Syth and Axe (Part 7) : On the Precipice of Oblivion

 

Part 7: Precipice of Oblivion

1770 - Catskill Mountains

The world fell out from under him. He toppled through absolute nothingness until…

Pain.

Glorious, ridiculous pain.

But at least he had peace. He rose to all fours, then to his knees. Then full height. His back cracked with the strain, and he groaned. He felt older than his years. He was only…

… how long had he been here?

Mountains, on earth… he remembered seeing a strange Dutchman… in some sort of sailor costume. Captain. He was a captain of some Dutch vessel… the name was flying out of his head.

His hand absently stroked at his chin.

A beard. It was longer than he remembered.

How long had it been? How long had he…

Cole?

Who was Cole?

He stood. He’d been resting near that tree again. The one… well, quite far away from home. He’d gotten turned around again. A strange twirling circle of sticks, with a fairy circle around it. Those strange creatures again. Skeletal things.

He watched as they passed by, shambling around those paths - to the pedestal, then back to the circle. Never entering. They never entered for some reason. He watched until he dozed off.

His arm. He looked down.

That’s strange… the arm was there a moment ago… what had happened to it?

He shook.

It was gone. Yep. The arm was completely gone from about the bicep down. Not that the bicep was there anymore. No. That been ripped free along with a bit of his shoulder. He absently flexed his hand. There was no hand. No muscles. No elbow.

Surprisingly… no pain…

He closed his eyes.

Something dropped from above. He smelled… fur? His eyes blinked open. A large, broad, fur-covered back. Brownish red. Red vest with gold trim. Pretty outfit. Circus must be in town. Circus…

He dozed again as a simian face turned toward him. Gold crown glistening. The form’s lips pulled back in all-to-human teeth. Barked something at him.

He blinked awake.

“Get up, little human!”

Something equally large stood near the simian form. Large horns protruded from its head. Golden armor ran down its length, interspersed with traces of blue. He turned his head. “He’s lost to us. We need to flee this place.”

“True, but he’s not food. We can’t have him setting off the diets of all these monsters.”

The large bull-man huffed. “Fine,” he growled.

Large hands closed over him, picking him up like he were a child. What was his name? How was he? He felt his own beard drop heavily across his face.

Then his eyes closed again. He yawned. Whatever would happen from here on out would happen. No sense worrying about it. Just wake him up when the pain began again. 

His arm hurt.

“Big beard for such a small man.”

“Hmmm.” grunted the other.

“Look at it. Been growing forever!”

“Yes.”

“You need to relax, Nu’wo. I’m just making conversation. It is strange though that a human would be in a place like this.”

Again, all he heard was a grunt.

“I know what I’ll call him. Kneelength. Look at that beard. It really does come to the knees! Can we keep him?”

Nu’wo apparently had no time for small talk. “Andren will want to know about this.”

“We’ll get back eventually. This whole world shouldn’t exist.”

“Neither should Mania, but that doesn’t mean we destroy it.”

The simian figure pointed. “These plants are tainted, and look at these creatures. What do you make of it?”

“Nothing. It’s not my job to make anything of anything.”

“You’re no fun. Whoa! Look at the colors!”

The muscular ape-like creature used a massive, furry arm to latch onto a nearby tree and vault himself up into the canopy. He landed gracefully on a branch and began to point.

“You should see this!”

“I don’t do trees.”

“I don’t know how you stay sane.”

“I’m quite fine on the ground, Sune. Now come down. We need to get back to camp before night falls.”

Sune stared off into the horizon. “I wonder what their world is like. Does it have all these colors or just these shapes?”

“Probably neither. These are Lemurian distortion crystals. They’re bleeding multiple realms together.”

Sune used a massive hand to grab the branch and swing down, hanging momentarily to watch his surroundings before dropping into a crouch. He nodded at Kneelength. “Think he’s all right?”

“Dunno.”

“Not too much blood.”

“They already licked it clean.”

