I woke nearly as swiftly as I had fallen, and rising with an air of weariness, I noted that Or'do had staggered to his feet. He stooped as if beneath a collar of iron, his seared flesh hanging limp and scorched around him.
"We cannot linger." He rasped, his voice thick with pain. "They know of us now."
"They?" I reached forward, yet he waved away my questing hand.
"I can stand well enough. They are whatever presence profits from this cycle, perhaps the Flame itself. Regardless, you must feel it, that sense of impending cataclysm. We must begone from this place before the chariots of chaos arrive, for whatever presence they bear is one we cannot contest."
"In that state, I doubt we can go far."
"We do not need to." He grimaced as Cinder flared within him, white flames curling from his bare chest, singing in hoarse, gleeful tones as it laid waste to the heart beneath. Trembling, his hand slashed the air, and a dark rift blazed to life before him. "Come, quickly!" Even as the words drifted past his lips, Or'do half shambled, half collapsed into the man sized gap, through which only perfect, unblemished darkness could be seen. Shaking my head, I glanced about one last time, certain that I would not see this realm again, then I followed my comrade through the gates of hell.
