You survey the battlefield that you've created. All sides have been at war for a long time, and also evenly matched. Who will win? It will all be decided on tonight.

"Hey! Its time to go to bed!" you Mom says coming into your room.

Or at least it would be, if you didn't have to go to bed!

"Aw Mom! I was just about to do something!" you protest.
"Well you can do something tomorrow, right now its bedtime, you know the rules. But before you do remember to brush your teeth and put these toys away."
"But…but can't I leave them out? I got everything set up and like everything! The final battle for the universe is going to take place!"

Your Mom surveys everything you've set up. You have a myriad of unusual toys and figures standing next to each other. You have plastic knights standing next to space men defending a castle made of blocks on one side while across from them has a combination of green army guys in vehicles and some metal robots. And yet on the far side of your room is another army set up consisting of dinosaurs and some other monsters. She just smiles at your creativeness.

"Very well, it looks like you went to a lot of trouble, so okay. You certainly do have a vivid imagination to come up with some of the games you do."

Happily you go brush your teeth, and think about the battle that's going to take place tomorrow! General Razor will try to storm the castle and Lord Justice will defend it! And then the Dino Demons will try to destroy everything! It's going to be so cool!

After brushing your teeth, you head back to your room where you carefully step around the figures you've set up with care and get into bed. Of course as usual, you don't fall asleep right away; you read a couple pages of your favorite comic book first. Man you wish real life wasn't as boring as it is. There's no magic, no super heroes, no giant robots, no nothing! You often wished you lived in a world with all of those things.

You turn off the lights in your room when your Mom checks on you again and demands you go to sleep. You're still a little to wound up to fall asleep though, so you just lie in your bed thinking how tomorrow's battle is going to play out.

Of course one bad thing about having an overactive imagination is letting it run away with you. Your room is dark, with only the dim moonlight shining in and creating creepy shadows on your walls. You begin to think the shadows are moving, begin to get a little scared and hide under the covers. Then you think back to something your mom told you the last time you got scared like this: "Monsters aren't real. Nothing like that exists in this world."
Of course she's right, after all you just thought the world you lived in was boring by not having those types of things in it.

You slowly peer out from under your covers, but unfortunately this isn't the work of your imagination. These shadows ARE moving and now they're right by the side of your bed. Red dots form their eyes and a bluish light form their grinning maws. Before you can cry out, one of them puts its hand over your mouth and puts its other hand to its own with its index finger to its lips. (Or rather where its lips would be if it had any)

"Shhhhhhh, the master wants to see you…there will be plenty of time to cry then, little one. Open up the portal." The shadow says

Suddenly a purple portal opens up where your closet is, and two of the shadow creatures grab and carry you into it. The shadows run around you as you're carried down the green tunnel which the portal has lead into. They excitedly talk about how their master will be pleased for getting you. Of course all you're doing right now is panicking, and you start to struggle to get away, surprisingly, you manage to break free of their grip and start trying to run back to where they entered this thing.

"Get him! He's trying to run away!"
"Do it quickly before the portal starts collapsing!"

As you hear the shadows giving orders to each other, the portal tunnel that you're in is indeed starting to flash and blink a lot, when you look down at your running feet, the purple light "supporting" you disappears every now and then revealing only blackness. You can see your room just up ahead and you ALMOST reach it, before the green tunnel disappears completely.

You yell and scream about how you wish you back home as you fall through the endless void, and while that doesn't happen, you do suddenly appear someplace else…

You land roughly, scraping your legs and knees and getting your pajamas all dusty. After brushing yourself off and rubbing your hurting legs, you get a better look at your surroundings.

You're in what looks to be the middle of nowhere, though there is a small group of rickety looking houses nearby, probably a small village.

One thing is for certain, you know you aren't on Earth, because, a small multi-colored lizard like creature with three eyes scurries by your feet and into the wilderness beyond. You're still scared, but also fascinated by this place; however, you realize you need to figure out how to get back home and what exactly is going on.

