A tentacle nudged me forward a step when I didn't move.
I looked back to find another tentacle pointing at the circle in an unmistakable message.
One guess what he wanted me to do.
Still, I was reluctant. There was power in that circle. This place might be old, but it wasn't restful. Pain and betrayal lurked here.
The bird took flight, circling the stones once before settling in the branches of the ancient tree. He ruffled his wings and cocked his head, waiting to see what I would do.
The tentacle nudged me again, this time more insistently.
I had a feeling I didn't have much of a choice in this matter. I could walk forward of my own free will or the monster could force me. At least doing it on my own gave me a running start if I needed it.
Reluctantly, I took a step forward and then another.
What was this place?
"My prison." The voice came from the shadows between the monolithic stones. Its owner had gone unnoticed until now. He looked around at the old forest. "Or at least this is how your mind chooses to perceive my prison. Mortal minds have their limits. This allows you to be here without breaking."
This stranger was different than the monsters and birds around me. There were no dark shadows cloaking his power. Nothing crouched deep inside. He was simply a man.
And that was how I knew he was nothing of the sort.
No mortal could exist here.
"It's a beautiful scene you've built for me," he said.
When I still didn't say anything, he looked at me. Familiar eyes met mine. Memories of a dark stranger crouched at the end of my bed who told me stories of blacksmiths and knights surfaced. Those stories always had the bad guy emerging victorious in the end.
They'd been warped and slanted toward the antihero before I even knew what that meant.
"You've grown. Much more than I imagined in this short time." Moonlight slid across his face to reveal twin abysses where his eyes should be.
I didn't have to ask who he was. I already knew.
"You're their king," I guessed through numb lips.
"And your grandfather," he finished, hands clasped behind his back.
"This form is an illusion," I realized.
It had to be. He carried no smell and when he moved, the grass didn't bend. He felt like a ghost to my senses, yet appeared solid.
Approval shown in his eyes. "Very good. My true form can be a bit hard on the mind as you've already discovered."
This was another aspect of that black void I'd found crouched at the base of this world. The one that had nearly fried my brain.
"What do you mean prison?" I asked suddenly.
Sadness touched his features. "Suffice it to say that the man you call Travis didn't give you the full story of how this realm fell."
Not surprising really.
"I doubt any of my former court know the full truth besides your father," he said.
"You want me to free you."
His laugh welled from his chest, the sort of sound that made you want to join him. He sobered after several long seconds. "No, my dear, you don't have that kind of power."
