He woke up in a peculiar world. Everything was in monochrome.
Only shades of black, white and gray were to be seen. Gray-
scaled. He heard shouts, screams and screeches. Sounds of
panic.
‘Where in Munesa am I? Who are these people?’ He asked
while getting up.
All around him stood utterly panicked individuals. They were
sobbing. Severely stricken by anxiety. He was sure he would
have reacted just like them were he his original self. This world
was terrifying as though unfinished. The ground was gray but
had an earth-ish texture.
There were no trees or mountains, it was just one plain
surface. The sky was colored as if someone drew it in pastel.
Like it had never actually existed. Like someone couldn’t be
arsed to add the concept of color to it.
The moment he got himself up he heard a voice in his head.
‘Welcome to the shadow realm. My name is Bo Jim. Don’t try
to figure out where I am because this is a prerecorded message
I’ve prepared for new arrivals,’ an unfamiliar voice said.
Alduin had no idea who left this message here or what he meant
by "the shadow realm". I mean, the world was only colored in
monochrome so maybe that’s what he meant? Lazy naming if
you ask me...
‘Let’s get straight to the point. This is a realm that was and
yet remains unfamiliar and unexplained to us. Just like you, we
too were surprised when we arrived here and knew absolutely
nothing about it. Most of us committed suicide but some of us
stayed, to study and research. To explain it to newcomers. To
aid,’ the voice continued.
Let me introduce myself. I am Bo Jim and I was once the
head of the school of alteration in China, of ’The Order’. I was
the first mage to have come here and have since begun leading
the scholars that wished to study this place. We have come into several theories.
The first and most popular one is that people who are caught
in banishment magic get sent here. The second is that our gods
made this realm to play around with us to their satisfaction and
just randomly send mortals here. The third is that this is hell.
Optimists would rather tell themselves it actually is heaven but
I believe it’s a bunch of bullcrap"
We have researched this place for a very long time and have
come into a few conclusions. I will now share those I deem most
important for you. Firstly, we don’t age here. Your body will not
look any different no matter how long you stay. Secondly, this
realm seems to have no end. The horizon just leads to more and
more ’horizons’.
I have yet to reach neither a dead-end nor a full circle. Thirdly,
in this probably infinite realm is scattered an infinite amount
of holes in the ground. Those are probably meant for people
who wish to end their lives, as there it is quite boring here...
There is no wildlife, no nature, neither a sun nor a moon or stars.
Just one big flat surface. Fourthly, all newcomers appear to be
summoned where you are standing right now. It is probably
configured as the spawn point and is about the size of an acre"
The last thing I’d like to say to you is that if you consider
yourself a scholar or knowledgeable, please consider joining our
research. We are stationed in that big castle-looking building
in the horizon"
This message was delivered to you on behalf of the ’Void
Research Society’"
He observed his surroundings and then decided to ignore the
frantic people. He launched himself up in the air in order to
assess everything. The man in the recording was right. All he
could see was one endless flat surface, full of holes every now
and then. Those holes were very strange however...
One would think that a hole in the ground would lack sym-
metry and be shaped like an imperfect circle, or some other
random shape. These holes were perfect cubes and all of them were of identical size. He flew towards one of them to look inside
it. Suddenly, he heard voices getting closer and closer.
‘I can’t do this anymore, Lilly! I can’t! I have had enough of
this place. We can’t do anything! I have no job and our children
did not come here with us! We can’t even make new ones for
some odd fucking reason! I have had enough,’ a man yelled.
‘Please, don’t leave me! Without you I have nothing here. I
have no one. Please don’t leave me,’ his spouse replied.
‘Join me then.’
‘I do not wish to die yet!’
‘What life have we here? There is nothing in this place. We
were cast aside by our god. Well fuck them and fuck their plans!
I will not let them play around with my life! Join me, my love,’
the man replied.
‘I-But... What if... I... I don’t know... What if there is an
option to start a family here? And even if there isn’t a way, why
not just start a new one entirely? Why not have hope? I do not
want to lose my life at such a young age!’
‘Lilly, my love... I have set my mind to it. You’ve known me
for how long exactly?’
‘Around thirty years...’
‘Exactly. Then you know me well enough to understand that
once I decide something, it’s final... I am sorry to lay out this
ultimatum against you darling but you leave me no choice... It
is either you join me or stay here by yourself. No matter what
you pick, remember that I loved, love and will continue loving
you.’