A tense look passed between the two.

“We’ll get him out of here.”

“Drop him off at one of the camps. They’ll be able to fix him.”

“Brilliant idea… and if they see us?”

“We bash them in the face.”

“That went so well last time. Ger’maine’s researchers chased us through three realms last time.”

“Only because you’re so huge you left an opening for them to follow you through.”

“And you dropped your amulet.”

“I prefer to think it was your size.”

Nu’wo groaned and adjusted Kneelength on his broad back. “Let’s go.”

Something shifted in the darkness.

“They’re quite foolish, aren’t they.”

“It would appear so.”

Sune vaulted straight up into the branches of a tree and drew out a long staff. Nu’wo drew out a broad battle-axe-type weapon. It shed no light - didn’t even glint as he drew it. It was as if all light was drawn into the weapon rather than reflected. It was a void in the shape of the axe’s head.

“Might want to hold back on that one. Not sure where it’ll send them if you hit them.”

Nu’wo nodded, dematerializing the axe with a single move. He set Kneelength down and rolled his broad shoulders. “Fine. We’ll do this the old-fashioned way.”

Sune’s weapon vanished as well. “Might as well join you,” he said with a smirk, dropping from the tree.

The two stood side-by-side, almost completely relaxed. Kneelength sat between them, confused.

Then the first creature dropped from the canopy. With a broad swing, Nu’wo’s mighty fist connected squarely with the monster’s chest, sending it flying off into the forest, where its flight clearly ceased with a resounding “splot!” Nu’wo stretched his muscles, flexing his arms, tensing his broad fingers. “Been too long. I’ve yearned for this!”

Sune bounced excitedly. “Same.”

And then the horde came.

Dozens. Three from this direction, ten from there. Four seemed to materialize out of the ground. Crawling, shuffling, corpse-like gray monstrosities - almost human, but with sunken black eyes, hairless heads, and rows upon rows and razor teeth set in cream-white gums. They came and they came and they came - rolling over each other to get at the pair.

Sune leapt straight up, catching a tree branch, using one hand-like foot to grab one and another to grab the other. He smashed these two together, splitting them open like eggs dropped on the floor. His snake-like tail looped out, latching onto another. As he dropped from the tree, driving the broken faces of the first two deep into the path, his tail whipped around, sending the third flipping off through the woods.

His hand shot out, fingers tensed together, and tore through the throat of a fourth, exploding out the other side of the head before looping around to remove it from the shoulders. This he gripped like a ball and, with superhuman strength, heaved at a fifth. The head sailed like a cannon ball, taking the body a short ways with it before the small bits of muscle and skin that still connected it tore free, leaving the body to flop unceremoniously into a group. The head struck off a chunk of another’s shoulder.

And the cycle continued - tail lashing here, feet grasping and pummeling. Once, Sune used his entire weight to drive one into the ground before grasping the beast’s legs with his real hands and using it as a weapon until it was to damaged and bloodied to be useful. Then he discarded it and grabbed another.

Nu’wo’s style was simpler, less brutal. Once he’d taken his stable stance, he proceeded to punch - quick jabs - one after another. Each time, he’d strike mid-chest, sending the corpse-like beast back several feet before hitting another and another and another. Bodies began to pile. Then, as a coup de grace, the mighty warrior leapt forward and landed atop the pile, splattering the still-living beasts like they were so many grapes.

It was bloody and effective.

Soon, the forest quieted.

Sune stretched his shoulder and bounced around a little before doing a backflip, landing near a decapitated corpse. He used one foot to pluck up the head, which he regarded. “Nothing from our realms. In between?”

Nu’wo cracked his knuckles and shook the blood from his fingers. “No idea. Undead?”

“These are different. Look at the eyes.”

“That one has no eyes. They’re over there.”

Sune chuckled and grabbed a limp form with one hand, lifting it up as if it weighed nothing. A broken jaw hung free. Several teeth were missing. They’d broken free in the fight and lodged at the back of the throat. Sune used one foot to pry open the eye socket. “Look - completely black.”

