The castle was larger than I had ever thought imaginable. From in front of the doors the tops of the pillars seemed to touch the clouds, the walls glittering like polished silver, every detail reflected against the silver was a shade of beautiful blue, shifting with the light that made the entire building seem like it breathed, a physical entity watching over the town just outside the inner gates.

Getting inside the ornate doors seemed like it would be impossible, guards posted near every gate. The citizens walked in a state of bliss, obviously not threatened by the guards, but definitely curious about the stranger in the cart and myself.

I nudged the stranger, who turned and gave me a smile as he pulled up to a stable, dismounting the cart and gesturing me to do the same. I tried asking him why everyone seemed to be looking at us, I even tried making it as simple as possible, but he just shrugged and handed me a large burlap bag, chuckling when I almost dropped it in the attempt to maintain my balance, cane slipping out from under my arm. The stranger grabbed the bag back and shook his head, retrieving my cane once more for me, tisking and muttering with a pointed look at my legs.

I struggled to regain complete control over them, but no amount of willpower stopped their shaking and the ache that was slowly spreading from my hips. The stranger held out a different bag to me and I reluctantly took it, grateful that is was significantly lighter than the first one in the same way that steel is heavier than peanut shells.

The stranger grabbed the first bag and a second before heading up to the closest gates to the castle. He nodded at one of the guards, who stood a little straighter upon seeing him, which had the stranger cracking the slightest smile. They conversed a bit in their native language before the guard opened the gate, gesturing both us and the other guard inside. I followed in awe, the stranger strolling up to a pair of doors, the guard jogging to keep up in order to open them before the stranger got to them. The entire exchanged seemed to amuse the stranger though, who shifted the weight of the bags he carried and threw open one of the doors, smiling pointedly at the guard who sighed in defeat, heading back past me as i hobbled up to the door, and returning with more of the bags.

The stranger gestured me to a nearby seat and I gratefully took, legs still shaking from the sudden weight earlier and hips protesting at the angle sitting put them in, but I relished in the softness of the seat, and the intricate patterns carved into the arms and legs, seeming to tell a story of a child being chased by a large four legged animal. The stranger and the guard went back and forth retrieving the bags, there being twenty-six in all, and the stranger beamed in pride, earning a pat on the head and a few fond sounding words from the guard, who then left, shutting the door behind him.

The stranger smiled at me, holding a finger to his lips before opening up one of the bags, looking inside, and picking it up, leaving the other twenty-five where they were. He offered me a hand and I took it, leaning on him heavily as I stood back up, joints throbbing and popping before settling in a comfortable enough state to walk.

“So where are we?” I asked, more for myself than for an actual answer as the stranger heading for the door on the opposite side of the room, walking slow enough for me to not have to strain to keep up with him as he walked down what seemed like endless hallways. The walls were all significantly barren compared to Ma and Pa’s house, which had multiple pictures and drawings of the family, the animals found nearby, and other random things I would most likely need a million years of time I didn’t have to figure out what they were. The vast difference made me miss their small home, filled with laughter and warmth, while this castle felt cold and indifferent on the inside, a distinct contrast from the magnificence held on the outside walls.

The stranger continued down the halls with no end, navigating them with a sense of great comfortability. I tried counting the doors we passed just in case, but the further into the belly of the castle we went, the more my mind seemed to fog, and the harder it was to concentrate. The stranger must have noticed how I was starting to lag behind because he turned around, gesturing with his head for me to follow him as he crossed through one of the many doors.I felt myself hesitate for a few moments, spine tingling in uncertainty, but it was only moment before I shook my head against every instinct to run, entering the room the stranger disappeared down, but I found myself dumbfounded and fooled. The stranger was nowhere in sight, the hallway completely empty. I tried looking around, even calling for him, but I was met with silence.

I looked back the way I had come from once before making a decision, which involved going down the empty hall. The needles on my spine grew more intense the further I walked, and I found myself soon unable to call for the stranger, met by closed doors on both sides of me. It seemed like I had walked forever before reaching the end of the hall, hands shaking, legs aching, and heart pounding, panic weighing down my mind enough to drive me back the way I had come. My feet carried me as fast as they could, vision narrowing to just in front of my feet, not recognizing right away that one of the side doors now stood wide open. I stopped before crossing the doorway, chest heaving and palms sweaty. My mind ran over every horrible possibility of what was behind the door, and I started backing away, flight response kicking in.

An indistinguishable noise came from behind me and I swung around, swinging my cane with a frightened squeak. The cane caught something, but when I went to return it to my hands, the wood refused to move from whatever was grasping it. My eyes flew open, briefly recognising that they had closed in the first place, and I came face to face with a person the size of a mountain, hair the color of a black hole and sharp face contorted into a sneer. He held my cane end firmly in his hand, and I let go, stepping back. The person spoke again, and I shook my head, breathing still heavy.

“My companion, I was trying to find…” I started before realizing that he probably didn’t understand a thing I was saying. I tried remembering any of the phrases Ma and Pa had taught me, but my mind only pulled a blank and I started panicking again. “I-I wasn’t meaning, I didn’t mean to, I was just,” I stammered, tripping over my tongue and feet as I crept backwards. The person’s featured softened briefly, and I felt a sting in my neck, making my whip around to find another person I didn’t know standing there with an empty syringe. I started hyperventilating, body shaking as I tried to flee, but I only got a few steps before my head began to spin and I had to use the wall for support. My legs gave out next, sending my crumbling to the ground as my vision went blurry, then black, and a pair of arms picked me up.