You head to the village

Upon entering you see many of the villagers just sitting outside their houses doing nothing, though a couple of them are lazily plucking some sort of stringed instruments. They barely pay any attention to you at all.

You know you're not supposed to talk to strangers, but in this situation you don't really feel like you have a choice, so you ask one of them for help.

"Hey, I need some help, these shadow things attacked me…"
"Wazzat? Shadows? Shadows don't come 'round here boy, we's got ourselves a wizard to protect us! If you got shadow problems, maybe you should talk to him. He's a pretty smart guy. He's in that nice lookin' house over there, the one with the roof! Careful though, he's usually in a bad mood. Argues with his wife constantly too." The fat villager says going back to drinking whatever it is he's drinking.

Not knowing what else to do you head over to the wizard's house. As you approach you can hear arguing from the inside.

You knock on the door which is opened by a young woman dressed in a waitress like outfit. She's pretty, but looks very tired, behind her appears an older man who doesn't look much like a wizard at all.

"Whadda you want kid? We ain't buyin' anything!" he scowls.
"Are you really a wizard? You don't look like one." You remark.
"That's because he isn't a real wizard. He's a lazy charlatan!" the woman answers.
"Shut up Talia, I was good enough to get YOU."
"Yeah, that's because I was too young and naïve to know any better! I knew I should've married a knight!"
"Hah! And what knight would marry a serving wench like you?"
"Melcar, I don't have time for your nonsense today, I have to go to work. Can you at least TRY to do something productive while I'm gone, like casting some cantrips to cut down the overgrowth in the backyard? Sheesh, I think I saw a nest of Furms making their homes in there and you know much I hate those little purple things! They infest everything and then you can't get rid of them! So can you DO that one thing, if nothing else?"
"Yeah, yeah."

The woman throws her hands up in dismay and leaves the house, leaving Melcar and you alone.

"So, what's your deal kid? I know you ain't from this backwoods village because I know everyone here and you actually look like you bathe every once in awhile. You lost or something?"

You explain your situation to Melcar, somehow he doesn't look surprised, but he does look a little more interested in you.

"Hmm, sounds like the Nightmare Tyrant. He has a habit of snatching people from other dimensions and draining them to harness his power. Those shadows you encountered are what's left of his victims. I'm not entirely sure of his methods for choosing, but I do know he only takes those with strong imaginations though. It's probably why he prefers children since they tend to be more inclined to think up fantastic things." You were lucky to escape from him."
"Well how do I get back home?"

Melcar looks at you a moment before replying.

"You interested in doing a little yard work?"
"Uh…"
"I'm really busy with an experiment, and I just don't have time to mess around with clearing the overgrowth in my backyard. If you do it, I think that'll give me time to complete my experiment, as well as giving me time to look up the spell that can take you back home."
"Well okay…"
"Good, there's a scythe in the back. You shouldn't have too much trouble."

Melcar closes his door and you walk around the back, which literally looks like a jungle. The grass is almost as high as you are and the scythe is a little too unwieldy and large for you to use properly. Soon tiny purple people appear and angrily throw small stones at you and squeak some sort of jibberish. They apparently don't like you trying to tear up their home.

You don't see how you're ever going to finish this task.

You try to scare away the purple people

You try to scare the little purple people much like you've ran after pigeons in the park, however the purple folks won't be chased away so easily, this is their home after all, they just nimbly get out of your way and continue to pelt you with stones, which are really starting to hurt at this point, and a particularly large stone smacks you in the head knocking you out.

When you wake up you're nowhere near the Wizard's house anymore, in fact you're quite a ways outside of the village! The purple people must've dragged you here. As you groggily get up, you wish that someone would help you. Just then a shadow looms over you, at first you get scared again, but fortunately this one is attached to someone. You look up and see a woman dressed in leather armor, she carries a bow on her back and a sword by her side. She gives you a serious look while she grabs your hand to pick you up. You notice she has pointy ears.

"Boy, what're you doing out here? Don't you know it can be dangerous out here? Do you live in that village?" she asks.
"No, I was trying to look for help there. There was a wizard who said he could help me get back home if…"
"Wizard? There wasn't any strong magic activity detected around here boy. Where are you from?"

