When Peter opened his eyes, he found himself in a clearing in a forest of oaks and pines—nothing too extraordinary. He looked around and saw no one; he was all alone, without any food, and dressed in the clothes he’d worn at the family camp. Suddenly, a voice called out: “Turn around slowly with your hands on your head, or your last words will be ‘Oh, my aching backside!’” Terrified, Peter did as the voice commanded, turning slowly with his hands on his head. Leaning against a tree was a boy about his age, wearing travel-worn clothes, a gray cloak, a hood over his head, and holding a crooked staff. He looked distrustful and pointed the staff at Peter, but since he also had a sword at his belt, Peter decided to obey. “Who are you and what are you doing in this forest? Identify yourself!” the boy demanded. “My name is Peter, and I’m just a boy. Honestly, you probably won’t believe me, but I’ve been sent here from another world to save yours… somehow,” Peter replied. When he finished speaking, the other boy lowered his staff and a smile appeared on his face. “At last! I’ve been searching for you for days,” said the stranger. “My name is Kaelis the Bold, and I believe you. I too was sent here from another time—it’s strange to think that everyone I knew is both alive and dead at the same time.” Without giving Peter time to respond (not that he could, as he stood there open-mouthed and bewildered), Kaelis continued: “Well, you had us all a bit worried! The same day I was sent here—about half a week ago now—I met up with three other companions who had also arrived from different times. We decided to find shelter, and since we were near the Great Torath, we went to gather there. When we arrived, we found a message on the door explaining why we’d been summoned and that we were still waiting for the Great Hero from another world who would save us all—the only thing we knew was that his name would be Peter the Great.” Seeing Peter blush, Kaelis finished his explanation: “The message also said you’d appear somewhere near the Great Torath, so we split up in four directions to search for you and agreed to meet back there in four days if we hadn’t found you.” “So… so… so you’re Kaelis the Bold? The great mage of Eldoria who expanded its territories and brought wealth to every corner of the realm? Wow, I didn’t imagine you’d be just a kid…” “Me? A kid? Have you seen your own face?” Kaelis retorted, annoyed. “In this world, we’re all like this until we reach old age, so you’d better keep quiet!” “Sorry, sorry. So, what do we do now?” “Easy. We’re a day’s journey from the Great Torath. Considering the sun’s just come up, if we hurry we could get there before sunset,” Kaelis said, glancing at the sky. “The others are probably already there. Are you used to walking? We’ve got a long way—about twelve kilometers of forest to the foot of Mount Zephyros, then we climb halfway up to find the Cascades of the Griffin, which will take us straight to the Great Torath. It’s about two thousand meters of elevation, but we have all day, so let’s get moving.” Without waiting for a reply, Kaelis turned and, leaning on his staff, started walking, not even checking if Peter was following. They walked for hours, stopping only at natural springs. Kaelis seemed to know the way perfectly and never got lost. First, they left the forest, then climbed the mountain’s slope and a steep wall, and finally reached a large lake where they stopped to rest and have a snack, since they hadn’t had breakfast or lunch. They walked almost like seasoned adventurers, but the journey was so long that they grew tired. Twenty minutes later, they were back on the move, searching for the Cascades of the Griffin, which supposedly flowed from the lake. Once they found them, they descended all the elevation they’d gained on the other side until dusk began to fall. After descending more than half, the sun was gone, hidden behind the mountain, and dark clouds began to unleash a steady rain that grew heavier. Soaked and tired, Peter made his way down the last three hundred meters, until Kaelis, about twenty meters ahead and standing on a rock, said: “There it is, the Great Torath!” A magnificent view lay before them, and Peter would have seen it if the sun hadn’t set and the moon wasn’t hidden by black rain clouds. Instead, he could only make out some lights a couple hundred meters below and the sound of water all around. “This last quarter hour of descent, be very careful. The area isn’t too dangerous if you can see, but now there’s a chance we could fall off a small cliff or end up in a waterfall. Just follow me closely and I’ll try to find the path,” Kaelis said, his face showing tiredness, though everyone knew Kaelis the Bold never tired climbing mountains. Thanks to the mage’s guidance, they didn’t fall or drown, and soon Kaelis was picking up the pace, signaling they were almost there. It was darker than a wolf’s den, but what little Peter could see didn’t resemble the grand palace he’d imagined—they were knocking on a very plain wooden door. “Who is it?” came a slow, gruff voice a few seconds later. “The password?” asked another voice. “Go to blazes, Borin!” Kaelis shouted from the other side of the door. “I don’t care about your passwords, open up!” “No, say the password or you’re not coming in!” the voice replied. “Damn it!” “That’s not it, you have two more chances!” the voice shot back. “Ugh! It’s freezing and raining, can you please open the door? Fine—the password is ‘mightyborinisclever’?” “Nope, last chance!” “Hmmm… I have no idea what the password is…” “Correct, that’s the password!” And the wooden door began to open, revealing a pitch-black room. Kaelis entered first, followed closely by Peter, who tried to keep up in the darkness. The people who had supposedly opened the door were nowhere to be seen, but Kaelis seemed to know where he was going. They climbed three flights of stairs, then passed through a long, narrow corridor and found a door with a bit of light coming through the cracks and voices speaking cheerfully inside. “And then guess who I ran into?” said the gruff voice they’d heard below. “A gnome, a blasted gnome from the nearby hills, trying to cut down a tree. Blasted gnomes, I had to teach him a lesson…” “But he wasn’t doing anything wrong!” protested a female voice. “You always do this, Durnan!” “Not only was he a filthy gnome, but he was cutting a tree in the valley—everyone knows the Valley of Zephyros is protected, no one can cut a tree near the Great Torath, it’s strictly forbidden. And I don’t think such an important law has changed. So he was committing an illegal act, and since these lands have no jurisdiction, I could deal with it however I wanted!” “But there are ways and ways, I don’t know how I still put up with you after all these years and all your cruelties! I thought after the War with the Sovereign you’d have learned to respect other races,” said the woman. “I learned that even if they’re lesser races, they all have their qualities. The strong Amazari, the agile elves, the foolish humans, those old ones from the Library, even the dwarves with short legs, but gnomes are still a race fit only for slavery.” “Hey!” said another voice, which must have belonged to Borin. “Us, short legs? And what about yours? You’re not that tall, and we’ve always been stronger! Besides, gnomes are an ancient and noble people who, despite their sad history, have managed to survive!” “Yeah, sure,” Durnan replied. “You always side with those gnomes. I don’t know much about your life, but I know you helped the gnomes rebuild their cursed city! After all the trouble we went through to destroy their lands and enslave them, you went and gave them an advantage…” At that moment, Kaelis opened the door and said, “Come on, Durnan the Relentless, enough fighting—we’re all a team here, we need to unite like you did so many years ago! After all, you’re a great hero of Eldoria’s history, and both Borin and I know your deeds—well, more me than Borin, who’s not much of a scholar. Oh, by the way, since none of you had any luck on your mission, I’ll be the one to introduce the one we’ve all been waiting for—please welcome Peter the human!”