“Strange.”

“And they bleed. That’s not normal for the undead, or the half-dead.”

“Ichor?”

Sune dipped his finger in the liquid and poked it into his mouth. “Nope. Blood. Tastes almost human.”

Nu’wo shrugged. “Take on back?”

Sune shook his head, then drew out a long thin dagger. “I’ll take some pieces.” He began to cut into one of the bodies, taking samples from as many parts - fingers, teeth, blood, skin.”

Nu’wo watched on in stoic disinterest.

Kneelength leaned forward and raised his remaining arm. “Question for you both?” Then he vomited and passed out.

When he woke, he was in some sort of campsite. The large bull-looking man was replaced by a broad-shouldered human - mostly human - figure with long ears and a squad face - still human, just… mushed a bit. The man looked over at him and huffed. “Our companion’s awake,” he growled to the other.

The monkey-like creature - known as Sune, was it? - peered around. Light fur ran along his face. A strange monkey-like human face smiled at him, showing long, slightly pointed teeth. His armor had been replaced by some sort of simple tunic - dark in color - and a pair of pants that were cinched at the waist with a sort of cord rope.

His feet were bare, cleaned of the blood that had splattered them, and currently fiddling with a stick and a knife. Sune paused and brought a toenail up to his mouth to chew at it. His eyes met the human’s.

Kneelength attempted to smile.

“Ugh… you humans and your facial expressions.” rumbled the large one.

“Just because you have no emotions,” jabbed Sune, “other than ‘incredible, burning rage.’”

Kneelength sat quietly, watching the pair. Nu’wo folded his arms and stared across the forest. There was a clearing nearby, clearly disturbed from another battle - one that had happened while he was asleep?

“What’s happening?” he muttered.

“Ol’ King Sune over here is leading us on a wild ape chase, that’s what.”

“A what?”

“He’s leading us on a pointless mission,” Nu’wo replied. “One that will get us killed or lost or some combination of the two.”

Sune shrugged. “Well, journeys are life. I’m helping extend yours.”

“I don’t appreciate working for that miserable  king of yours.”

“He’s not my king. We’re old acquaintances. And we’re not working ‘for’ him. We’re working ‘with’ him.”

“Yes, I’m sure our desires align just perfectly. Did you see the metal set up around the camps? They’re terrified of him and his forces.”

Sune shrugged. “They should be terrified of us. Andren would be nothing compared to what we could do if we chose to.” He turned and gave a wide, toothy grin at Kneelength. “Isn’t that right, Kneelength human?”

Kneelength smiled back, utterly confused.

“Can we just go?”

“And what do you want us to do with him?” Sune asked, gesturing at the human.

“Kill him, throw him back to the creatures, leave him behind. I don’t care. I just want out of this realm.”

Sune looked down at the human. “Which would you prefer?” He knelt down and pushed his hairy face right into Kneelength’s bearded one. “Hmmm? You don’t smell like our realm, so you’re definitely not one of us. But you have a familiar odor?”

“Oh, just finish it and let’s go.”

Sun regarded Kneelength again, his head jerking side to side like a hairy bird.

“Shall we eat you?” he asked again. “I wonder what people from your realm taste like?” He looked up at Nu’wo. “Remember that whole colony you ate that one time?”

“Don’t remind me.” He grimaced.

“I wonder if you taste like humans from Zylthania? That’s its name now, right?”

“I don’t know. Can we get going?”

Sune smiled and whispered loudly enough for Nu’wo to easily hear. “I’m not going to eat you. We only eat prey that’s annoyed us, and you haven’t done that nearly enough.”

Nu’wo muttered something under his breath and gazed off at the treeline. “They’re getting ready for another attack. Can you let your pet go and can we be on our way?”

“I’ll keep him around a little longer,” Sune replied. “We can learn from him.”

