“He’s dead.”

The monotone voice spit out the words as if he were talking about an insect, devoid of any emotion. The deep wrinkles in his shaded face hardly moved at all as his countenance remained unchanged.

“At least an hour,” the stranger continued, “so it’s not likely there’s any trail to follow.”

The flicker of an orange flame scorched through the tip of a cigarette, barely pinched between the man’s chapped lips, and cast an amber glow on his aging face.

“What about him?” a woman’s voice asked from the distance.

The man turned his head and his eyes winced together behind an exhaled cloud of smoke before fixing themselves on me.

“Who are you?” the hooded figure asked.

I realized that I was looking up at the stranger from the ground. My head was pounding and the ringing in my ears that had been there all along was now making itself known.

“How he’s still alive,” the female voice interjected, “that’s a better question.”

I rubbed my head and started to sit up. The man let out a labored grunt as he knelt down next to me and put his hand against my chest. Now that he was closer, I could see the deep lines and the black and white stubble that crossed his face.

“Don’t move,” he commanded. His bare fingertips poked out from a set of fingerless gloves and his tattered overcoat was easily two sizes too big. The man looked like a hobo but spoke confidently as if he were the commander of an entire army. “This might feel…funny,” he said standing up again.

I leaned back as he ordered and watched as he waved an open hand through the air, right, left and right again. As his hand moved, the same orange glow that burned at the tip of his cigarette began to come from his hands. Panic came over me but there was nothing I could do. My body wouldn’t move. I tried to scream but my heart raced and I choked for air. Brighter and brighter the aura grew, throwing plasma-like sparks from the edges. It looked as if the surface of the sun itself was coming from this man’s hands and suddenly the light burst from the glowing mass and covered my entire body.

It felt as if a charge of energy had slammed into my soul, invigorating every cell in my body. The glow went just as quickly as it came and, when I opened my eyes again, I realized the ringing in my ears was gone. I set up slowly, unsure of what had just happened.

“He healed you,” the woman said, as if knowing exactly what I was thinking.

“Healed…me…?” I asked in bewilderment.

“Yeah, now get up and tell us who you are,” the man barked into the night air.

I came to my feet, stunned at the resurgence of energy I was feeling.

“I…I’m…” I stumbled on, trying to answer him, “I don’t…know who I am…”

The woman stepped forward, revealing a youthful look, maybe late 20’s or early 30’s. Her hair was jet black and straight, cut evenly above her shoulders. The wrapped her thin fingers under my chin and turned my head towards hers. Her dark emerald eyes gazed into my own as they narrowed with concentration. She moved her hands to either side of my head and leaned closer.

As odd as the timing was, despite my own confusion as to what was going on, the only thing I could think was, Dear God, I hope you’re going to kiss me.

Instead, her eyes began to glow from deep within. The luminescence lit up her eyes like a backlit lantern and quickly faded away. Her hands dropped from my head and she took a step back, staring at me with an expression of shock.

“Well?” the man grunted, expectantly.

“He’s…he’s a sleeper…” she said quietly, eyes still fixed on me with confusion.

“A sleeper?” I asked.

“Is that so?” he replied, ignoring my question. He took a step toward the lifeless body that lay sprawled across the alleyway ground. Wedging a boot under the face-down body, the man kicked the corpse over to reveal a disfigured being. It looked as if the person had been burned alive. With almost no regard to the sight, the old man asked, “So, what realm is he from?”

The woman’s lips almost seemed to tremble but before she could say anything, I stepped over to the body on the ground.

“Jesus, what happened to him?” I asked.

“Surely you must know boy,” the old man grunted.

“He doesn’t,” the woman interrupted. “His aura is new and he shows no sign of being an architect or animator.”

The hooded figure turned back to the young woman and finally showed some sign of emotion in his aged voice, “How do you figure that’s possible?”

“I don’t know,” she answered, “but there’s something else-”

“What’s a sleeper?” I asked again, more firmly. “What happened to him? And who are you?”

The odd pair looked at each other for a moment and took a step closer to me. The woman looked down at the body.

“I was hoping you could tell us what happened here,” she said, “but it seems we won’t have that figured out any time soon. My name is Alyx. This is Radacast.”

“Call me Brown,” the man said pulling back his hood. The moonlight illuminated the man’s short, wavy hair. It matched his stubble in color, etched in black and white and matted back.

Suddenly, the sky lit up in the distance. Beyond the rooftops of city skyscrapers and lofty towers came a haunting white glow. It rumbled within the nighttime clouds and burst through in an alabaster pillar of light. The beam shot down towards the earth and disappeared into the horizon. The sound of the figure’s presence rumbled through the air, echoing like a deeply-hummed alarm. It sounded as if a god or a titan had been blowing horn of war, calling out, beckoning for warriors to charge into war.

“No time for pleasantries, I’m afraid,” Radacast said, flipping the hood over his head again. The wind around us began to thrash about. “That’s our queue to leave!”

The pair simultaneously lunged at me and grabbed a hold of my arms.

Alyx looked at me and said, “We’re sending you first! When you land, don’t do anything – just wait for us!”

I looked at her and nodded. I had no idea what the hell I was getting into or if I could even trust these two but it looked like I had no choice. The brightly glow began to glow around the three of us and soon enveloped us all. The blinding light suddenly flashed and what happened next is nearly impossible to describe. It looked as if I were thrown into a black hole and the entire world was twisted around me until I was thrust out again but when I landed I wasn’t in the alleyway anymore. I was lying on the ground in the middle of an open, serene field and it was no longer night. Instead, the sun was beginning to rise behind the trees and I was all alone.

Back in the alleyway, Radacast and Alyx watched as I disappeared in the flash of light. Their gazes were suddenly fixed on the pillar of light again as several giant orbs of energy burst through the clouds and tumbled toward the earth. Alyx stepped forward, her raven-colored hair whipping in the torrential wind, but the elder man threw his gloved hand on her shoulder and held her back.

“We can’t right now!” he yelled over the chaotic noise, “We have to get back to that kid – he’ll get himself killed if he’s alone for too long.”

The girl wore the regret on her face as she knew he was right.

“Fine,” she replied, beginning to glow again, “let’s go!”

“Wait,” Radacast called out, “I’ve never seen you look the way you did when you looked into that kid. What did you see!?”

Alyx turned her head back and with an almost paralyzing look of significance said, “…The Fire.”