Tharoc was apprehensive, though the entity had shown no malice; only patience. His mind was filled with questions, but after years of fruitless searching, the possibility of finally finding a path to atonement compelled him silently forward. He picked his way among stalagmites on the cave floor, smoothed over by centuries of slowly dripping water.

He lowered his head to duck through a narrow opening in the wall, and emerged into a large, brightly lit chamber. Unlike the cavern passage he had just left, the stone floor was flat and even. The walls of the room stood many meters apart, and the vaulted cavern ceiling sparkled as the room's light reflected off of thousands of hanging stalactites. Standing on a stone dais in the center of the chamber towered slab of black obsidian, polished to a perfect shine.

The young dragon's jaw fell open in amazement. The stone stretched far above his head, nearly touching the apex of the vaulted ceiling above. For several moments he stood wordlessly gazing upon the monument. It couldn't possibly have been a natural formation; someone or something had put it there, deep inside the mountain. How and for what purpose were beyond his guess.

"You wish to atone," the entity's voice suddenly filled his mind. "Approach the stone and you will see your paths."

"Paths?" Tharoc finally spoke. "There is more than one way?"

"There are infinite paths you may tread on your way to redemption," the soothing voice intoned.

The dragon felt a twinge of annoyance. If there were so many methods to pay for his guilt, why had he not found any during his years of searching?

"Go and look, young one," came the entity's voice, as if in answer to Tharoc's thoughts. With halting steps, he approached the dais. The surface of the monolith, polished to a glassy reflection, showed his perfect mirror image as he drew near. He only saw himself, and the reflection of the cavern chamber around him.

"Your own life," the voice continued, "can be seen on this side. Journey forth and look to the other sides."

It seemed an odd request, for such a journey would only take him to the rear of the black stone. But, as he circled the dais, he discovered that the monolith was not a simple flat slab, but that it had more than two sides. His unease grew as he continued around, for he saw that each time he rounded a corner, there appeared yet another side that he hadn't expected. By the time he calculated that he had made a full circuit, he had counted eight sides, and the stone appeared to continue with many more.

On each surface of the monolith, he saw not his own reflection, but a scene of an unknown land. He saw snowy, frozen rivers, sprawling fields of grass, craggy canyons, ruined cities, and thick wooded forests. There were thriving villages on one surface, while another showed a bright, shining castle on a mountain. Everywhere he looked at it, each side showed a different place. His head swam with confusion.

"Many lives there are," the calm voice spoke up. "You must choose each of your lives, and live them each in one of the many worlds the stone shows. As you conclude each life with an act of atonement, you will return here to begin the next."

Lives? Tharoc thought in shock, his throat suddenly dry. He was to live multiple lives? Then the thought suddenly struck him. He could not redeem himself by giving his own single life in exchange for the seven he had taken. But if he could give his own life seven times...? His heart began to fill with amazed hope.