"And I will go, Rathandel."

"Cass… Cassadra, please remember the elders words…" Amiel said, still sobbing.

"I will, mother, I promise."

Behind Rathandel a portal opened, it was black with lines of blue energy cackling and resonating across its surface.  It was like nothing Cassadra had ever seen before.

"Come now, Cassadra, time is short."

"Cassadra, please take care of yourself… all of Tyrael's host watch over you."

"I will, mother, I will be back… somehow."

Cassadra began to walk towards the portal wondering how much more power Rathandel had than she, wondering why it was her the Light had chosen when there were so many others more qualified for the task.

"We do what we must," Rathandel spoke as if he were reading her thoughts, "each one of us can do no more than what we are called to do."

Cassadra passed through the portal, feeling the crawling sensation on her skin as she did so.  Both her mother's sobs and the constant howl of the desert wind became muted, vague, and she felt as through she was moving at tremendous speeds.  Seconds later she was in a forested place, the portal slowly disappearing behind her.  She screamed through it, loud as she could.

"Rathandel!  What do I have to do!"

"The Light will bring you there…" came the echoing reply; the portal was merely the size of an apple, "trust in the Light…"

"But where am I?"

The portal closed with a slamming sound, sending a final gust of desert wind through it.  Cassadra looked around and tried to identify the place she was in now, but simply couldn't.  She had never seen all these trees before; the greenness of the place almost made her head hurt.  It was so alien, so strange.

"Great," Cassadra said to herself, "now what?"

She was standing on a road of some sorts; it winded through the forest in both directions.  She began to walk it in the direction she had been facing, looking side to side for anything that might spark familiarity.  The moon was up on this part of the world, and from the position of the stars it was indeed another part.  A rustling noise came from the bushes on either side of the road.  Cassadra stopped and stood ready.

"Who's there?"

A series of growls answered her.  From behind the shrubs several small demons emerged, each one carrying a weapon of some sort. 

"What madhouse of a place it this?"

One of the demons rushed her; she kicked it and sent it hurtling down the road.  She conjured up a blast of lightning and sent it barreling into one of the bushes, setting it aflame.  Several of the small demons ran out of it, their skins blazing and melting from the lightning.  After a few steps most of them dropped dead.  The others broke their ranks and began to run from her, she sent several Firebolts chasing them.

"There, that's that."

There was a moan from behind her and she whirled to face it.  A small regiment of zombies was approaching her, their flesh-rending claws twitching with need.  They were coming out of the forest, slowly surrounding her.  She focused, trying to remember the strongest spell in the book, trying to finally master the patterns of it.  They were getting closer; the smell of dead flesh was like a thick miasma.

"Focus, damn you…" she said to herself.  She almost had it, almost had grasped the pattern of it.  The zombies were nearly within striking range.  "Now!" she screamed.

A circle of Firebolts spread from her, each burst striking and sending one of the zombies to the ground.  She collapsed, completely exhausted, as each of the creatures fell with a burnt hole in its chest.  I'm dead, she thought, and I never got a chance.  Then everything went dark as her consciousness left her.  Far-away voices seemed to echo in her dreams.

"Is she dead?"

"By the Light, I hope not."

"Bring her to encampment, she's the last one."

It seemed like days had passed when she finally woke to the fuzzy light of torches.  She was in a bed; she knew that, perhaps in some sort of medical room by the look and smell of it.  People were here with her; she could feel their presence.

"Calm yourself, child, there's no need to get excited." It was a soft, feminine voice.

"Where am I?" her voice was low and weak.

"This is an encampment of the Sisters of the Sightless Eye, the Eastern Rogues."

"Sightless Eye?  I am from Lothiar, the eastern desert."

"Lothiar?" another voice, this one lower and more gravelly, said, "how in the name of all that is holy did she get here?"

"The Light works in strange ways, Keseph."

"She's a sorceress," another voice, this one very deep and strange-sounding, "I thought their kind were hunted and killed here."

"Malek, do not say that!  No one shall be killed here, there's been enough killing."

"So you say, Keseph, but I think more must die, this is certain."

"Keseph, Malek, leave her and I to speak."

"As you wish, Akara." Keseph said as he left the tent.

"Sorceress, eh?  I look forward to dueling with you." He looked at Akara, who appraised him, "a friendly duel, of course."  He left the tent then, as well.

"Who are they?" she asked.  Her throat was terribly sore.

"Keseph is a Paladin, and Malek a Necromancer.  What is your name?"

"My name is Cassadra, Sorceress of the fifth circle."

"Well Cassadra, you have been brought here by the Light to fulfill a great quest.  When you have convalesced from your exhaustion I will tell all of you the stories."  Akara touched her brow.

"Are there others?"

"Yes, Gahl is a Barbarian from the Tenma plains, and Alyssa an Amazon from the South Seas." 

She fell asleep again, the images fading from her mind. 

"Rest and recover, Cassadra, for trying times are ahead." Akara said as she left the tent, leaving Cassadra to dream.