You explain your story, as the woman listens intently. Much like the wizard you ran into earlier, she doesn't seem surprised.

"Mm, yes you are a lucky boy indeed to escape from the Nightmare Tyrant, most never even have a chance. I think you better come with me, my name's Lyssia"
"But the wizard…"
"Trust me, you'll be safer with me, than that so called wizard you mentioned. Sounded like a hedge wizard that was just getting you to do some grunt work that he didn't want to do. He couldn't help you against the shadows, let alone get you back home. I might be able to though, well the Captain might anyway. We'll head back to my platoon's camp."

You feel somewhat safer with Lyssia, not to mention she seems like she's more readily going to help you, so you follow her. Eventually you arrive at a fairly large camp with armored knights, horses, and tents. Most of them look like they've been doing a lot of fighting recently and are still recovering from their wounds. When you enter the Captain's tent, you see him looking over some maps before he looks up at you. He's a man of average build, but his weathered and tired face shows the signs of having been in battle several times. His armor displays likewise.

"Lyssia, you better have a good reason for why you're bringing this boy into my presence. This is a mobile military unit; you know we can't be coddling civilians, let alone children."

Lyssia explains the situation and the Captain's attitude towards you changes to a more sympathetic one.

"Escaping from the Nightmare Tyrant's minions is no small feat, especially for one unprepared for such an encounter. The terror they radiate is normally enough to paralyze most with fear. You're obviously not a battle hardened soldier to such horrors, and there's no evidence of any magic about you. You must have an innate strong will, boy. Which is good since you'll most likely have to deal with them again." He says grimly.
"Again?!" you exclaim.
"Yes, unfortunately the Nightmare Tyrant isn't fond of losing those he marks for capture. He has no doubt sent his Shadow minions to look for you. Fortunately you have us to help you now. We are a recon team for the Parran Empire, we've been fighting the Nightmare Tyrant for years, trying to find a weakness with little success. Though after some searching we think there may be a powerful weapon that can help us. It's in some ruins a few days from here, or should be. One can never know for certain with old legends. Now, I have a duty to defend innocents from evil, but I also have a duty to the Empire. I simply cannot take this team all the way back to the Empire just to drop you off there where our wizards can send you back home, I have a mission to complete first. You can either stay with us and then after the mission we shall all go back together, or I shall send a couple of my men with you back to the Empire. Keep in mind the Shadows are probably looking for you and they tend to hunt in swarms, so the more people defending you, the better."

You really want to go back home, but you're a little worried about not having all the protection you can.

"Well can't Lyssia go with me?" you ask hopefully. Lyssia smiles a bit at your request, but the Captain shakes his head.
"Sadly no. While I can certainly understand and admire your judgment of wanting her to go with you, I cannot allow her to do so, as my mission will undoubtedly require her skills. As I said, I will send to two of my men, but that is all I can spare if you decide to head back to the Empire."

You head back to the Empire

The sooner you're out of this place the better, so you request to be escorted back to the Empire where their wizards can send you back home.

"Very well, I'll send Paladins Salzat and Lakri with you, along with an official letter explaining your situation. Good luck and may you return home without any ill-fated encounters." The Captain says handing you the letter for safe keeping.

You are presented to Salzat and Lakri who are explained their mission. Salzat doesn't look pleased; in fact he gets angry and exclaims his skills would be better put to use fighting the Nightmare Tyrant and other evil creatures, not looking after a child. Lakri on the other hand looks relieved. After the Captain shouts him down and tells him to obey orders, Salzat grumbles and gets on his horse. Lyssia puts you on your own horse, you've
never ridden one before, but she assures you that these are the best trained horses in the Empire and will serve you well. You're told you should reach the Empire in a few days.

