Faiz felt a warmth across his face, accompanied by an uncomfortable brightness on the inside of his eyelids. His hands also felt…soft? Delicate veined blades of grass, fingertips coated in a light grit, unconsciously digging furrows into the soft loam. A cool stream trickled underneath where his head lay, his hair sticking to his scalp, the matted strands soaked and wet.

  He could hear the soft rustles of disturbed vegetation, the placid gurgle of the aformentioned brook, and a hundred other noises sounding out in the distance, from strange warbles to piercing caws. Such a soundscape he had heard but once before, on an ill fated expedition to the outskirts of Shaiher. While the fiendish creatures that prowled said areas were less than pleasant, the scenery there was beyond picturesque to his eyes.

  As Faiz lay sprawled out, contemplating if he shouldn’t just rest a while, a new noise is heard. The soft crunch of boots trampling on grass, destroying the tender green stalk as it approached him. And then voice, “You. I am certain you are not defective. Or asleep. Kindly open your eyes.”

  The voice was-for a surprisingly welcome change of pace-familiar, lacking any tell-tale aberration of pitch or tone, measured and cool, vaguely masculine. Faiz replied in kind, “I’m awake! One moment..”

  His eyelids blinked open, and he was immediately blinded. “!! Wh-what is that in the sky up there? Oh my eyes..it burns..” A searing gold covered the heavens, evidently the source of the brightness suffusing his surroundings.

  “Ah. You come from after. I see now. Irrelevant. Get up.” The other party remained mostly unhelpful as Faiz drew himself together and stood whilst complaining, “First my head, now my eyes..does it never end!? Who are you anyways..”

  The other man indeed turns out to be a human, though much larger than Faiz himself, looming over him. His face was set in a serious stare, dark eyes devoid of anything that could charitably be referred to as ‘emotion’ or ‘feeling’. He was dressed in some odd warrior’s garb, with a series of dark bands fastening a long-frocked white garb to his body, the inner cloth beige and loose.

  The most significant deviation of his outfit from any acceptable fashion Faiz could see was having his chest (from the ribcage up) be bared to the elements; It exposed a scarred but wiry and muscular frame, marked by strange sigils. Perhaps this was an allowance of garment made on account of the long blade run through his torso, with the long end jutting up from his back.

  Faiz could not stop himself from asking, “…Doesn’t that ?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, I suppose I can’t judge what you do with your body, mister…What’s your name? I’m Faiz by the way, pleased to meet you.”

  “I am Aujyav. You are here. Presumably, with need.” The man-Aujyav-seemed a tad reticent, which was perfectly fine with Faiz. He did grimace at the reminder, the why of visiting this place: Learning how to kill things to bribe people or some such.

  “Aujyav eh? Yeah, I wanna learn things. Guess you’re the one who’s gonna teach me in this..er, where exactly are we right now? Didn’t Schemas just teach you things? I suppose those two would be the sort to dupe me like this..”

  “Ask later. Reformation approaches.” With that, the man turned away, walking off. Faiz was about to ask when-“Follow, please.” That settled matters, and a wary Faiz trailed behind the other man, looking around.

  He had been incorrect in his assumptions then; Faiz had landed in a clearing, surrounded on all sides by vast and lush trees, their boughs creaking with the weight of ages past. That blinding fire in the skies was thankfully filtered through the many layers of green, falling onto the forest floor in diffuse columns. Though he hadn’t ever been in a forest before, Faiz was fairly certain most didn’t contain trees this big, the trunks of the smaller specimen more than thrice his width, and the largest spanning entire horizons.

  He had never a place as verdant, or so difficult to navigate (though the underways of Shaiher came close!). The vegetation came up to his knees, up to his chin, crawling even above him in some places. More than once, he almost lost sight of Aujyav, the impaled man wading through the leafy tide with practiced ease. The matter of the ever pervasive heat also affected things, a dull and cloying warmth to the air that made sweat bead at his brow and caused his mind to wander errant.

  Finally, after what felt like an eon of trudging through the growth, tripping and being smacked in the face by rogue shrubbery, the man finally stopped in front of a very derelict looking door carved into the trunk of a particularly gigantic tree. Surely the man didn’t live the tree?! Well, there was no law proclaiming men couldn’t live in arboreal abodes, it just wasn’t done per se… (probably due to a lack of big trees).

  Sure enough, the tree was hollow inside, containing a wooden, curving stairwell that led up. Strangely, Faiz didn’t feel a burn in his legs as he climbed, despite how much the effort should’ve have strained him. Another oddity amidst a heap of oddities. After what seemed like a second eternity of climbing, he climbed the last step and found himself at the apex of the tree.

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  From here, he could see vast swathes of the forest, grand groves and rushing rivers, colors of every sort blooming in valleys and contingents, the heavens dimmed to a more manageable rust. The scenery could have perhaps inspired joy or wonder in him-were it not juxtaposed with the sight of an apocalypse breaking wherever his gaze turned.

