Encouraged and confident, I continued to make my way down the narrow steps. A few seconds later, I slipped.

Before I could grab anything with my hands, I was off the stairway completely, sliding down the steep, slick pyramid. Thirty of forty feet later, I came to a junction with another structure, and changed directions, now sliding down the crevice created by the joining of the two pyramids. Soon, another turn, and then another.

With the Shield protecting me, it was nothing but fun—the greatest water slide ever created.

I slipped and slid down several more turns before I finally reached the bottom, which ended at the edge of a vast plane of the same glowing material, stretching out before me to infinity, flat as a perfectly sliced piece of cheese.

I stood and looked back up at the towering maze of pyramids. High in the distance I could just make out some Shadow Ka, resting and waiting. They had no idea I was here.

I looked to the left and right and saw that the pyramids went on in both directions seemingly without end, but they all came to a stop along a straight line, leading to the flat plane. It was like a busy beachside, countless condos and tourist traps lined up, facing an ocean of purple.

I turned and faced the vast emptiness, my clothes sopping wet. The deluge continued, and for the first time, I saw lightning and heard thunder. The storm appeared to be worse out there, and the lightning illuminated the sky to such a degree that I could see the cloud formations. They were swirling around a single point, like a miniature hurricane—like it was a living, breathing entity.

A deafening crack of thunder erupted from the central point, and a thick, blinding streak of lightning bolted down and smashed into the ground, seeming to linger for several seconds. Then it was gone. I continued to stare in that direction.

The next series of flashes revealed something where the blistering lightning bolt had struck—something that had not been there before. It was impossible to tell exactly, but the glimpse of billowing white material, flowing in the wind and rain, had to be my signal.

I began walking toward it. Then I ran.

I didn't need to look at my watch to know that time was disappearing with a ruthless sense of indifference.

As I drew nearer, the image of the Lady of the Storm solidified and took shape, despite the drenching rain that did its best to obscure my vision. Parts of her long dress flowed ten or twenty feet from her body, dancing in the wind. But the rain did not touch her.

Her hair was long and red, cascading strips of velvet reaching her back and beyond. It was not the typical auburn or orange of usual red hair—hers was the color of blood. Her face was pale and gentle, with eyes bluer than the clearest sky. If I had been a little older, I might've asked her to marry me right on the spot.

I pulled to a halt about twenty feet in front of her and then walked with careful steps the rest of the way. A bubble of protection from the storm surrounded her, and I walked through it. Not only did the torrent of water end in an instant, but the sounds of the raging storm dissolved away as well. The sudden lack of rain made me wonder why the Shield had not been acting like an umbrella for me all that time, and I figured it had been doing me no harm—unlike the bitter snow and cold of the frozen world I'd visited my first time to the Blackness.

I stopped just a few steps short of the Lady, and waited for her to speak. Every instinct told me that she had expected me for some time now, and was ready to deliver whatever I needed.

“Hello, young Jimmy,” she said, her voice crisp and pure, like the trickling runoff from the North Georgia mountains after a downpour. “Welcome to the Storm World, where things are very different from yours.”

It was the understatement of the day, but I just nodded.

“You have obtained the Three Gifts, and seek the Fourth, am I right?”

“Yes,” I said.

“You must know by now that I do not have this Gift for you, yes?”

My heart sunk a little, because I'd hoped that maybe this time it would be easy. But everything I had been told should have led me to believe that the Lady was only going to give me direction on how to find the final Gift.

“Right,” I said.

“The final door you must open is not like the others, Jimmy. But it is a door nonetheless.” Her eyes dropped, and she paused, as if in deep thought. I scratched my head trying to make sense of her last sentence.

“I give unto you the Red Disk.” She reached into the folds of her flowing gown and brought out a flat circular disk, about the width of a typical Frisbee, an inch thick, and as red as the fiery hair flowing off of the Lady's head. She held it out, and I accepted her odd gift to me.

It was heavier than it looked, and very solid, like a piece of hard granite. I flipped it over and scanned both sides, but there was no break in its design. Red all over, with no blemishes, bumps, or lines. Smooth and cool to the touch.

Red Disk was as good a name as any, albeit unimaginative. I placed it in my backpack, and strapped it on a little tighter, just to be safe.

She continued her instructions.

“You cannot obtain the Fourth Gift until you have found the Dream Warden, who will then reveal it unto you. You cannot find the Dream Warden without the Red Disk, so I have done my part in giving it to you. But then, here is the difficult part.”

Her face grew somber, and I didn't like that one bit.

“It is difficult to understand the Disk, for there is only one way to know how to use it.”

“Only one?”

“Yes. The one called Erifani Tup.”

“Erifanawho?” I asked.

“Erifani Tup. It is an unusual name, to be sure. But you must find and understand it, and you will then see the Disk.”

“How do I find this guy … Erifani?”

“This is the difficult part.” She paused. “You must use the Red Disk to find Erifani Tup. And you must find Erifani Tup in order to use the Red Disk. It is quite the conundrum, don't you think?”

Every computer chip in my skinny brain was trying to tell me I'd just gone insane.

“I … what … what?” I must've sounded like a complete idiot.

“Jimmy, your time is almost gone. I will tell you once more, and you must not forget. To find Erifani Tup, you must use the Red Disk. To use the Red Disk you must find Erifani Tup. You can do this, I know you can. The Dream Warden will then be revealed to you, and the Fourth Gift will be yours. Now, go.”

“But—”

“Go. Come to me again, when it is all over. I will show you the Storm World, and you will never forget.”

“But—”

“GO!”

Tingling prickles skittered all over my skin, which should have been a warning, but I was still lost trying to understand the Lady of the Storm's riddles. So I didn't notice the massive bolt of lightning until it was on top of us.

The world disintegrated into a million pieces of light and fire.