Jessie and Aegis ran through the forest at a breakneck pace. It was still dark out, the pair not even getting a full nights rest before being accosted once more. The yapping of the coyotes echoed with each step. Golem spoke into Jesse’s mind.

  “You asked to be informed if there were any humans nearby. There are some a quarter mile to the west.” He said, with a path appearing in Jesse’s vision. He turned their course to follow, praying these people could help them.

  A coyote ran to the side of Jesse and moved in to tackle him but he cracked the rebar down onto it causing it to tumble end over end a few times before coming to a rest. It shook itself off and continued the chase. Another one managed to hit Aegis in the side and the two fell in a heap of yelps and growls. Jesse stopped and turned swinging. His rebar connected with the coyote's head with a wet thump just before it clamped down on Aegis. Jesse still felt nausea from the feeling of the rebar hitting the poor animal but his desire to avoid becoming lunch far outstripped that feeling.

  As they ran Jesse noticed that the trees were growing more sparse. Debris still littered the area, with new rifts opening and dropping new pieces at random. Soon they found themselves in a field and up ahead Jesse saw the light of a campfire. His stomach growled at the scent of roasting meat but his fear for the pack of coyotes chasing him overrode any thoughts of food. They approached the campfire and Jesse yelled to the men around it.

  There were three men. Two wore chain armor with a cloth over it. The cloth had a symbol on it that looked kind of like a crystal with a cog. They rose and drew large cudgels made of dark wood. The final one wore plate armor, with an enclosed helmet that ended in a point and had a feathered plume on the top of it. He wore the same livery on his armor. He stood but didn’t draw his weapon, a long sword with a cross guard sheathed at his waste.

  Did I step into a renaissance fair? Jesse thought. He stopped short of the men and the two in chain rushed past him to engage the coyotes. The man, who Jesse assumed was the commander, spoke. Whatever he said, it wasn’t in English. It sounded like gibberish to Jesse, with lots of guttural noises spoken from the belly.

  Aegis jumped in front of Jesse, growling at the man. He looked at the dog and stopped. He pointed to his own chest and said “Kaelan Vor’Shak.”

  Jesse hesitated a moment before doing the same “Jesse Weston.” The man said a few more words in the language Jesse couldn’t understand.

  Golem, can you make any sense of this?

  Golem chimed in. “It does not match any known languages. I am working on a translation. I require additional samples to complete the translation however.” Had Jesse asked him to translate? Maybe that’s how he had interpreted the request to make sense of it.

  He could hear the wet cracks and yelping of the soldiers fighting the coyotes and assumed that would not go well for the animals given how unperturbed the soldiers looked.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t understand you.” Jesse said to the man. His body language read as though he was indifferent to the exchange. Maybe even that he expected this outcome?

  “Listen, I’m looking for my daughter. Have you seen anyone else come through here?” He tried again.

  The man didn’t appear to react to his words one way or another. The commander said another couple of sentences to him, which of course Jesse didn’t understand, before taking a step forward. This set Aegis off again who barked at him wardingly. Her caution toward the man started to make Jesse’s hair stand on end. Maybe I should get out of here.

  The man stopped for a moment. Then he nodded. What did that mean? Had the fighting stopped? Jesse suddenly then felt like he got hit by a truck, as the back of his head connected with something very hard. Everything went dark.

  .

  Jesse woke up with a splitting headache. He felt like he was hungover. He found his hands and feet were bound. Panic started to build yet again. Why did he keep finding himself in over his head? What the hell is wrong with this planet or dimension or wherever he was?

  Golem, what happened? He thought at his AI.

  “You’ve been unconscious for two hours. While you were unconscious they tied you up. You are mostly unharmed. I will note that while you were unconscious the two men wearing chain armor absorbed a large amount of energy that seemed to stream off of the dead coyotes. When this happened one of them passed some kind of threshold and their muscle density increased nearly instantly. Scans of the men indicate their muscle density far surpasses ordinary human levels. They contain an energy signature similar to that which entered them and to the crystals you carry but not exactly a match to either.” Golem said, only half prompted.

  Wait, that was odd. Golem didn’t typically give information so freely. He would need to ask him about it later. Perhaps this was a side effect of the crystal. Jesse pushed down his panic and tried to focus.

