These three Ways stem from one,

  and together yield one path

  Elijah took a deep breath and discovered that he was alive.

  This realisation was soon met with the wish that he weren't.

  His whole body burned in agony almost instantly.

  How’s that possible?

  He was more than certain that he had been swallowed by the Tsutsa (the giant sand worm), and there were few known encounters that were more decidedly fatal.

  What exactly was going on?

  He wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but he couldn’t wrap his head around the situation, even a little.

  Calm down first, he told himself, forcing a level of calm that he hadn’t expected from himself in these bewildering circumstances. Well, this was the second time he found himself mysteriously transported to a mysterious place, so it seemed his composure was growing with experience. He sent up a quick prayer that he wouldn’t earn any more experience in this domain.

  It didn’t take long for him to recover this time, and sitting up, his glowing yellow eyes surveyed his surroundings, throwing their dim yet compelling light on the rough walls around him.

  A cave.

  That much was clear.

  He ran his hand across the rough ground beneath him.

  Damp.

  And cold.

  He was no expert in caves and didn’t pay enough attention in class (what paltry instruction that blackguard Atafa did give) to know whether or not this was normal.

  It felt off, though.

  He couldn’t put his finger on it, but there was something that wasn’t meant to be in this cave.

  If he could liken it to anything…

  The mansion he had returned to a little earlier, with its perpetually damp walls, came to mind.

  Something was wrong.

  Further introspection was met with nothing solid, though, and he decided that there were more pressing matters than a vague feeling of discomfort. He paid more attention, and discovered that some of the walls reflected the light of his eyes.

  His fingers felt the cold limestone walls, inlaid with veins of quartz and other minerals he had no direct experience with but had vague knowledge of. All things natural had a way of revealing at least something of their nature to his eyes and other senses.

  Plop.

  Plop.

  Plop.

  The walls and ceiling were dripping, and he felt himself drawn into their rhythm like a metronome.

  He was down on all fours next, his shoulders rolling low as he stuck close to the ground like a lizard.

  Slow, deliberate creeping.

  Plop.

  Plop.

  Plop.

  There was something about this place.

  Plop.

  Plop.

  Fangs protruded from behind his lips suddenly, coming out unbidden, as though summoned.

  He didn’t take note of it and instead continued his approach, his claws dragging across the calcified ground beneath without making a sound.

  Each movement was now synchronised with the drops, moving as they fell and hiding whatever sound he made behind the persistent plop.

  There was something here with him.

  Something that sent his instincts into disarray.

  He felt a pull that could hardly be compared with anything he had ever felt before.

  Irresistible.

  And yet…

  The next drop prompted his movement.

  And yet his approach remained halting.

  Measured.

  Fearful.

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  Whatever it was that was pulling him in, it was also telling him to run and run quickly.

  Pulled between polar propensities, he found himself ploughing forward, though.

  Whatever was to come.

  He found himself at the mouth of a giant tunnel.

  It was large enough to fit at least three omnibuses stacked vertically and sideways.

  Its edges did not suggest machinery.

  A monster then?

  What sort of beast would make such a hole?

  His mind went to the Tsutsa he had encountered but dismissed it just as quickly.

  Despite its gargantuan proportions, it was no rock eater. There was a difference between being a sand whale and burrowing through limestone.

  If not that…

  He didn’t notice that he had stopped.

  The drops still remained present like the ticks of a clock, but his movement no longer matched them.

  He crouched, frozen before this inexplicable giant portal, not sure whether or not he’d be stepping in.

  “Amazing!”

  The unexpected voice acted almost as a trigger and prompted a huge leap from the boy, seeing him attach himself to the wall like a lizard while examining the source of the voice from afar.

  “Simply amazing,” the voice said again, its owner looking mightily pleased as his frame rocked with satisfied chuckles.

  From his superior position, Elijah could see the person speaking clearly. He was a giant of a man, his nine-foot frame looking even taller than it should have because his skin stuck to his bones closely so that it wasn’t impossible to trace his inner anatomy just by looking at him.

  Elijah had no interest in looking at him, though, and dashed into the opposite direction like a hare before a hunter.

