"Young man, wanna make a bet?" That was the first thing Felros heard when she woke. The dark skies were only illuminated by the Seven Stars, and they were too as dim as the moon now, and barely half as large.

She stood, and a distance away Felros saw a man speaking to Ar-Qosh speaking in murmurs. The man wore boots, a torn, ragged tunic and donned a flat cap. "Ar-Qosh!" Felros yelled at him, and he turned.

"What are you doing here, and who is this man?" Felros jabbed at him.

"Don't be so rude Felros, but let me introduce you to Gwondworth of the marshes, the guardian of the Outskirts," Ar-Qosh said, and turned to Gwondworth, "And this is my companion Felros."

"So as we were talking about just now," Gwondworth did not seem to care about Felros, "I rarely have people making bets with me--"

"What bet?" Felros spoke.

"So," Gwondworth ignored her again, "If you don't know, the darkness has already erupted from the ground. And, we are to bet on that."

"So, what are we going to bet on? Speak quickly," Ar-Qosh said.

"Your freedom," Gwondworth spoke slowly, "And your lives." Felros was startled when she heard it. She pulled Ar-Qosh to a corner, "This is a bet between life and death. We must not do it!"

"I know what I'm doing. I spoke to him, and he knows we are trapped. We are really trapped, and once we come to this point so near the Edge, we could never go back. Only through him, we could have a chance to return. Trust me, we shall not perish under his blade," Ar-Qosh strode back to Gwondworth, and Felros followed.

"So what are we betting about exactly?" Ar-Qosh asked.

"Easy. If the darkness loses, I will bring you back to the realms," Gwondworth spoke, " But if you lose the bet you shall be killed and your blood fed to me for sacrifice." Gwondworth grinned and for the first time Felros saw the razor sharp teeth protruding from his mostly rotten gums.

"Sure, let the bet be it then," Ar-Qosh smirked, and Gwondworth disintegrated into a pile of sand that disappeared deep into the muddy ground.

Felros did not know what to do. Ar-Qosh was definitely insane when he agreed to the bet, the darkness was already too powerful.

"It is not yet undefeatable," Ar-Qosh spoke from behind her.

"How did you know what I am thinking about?"

"I can feel the tense emotions. But let me remind you of the many wizardry wars in the past between the light and the darkness, "Ar-Qosh said, "Do you remember that every single time there was no winner and no loser, but thousands of deaths, and here we already have Demphin, and if he reaches the Seven Stars in time, we will not lose. Now, the darkness is impure, using magic that was banned by even our kind of magic like Gurzuk. Trust me, that everything would turn out fine."