He was aware of the cold first. It was an extreme cold that ate into him so savagely that he found it hard breathing. He began to cough and wheeze for breath as he turned over weakly and tried to get to his feet.

The pale spirit of King Baffour hovered above him.

“Get up, Son of Kukah!” the king said desperately. “We must hasten to the Land of the Waiting Souls. Tallying here for a while will sure take all your life!”

The son of Gus Kukah nodded because he could not speak, and struggled to his feet.

“Here, come with me, through the green door!” the king said and floated towards a gigantic green door in the cloudy atmosphere.

Sena saw then that the whole area was frosted with hard ice! It was frozen solid with silvery vapour rising up from the ground. He strained his eyes and looked for the door indicated, but he saw only a huge brown door in the distance that seemed to be on fire.

With a groan of despair, and great pain in his chest, he moved towards the door.

“Sena!” King Baffour cried urgently. “Where are you going to?”

“Th-the burn-burning do-do-door!” Sena spluttered with difficulty and pointed.

“No!” the king cried anxiously and pointed in the opposite direction. “There’s no door there! I mean the green door over there!”

“I c-c-can’t s-see gr-gr-green door!” Sena said weakly as his legs trembled. “On-on-only burning door… the-the-there!”

He fell suddenly and coughed, and blood rushed out of his mouth and cascaded on the white ice.

“Oh, no, dear spirits!” King Baffour said with great horror. “You can’t see my green door and I can’t see your burning door! Alas, it seems we do part here, my prince! Oh, woes, woes, woes!”

Sena raised a stunned, pallid face towards the spirit.

“You were sure!” he said grimly. “Have you erred?”

“I do not know why it is so!” the king said, a note of despair in his voice. “These workings of Spirits unknown baffles me!”

“Then, perhaps I must go back!” Sena said darkly and looked upwards where they had fallen from, but the portal had disappeared.

“It is a mite late for that, Sena, my prince!” King Baffour said. “Seems to me you must head for the burning door you see!”

“What lies yonder?” Sena asked darkly as he coughed again, wheezed, and expelled a blast of blood on the snow. “Where does it take me? To Hades, or to someplace abysmal?”

“That I do not know!” the King cried in earnest. “All I know is, if coming here would have jeopardized the mission of the Spirits, they would not have allowed it! Make haste for the door, Sena! Every breath you take here draws life from you!”

Sena Kukah grunted and got to his feet. He moved towards the burning door with difficulty because it was almost impossible to breathe now. There was a tight wedge within his chest that swelled with pain with every step he took.

He tried to run, but the ice crumbled beneath his feet. His toes had become pins of pain that he could barely stand on, and yet, whenever he looked up, the burning door did not appear any nearer!

“Th-this can’t b-be!” Sena whispered as he crashed down on his hands and knees with agony in his chest, draining his strength.

“You must hurry, Sena, son of Gus!” the king cried anxiously.

“This accursed cold takes my breath!” Sena said through gritted teeth. “I strive for exit, and remain where I bode! Perhaps, I tread in vain!”

It was almost impossible for him to gain his feet now. His body was weighed down by the shadow of death, and he turned agonized eyes to the spirit of the king.

“Where lies the green door in your sight?” he asked tightly, and the spirit pointed in the opposite direction of the burning door.

“Perhaps, there lies my path though I see it not!” Sena said and with a mighty roar threw himself towards the opposite direction. He rolled forward and hurled himself towards that direction again.

“Do you see the door?” the king asked.

“I see nothing!” Sena replied. “But I breathe easier!”

He launched himself again, and when he looked up, he saw that he was now near the burning door.

“I perceive it now!” he said, but all strength had gone from his body, and he could not move again.

Sena grunted and dug his fingers into the ice, dragging himself inch by inch in the opposite direction, wheezing painfully, but closing his mind to the pain. His hands started to tear and bleed, but he dug in, pulled, dug in, pulled, hedging himself forward with his toes, and when he looked up suddenly, he was in front of the burning door.

With a loud roar he launched himself forward, hit the door, and fell through.

The spirit of the king shimmered with relief as he began to float towards the green door.

“Indeed, your strength of mind is amazing to behold, Warrior of the Spirits! May them guide you through Hades, and hasten us through Gleam!”

He went through the green door.