He winked at Kneelength.

“Or eat him later.”

He reached out a hand and pulled Kneelength to his feet.

The man staggered, but a muscular arm cradled him. “Up… young master. Can’t have you falling behind. These woods aren’t safe.”

The large simian lashed a strap around his back, making a sort of papoose with which he could carry the short human. Content that it was firm and that Kneelength was firmly restrained across his muscled shoulders, he nodded at his companion.

“Lead on.”

Nu’wo sighed. “Look up ahead.”

Shadows materialized up the trail. Dark eyes scowled at them.

Sune frowned. “These are… different. They smell different.”

Nu’wo nodded. “I was thinking the same.”

“From our realm?”

“Deer? Look at the antlers.”

“No, these look almost human.”

“Elven, it would seem. Andren’s?”

“No,” replied Sune. “Only his constellations are out and about, and they don’t travel in groups anymore.”

Nearly a dozen forms shifted from the darkness, moving on silent feet closer and closer. Crouched, jerking this way and that like strange birds. Their motions swift and erratic. Antlers adorned their heads, and long tails flicked behind them.

“What are they?” Kneelength asked.

Sune shook his head.

Nu’wo lifted his fists with a scowl. “Not elves, that’s for sure.”

Scaled bodies, roughly human in shape, but taller, with exaggerated features. Feathers spurted out here and there, accentuating the forearms, clawed fingers, and shoulders. Large, batlike wings sprouted from behind them.

“I have never seen anything like them!”

Nu’wo’s gaze darkened

“What are they?” Kneelength sputtered, watching the creatures approach. Human-like faces and bodies… but there were a few uncanny features. The antlers, the long tail, scales and strange feathers covering various spots on their bodies, more like they were there for decoration rather than function. And the claws - curved wicked hooks that reminded him of the time a hawk had gotten caught outside the village. They looked like something out of the old myths he’d heard about growing up. That rumor he’d heard as a child… the priest who’d seen something strange painted on a hillside over a river… what were they?

The bird-like creatures continued to strut toward them, the uncanny human features devoid of emotion or life. The antlers seemed almost a comical addition to the creepy facial features. Long tails stretched out behind them. Multi-colored scales flashed in the sunlight.

Sune chuckled. “Ridiculous!” He prepared to strike

Nu’wo held out a hand. “Hold! Look at those claws. They might be venemoush. Don’t let them touch you.”

“Fine with me!” Sune replied. And a large staff appeared from out of nowhere. He crashed it to the ground and dropped into a fighting stance, his armor slowly materializing around him.

Nu’wo didn’t bother with any sort of transformation, choosing to remain in his mostly-humanoid form while an axe appeared in his hand - or at least the purple-tinged shadow of an axe - an axe-shaped cutout in the fabric of reality.

The light seemed to vanish into the blade.

Then the bird-creatures struck.

One lunged high into the air, using its batlike wings to hold it aloft as the others swarmed, moving with graceful speed to each side, flanking the two warriors while another struck from the front.

Sune deflected a clawstrike with the staff, clanging it up and away as he used an open palm to strike the exposed breast feathers of another. There was a slight “thock” as the palm met chest, and the bird-being flapped back, its motion reminding Kneelength of a time he’d kicked a chicken.

A few feathers floated down, and the bird-creature swept toward them again. The staff rose to block another strike from the side, and then swooped around, catching the strange being upside the head. Its neck popped to the side with a violent crack as the body sailed across the path, coming to a dead stop against a nearby tree.

The forest burst open and another rushed forward.

Sune swept around, using the end of his rod like a spear. It burst through the chest of the bird-like creature, getting caught up in the monster’s wings and flailing tail. Sune drove the other end into the ground and heaved, launching the corpse up at the overseer.

The flying bird moved slightly out of the way as the body of its companion flopped past, aimed in a lazy, bloody arc. It flopped to the ground and skittered a short distance before lying still in a pool of blood.

