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“Wow, that sounds awful. Did it hurt? Are you all right?”

“I am fine.”

He didn’t sound fine. He sounded vulnerable. No amount of armor could hide that.

“But now we have a problem. Minus my magic, the only weapon I have at my disposal is my sword.” He indicated the sword on his back.

“I’m guessing a sword won’t be much help in getting us out of here?”

“No. But it will help me fight off the monsters who dwell here.”

I swallowed hard. Great. More monsters.

“It is also likely we will encounter the Cursed Ones. In fact, they can’t be too far away. They were sucked into Shadow Fall shortly before you were.”

I cleared my throat. “I guess I’m lucky they weren’t waiting for me when I got here.”

“Luck had nothing to do with it. Time works differently in Shadow Fall,” he told me. “For every second that passes in our dimension, many minutes pass here. The Cursed Ones have already wandered off in search of their next prey.”

Somehow, the thought of the Cursed Ones hunting prey wasn’t all that comforting. Especially since we might be that prey.

“Ok.” I started pacing. “So we just have to survive long enough for your magic to regenerate?”

The Knight shook his head. “Magic doesn’t regenerate in Shadow Fall.”

“Wait, so then how are we going to get home?”

“I do not know,” he admitted. “Without my magic to guide us, I’m afraid I have no idea if we’ll ever make it out of here.”

CHAPTER5

SEVEN

“So, we’re stuck here? Forever?” I tucked my twitching hands behind my back so the Knight wouldn’t see how scared I was.

It didn’t work.

“No need for concern,” he told me. “I’ve been in far worse situations.”

Somehow I doubted that.

“We just need to get moving,” the Knight declared. “We’ll find a way out of here.”

Even with the helmet distorting his voice, I could tell he didn’t really believe that. But the only other option was to give up, which I was way too stubborn to do.

“Ok,” I said, trying to sound confident. “Which way?”

The Knight turned in place, like he was trying to get his bearings. I wasn’t sure what he was looking for. Every direction looked exactly the same to me. It was all one big, thick curtain of white fog.

“Do you ever get dizzy turning like that?” I asked him, just to break up the silence.

“No.”

“Sir Knight…” I cleared my throat. “Actually, what’s your name?”

“My name?”

“You do have one, don’t you?” I smirked at him. “Or should I just call you Sir Knight?”