‘Do you remember what I said in my vows when we got
married?’
‘Till death do us part?’
‘Together till the end.’
A group of approximately fifteen more men sprinted towards
them and joined them. All so eager to end their own lives. This
place had made them lost their minds, their sanity. Alduin
wanted to stop them but then remembered a mortal has the right to decide what to do with their own lives. They chose to
end theirs. All he could do was witness the tragedy. They all
jumped in together.
He looked at them falling into the abyss. The hole looked as
though it led to nowhere. Imagine an enormous cube-shaped
hole that has a pitch-black surface-seeming pit to it. Their
screams grew further and further away but never actually faded
away completely. Peculiar.
He decided to leave the place and approached a group of
people conversing.
‘Hello,’ he said.
‘Hey,’ a woman responded.
‘Hello there,’ a man responded.
‘I just arrived here. Could you perhaps explain where we
are?’
‘Hell if I know! All I know is what you were told when you
arrived. What Bo Jim tells us every new person...’
‘I see...’ Alduin wore a disappointed look on his face.
‘Where did you come from?’ The woman asked.
‘Planet 0x408, Euphata. I am a Snow Elf. What about you?’
‘Planet 0x781. I don’t know what a Snow Elf is to be frank
with you...’
‘Are there no Elves in your galaxy?’
‘I don’t really know what an ’Elf’ is to be fair.’
‘Is there magic?’
‘Kind of, we don’t call it that way though.’
‘Hmm...’
‘I think you should visit the academy of Bo Jim. He came
from your galaxy as well. He knows way more than we do.’
‘Alright, thank you!’
‘With pleasure, farewell.’
‘Farewell,’ a man said.
‘Goodbye!’ Alduin said.
‘Wait! You never introduced yourself,’ a woman said.
‘Oh yeah, sorry. I am Alduin,’ he chuckled.
‘Goodbye Alduin,’ she smiled and said.
‘Goodbye,’ he responded.
He recognized the enormous castle-looking structure in the
horizon and began flying towards it. He waved them goodbye.
‘What a strange man,’ a man said.
‘Handsome though...’
‘Pfft...’ He responded.
After an indistinguishable amount of time he finally reached his
destination. At the main gate he was greeted by some scholars
who were heading inside.
‘Excuse me, could you help me out with something?’ Alduin
asked them.
‘Yeah, with what?’
‘Could you give me directions to the office of a person named
‘Bo Jim’? I wish to speak with him.’
‘Oh, our leader. It will be my pleasure. Our paths intertwine
for a bit so just follow us and I’ll tell you when need be.’
‘Well alright then.’
He followed them inside and through the halls. The scholars
appeared popular as they were greeted by many friends along
the way. The walls were full of paintings of Vanthea, in black
and white of course yet still letting out a sense of familiarity and
peace. Students were seen practicing their magic or reading up
books in the library. It was like an entirely new school of The
Order. A hidden one. Unknown to all who had never been here.
‘Could you tell me a bit about this place?’
‘Sure, what would you like to know?’ A female scholar asked.
‘Everything you could would be great.’
‘Hmm... Alright. This is the main headquarters of our re-
search organization.’
‘Meaning there are more branches?’
‘Yes and they are well spread out. We aim to find an end to
this realm, or some answers at least. That’s why we put each
branch quite far away from the previous one.’
‘I see.’
‘Mhm. Anyways, this is the first branch that was built long
ago by our leader ’Bo Jim’. When did you arrive here?’
‘Not too long ago. I cannot tell you for sure as there is no
way to tell the time here...’
‘True. But you probably came after we finished working on
the automatic introduction in the spawn point, right?’
‘You mean the telepathically delivered message of Bo Jim?’
‘Yes.’
‘Yes I was greeted by it when I came here.’
‘Yeah so that about sums up the basics of what there is to
know about where we are right now. Through the years many
mages and scholars arrived and some of them decided to join
our organization to further understand its meaning and char-
acteristics.’
‘When were you put here?’
‘Honestly we couldn’t tell. All I know is that my friend here
[points at a woman] came before me, and I came here a lot of
time ago.’
‘I see.’
The scholars continued explaining about the history of the soci-
ety. They told him what is currently known and what is currently
under assumption. The more popular theories and those that
are considered unfounded and irrational. Finally, they stopped
in their steps.