“No time to rest!” Nu’wo shouted. His axe flashed out against one of the creatures attacking him, grazing it along the neck. The creature stumbled back, hands rising to its neck in an almost-disintered sort of way. It choked, eyes bulging as the neck vanished in a sizzling hiss. Then the head fell free, slowly dissolving away as whatever happened to the neck slowly spread through it. Nu’wo kicked the dead body away, drew up his axe with both hands, and swept it around, taking off another head before lashing out with a mighty foot, catching and collapsing the chest of a third with a powerful, bonesplintering blow that sent it twitching back.

The blade swung back, passing neatly through Sune’s leg. It didn’t affect him at all, but then moved clean through another of the bird creatures, splitting it in half. The human watched in horror as the two weapons shot out and around him, and as careful as Nu’wo was to make sure his blade never touched anything he didn’t intend to utterly destroy, it passed cleanly through Sune on at least two occasions, though no one else seemed to notice this detail.

Kneelength sat in stunned silence as the flapping, screeching, roaring battle continued. And, as at the first, the two seemed unmatched in their power. Bodies vanished under Nu’wo’s blows, and splattered at Sune’s. 

Then a raking slice caught the mighty warrior in the back.

Nu’wo staggered.

Kneelength cast a gaze up at the flying bird-creature. A slight smirk flashed on its face, and all the bodies of the other birds vanished. Sune rounded on the overseer, weapons raised. Nu’wo seemed transfixed by the approaching creature.

The creature slowly descended. His talons lightly touched the ground, and a sharp smile split his face. “Goooood.” He hissed. “I like the spirit. I like the zeal. I like the passion…” 

He paused, his gaze surveying the scene before him.

His eyes flicked to Sune. “Too much spirit in this one…”

He stood silently, his view passing over Kneelength as if he didn’t exist.

His gaze fell on Nu’wo. “And the rage in this. Yes… I can do so much with this…”

A look of realization passed over Sune’s gaze, and he jumped toward Nu’wo. “What?” cried the bull as Sune bowled him over.

The creature across the path laughed. “You don’t think I ignore your powers, Sune?”

Sune rose to a crouch over Nu’wo’s form, eyes locked on the creature. His monkey-like tail flicked in annoyance, his hair bristled. Large fingers closed around the staff. Other than that, he stood like a statue.

Nu’wo groaned. “What was that about?” He pushed himself up, then he paused as well as Sune rounded on him, driving his weapon deep against Nu’wo’s throat.

“What did you do with him?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Get that thing away from me.” He made to push the staff away, but Sune roared and brought the weapon screaming around, dashing it against the side of his friend’s jaw.

“I won’t ask again. Tell me where he is?”

Nu’wo lay sprawled out against the ground, blood welling from a broken jaw.

The bird-like creature chuckled and flexed his mouth instinctively. “Here’s what I will tell you,” he said with a voice tinged with slightly-concealed anger, “there are things coming you can’t hope to prevent. We were driven from our world by creatures like you, and we aim to destroy you and all you live and return to our rightful place. And to do that, we must have beings like him on our side.” He gestured to Nu’wo. “You can step aside or be ground beneath us. I’d offer for you to join, but we both know you never would.”

Then Nu’wo vanished.

Sune roared in anger and rounded on the bird-like creature, staff at the ready.

“Congratulations, by the way.”

Sune bristled.

“The great Piasa has engaged you in combat and you only lost one man. That is a great feat.” The bird-creature smiled. “The elves I fought were leveled to the ground. I believe not one survived.”

“Is that your name?” Sune growled.

No response from the great Piasa.

“Where are you from, bird?  Tell me, so I can find your nest and crush you in it!”

Piasa rose slightly, winged arms outstretched. He reached out and plucked three from his flesh, then dropped them to the ground. Two spurted up into exact duplicates of himself, a third into a duplicate of Nu’wo.

“Here,” he said with a laugh, “have your friend back. And have fun hunting my duplicates.”

