Praxis crashed into the ground and fell into a deep sleep. It took the Empty two months to finally begin consuming him. It wore him down until he could fight back, until he fell right into the place where it wanted him.
It made him weak and unable to do anything. It let him just walk and walk, until all his mental capacity was used up and he could no longer do anything. Then it started to make its move.
The wind picked up speed and hurled around him. The grass began shifting around and untangling itself. Now with no barrier between its victim and the dirt, it started turning and swaying around. It got a taste of Praxis, and it wanted more.
The grass began growing longer, wrapping itself around the soles of Praxis' feet. It continued to grow, slowly wrapping itself around Praxis' feet. Once it had the feet, it continued its coiling, going up around Praxis' legs. It moved incredibly slowly and did not apply any pressure around its victim, so it would not be noticed.
The dirt began shifting around and slowly pulling Praxis into it.
Its methods were slow, but Praxis did not notice that he was being consumed. That was how it was so successful. Praxis was stuck in a deep state of slumber while everything around him worked together to slowly consume him alive.
* * * *
Praxis opened his eyes to the blank stare of Ralos looking back at him. His mind felt hazy, like a thick sludge had been poured into his brain, slowing everything down. He looked around and saw the faces of Ralos and Karvin looking back at him.
Praxis began giggling uncontrollably. He already knew that this wasn't real. It was too good to be true. His friend, who died right before him, was alive again and right before his eyes. This type of fortune does not happen to Praxis, and this type of deception wasn't going to fool him.
The last thing he remembered to walking through the Empty. This brain got foggy, and he couldn't even think anymore. Then nothing. Everything became blank.
"Did I pass out?" he said out loud, asking himself.
"Yeah, you've been asleep for a while. It's good to see you awake, Prince Praxis. We'll arrive back at the Royal Palace in a couple of hours," Ralos said.
Praxis saw the creature before him, and it was Ralos, exactly the way he remembered him. The same brown eyes, long, well-grown hair, and constant reassuring smile, it was all there. "There must be some flaw," Praxis thought. He looked at his friend again. It was a carbon copy of Ralos, just as he remembers him.
"Just as I remember him," Praxis realized. He was right, this was a dream. This is the Ralos that his mind conjured. Praxis reached deep into his memories to find something that could break the reality of the dream.
"That's good to hear, Ralos," Praxis said. "Do you remember that young maid from a few years back, Rachel. Can you tell why she does not work in the palace anymore?"
Ralos replied, "That is simple. You fired her because you caught her with another man, even though she told me that she loved me."
Praxis realized right away how terrible this illusion was. Whatever created this realm wasn't that intelligent. When talking about Rachel, the real Ralos always became a little emotional. However, this one showed no emotion at all. Ralos also never found out about the affair. Praxis kept that to himself to protect Ralos.
Somehow this creature did not know that, it only accessed certain information, not the whole. It was good at creating this world, but still, its abilities were limited.
Now he knew that it was all fake, he had to find a way out. He hypothesized that he was currently in some dream world in his mind, possibly created by the Empty itself. There could also be a creature in the Empty doing this to him. Whatever it was, he had to think of a way to break out.
"Yes, that was it, thank you, Ralos. And as your prince, I command you all to stop this carriage and run away in every direction as far away from me as possible."
"Yes, your highness," they said in unison.
They all jumped out of the carriage and began running away. This was good. Praxis was now alone and could think of ways to escape this place.
He knew that he was still dreaming, but somehow he had to wake his body up. If he could somehow possibly break the dream world from within, then maybe he could wake up.
How do you break something like this. This was the first time Praxis encountered magic like this. Magic. A thought just popped into Praxis' head. He knew that he was not strong enough to break out of this world, but knew he could conjure something in his mind that would.
Luckily for him, he had encountered something of that nature.
"I summon the demon of chains, Velrik," he screamed out loud.
A dark figure began crawling up from the ground. It was almost twice his size, with giant horns and fangs, but it had his face.
"I would like to make a deal with you, demon," he said. "Destroy this world and you can have my body, soul, and whatever else you please."
"Why would I make such a deal?" the demon said, leaning over onto Praxis, staring him down.
"Because that is what you want to do. I don't know why, but that was what the demon Velrik wanted."
"Very well. I will fulfill this contract," it said.
Fire began to spread from the demon. Gusts of wind tore around Praxis, and lightning flashed across the sky. Everything was catching on fire, and everything was being incinerated before his eyes. The ground before him split open, and Praxis fell.
He fell into an abyss and lost consciousness.
* * * *
He jerked his body up and ripped out the grassy tendril going into his nose. He could feel the grass and the dirt slithering and wrapping around his body. It has not reached his arms or hands yet, so he reached down and began unwrapping it from his torso. Then he got it off his legs and feet. Once it was all off, he jumped up, standing on his feet.
He checked his feet, and they looked normal. Somehow, he managed to escape this ordeal unharmed. He looked around again. It was the same blue sky and green grass he'd grown tired of, but now he knew that this place was somehow alive. And it wanted to consume him alive.
Though Praxis managed to escape from this trial of Tartarus, his real test was just about to begin. From a distance, he heard the yells of an older man who sounded incredibly angry.
"Hey you, what the hell are you doing over there? Can't you follow simple instructions?" the voice yelled.
He turned over to the source of the voice. He saw a large humanoid figure running towards him. It was followed by other figures behind him. Were there other people here with him? Again, Praxis knew that would be too good to be true.
As they got closer and their shapes became easier to discern, Praxis could see large claws and gaping mouths. The two horns protruding out of its forehead and the ashy skin that covered its whole body.
Praxis was not seeing other people. Praxis was seeing the unnatural inhabitants of Tartarus, the jailers who are tasked to watch over the Fallen Ancient. Praxis was about to encounter demons.