  He tried and failed to push himself to a seated position. His hands were bound behind his back. He could see Aegis laying nearby.

  Golem, scan Aegis and make sure she is okay. He thought at the AI.

  “Vital signs appear nominal. She will likely wake up soon. She also appears to be bound.” Golem said in his mind.

  The men were speaking between each other. Have you finished your translation?

  Golem responded. “I have analyzed their speech and can begin translating now.”

  Suddenly Jesse understood what the people were saying. It was as if they were speaking in English. Jesse didn’t know Golem could do that, though he did know he could translate between different known languages. He picked up the conversation mid sentence.

  “…do with the prisoners?” One of the guards in chainmail asked.

  “It’s not our place to question.” The man in plate armor replied. Jesse remembered he called himself Kaelan.

  “I’m not questioning our orders, just curious what happens to them is all.” The chain wearing soldier said.

  “Damn it Dravik. The Archon will not tolerate weakness in his army. We do not care what happens to them. We are told to collect them and that is what we do. We will bring him to the Archon to sort out.” The commander said, raising his voice in a growl.

  This made Jesse pause. They have collected others? Maybe Rebecca was one of them? He decided he would try to talk to them.

  “Hey, so uh let’s try this again. My name is Jesse Weston. I’m not from around here, have I done something wrong?” He said to them.

  The commander's head snapped to look at him. He had his helmet off. He was an older man with slightly graying hair contrasting his black. He had a slightly puffy face with a long puckered scar crossing it. His eyes blazed with intensity.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Why do you speak our language now but not before?” He asked frowning.

  “I picked it up in the meantime.” Jesse said with an attempted shrug.

  “While unconscious? What sort of sorcery is that?" The man said. His face showed no reaction.

  “It’s hard to explain.” Jesse said. The man just stared in response.

  “So could you tell me if I have inadvertently committed some sort of crime?” Jesse asked.

  “You were found in the quarantine zone. The Archon demands you be brought to him. We leave in the morning for the capital.” The commander, Kaelan, responded. Jesse didn’t detect any hate in his tone, more indifference.

  “Please, I’m looking for my daughter. I think she may have passed through here. She is a 20 year old woman with long dark hair and a small build.” He pleaded.

  As he spoke, he slowly worked the rope binding his hand against the hard edge of the AI module implanted in his arm. Maybe he could weaken it enough to break out.

  “I do not know if a woman of that description came through. I have not seen her, though we have captured and brought several women and several men to the capital from the quarantine zone.” He replied. Jesse couldn’t sense any dishonesty in his words. He was honestly surprised at how open the man was being.

  “Wait, how far is the capital?” Jesse asked, a pit growing in his stomach.

  “A few weeks' journey.” The commander said.

  Weeks. And they had taken several people from the area. And just like that his discomfort with Aegis’s sudden appearance, his inability to find Rebecca or Kara, it all slid into place.

  Golem. If Aegis entered the rift at nearly the same time, say within 5 seconds of me, why would we have arrived within minutes of each other? He mentally asked.

  “There are many potential reasons for that outcome to occur.” Golem answered unhelpfully.

  Okay, but people have been arriving and being captured here for weeks Golem. Weeks. Maybe longer. Does that change the analysis? He asked, feeling sweat trickle down his face but unable to wipe it away.

  “Yes. It is likely there is a time delay or distortion when entering or exiting the rift. Given the approximations that you stated it is likely there is an approximate ratio of 25,920 alternate location seconds to 1 earth standard second when comparing time passage.” Golem replied.

  Jesse felt ice cold. That would mean… how long? He couldn’t do that math in his head. Golem, how long would that mean Rebecca had been here before I arrived?

  “Approximately three months local time.” The AI stated.

  No…three months? Jesse felt freezing cold all of the sudden, despite the warmth of the fire on his skin. She probably waited for me. He thought. Waited for me to never show up. She could be anywhere. She could be hurt or worse. The creatures here are vicious. The people are hostile. What happened to her? Panic rose within him. He had to find out. His greatest lead was the Archon.

  Jesse swallowed the pit in his stomach. First he had to make sure Kara would be okay too.

  How long before Kara gets here? According to your best estimation. He asked mentally.

  “She will arrive anywhere between five and seven months. I can create a model to refine this timing further but it will take time.” Golem offered.

