By noon I had finished my preparations for my journey to the mountains. I wore light armour with a cape over it to camouflage it. My little 'trip' would be a long and dangerous voyage. I had no way of predicting just how long and dangerous it would be, since only few recordings of this journey remained. It could take days, if the wind was on my side, or several months, if storms or other misfortunes crossed my path.

Even so, I hadn't packed a lot, knowing that it would be unnecessary. Traveling while carrying only the bare minimum kept you safer from bandits, and above all, if I needed to escape, it'd be easier to do so with less baggage.

While the mountains were a challenge, getting there would be more difficult; the path of "The Challenge of A Thousand Deaths" lay between me and my destination. The name sounded like something out of a half-rate fantasy novel, but it held a truth; this was a path that had killed thousands. But no matter the countless dangers I would have to face, I had to go through it.

Not only would these challenges make me stronger, they would be my stepping stone to stopping the horrible future I had experienced.

I stepped towards my horse, a beautiful black mare, Mespil, and pressed my head gently against hers. I swung myself onto her back, and whispered in her ear. "Shall we go?" She neighed, as if agreeing.

Thus the two of us started our long journey. With my heart packed with worries, I looked over my shoulder for the last time. The castle and the city were now out of my reach, something I pledged to change when I came back.

Days passed without me setting foot on the path I needed to take. I had focused so hard on reaching my destination, that I had forgotten to take a look at the world around me. When I finally took notice of it, I found myself wandering around in the wide world, discovering a peaceful one I had never known. The tender breeze carried the sound of cheers and laughter of villagers not far away from me. A part of me wanted to explore these scenes I had never seen before, but I didn't want to lose sight of my goal. I squeezed the reins in my hands tightly, leaving marks on my tanned skin. I promised myself that once everything was over, I'd go on a long voyage, to connect, and meet people. To be a normal human.

A week passed, and I finally arrived at the start of the path of "The Challenge of A Thousand Deaths". As far as my eyes could reach, the forest stretched out, with a small track in the middle of it, and no end in sight.

On the sides of the path, several warning signs stood. After being abused by the weather, most had become unreadable. The warning signs were not the only thing that tried to keep me away from the path. Countless memorials made by families who couldn't recover bodies all shared the same message; "Stay away, or you'll suffer the same fate as they have."

I ignored the warnings and kept going. The deeper I went into the forest, the narrower the path became. I decided to leave my horse behind. If I kept her by my side, she'd probably meet her end very soon. "This is where our ways part, Mespil." I gave her the last remaining carrots I had, which she happily ate, and petted her softly. "You're free, go enjoy your life."

She was a smart horse and immediately retreated back down the path. I stood, listening, until I could no longer hear the sound of her hooves.

I looked at my surroundings. It resembled a thick pine forest; no sunlight was able to penetrate the thick layers of the leaves. The trees reached high, and the air felt humid. There were no birds, no insects, no life other than trees. It was painfully quiet. I could not discern which side I had come from, the paths had disappeared behind all the green. While I tried to navigate through the green, I sensed a faint magic trace covering the whole forest. It felt like rain dripping down like fog.

Even when I had been walking for hours, it felt like I had made little progress. One small step felt like an eternity. I'd found the motivation to continue and decided to quicken my pace, but when I saw what–or who–was before me, I was frozen in place.

The forest seemed to like toying with its visitors; perhaps it was the creature from the myths playing tricks on me, either way, it sure had me in its spell. It was like I had become one with the forest, a tree with its roots firmly sunk into the ground. A dying, dry tree.

My throat felt hoarse, brimmed with emotions. "...Is that you... Maura?" The mage turned around with a smile at the mention of her name. "Cecilia!" Her eyes twinkled with joy while she shouted my name. With her wand in her hand, she happily waved at me. "Where have you been?"

She pulled me towards a tree stump and instructed me to sit down. Her cheerful laughter reminded me of the time we had spent together. Time that I had left behind when I agreed to redo my life.

"So? Where have you been?" She repeated her question.

As impatient as always.

I knew that it was an illusion, and yet... She felt so natural, so real, so her. "You already know, don't you?" I pointed at the air, suppressing the emotions. To me, it was just air, but Maura saw something completely different. For her the sky was filled with thousands of spirits, all under her command. "You spied on me, didn't you?"

Ah... this is a conversation from the past...

She chuckled and tried to hide her smile under her hand, knowing that she had been caught. But she didn't admit it.

A thought I hadn't planned on saying out loud slipped out. "I wish you were alive."

"Well, in a way I am, no?" She swirled around, "I look and feel alive, even though I remember dying. But it's fine! Since I can be with my favorite person now!" She hugged me and put her face close to mine, smiling.

She whispered in my ears. "Even though you killed me in our previous life." I turned my head towards her, meeting her eyes. They were wide and blood dripped from her neck.

Her voice changed. From the kind, high voice, to a crude and broken voice.

"Hey, why did you kill me? Did you really hate me that much?"

A shiver went down my spine. Still, it made me feel relieved. Yeah... There's no way a mere illusion could imitate the real thing. The fact that it knew about my previous life was concerning though.

"I don't hate you, but..." I drew my sword out of its sheath. "...there's only one Maura." I drew back and stabbed her.

"I hope that I'll see you again, the real you."

Her hazel green eyes slowly turned dark, locked onto mine. I couldn't bear her stare, so I closed my eyes and refused to look back. Her face, frozen in a grimace, violated my whole being.

She collapsed, her muscles relaxed, her hands hung lifeless next to her body and her limbs exploded into tiny pieces, eventually fading into nothingness. Her silent scream, her face frozen in a grimace, overwhelmed me with guilt. Guilt I refused to admit. Tears welled up in my eyes.

"It wasn't my fault."

I kept chanting the same words, as if it were a magic spell.

"It wasn't my fault."

In the back of my head, I could hear my conscience whispering.

It was. You could have prevented it, yet you didn't. Her death is your fault. Yours, and not anybody else's. Stop running away from it.

I shook the uneasiness away, and pressed through the maze of tangled branches. No matter where I looked or went, there was no sight of the exit. The only things keeping me company were the pathetic images of people I had once known and cared for, and trees. Way too many trees.

I couldn't remember how long I had been stuck here, or how many times I had walked the same path, nor did I want to know.

The same cycle kept repeating, over and over.