‘This is us. I would like to wish you good fortune in your
journey.’
‘Thank you, you too! Where do I proceed from here?’
‘See that bald man over there, to your left?’
‘Yes, what about him?’
‘He is one of the teachers and knows the way more accurately
than we do. Ask him for assistance.’
‘Very well. Thank you.’
‘Gladly.’
He raced up the stairs and approached the man. He explained
the situation to him and was met with exceptional friendliness.
The teacher agreed to escort him to the leader’s quarters. While
following, Alduin had asked the man many questions, most
of which were answered. To some of the questions he had no
answer, like what is the real name of this realm, or what it is for.
Eventually they reached their destination. The man shook
the hands of Alduin and told him to knock on the door and wait
for approval to come inside. And so he did.
‘Everyone is so oddly friendly here... Or maybe it’s just that I
haven’t been in the presence of human mages before,’ he thought
to himself.
He knocked again and this time he was met with an answer.
‘Come in,’ a voice said.
He opened the door and saw two people talking. One of them
was a bearded man with long hair wearing glasses, sitting in
front of his desk and observing a map that was placed on it. He
was wearing long white robes with flowers on them, his hair
fixed by hairbands. He had a ring on each finger. They reminded
him of his culture’s attire. Alduin had never seen a human that
looked like him before.
The other was a tall young man with short hair who was
standing to the left of him and pointed at the map, probably
explaining something. He was wearing a sleeveless leather shirt
with a few decorations, a metallic-ish belt, leather pants that
start out slim with wide ends, sandals and several metallic arm
bracelets.
The bearded man raised his head towards Alduin.
‘Welcome. Who might you be?’
The tall man stared at Alduin, as though he was analyzing him.
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‘Greetings. I am Alduin Lodus Fa?li. Are you Bo Jim?’
‘Yes, I am. What a peculiar middle-name you have. Do you
know what it means?’
‘Yes, it means honor, sir.’
‘Fascinating, did your parents give it to you?’
‘Not exactly, sir.’
‘Well alright then.’
The tall man smiled and approached Alduin. He shook his hand
firmly.
‘I am Han. Pleased to meet you.’
‘The feeling is mutual,’ Alduin smiled back, revealing his
sharp teeth unintentionally.
Han observed but then got back to his regular jolly face.
‘Anyways. What are you here for? Do you require anything,
boy?’
‘Yes, actually. I have just arrived here and would like a bit
more information than was provided.’
‘Ah! A curious one, I see! Unfortunately I have not enough
time for this right now.’
‘Oh,’ Alduin frowned.
‘Fear not! My deputy here will assist you. Won’t you, Han?’
‘Yes, sir. I will gladly do so,’ Han smiled.
‘Very well then. You have your answer. Would that be all?’
‘Uhm. Yes. Wait, actually no. I am quite curious as to how
you got here. You seem very powerful.’
‘Ah. A fine question indeed! However, I have no valid expla-
nation. All I can recall is going to sleep in my bedchambers and
waking up here...’ Bo said.
‘Oh. Do you think someone sneaked in your room while you
were sleeping and casted a spell on you?’
‘That is a possibility, yes.’
Alduin looked confused, yet fascinated.
‘Anyways, wait outside for a few minutes because I wish to
finish this conversation with Han. After we are done he will lead
you to his study and will explain there is to know about where
we are.’
‘Understood. Thank you.’
‘Bù kèqì.’
‘Hmm?’
‘It means ‘You’re welcome’ in my native language.’
‘Ah.’
Alduin stepped out of the room and closed the door. He floated
in the air in a sitting position and waited for their conversation
to end. Eventually, it was over. I couldn’t tell you how much time
it took for he did not keep count and there is no working method
to distinguish time in this realm.
He followed him to his study. It was a rather marvelous
room filled with maps, photo-realistic pictures hung on walls,
rugs, books and basically everything you would imagine from a
mage’s office. There were two desks, one at the end of the room,
probably serving Han, and a long one in the middle of the office,
probably meant for dinners or debates with other scholars.
Han noticed his awe and began laughing.
‘Have you never been to a mage’s cove before?’ Han laughed
and asked.
‘Well, I’ve been to Bo Jim’s one but it looked nothing like
yours! I would expect a deputy to have a smaller office than his
superior!’
‘Bo Jim believes in minimalism. I believe in practicality.