“I’ll kill you for this!”

Piasa folded his arms, the stripped feathers rapidly regrowing. “I’m sure you’ll try…”

Sune roared and launched the staff at the bird-creature’s face. I soared so fast it created a boom behind it, but just as it was about to strike, the air shimmered, and he was gone.

And with that final farewell, he left his three clones behind. They exchanged glances, then fled off into the woods before Sune could so much as respond. The staff, meanwhile, sailed off into the distance, almost out of sight, before returning, sailing back into Sune’s outstretched hand, where it vanished.

The simian humanoid turned to Kneelength with a growl.

Kneelength blanched.

“Well, little human. It appears things have changed.”

“Wh-what’s that mean?”

“I have to return to my people,” Sune replied, “want to come with me?”

Kneelength groaned. “I suppose. Not sure what other options I have at the moment, with that Piasa thing out there.”

Sune gazed back where the bird-creature had been and scowled.

Unknown time later; unknown world

Kneelength stumbled forward out of the portal. They’d traveled more than he could remember, and his memory was unraveling fast - or perhaps had taken forever. Who knew how long they’d been in this realm? And in all their travels, no sign of Nu’wo or Piasa. No one had even seen anything like them.

“You seem, ill, long beard.”

Kneelength looked up. “Long beard now, is it?”

Sune shrugged. “Well, I’m surprised you don’t trip over it more often. Between that and your short stature, you seem like climbing things would be a great struggle.”

The human laughed and they continued.

The streets of this settlement were paved in some sort of metal - little plates, beaten very thin.

“What are these?” Kneelength asked.

Sune winked and continued walking. “Some sort of foolish safety system.” He replied. He pried up a strip of metal.

“Stop that!” cried a guard - a human by the looks of it. The man came running toward them. Sune flung the sheet at the man, just hard enough to ping off his armor, but not hard enough to do any lasting damage. And with that, they ran.

When they stopped, well out of sight of the town, Sune explained.

“And so they think Andren is on the march?” Kneelength asked, after listening.

“Yes.”

“Is he?”

“If I told you that, it would take all the fun out of it.”

And so, they walked on in silence a bit longer. The forest finally opened up to another village - this one a small city by all accounts. Strange flying machines hovered high overhead, and massive cannon structures sat on the walls, both aimed high and low, as if an attack could come from either direction.

“I don’t have the best memory,” Kneelength muttered, “But… I’ve never seen a flying craft. Did those exist in my world?”

Sune shrugged.

They strode into the city. The guards at the gate examined them, saw they were carrying no supplies or weapons, and stood aside, letting them pass through into the main streets.

“If there’s magic in this world, how could they know we are safe?”

“Ah, but is there magic?” Sune replied with a smirk.

“There must be,” Kneelength responded. “How else would you defend from someone coming over from another world?”

“Maybe magic doesn’t work in non-magical realms…”

“That didn’t seem like a question.”

“And what would make you say that?” replied Sune with a smirk.

“We’ve traveled together for years. Are you ever going to give a straight answer?”

“Are you ever going to remember your real name? Seems a strange thing to lose.”

Kneelength nodded. “I’m confused myself.” He waved his little stub of an arm. “Do you think there’s anyone who can help regrow this?”

Sune laughed. “The price for that is higher than you’re willing to pay, I’m sure.”

“Why?”

“How much of yourself are you willing to give up in order to change who you are?”

“I’m not wanting to change who I am, I just want my arm back. Those things ate it.”

“It’s who you are now. What would a man give away to change an essential part of who he is.”

“All mysteries and rubbish with you.” groused Kneelength.

The city wound down and around some sort of bayside cliff before terminating at a sprawling body of water. Docks stretched off into the waves like old, decrepit fingers. The marina and warfs that dotted the shoreline seemed more patch than fabric. Small panels of metal had been screwed down here and there.

“More defenses?” Kneelength asked.

