Carter sprung up, holding the vial over his head. While Risa and Mona were mourning, Carter had smelled the vial.

"Wait! Sarr! You murderer!"

Everything became dead silent.

"This isn't healing potion, this is cyanide! You poisoned Pax!"

Sarr looked up at Carter, eyes shooting daggers at him.

"Young man, I did no such thing."

Cedar sniffed the vial as well. Her eyes immediately widened with shock and fear. "You- you did! This is cyanide!"

Sarr didn't move for about thirty seconds. Then, without warning, he lunged towards them. Cedar and Carter sprinted out of the tent, running to the center of town.

Everything was dead silent; no one was in town at all. It was just the three of them. Sarr stood directly in front of the stone block. Carter saw the basket of weapons sitting there, and he grabbed a sword, ready to stab Sarr at any given time.

"I hate to do this, but you give me no choice," Sarr said, moving his hands around. Light shot out from his hands and swirled around. He was clearly using magic.

Sarr disappeared.

Cedar and Carter looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Cedar's necklace glowed a bit, and without another second, she began to run.

"Come on!"

They both ran into the stone manor, ducking through the dining hall and racing into another room. This room was filled with keys of all shapes and sizes. Sarr stood in the middle, hands raised.

"You found me. I knew that necklace of yours did something."

"Why? Why would you kill Pax? You could've saved him!" Cedar clenched her fists, biting back tears.

"Simple. Power. Riches. For every soul I kill, I gain more power. All I need to complete my power is to find a mirror of stone, look into it, and ask for all the power in the world. That mirror lies somewhere in Tarsis. And I intend to find it. I will no longer wait until I am defeated. I will become the true essence of power!"

"How could you?" Cedar couldn't stop the flow of tears now. Her hair was still damp, and in the cold room, she began to shiver. Suddenly the air in the room became freezing. Cedar dropped to her knees, shaking.

"I have power beyond any of your wildest dreams. If I kill just one more soul, I will become unstoppable. Immortal. Now, hmm. Which of you should I kill?"

Carter raised his sword as Sarr approached Cedar. He tried to stab Sarr, but was frozen in place.

"Should I kill this beautiful maiden? So weak and powerless- she will be easy to kill." Sarr stepped towards Carter. "Or should I keep her as my wife and kill this man? So many options... I suppose I could just kill you both... but where's the fun in that?"

Cedar seemed to come to life. "No!" She shouted, standing up. "Just let us go and give us the key we need!"

"Ah, yes, a key. I'm sure you'll be able to choose quite easily..."

Sarr waved his hands and the room of keys expanded. It became wide and long, with keys of every color, metal, and size. "I'm sure you can find it..."

Carter unfroze, looking around quickly. "There are too many! We can't find it!"

Cedar shook her head. "No, it's all an illusion! Break the spell! It's not real!"

Sarr smirked. "Is it?"

Cedar clutched her necklace and a beam of light shot out, causing the room to compress into a tiny closet with bare walls. "This is real!"

Sarr's eyes narrowed. He was no longer playing games. With another flash of light, he disappeared.

Cedar and Carter ran out into the open, finding Sarr in front of the stone box again.

With a yell, Cedar's necklace shot out light so forcefully, Sarr froze in place and couldn't move. He tried to raise his hands, but couldn't move them an inch. All he could do was yell and shout. Tarsis was still completely empty. Carter somehow knew what to do. He ran to the large box of stone and swung his sword at it, somehow cracking it in half.

One half fell away, revealing a mirror made of stone. Sarr yelled triumphantly. He broke away from the spell, running to the mirror and picking it up. He looked to Cedar and Carter, laughing evilly. "Finally! The Mirror of Power! I will become the ruler of the world! No one will stop me! I will become a god! Say goodbye, mortals!"

Cedar wondered only for a moment, "What the heck is happening?"

And then she realized how terrified she was. Sarr looked into the mirror, and shouted, "I wish for all the power in the world! Make me immortal! MAKE ME A GOD!"

Cedar nearly screamed. She lunged at Sarr, but it was too late. He began glowing, his body surging with energy. He rose up into the air, his necklace untucking from his robes. Carter and Cedar could finally see what the necklace was.

"The key!" Cedar screamed, remembering the darkness.

Sarr laughed down at them. "Foolish mortals! You no longer need this key! I am stronger than a thousand men! I am more magical than the gods! I am more powerful than anything else to exist! My body is no longer in need of use! I will become the true God!"

Cedar screamed again, watching from the ground as Sarr's body crackled with energy. A thousand lightning bolts shot down from the sky onto Sarr, his body absorbing all of the energy. He raised his arms to destroy Cedar and Carter, then brought them down with more force than a falling boulder.