Simple.’
‘Ah.’
‘Mhm. How long have you been here for?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘I see. Do you have any questions before we begin?’ Han sat
on his chair and invited Alduin to do the same.
Alduin sat down in front of him but not before taking a gander
at each and every painting this room had to offer.
‘Yes, I have a few questions I’d like to begin with.’
‘Go on,’ Han said, smiling.
‘How was this place built? Or any other branch for that mat-
ter... There are no building materials here... And the ground
seems purely cosmetic from what I could tell by its Olon struc-
ture.’
‘You know of Olons? Impressive!’
‘A bit, yes.’
‘Well, in order to answer your question I’d have to explain
something first.’
‘I’m listening.’
‘Do you know of ’The Division’?’
‘I don’t. A division of what?’
‘Of people. Of belief. You see, there are two running philoso-
phies in this place. One side states that this realm is just a step
in the process towards divine judgement and to progress one
must die. The other side believes that once you come here you
are stuck forever without any chance for peace. Meaning that
you’re screwed and whether you live or die means nothing.’
‘Intriguing, which side do you stand by?’
‘I haven’t thought about it long and hard enough yet. I do
lean more towards the first one though...’
‘I see.’
‘Now, to answer your question. The ones that identify them-
selves amongst the latter, decided to dedicate their very exis-
tence to our cause. Our, obviously referencing the Void Research
Society. Instead of just killing themselves they give their very be-
ings to transmutation mages who will then convert those Olons
into resources.’
‘That’s tragic.’
‘It was their choice and I personally find it noble.’
‘Hmm...’
‘Any other questions?’
‘Yes. Sorry for being blunt but you seem extremely young...
Maybe even my age, which made me raise and eyebrow when I
heard you are the deputy leader of this organization. How old
are you?’
‘I’ll take that as a compliment! I am eighteen years of age.
You?’ Han chuckled.
‘Almost eighteen.’
‘Then you were right in your assumption! However, I’ve
been here for quite a long time so I am probably much older
than you.’
‘Can you recall the date in which you had found yourself
here?’
‘Hmm... Probably somewhere around 344? Maybe?’
‘344? We haven’t reached that year yet! Maybe you mean 344
BMDW?’ He wore a confused face.
‘BMDW? What the hell does that mean?’
‘Hmm... The grand war between mortals and demons? A
total war in all galaxies? Does that ring absolutely zero bells?’
‘I truly have no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘Huh. How do you count years then? From what occur-
rence?’
‘Why, ‘The Allfather”s birth of course!’
‘The Allfather? You mean the ancestor of all ancestors?’
‘Godfrid.’
‘Hmm... Yes. I never heard someone call him that though...
Fascinating. Wait so, if it’s 344 from Godfrid’s birth... And he
was birthed at around 505 BMDW... That means you were put
here at around 161 BMDW! That is 1237 human years before I
was born!’
‘Wow.’
‘How old were you when it happened?’
‘Well I was born in 184.’
‘Which is 321 BMDW... Wow! You are one hundred and
twelve years older than me!’
‘Hmm? One hundred and twelve? How did you calculate
that? I would say I am almost one hundred and thirty-seven
years older than you!’
‘Huh? Oh! Right! I am a Snow Elf, we count every eleven
human years as one year!’
‘Oh? Back where I’m from it’s every nine years.’
‘Wow! Wait, aren’t you human?’ Alduin’s eyes opened up
from excitement.
‘No, I am not.’
‘What are you then?’
‘I’d rather not talk about it.’
‘I see. Well alright.’
‘Thank you. So you say that people begin counting their
years from this ’Mortal Demon War’?’
‘Yes.’
‘I see.’
‘Mhm.’
‘Any more questions?’
‘Yes. What is the name of this place?’
‘We don’t know that yet. For now we simply called it ’The
Void’ or ’The Shadow Realm’.’
‘I see. I have no further questions and I understand the gist
of it now.’
‘Alright.’
‘Let me just try something.’
‘Alright.’
Alduin got up from his chair and put on the ring he was given
by Lysander many years ago.
‘Los ant di Tyronah!’ He shouted.
It did not work however, the chant did nothing. He tried three
more times and then gave up. Han was utterly bamboozled.
‘What are you trying to do? ’Los ant di’, teleportation magic?
What is this Tyronah you mentioned in your chant? I never heard
of that place.’
