"Nathan...."
    "Nathan!" the voice grated against his mind, and the visions vanished.  Nathan opened his eyes slowly, feeling his muscles stiff and unresponsive.  As he looked up, he momentarily thought he was seeing visions again.
    "Good, you're awake."  Sean said, looking away from Nathan.  "I was worried about you."
    Nathan's head spun.  What was going on here?  He slowly managed to get to his feet, without any help from his previously fallen comrade.  Sean didn't even seem to be paying attention to him anymore, just looking off to the South instead.
    "You're dead."  Nathan croaked.
    "Hm?" Sean responded, looking back at him.  "Dead?  No, I'm afraid not."
    "I saw you die." Nathan maintained, desperately trying to sort out what had happened.  Looking around himself, he saw no trace of the fight that had slain Sean at all... there wasn't even any blood.
    "I was hurt during that fight, but I'm not dead.  It'll take more than that to finish me off." Sean responded, his voice almost cold.
    Nathan was not about to let the topic go.  "No!  You weren't hurt, you were dead!  Your blood was all over the ground!  I saw you, after you killed that creature.  You weren't breathing, you didn't have a pulse!  You were dead!"
    "Listen!" the swordsman snapped.  "All right, I'll admit - I was knocked out in that fight.  But I didn't die, okay?  And when I came to, they were gone.  I don't know why.  I don't even know what's going on here.  But I know that I'm not dead."  With that, Sean started walking down the road.  "Come on, let's get out of here."
    Nathan followed, questions building at the back of his mind.  What did he really know about the swordsman?  Not a whole lot.  Of course, the swordsman didn't know very much about him either....  What sort of sorcery had he used on that sword, to slay that creature?  Nathan wasn't accustomed to sorcery.  Even in the Scholar's city, it was rarely practiced.  The only wizards he knew about were the Spirists, and Nathan didn't think that their magic would be anything like what Sean had employed.  There were too many questions, and not nearly enough answers.
    Sean did not grow any friendlier as the day grew on.  In fact, he seemed more annoyed than he had been before.  Every once in a while, Nathan saw him wince, as though the man were in pain.  He wondered how well the (the what?  Sorcerer almost seemed appropriate...) had healed since his apparent death.  Once, he heard the swordsman remark, "We're getting close now... a few more days, and we'll be there."  Nathan didn't ask the obvious question - how did Sean know how close they were?
    That night, when they finally stopped to camp, Nathan said nothing, and Sean didn't try to converse.  It was tense, almost as though at any moment Sean would grow tired of his company, and try to dispatch him.  Not, Nathan reflected, that there was much he could to to stop the warrior - he was unarmed, after all.  That night, he managed to settle into a light sleep, despite his misgivings.  The entire time, his body was tensed, in case his companion should prove not to be so companionable.

    (Scholar's City)
    Nathan, James, and Eli reached sight of the Scholar's city just as the dawn spread over it.  The sight was magnificent - every building in the city was a gleaming white, an completely spotless.  It almost hurt Nathan's eyes to look directly at it.  The effect was one of marvelous splendor - a truly enlightened city, to which one could go for knowledge.  Nathan dared to hope that this impression was at least partially true.  After a moment of simply staring, the three of them started down the path, and toward the city.
    A man, rather tall and dressed in light blue robes that looked as though they might belong to a cleric, stood next to the city gates, watching them curiously.  As soon as it seemed that they were within hearing distance, he shouted to them.  "Travelers?"
    "Yes."  James responded, apparently deciding to be the spokesperson for the group.  "From Northward".
    The gatekeeper nodded.  "Welcome to the Scholar's city."  he paused until the three of them were lined up outside the gate, and then continued.  "I have to ask you to remove your weapons."
    The three hesitated, and the gatekeeper added "It is a strict policy, I'm afraid that no man may enter the Scholar's city armed, except with his own knowledge."
    Nathan was the first to disarm.  Unbuckling his sword belt, he handed it over to the gatekeeper, who gave it a glance and commented "Nice craftsmanship."  The other two followed his example, and the gatekeeper finally waved toward the entrance.  "Feel free to enter, and welcome to our city."
    James and Eli entered immediately, without even pausing to reply to the gatekeeper, and leaving Nathan alone.  Nathan turned to the man curiously.  "I was wondering if you could help me.  This is my first visit here, and I don't know the layout of the city... I'm in search of knowledge."
    The gatekeeper smiled crookedly.  "Most people who visit this place also seek knowledge.  The houses of scholars within the city are always open during the daylight, and the experience of the scholars increases as you near the center of the city.  The hotels, and some students, are near the outer borders here.  The more professional ones are close to the center.  And, if you are seeking help about something that threatens not only your life, but the lives of many others as well, the elders can help you.  They live at the end of this main street, in a spire of their own making." he stopped there, looking directly at Nathan in a way that unsettled the young prince.
    "Thank you...."  Nathan said, turning from the man and entering the city.
    The Scholar's city was even more spectacular inside its walls than it had appeared from the outside.  Most of the structures that he passed had large windows tinted to reflect different colors that turned the sunlight streaming down from above into countless hues, each changing with the moment.  Nathan kept his concentration directed ahead, toward the building that he saw lying in the center of the city.
    It was the Spire.  A giant pyramid sliced into four sections, and sweeping upward much more steeply, it was textured with a reflective black, and towered above every other building.  The road he was on lead directly toward the space between two of the sections, but he saw no entrance to the building.  He shook his head to clear it, and realized that he had stopped walking to stare.  It wasn't the real Spire - he was much to far north for that to be the case - but it looked like every diagram, every painting, and every sketch that he had ever seen.  He started forward with a renewed determination.
    The distance was longer than it seemed, but eventually he reached the outer parts of the structure.  Looking up at it soaring above him had the effect of making him feel very small indeed, and dampened his previous optimism.  The building itself seemed to be mocking his intentions.  Who was he to try to set things right?  He was just one man, a small speck on this world.  Shaking off the sense of foreboding, he continued on.
    When he neared the center, he found that the road sloped down and met another road - the two of them seemed to be the dividers for the building.  At their intersection, tunneled in the ground, was a small undecorated door, slightly ajar.  Feeling a growing sense of trepidation, he walked toward it, and pushed it open.
    The heat of the day vanished, and cool air surrounded him.  It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the relative dimness of the indoors.  Two people, dressed in the same light blue that the gatekeeper had been wearing, were talking with each other animatedly.  One was a man, nearly the age of Nathan's father.  The other was a young woman who bore a striking resemblance to Whitney.  Nathan had to resist an urge to cry out the name upon seeing her.  Instead, he simply stood near the doorway, unsure of whether or not to make himself known.
    Another person, also a somewhat elderly male, walked through a curtain and spotted him.  "Please wait a moment, sir."  he turned to address the two people arguing.  "Keith!  Juneau!  The two of you should stop arguing, and start helping people!  I'm betting that neither of you even noticed that we have a visitor!  Now go see Scholar Maxis and have him come up with a suitable punishment."
    As the two left, appropriately embarrassed, the newcomer turned to him and spoke.  "My apologies for keeping you waiting, sir.  My name is Scholar Davis, how can I help you?"
    Nathan hesitated nervously, before speaking up.  "I'm searching for information."
    Davis nodded.  "On the Blight, no doubt.  Apparently, it's getting bad up North."  he sighed.  "Well, I can tell you what we know, and show you around a little."
    "Actually, that's not what I'm here to ask about." Nathan said quietly.  Davis seemed surprised, but curious, so Nathan continued.  "I wanted to know about the Spire."
    Davis' eyes widened.  "Ah, I see....  Follow me."