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This time. Silas let his student's attempt at sarcasm slide, understanding fully that his energies would be better spent on something other than trying to blunt Jacob's sharp tongue. The older warrior had decided long ago that tempering the young man's wit was a futile endeavor - and futile endeavors had no place in their current situation.

"I suppose your powers can't always be wrong." Silas replied dryly. Psionic abilities or not, the monk had also taken note of the massive, swirling maelstrom that seemed to hover over the unnatural arrangement of stones up ahead. The lingering storm - paired alongside the eerie chains of lightning and the odor of fire and brimstone - was all very impressive to the human senses, but Silas couldn't shake the feeling that it was all very staged. Like the roadhouse brawler who acts tough, but is truly a coward, the devilish landscape laid out at their feet appeared full of bark but lacked any real bite. Of wind and foul odors there was plenty, but any and all of the real dangers seemed far off and strangely harmless. Great bolts of lightning arced overhead but never struck anywhere near the ring of stones, and the fire hanging in the sky looked more like a moving painting than an actual threat.

Appearances can be deceiving. "Wise" people often said of small dogs with a lot of fight. Not many of those people realize the sword cuts both ways, however, and that even the most fearsome of dogs can be perfectly harmless under their intimidating exterior.

"Waiting around here isn't going to do us any good." The Master added as an afterthought, stepping away from the cliff face where he and Jacob had originally taken refuge. The soot scratched at him like sandpaper in the wind, stronger here than under the shelter of the rock, but Silas simply pulled the collar of his shirt up over his face and pressed forward. Jacob wasn't far behind him, but the young man's gait made it hard to determine if he followed more because he was eager to get underway, or because he didn't wish to be left alone in this place. Both were perfectly acceptable answers, but Silas privately hoped that it was more out of eagerness than fear.

Fear. Silas resisted the urge to shake his head in wonder as the duo moved slowly across the rocky landscape. I suppose after how far we've come already, I don't have to worry about Jacob being afraid of much anything.

A great many recent events had begun changing the way Silas looked at the world around him - and that all of these events centered around Jacob and his newfound "abilities" was cause for concern. A year ago the monk would have never accepted as the truth a tale so fantastic as one about a magical portal opening up to another world. Such things were simply outside the realm of possibility - even for a man who dealt constantly with subjects such as karma and spiritual "Qi" energy. Truly, even when Jacob had broached the subject several days ago, Silas had been more than skeptical. Doubtful, yes, but the Master knew his student, and knew that he was not prone to flights of fancy - especially not in the sense that we would be worked into a tizzy by such a fabrication. So it had been with reluctant resolve that the monk followed Jacob into the mountains and was led into a discovery that called into question everything the older man knew about the world, the universe, and the great cycle of life.

I should be the one afraid. Silas contemplated as they neared the stone fingers that seemed to rise up from the earth like great hands reaching for the sky. I should be a wreck - a broken man. Everything I thought I knew has been cast into doubt, and I'm involved in something far greater than my wildest imagination could have ever conjured. The thoughts ran through the older man's head like words on a page - his brain was processing the concept, but it wasn't being absorbed. The fact that none of it had really settled in - that Silas expected at any moment to awaken from some ridiculous dream - left the monk feeling very disconnected from the situation. Perhaps it was karma that he was here, believing yet simultaneously disbelieving the very existence of the ground beneath his feet. Perhaps he and Jacob were simply pawns in a greater game outside the scope of his human understanding. Perhaps he really was dreaming. Whatever the reason, and whatever the cause, Silas found himself putting one foot in front of the other on his way to who knew what, walking blindly forward into a contest taking place who knew where...