  His preoccupation with stealth was all but gone now as he created as much separation as he could in an instant. Volcanic ash descended on his frame and left a second after to reveal his hound form and its accompanying physical buffs that sent his body off like a rocket.

  The cave was comically large, and despite his blinding speed, he didn’t see any exit. The thought didn’t slow him down at all, though.

  GRRGH!

  Just as he made to leap from one towering stalagmite to another, though, a powerful growl shook the world around him.

  It wasn’t just the sound of some creature, but it seemed alive and packed with information. It was like being tackled by a flood of words, and his mind was stretched beyond natural proportions. Characters from languages he couldn’t conceive of and dark and arcane histories flitted across the theatre of his consciousness and exited just as suddenly, like actors in a sped-up drama.

  His mind was like a piece of chalk under running water.

  This couldn’t go on.

  Another near-death experience? Really?!

  He managed one last complaint despite the escalating direness of his situation.

  Darkness.

  In his mindscape, he saw a grand tide rushing in to crush his insignificant figure. All-encompassing and forceful, it defied the scale even his powerful eyes were capable of taking in. The thought of dodging occurred, but his “body” was unresponsive.

  Where would he even dodge to? It was massive.

  Something moved in the water.

  He was half sure it was an illusion.

  Giant.

  Scaly.

  He somehow feared it more than the wave.

  Speaking of the wave… it was upon him now.

  Mere metres above his head.

  It was the end.

  At this moment, a miracle happened.

  The bright glow of a familiar silvery liquid emanated from his person, stretching out like a celestial stream around him.

  Despite his fear, he found himself caught up in the wonder of it once more. Liquid metal – who would believe such a thing?

  The two liquids clashed.

  The black waters and the liquid metal.

  They fought like great dragons, battling for supremacy in a clash that could draw only awe from any observer.

  The metal seemed to have extended for kilometres but still paled in volume to the wave. This difference seemed immaterial as it pushed the waters back successfully, not so much as a drop making contact with the awestruck spectator.

  Suddenly, there was a flash of silver light.

  Back in the real world, he lifted himself from the small crater his fall had caused, relieved to find that his mind, unimpressive as it was, was still intact.

  “Amazing!”

  Not this again, Elijah thought, now too exhausted to flee.

  He inspected his hand and saw that he had been forced out of his hound form, so it would have been futile either way.

  “I can’t believe you took to it,” the giant continued, now directly above the exhausted child.

  His eyes had turned into crescents due to his smiling, and if Elijah weren't too tired, he’d be terrified.

  “Well,” he said, “you’re not perfect, but you’re better than the other one. You’ll do quite well.”

  Elijah felt himself get lifted up and placed gently on his feet.

  He looked down to discover that his clothes (usually a little better than rags in their normal state and reduced to complete scraps due to his misadventures) were now renewed.

  “Thank you,” he said with a slight bow.

  He waved the thanks away, clearly still beside himself with joy.

  “I’ve just witnessed a miracle,” he said simply, before looking at him sideways. "Your father would be proud.”

  “You know my dad?”

  “Some other time maybe,” he said, drawing a pattern in the sky and pushing the young boy through the door that manifested in its place. "We'll be seeing a lot of one another very soon, young man.”

  A familiar castle stood in the burning light. It st

  The Sun was finally setting.

  It felt like it had been forever, but it was held back by something.

  At the foot of this castle was the doll-like figure of a young noble girl.

  The lacy material of her parasol caught this last light as twilight finally arrived.

  Not long after, as though chased by something, even that light was gone.

  The cool darkness held all the world in its palm.

  She stood despondently, moved neither by light nor darkness nor the intervening twilight.

  She was waiting for something.

  For someone.

  Two points of yellow flashed suddenly.

  She wasn’t alone anymore.

  “You waited," Elijah said, regarding her figure.

  “You came,” she replied easily, still not turning to face him.

  “It was foolish of me,” he admitted with a shrug. “I still felt the need, though.”

  She turned at this and caught those glowing and complicated yellow eyes in her vision.

  “You’ve changed.”

  He smiled and held out a familiar orange dumpling to her.

  “I have,” he said simply.

  She shook her head and reached for it.