Follow the path ahead, straight, into the distance!

The dirt path before you lays in a straight line. It pierces into the horizon with beautiful symmetry. It leads away from the strange forest with all its strange sounds and shadows and towards some sort of country side. What seem to be fields, now unattended and overgrown to a point that pushes recognition, dot your vision. You have faith that this direction, at least, leads away from the untamed wilds.

But where are you exactly? How could this strange portal have brought you here? Where is Alice? Where is Crawford? You know that all three of you went through the same portal. You remember Crawford’s cowardly first reaction — flee. That rat! However, you know that he entered the same portal Alice did, the same portal that brought you here, now. You call out.

“Alice…Crawford.”

A cloud of doves burst from the a birch in front of you at your shout, but no one answers your call. Since you are alone, there is nothing to do but make a decision and stick to it. You travel down the dirt trail in the direction of the fields. You leave behind the forest and its ominous shadows; you walk away from the pillar of smoke and all the trouble which it must portend. Fields mean civilization, you tell yourself, the rest other directions contain nothing but the wild and unknown.

As you walk, you notice the fields start to become better tended. Where you were, only the tumbling stones of old walls said that this area was once tended, then there were old houses, only their foundations remaining, these the weedy fields were overtaking them like water submerging the drowning. Then the fields started to look abandoned, houses stood, but stood empty. The dirt path gave way to cobblestones. Now, the area you are passing looks truly pastoral, and horticultural fields with well tended crops sit in neatly planed rows, their green leaves basking in the sun. Still, you see no one.

The morning fades to noon. The armor that you are were that before felt hot and stuffy now is a sweltering furnace. Sweat beads down your back like water cascading across a window. Still, until you know where you are, it is a bad idea to take it off. You regret not having water with you as the suns awful rays oppress you.

Eventually, one of the farms you are walking by is being worked. You see a beast yoked to a plow, being driven by a man. They are distant, but their figures distinct. The man is fair skinned, his hair stands out like fire. He is driving what you had at first taken to be a bull, but it stands as a biped. This man is plowing his field with a minotaur. You know where you are now. It is the demon world.

The demon world, as you know, is not necessarily a hostile place. Still, it is a place of dangers; some are subtle, others obvert. However, sometimes people are find aid here. The humans who dwell in the demon realms are known for serving their own self-interest and their own perverted desires. They can be helpful if you can get your interest and their interest to coincide. The demons…The demons come in all varieties. Some behave much as wildlife, but the worst are known for their cruelty. They are rumored to always be forwarding malicious plans, using people tools for their pleasure and pawns in their games. Demons that humanity needed to be kept safe from.

Humanity, you realized, was relatively safe from demons. One particular human, yourself, was more at risk than most others. One particular human, yourself, had jumped head first through a portal straight into the demon’s world. Still, their must be someway home. Maybe the minotaur and farmer know something about the strange portal.

You stand still, staring at the “farmer”. The odd pair has not noticed you. While you are wondering if the man would be more help or hinderance to approach, you hear something.

A horn sounds.

Both you and the man look to the distance. Cresting the hill in front of both of you is a line of soldiers. The distance does not hide the darkness of their armor. Such garb is only forged in the Abyss. Neither the farmer, nor the soldiers have yet seen you, perhaps this is time to hide, or flee… But why are there soldiers here at all? Where is this place? What’s happening around you?