Alduin was annoyed by the realization he was probably stuck
here forever. Maybe Hanali abandoned him? Vaonie probably
did as he failed in a fight against a mere vampire. He was struck
in a loss for words. Sad, depressed. Disappointed. He felt like
a failure and grew terribly mad at his uncle’s success. Evil had prevailed.
Han decided to change his question as he noticed Alduin’s
odd hand tattoo.
‘Who are you exactly? What are you?’
‘My name is Alduin Lodus Fa?li. I told you that already!’ It
seemed this frustration had taken his cool.
‘Easy, easy! I was only asking! You did not answer my other
question though. What are you? Don’t think that I didn’t notice
your fangs. Or that weird fashion choice of yours. I have met
many Elves in my lifetime but none of them looked quite like
you!’
‘Pfft...’ Alduin’s patience seemed to be growing thin.
‘Please?’
Alduin shrugged.
‘Pretty please?’
‘Alright, alright! I am an Araqhaiit, a divine race that serves
Vaonie in their realm. Tyronah. You probably know it by its
mortal nickname, ’Hell’.’
Han raised an eyebrow as though this answer had awoken some-
thing in him.
‘A god? You serve the lord of evil? Is that why you look like a
Vaermiraiit?’
‘Yes. And please don’t call me that ever again. I am nothing
like those filthy abominations.’
‘Alright, alright. Sorry to have offended you. I am just quite
curious, that’s all.’
‘No, don’t apologize. I should be the one to apologize, for
treating you this way. You have been nothing but friendly. For-
give me.’
‘All is forgiven. Now, explain to me what your divinity means
exactly.’
‘There are two three types of divinities. One is the ’First’ di-
vinity, also called ’The Originals’. Those are Vaonie and Austomia, the first gods. Then there is the ’Second’ divinity, their children,
which are split into two groups. Araqhaiits and Sarathiins. I am
one of the Araqhaiits, the children that serve Vaonie.’
‘Is that why your name has a word in Omnitongue in the
middle of it?’
‘Yeah, how did you know?’
‘Just a generic assumption. I know its definition but what
does it actually mean in your case?’
‘Each of the children was entrusted with a different com-
mandment to follow and prosecute the mortals against. Mine
is honor. My task is to punish mortals that forsake it. What
you know as religions is simply different views on what com-
mandments actually matter. Each religions takes the entirety
of commandments and splits a hundred percent between them
all. Some put more value in ’Honor’ whilst some put more in
’Honesty’. That is how religions work in Vanthea.’
‘Vanthea?’
‘The realm in which you and I used to live in. The realm
of mortals. There are three more. Tyronah - serving as hell,
Heonmeyu - the original realm and currently serves as heaven
and finally Olana - the one currently without a purpose.’
‘Without purpose? Hmm... Well we are in a realm right now,
aren’t we? And I take it you’ve been to the other realms. You
obviously don’t recognize this place... Doesn’t that mean that
we are in Olana right now?’
‘H-How did I not realize this sooner! What a fool I am!’
‘Take it easy on yourself! Being stranded in here takes a toll
on one’s mental health which results in lesser cognitive capabili-
ties.’
‘Yeah, you’re right. Thank you. Also, now that I think about
it this realm doesn’t necessarily have to be Olana. Maybe The
Originals made another realm and I was just never told about
it?’ Alduin wore a confused face.‘Maybe.’
Han looked Alduin up and down.
‘I have a question I’ve been quite curious about.’
‘What is it?’ Alduin asked.
‘How exactly did you get here? You seem quite powerful!’
‘I... I fought a strong Vaermiraiit that managed to seal me
away from Vanthea...’ He sighed.
‘What? You? How? That’s pathetic,’ Han appeared disap-
pointed.
‘Excuse me?’
‘You heard what I said. A god losing to a ’filthy abomination’
as you called them. It’s laughable.’
‘You take that back!’
‘No.’
‘Take that back now!’
‘I will not. And another thing... It’s good your parents aren’t
here! They would have been greatly disappointed... Shameful is
what it is.’
Alduin shouted and began to unsheathe his blade, ready to strike
the jester. Much to his surprise though, before he had done so
his position seemed to have completely changed! He was now
standing somewhere on the grounds of this realm, stranded...
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Author's note - I hope to get reviews and feedback. Thank you :)