Nothing happened.

Sarr screamed as he tried again. His body was glowing forcefully, pulsing with light. Suddenly, a flash of lightning rained down onto him, making him shout in pain.

He began to turn to ash, his body floating away into rocks and dust. After he disappeared, the key around his neck fell to the ground. Cedar picked it up, stowing it away in his pocket. Carter smashed the mirror over one of the halves of the giant stone block.

Cedar and Carter ran to each other, hugging forcefully. They held each other so tight, they didn't want to let go.

"I-we- wow," Cedar said, making Carter laugh in relief.

"We did it," Carter said.

Risa and Mona rushed out of the tent, eyes red. "Did you just... is Sarr dead?" Risa asked.

Cedar nodded. "What's going on? What is wrong with Tarsis? Is it cursed?"

Risa sighed. She was clearly still grieving over Pax, but she needed to confess the truth about Tarsis.

"The first day you arrived, you saw everyone you knew here, didn't you? But we all had violet eyes. We still do, don't we?" Risa said, knowing the answer.

"Yeah... you-you were my mom," Cedar said.

"I assumed so. Let me explain. Mona is my daughter, and Pax is- was my son."

Mona piped up, "First, Pax had the dreams. He was trying to escape from the darkness. Then, I started having them. Finally, my mom. When we made the jump, we immediately appeared here in Tarsis. It was like a dream. Everything was perfect, and everyone we knew was there. We met Sarr, who was super nice to us."

Risa continued, "All of us were there, and we just assumed it was paradise. We were treated as guests... until we were treated like slaves. Sarr began using us to serve the community, and it quickly became something normal. The dragons, well, they were used as excuses for Sarr to kill off the village. He just wanted the treasure."

Mona finished, "So we were slaves for a while, and we knew the moment we saw you- you were having the same dreams. We just wanted to help you."

Cedar looked at Carter, an idea forming in her head. Carter seemed to read her mind, and nodded.

"I assume you don't want to live in Tarsis any more, do you?" Cedar asked.

"I would give anything to get out and just live with my daughter and son," Risa said. Mona nodded.

"We can't bring back Pax, but we can give you a different place to live," Carter said.

"Perfect," Mona said, "I would love nothing more."

Cedar smiled.

Carter and Cedar quickly ran to their rooms, changing back into their own clothes and stealing a cross-body messenger bag from one of the drawers. Cedar stuffed lotions and other clothes into it, preparing her things to leave. She remembered her dagger, taking it out from its hiding place. They met back in the center of town, preparing to get out of Tarsis.

  "Are we ready?" Cedar asked. Everyone nodded.

  Cedar's necklace glowed, creating the same door of light that they had used to enter Tarsis. Everyone stepped through, and Cedar nearly cried at the sight of the forest once again. She felt her pocket to make sure the key was there, and took it out, getting her first good look at it. It was grey-brown, rusted, and old.

  Carter and Cedar led Mona and Risa to the cottage in the woods. When they showed them the inside, both of them beamed.

  "This is perfect," Risa said.

  "I'm glad you like it, Risa," Carter said.

  "That's not my real name. It's a Tarsis name. My real name is Gwen, and my daughter's name is Abigail. Pax's name was Henry," she said sadly.

  "Thank you for telling us. We have a few missions to finish, but I hope you have a wonderful sustaining life here. Maybe if we defeat the darkness, we can send you home. Back to Earth," Cedar said, hoping this was true.

  Carter and Cedar said their goodbyes, packing their bags to be more prepared for the next world they would have to face. They finally left, making their way back into the forest.

  Cedar took the key out of her pocket, then hesitated.

  "Carter... the treasure chest. I got something for you. I know it's kind of lame, but I hope you like it."

  She pulled out the pocket watch and handed it to Carter.

  "I love it. It's perfect," he said, putting it in his pocket. "I got something for you as well."

  He handed her the necklace, hoping she would like it.

  Cedar's heart nearly melted. "It's- it's beautiful, Carter. I love it." She put it on immediately, smiling at Carter.

  In that moment, Carter didn't need anything else except for Cedar to smile again.

  Cedar took the key out again, and put it in the keyhole of the smallest pillar. Suddenly, Cedar and Carter were in a different room. It was pitch black. Cedar still felt the pillar, and turned the key sharply. Out of nowhere, a flicker of light appeared, slightly illuminating a room with a stone torch on a pillar. A single flame appeared, dancing on the top of the torch.

  Seconds later, they were back in the forest.

  "Ready?" Cedar asked.

  "Ready," Carter responded.

  With a nod, another door appeared, this one rose gold. Arm in arm, Cedar and Carter stepped into the unknown.