  “Should I ask why this we’re surrounded on all sides by..‘That

  “Cease looking, if you would heed my words. One prefers your mind remain with you.” He tore his eyes away from the nightmarish vista and looked back at Aujyav, who was now sitting on a..chair? Faiz blinked

  And everything shifted

  He was in a camp yes, a camp set atop a (tree) , with very solid and real land below his feet, and chairs and tables and tents containing all manner of interesting artifact and useful tool. The campfire was merrily burning away, dug into a little pit in the (boughs) , and he was availed a very picturesque view of the cloudless starry sky.

  Everything was fine.

  He sat down in an empty chair, across Aujyav, who seemed completely unaffected by the (Everything) nothing that had happened, his impalement phasing through the wood. He spoke uncertainly, “So…nice tre-! Camp, you have here. Absolutely no questions whatsoever!”

  Aujyav gave him a heavy stare, then shook his head. “You need not continue. The memories have broken. Reality does not constrain itself. Have faith.”

  Faiz immediately launched a barrage of queries, “ Why are we here in a campground on top of a tree

  The other man speaks over him, “You are in the past, froze. In bygone days. Land cleft from land for Division. Beyond exists nothing. Within was solid.”

  Faiz pauses a moment, then nods. “I-huh. I guess that..doesn’t make sense, but it’s more explanation than I usually get. And that light in the must’ve been The First..; Wait, that doesn’t explain the matter of how I got here, aren’t schemas supposed to just give you knowledge?”

  The man stood up and walked to the edge of the (tree) , peering out into the night, “Your flesh lies at your origin. This was not ordained. A Tauhept…” Aujyav looked back at him, look inscrutable. “You. Blink, please.”

  Faiz complied, blinking. He did not know why the other man asked this of him, but he braced for some other change. Nothing much had changed, from what he could see. The same greenish waves lapping at this outcropping, the spray of saltwater on the rocks. The scent of the air had changed somewhat, but he attributed it to the multitude of sheep grazing in the grasslands above, hiding from the impending landslides. As usual.

  Everything was fi-

  No.

  He fell back against the (branch) rocks, his breath quickening and his eyes constricting, “W-w-ha... How…t-the camp? What in every hell is this place?!”

  The impaled man nodded, looking minutely more satisfied. “As suspected. You are the cause. Causality can not withstand ascension. Humanity binds space, and is in lack now. Do calm down, Faiz.”

  Aujyav waved his hand once and he was back to sitting in his chair at (the apex) , underneath the stars. “In short, all is possible here. Your arrival has shorn this fragment. Have faith and all shall be well. Panic, and more alteration will follow.”

  Faiz was once again sitting in his chair (had he ever left?) as he looked back at the other man. He took the man’s advice- he didn’t want to be party to this nonsense after all -and took in a long deep breath, forcing himself into a familiar calm. When all else failed, he would simply shed emotion.

  “So..I shouldn’t have come here. Now all reality is broken or something. Well, I don’t wanna do this any more than you do, so how do I leave? I can…y’know..?”

  The man tilted his head, “You are not here. Only that which was within is. To return is simple. Fulfill the obligation of your entry.”

  Obligation? He couldn’t possibly mean the whole killing beasts part? Faiz still had to do all that so called ‘training’, in this abyss where up was left and down may as well not have existed? Actually, the most pressing matter was less why, and more how?

  “If you say me not remaining stable means all the world undergoes..that

  Aujyav finally showed some response, a slight curve creasing across his lips, “You will do this. I will aid you. . Sealed and pierced I am, but not powerless. You will not fail, as long as I am present” Such was his surety of voice, that it made a reciprocal (if slightly tentative) smile form at the edge of Faiz’s lips.

  “T-thanks, I suppose…it’s nice to finally be around someone who-” His voice caught and broke. He was shuddering. Faiz could neither understand, nor stop his quailing now. ()

  “I-I..can you actually-help me? What do you want from me for it? Do you w-want me to give you my Lightdial? Or…I could offer you my services! I promise I’m usefu-”

  Faiz paused as he felt a hand ruffle his hair, “Peace. A child should not ponder such dreary matters..” He peeked up at Aujyav, a shameful heat burning low in his chest.. The man had nary an expression on his face, but Faiz could make out a shade to his eyes, one he hadn’t seen before.

  Aujvay continued, in that same calm (kind) tone, “Rest assured, I require nothing of you now. Nor shall such need ever befall me. I aid you of mine own volition. Please do not weep so, little one.”

  He was..crying? Faiz hurriedly rubbed his eyes, attempting to erase any hint of his failings. At least he had stopped trembling so.. “Thank you-really! I’ll uhm..try not to be too big a burden to you, hah. You won’t be disappointed.” He attempted a confident grin, probably failing to inspire much confidence.

  The other man nodded, a strange look on his face as he made his way back to his own chair and sat. “Good. Now is time to rest. Though your flesh remains invulnerable here, exhaustion will wear at you. Sleep, Faiz. No harm shall befall you here.”

  Faiz felt his head get heavier as soon as Aujyav uttered those words, an invisible weight pressing on his eyelids. Perhaps he’d been more tired than he imagined. He nodded assent and crept into a conveniently placed (branch) . His last sight before the waking world lost it's grip on him...was a sky alight with jeweled light.