  Do it and inform me when you’ve calculated it more exactly. Jesse responded. And thank you. He added. The AI didn’t respond.

  Jesse breathed a sigh of relief. His wife would be safe for a few months, giving him time to find Rebecca and return. The time difference also meant that it would be years before either planet suffered any extreme damage from the Earth being slowly eaten away by the unstable rift. As long as Golem's calculations are correct, the facility wouldn't even be destroyed by the rift within a year. This was good because he truly had no idea how he would stop the rift from growing.

  Jesse realized the soldiers were trying to talk to him while he was staring off into space.

  “Where are you from stranger?” The man named Dravik tried again. Kaelan shot him a warning look and Dravik just shrugged.

  “Uh I come from a place called… uh… The Slipnir Gate Research Station of the Midwestern Consortium.” Jesse replied, not really knowing if he should be honest or not.

  “That’s an odd name for a place.” Dravik commented with a frown.

  “Not particularly odd where I am from. Most settlements are named after their function and not with any sort of arbitrary or cultural name.” Jesse answered with a shrug.

  Golem chimed into his head. “I detect an energy source approaching. I will highlight it on your HUD.”

  An indicator for direction appeared on his vision showing where something was approaching, though it was too far away and too dark out for him to tell. Jesse kept working the ropes, though he didn’t feel like he was making much progress. Had Golem just given him information completely unprompted? Is his AI matrix failing?

  “What are you looking at?” Kaelan asked him.

  “Nothing, just thought I saw something.” He replied.

  “Most dangerous thing in these parts are those coyotes.” Dravik told him. “At least from what we've seen. They aren’t too dangerous if you have some armor or any essence ability.”

  “Wait. What’s essence?” Jesse asked.

  “Oh well it’s..” Dravik started before Kaelan cut him off.

  “That’s not information we are going to give you, stranger. You could easily use it against us.” He said.

  Jesse kept an eye on the approaching energy source. His indicator showed it was only a hundred feet away now. It stopped approaching soon, as if watching.

  “Please, I need to find my daughter. Maybe you could just let me go? We can all forget I was here.” Jesse said. He figured he had to try.

  Dravik sat up straighter and looked at him. Kaelan scowled and the last soldier, who Jesse hadn’t heard speak yet, laughed.

  Of course Kaelan was the one to respond. “No. You’ll be seeing the Archon and you can work it out with him.”

  Jesse had the distinct feeling that he did not want to work anything out with this Archon. Anyone who orders the capture of people just for being present in an area probably isn’t someone you want to hang out with. He was certain now that he at least weakened his hand bounds. He just needed to wait for his chance to break them. What to do about his feet or Aegis was another thing entirely though.

  Aegis stirred and let out a whine. She then started flailing, but her legs were all bound together so it had little effect. Jesse’s heart sank at the sight. The soldiers looked at her but seemed unbothered. Except Dravik who just frowned at her. Jesse did wonder why they captured her too. Maybe they were just playing it safe for the Archon.

  “Can you tell me why there is a quarantine in the area? Why does the Archon care?” Jesse asked, probing for as much information as possible.

  “He ordered the quarantine zone when the rift appeared. Do you not see the debris? Did you not come from another place through the rift?” Kaelan responded. “These things are magic and magic is dangerous.”

  “Magic isn’t real.” Jesse said. “It’s just used to describe a phenomenon that we don’t fully understand yet.”

  “Whatever you wish to call it, we call it magic.” Kaelan said with a shrug. “The Archon has outlawed magic. You came from magic. This area is magic. You even carry magic crystals with you. You are in a quarantined area. These are all reasons enough to arrest you, even if the Archon hadn’t ordered anyone in the area be brought specifically to him.”

  “The energy source is growing, Jesse.” Golem chimed in.

  Aegis must have sensed it too because she started thrashing around. Jesse started pulling on his bonds, preparing to break them. His heart thundered in his chest. What was happening? He had to get Aegis to safety.

  Jesse’s eye was drawn to where the energy source was located. He noticed a distinct flickering red glow and a crackle that drowned out the fire next to him. Then he saw it, the outline of a person's face. It stared at them. The stranger's eyes focused on Jesse’s, they reflected the ominous glow. In his hands he held a blazing ball of heat.