Brecken was shaken awake, unsure if he was still dreaming. A large man stood on the far side of the fire; two slumped shapes grasped in each hand. Brecken had to blink a few times before he could make out who they were. Terror gripped every bit of him when the face of the King stared back, Lucas and Orhin both unconscious and limp at his side.
Everyone around him sat or stood frozen in place. Everything was quiet, save for the nervous breathing and the crackle of the fire. It was pitch black, the dead of night. The fire illuminated the King just enough to show his face. He didn't look angry or even ready for a fight it. He looked tired, as tired as Brecken felt. Cain stood defiantly, Ezra and Anai stood behind while Hurin knelt beside Brecken.
"It took me all night to find you boy," the King said directly to Brecken. "I thought you were dead, but when I went back to check, you were gone. I hoped you were alive. I'm glad to find it so." He noticed Brecken look at Lucas's tattered and bloodied body in his grip. "He is alive. I can't kill him, not yet at least. I need too much from him. You are going to help me get what I need. Let's go somewhere more comfortable, the jump gate should be close enough, I think. I hate this damned desert." The King took a deep breath and released it with a force great enough to move a mountain. Brecken braced for an impact that never came, wincing as the shockwave flew through him.
He looked back up to find himself in a large room. The walls were made of huge stones stacked atop each other. Lanterns hung on them six feet apart between huge banners adorned with the crown symbol of the King of All. A red carpet stretched from the door behind them, to a large stone throne adorned with rubies and sapphires in a glorious display. Around him, Brecken's friends took in the surroundings with as much confusion as he did.
"We'll never help you," Cain said defiantly. "No matter what, we will not help you."
"You are none of my concern, so I suggest you hold your tongue. The only reason I haven't erased you from existence is because I don't want to upset Lucas more than I have to. If he resents me, I will never gain his trust. I will kill you if I must, but not until it is unavoidable. You are all too small to understand the titanic forces at work here. This is bigger than any of you can comprehend. It's bigger than even me, but that will not be the case for much longer. Not with this." The King dropped Orhin in a heap on the ground and pulled the prism from his pocket.
Brecken sat up straight when we saw it. It seemed to suck in the light from the fire, gleaming in the darkness. The King studied it intently, the same look Lucas had when he stared into it. He took a deep breath and redirected his attention back to Brecken.
"I put this at the bottom of the lake to keep it safe. I set out a bounty on it just to make sure it was impossible to get. Human ingenuity is a force not to be underestimated, especially when money is involved. I knew if no one retrieved it for that amount of money, it was impossible. The only person who could do it, was a Way Mage. Orhin is terrified of the thing, I knew he wouldn't seek it out, but a new Way Mage, the one I saw in my visions. He would find it. Lucas Lorn was the key to it all, and when he arrived, I knew the time had come. Wake up boy," the King said as he threw Lucas onto the ground in front of the group. "I said wake up!" he boomed in his enhanced voice. The group instinctively cowered at the sudden explosion of noise.
Lucas stirred awake and stumbled up to his knees. He looked daze at first, but as soon as his eyes caught the King in the fire light he straightened up and put out his hands. The King smiled and casually lifted an outstretched palm. The air around Lucas shimmered. Lucas scowled at him, suspended in shimmering air.
"As I was saying before, and I woke you up to hear me boy, I knew exactly where you were in Mabank. I pushed you towards the lake. I knew you would feel it's pull just as I do. I knew you would retrieve it. That was your first test. If you had the fortitude to let someone else hold it, to keep yourself from going mad from its pull, then you had what it took for you to succeed in the coming war. Things are so much bigger than you know boy. There is death and destruction coming, the likes of which you cannot begin to understand. There are forces at work, pulling you and pushing you without you even knowing."
