by purifying light.