"I see." she said. Amy obeyed the knight behind her and turned left as they reached a fork in the road. "That's interesting... so you guys have a chief, and now that Synn had killed him, he's now your new chief?" she guessed. "Anyways.... you were saying something about me being added to Synn's collection. What does that mean?"

"Yes, we have a new leader now. Synn has taken command. Pog is the new chief but he is little more than a puppet and cannot hope to match Tog's old power. Synn would dispose of him easily if he wished."

As she asked him what he had meant he searched his mind for the words but seemed to be quick enough with them it took him longer to translate his thoughts over to her language.

"You are to be a gift to him from the tribe, a tribute so to speak."

He had prepared himself mentally for some sort of trouble now that she knew why they were heading to where they were. "Perhaps he will not experiment on you. Perhaps he will. Who could predict what the mystic would do."

"W-wait a sec.... what sort of experiments does he do to his tributes?" she asked. 'I know I'm in some sort of dream, but I don't think I'd still want to get blown into ashes by some random magic power...' Amy thought . Amy started to notice that the landscaping was changing slowly as they continued down the road. "Are we there, yet?" she asked.

"Oh, I do not know of the ways of mystics and cannot say what he does or does not do. In fact I make it a point to stay away from him as often as possible, hence why I am here now on patrol." e nodded then realizing that she was in front of him and wouldn't have seen him he went on.

"We are near. I'm impressed you were able to get this close without being detected. The road bends slightly before ascending a hill it's just beyond, not on the other side of the hill but rather atop a second hill."

"Okay, then. Thanks for the advise." she said and walked up the hill. "Okay... I'm guessing there are more guards that are supposed to detect newcomers like me?" she asked as they neared the second hill. Amy continued to wonder if she truly was dreaming or was actually in an another world of some sort.

"Scouts and guards, hunters, someone should have chanced upon you by now. There, there it is." He pointed once they were atop the first hill at the second, there was a village there and on it's perimeter were several small men though from here there were no real details to be picked up on as she was too far away.

They moved on, her guide oblivious to her thoughts but as they neared she could tell several things about the 'men' she could see. They were three to four feet in height with pointed ears,, flat faces and green skin. They were armed, simple maces hung from their belts though they had short bows out at this stage.

They acknowledged them with a wave at the knight who waved back to let them know everything was under control. The creatures were not human but some form of monsterous creation ... goblins?

Among all these creatures, Amy felt out of place. "So where is Synn? Is he human?" she asked as they made their way through the waving goblins. Amy just wanted to wake up from this weird dream. She had a feeling that she wouldn't like the experiments Synn had in mind for the tributes.

The goblins were eyeing her lewdly it seemed though they did not move to approach or hinder her as she moved along. Either she had the protection of the knight or the knew what fate awaited for her and didn't wish to draw attention from Synn.

"I have already told you that Synn is another giant." Another? Was that what humans were referred to as? She noticed that the village seemed empty as the other goblins had to be gathered somewhere. A church maybe?

They came upon a large manor in the center of the village that seemed out of place here. A lone goblin stood guard outside and snapped to attention as they approached. Her escort rode closer, then dismounted. He gazed at the steel reinforced doors and moved into sight, using one of the knockers to pound on the door before opening it.

"Inside."

Amy looked at the goblins. They were looking almost sorry for her. 'Its only a dream. Synn can't hurt me...' she thought to herself. She looked at the knight as he regarded her as a giant. She looked around cautiousely at the goblin guard as the knight pounded on the door. "Inside." said a voice. She followed the knight into the manor.

The interior of the manor was dimly light and large. She could hear the creeking of the door behind her as it closed and cast her nearly into absolute darkness.

As if understanding that 'giants' could not see that well in the dark and thus took her by the arm leading her though the darkness. Given the confidence in his stride it was clear that he could see not to be hindered. Half way across the room she could hear weeping. Not that long after another door creeked open before them revealing a large chamber.

There were stairs that descended off and a pair of closed double doors to the north. Cages containing women both goblin and human lined the east wall and a strange green glow emitted off of the walls illuminating the chamber.

There was a large man hear, perhaps six and a half feet in height adorned in red robes and wearing a grotesque mask. He was standing towards the center of the room and scanning a book for something.

She spotted the bookcase near the cages shortly before he closed the book and looked up at them. She had also seen an archaic looking gun on his hip.

"Splendid, you've found another."

Amy suddenly went into panic as the door behind her creeked to a close, casting the inside of the manor nearly into an absolute darkness. She felt her being led by the arm through the darkness and into a large chamber. She saw that the chamber's walls were glowing green, and if that wasn't strange enough, there were cages containing women in the east side of the wall. She found herself looking at a tall man, about six and a half feet tall, looking at a book. "Splendid, you've found another." said the tall man. "You're Synn?" guessed Amy.

"Yes, that I am but you seem to have me at a disadvantage. Wait." He held out a hand twisting it slightly. "Amy ... and you're not from around here but dwell within the Shadow. Could it be ...

"Varg. to the chamber."

The knight nodded as he went to follow Synn as he decended the staircase her, Varg leading Amy along as he followed.

"Huh?" she said, confused as she was led by Varg down the staircase. "Wait, what's going on?" she asked.

The staircase entered into darkness but Synn simply held his hand out in front of him, palm up and a green flame erupted from it lighting the way as they went.

"You will learn soon enough." That was the only answer she got as they continued on down a narrow corridor that ended in a steel door which he opened. The corridor lead onward and was much wider now. They soon came to another steal door which he again opened.

"In there, now."

Amy felt afraid as they descended into the darkness. She even got more fearful when Synn simply held out his hand a green flame erupted from it, lighting up the staircase. They got down to a narrow corridor, and passed through a steal door. There was another steal door behind it, and Synn, opening the door, said, "In there, now." Not wanting to make Synn annoyed, she stepped through the doorway. Amy wasn't going to be taking chances with Synn. The example of Synn's magic powers suggested her that she wasn't going to be in good health if she got on his bad side.