I stood in what appeared to be a man-made cave. Rough-hewn brown walls bracketed me with lit candles in the walls giving off soft yellow light. An incongruous thick red carpet cushioned the soles of my feet. A pleasant but indefinable scent wafted through the air, tickling my nose and making me want to lie down and rest.

Wait. Brown walls? Red carpet?

I blinked and touched my helmet. The Darksight was no longer active. The entire cave was well-lit, and I had no need of the helmet’s power. I touched Veritas’s hilt.

“Are we still in the Realm of Shadow? Because if you’re looking through my eyes, you can see that things look very different.”

The density of mana has not changed. I do not know why there is no shadow in here, but I do not believe that we have stepped through a Gate. Whatever is affecting this area is very potent. As I told you before, light is anathema in the Realm of Shadow. Regular sources of light simply do not work, and you already know what happens with arcane light such as I provide.

The cave curved to the right, and the carpet below my feet followed it. Our expected path was clear. I stepped over to one of the candles and examined it carefully. It gave off no smoke, and the wax did not melt. The candle was not being consumed, but the flame gave off both light and heat.

I could see the ceiling above me, and it looked just as rough-hewn as the walls. I traced my finger on the wall. The texture was ridged and pebbly, but it was also firm and free of dust. Everything around me breathed stillness and calm. Not even the slightest whisper of a breeze disturbed the air.

“I guess I should follow the carpet,” I muttered.

Suddenly, I remembered Joshua and the Two Hundred and everything that had just happened to me. The shock of seeing light and color had driven it completely from of my mind, but now it all came flooding back to me.

“Veritas,” I began and then stopped. I was at a loss for words. So much had just happened--so many things that I didn’t understand--that I floundered, not knowing what to ask.

Finally, I asked, “Veritas, what are you?”

For a long time, I heard nothing from her, and I thought she wasn’t going to answer.

Paol, I’ve told you before that there are many things that you don’t know...don’t understand about the world around us.

“Fine! Tell me what you can then!” I demanded.

All right. I’m sure you’ve guessed that I was not always...what you know me to be. A weapon. I was once a woman.

“What happened?”

The thought of a woman somehow being transformed into a weapon was mind-boggling. I had no frame of reference for such a thing.

I was hurt somehow. I don’t know how. Like you, many of my memories are gone. Somehow, my mind was placed into this object, or perhaps the object IS my mind. It responds to my thoughts and my will fluidly and instantaneously. It’s hard to know where I end and this prison begins.

“Prison?”

Perhaps prison is too strong a word. After all, it sustains me and gives me purpose. I have been a weapon now for thousands of years, protecting and serving many owners. In my most distant memories I seem to recall a promise of healing, but it has been so long that I wonder if it’s more of a fantasy than a memory.

“I’m sorry, Veritas. I will do what I can to try to help you,” I promised.

Her thoughts were warm.

Ah, Paol, that’s kind of you.

I could tell she didn’t think I would be able to do anything for her which stung a little, even if it was understandable.

A little hurt, I burst out, “You still haven’t explained Joshua or the Two Hundred or...well...anything!”

After hearing the bit of her story she was willing to tell, I was ashamed of my sudden outburst, but my curiosity would allow me nothing else. So many things that I didn’t understand! My benefactor...the Paraclete...words that just popped up in my vision and somehow explained the world to me… What was all of this?

The Two Hundred were--are--the First. The First to grace this world with their presence. I can’t remember everything, but I remember that.

“Then how old are they? And what was here before them?”

We have lived beyond what any normal person should endure. We fled a catastrophe in our home and ended up here.

“So you are all people? Where was your home? What was this catastrophe? How did you come here?”

I’m not sure I can answer all of your questions--some things I don’t remember and some things it would be wiser to leave unsaid. What I can say is yes--the Two Hundred were people, and I was one of them. Our home...was far from here, in more ways than one. The catastrophe was the complete destruction of our world.

“And how did you come here?”

I don’t remember.

I wanted to scream! Her answers were so vague, and I couldn’t tell whether she was being intentionally opaque or simply didn’t know the answers to my questions.

“What about Joshua? You knew him! And it didn’t sound as if he was really a dragon. What was he...is he?”

Joshua...Joshua is a being that was built for war. It is why he loves games so much. He will play any game against any opponent. Achieving total and complete victory over an enemy was the purpose for which he was created, and he was very good at it. His name comes from an old story that only one of the Two Hundred would know.

“But how is he a dragon now? That’s even more confusing!” I exclaimed.

To be honest, I’m not sure. It’s very strange. His personality has...developed. Back when I knew him--when I was a person--his interactions were much more mechanical. I don’t know what has happened to him, though it does not appear to have harmed him.

“Veritas...wait...is that really your name? Veritas?”

It is the name I have now. I cannot remember what my name was before.

A pang of sympathy swelled in my chest. She understood my situation far better than I had ever imagined.

“What are the words that I keep seeing? Can you tell me that? I don’t remember anything about my life before, but I know that these words are...wrong. They shouldn’t exist. Words don’t just appear in front of your face. People can’t be defined by a bunch of numbers. People are people!”

Paol...this world...it isn’t what you think it is. I won’t tell you more because I don’t know if you would believe me, even if you could understand the explanation. And the things you do...the words that appear in your sight...those are of the Two Hundred, but you are not among the First. I am sure of it. You should not be able to do the things you do.

“Then what am I?” I whispered disconsolately.

I don’t know. Truly I do not. However, I do know that we need to get out of this realm, and to do that we need to proceed down this cave.

I shook myself. She was right. More discussion could happen later. I walked on the carpet and rounded the curve in the cave to find myself in an open area with a huge table. The legs of the table had been cut from massive, thick logs, and that was necessary because the table itself was at least a hundred feet long and ten feet wide.

The oddest thing of all was that the table was completely covered with hundreds of chalices and cups. Some were of gold, and some were of silver. Some had precious gems, and some were beautifully engraved with images of all kinds--animals, people, visions of war, scenes of peace, and things I didn’t recognize or even understand..

These rich and valuable cups covered the table by the score, but there were no plates or silverware or food. Just cups. At the far end of the table sat a robed figure in a chair at the head of the table.

The Master of the Realms.