Soon you're off with your new travel companions They couldn't be more opposite. Salzat is a mean looking man with scars all over his face who barely speaks to you, but his armor is impeccably clean and well taken care of. It even has a shine to it, almost as if it was brand new. (He doesn't seem to wear a helmet though, perhaps that might explain all the scars) Lakri on the other hand is much kinder and talkative to you. His armor looks like its seen better days though. It's metal that looks hastily welded together, badly dented and even showing signs of rust! Unlike Salzat his suit of armor has a full face helmet which he's wearing right now and Salzat has chosen to taunt him about.

"Lakri, why are you wearing that thing? We aren't even going into battle you coward! I swear I don't know how any of you can see in those things anyway. I need to be able to swivel my head as quick as possible so I can see the next enemy I have to slay!"
"Leave me alone Salzat! I like to make sure I'm protected! I don't want to end up all scarred and ugly like you! I intend on getting married one day!" Lakri sputters.
"Feh! I don't need to look pretty; my DEEDS will win the hearts of damsels!"

"How did you guys become Paladins?" you ask. Surprisingly Salzat answers your question right away.

"Well unlike Lakri here, I didn't have royal family connections. I worked my way up through the ranks and went through special training so that I could become a weapon against evil and serve the Empire. If I could wipe out all the evil in this world myself, I would not hesitate to do so. There is no greater deed than to serve the cause of good and righteousness and right now my talents are going to waste escorting you!"
"Yes, well I for one am glad for the break from battle. This is a nice change of pace than fighting trolls, shadows and other such nastiness. I wasn't really looking forward to going to those ruins the Captain mentioned either. Sounded dangerous." Lakri says.
"Yeah, well we know you're a coward anyway, and a disgrace to the Paladin name."
"I'm not a coward! I…just want to live alright? I mean is it so wrong that I prefer my life to not be at risk every five minutes?"

"Why did you become a Paladin, if you don't like to fight?" you ask.
"Oh, that's a long story…let's just say my Dad wanted me to."
"But you're a grown up, shouldn't you just be able to do what you want now?"
"Ha ha! You think just because one grows up, you aren't subjected to being told what to do by your parents? Guess again. Ah well, perhaps you have less demanding parents. You must certainly like them, if you wanted to get home so quickly to see them again."

Before you can answer, Salzat suddenly looks up in the sky and draws his sword.

"Shut up! I sense something…"

Suddenly the sky grows considerably darker within only a few seconds and screeching can be heard from above. Dark winged creatures begin to descend from the sky

"SHADOWS!" Lakri shouts.
"Alright! And here I thought I wasn't going to get to vanquish evil today! Come on and be destroyed foul creatures!" Salzat laughs.

At this point Lakri and Salzat show their differences again. Lakri panics to the point that he fumbles and drops his weapon before yelling that you all should make haste to escape. Salzat on the other hand turns to face the winged Shadows. You don't see how he can possibly fight them all himself though.

You follow Lakri

You're in no position to fight a bunch of flying Shadows, you're not armed with anything, and nowhere near being a warrior. You take you horse in the direction that Lakri headed, leaving Salzat behind to fight the Shadows, though you aren't safe yet as a few of them are still in pursuit of you.

"That's the one the Master wants! The little one! Get him! Get him!" you hear raspy voices shout behind you.

Soon your horse has almost caught up to Lakri's. Lakri seems to have forgotten that he's supposed to be DEFENDING you!

"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be protecting me?" you shout at him, while briefly looking behind you to see how close the Shadows are.
"I…I'm sorry…I just…ARGH! Shadows! Gotta get away! Don't follow me, they're after you!"

Lakri must be so frightened for his own life that he's gone half mad! Seeing that he's not going to lose you, he ends up jumping off of his horse and running off into the wilderness in an effort to ditch the Shadows. It works for him since they were never after him and they continue to follow you and are starting to close in…

Soon one is close enough to grab at you, in an attempt to rip you from the back of the horse.

You attempt to punch at the Shadow

With your free hand you attempt to punch the flying Shadow, but unfortunately it deftly dodges your attack and you unbalance yourself causing you to fall off the horse.

You don't land on the ground though since the flying Shadows swoop in to catch you before that happens. Of course now you're in their evil clutches. They laugh and cackle with glee as they take you back to the Nightmare Tyrant.