Sune gestured ahead. A dockman strode up, clipboard in hand. “What madness is this? Who just lets a random dwarf and…” he noticed Sune. “Lord Sune, my apologies. I trust the supplies were delivered on schedule?”

He nodded in response to the man.

“Wh-what brings you here?”

“My dwarf has need of some supplies as well.”

“Y-your dwarf? Yes, yes of course.” He scurried off down the dock.

“I’m not a dwarf,” hissed Kneelength. “I’m barely shorter than a normal human.”

“You’re short,” Sune replied.

“Am not!”

Their argument was cut short as the hurried man rushed back. Sweat dripping from his brow - not from nerves and not the heat of the docks - he fumbled with his pen and paper as he jotted a quick note to himself. He cast a shuddering gaze at Sune.

“H-how can I help you, good sir.”

Kneelength sighed. “I’m looking for a large man, about the height of Lord Sune,” he bit back a growl, “maybe a little taller. Looks like a bull.”

The dock worker exchanged a nervous glance to Sune, then back to his paper.

“I-I will keep an eye out, my lords. A-and wh-what else will you be needing.”

Sune nodded, and Kneelength continued.

“We’re also looking for a bird-like creature?”

“Ain’t no jatayyim seen round these parts.”

“Jatayyim?”

“Bird men,” replied the dock worker. “Live up in the skies far off to the north west. I’m surprised at you, Lord Sune. You don’t know of them?”

Sune shook his head. “I don’t travel much.”

“Well, they are bird-like people that live in the frozen reaches far to the north. I might have a ship leaving that way in the next week or so. If you can’t wait, you could catch a boat down to Docks, then charter a northbound ship to get up the coast a bit farther. Won’t be a lot faster, but might get in a day or two early.”

“No airships?”

“Sorry, sir. Wish I could, but I have none that aren’t currently spoken-for.”

Sune nodded.

Docks. Unknown Realm, Unknown time - about two days later

Docks… smelled.

“What is this place?” Kneelength groaned, pulling his beard tight across his face and tying it off as a sort of impromptu mask.

“Good look for you,” Sune replied, “hides all your worst features.”

“Very funny.”

“Oh, I wasn’t joking. I think you should cover your face more.” Sune replied without the slightest twitch of a smirk on his simian features. His traveling clothes were stained with mud and dirt, the cord-like belt had begun to unravel, and small tears were slowly appearing on his loose shirt.

The trip had been a strange one, no doubt. But they were here.

And it did smell.

“Let me guess, their main export is fish.”

“Oi, wo’s this I hear ‘bout you insultin’ mah docks?”

Sune waved a hand. “Never mind my dwarvish friend. We need to book passage to the far north.”

“Above the wall?” groused the man. His broad form bore the scars of years of work along the docks, boards and stone having worn patches in his broad, once-hairy shoulders. He clucked his tongue and hefted a massive burlap sack, throwing it over one of those bare spots, as if it was its home. “Aint have had no ship go that way since ol’ Gal’barre died.”

 Sune growled.

Kneelength stepped forward. “We were told there would be a ship here that could take us there. We’re needing to speak with a representative of the Jatayyim.”

The man paused, then eyed them momentarily. “Well, why din’t you say so! But it’s not so much a pleasure boat as much a fishmonger’s boat.”

“We’ll take it,” replied Kneelength.

Northern regions, unknown realm, three days later.

“I always thought your nose got used to new smells…” Kneelength whined.

“Mine never does,” Sune responded. His shirt was now pulled up over his nose, and the smell of fish still hung thickly in the air. The craft eased back up to the dock.

The docks were broad and flat - a solid slab of white stone stretching from the shoreline. Behind it, equally white and glistening, rose the tall, pearly walls of a castle. Pennants fluttered in the cool winter breeze, flicking this way and that, the golden strands woven into their surface catching the sun’s rays and glinting merrily.

Several elves strode down to the stone quay, pausing to receive large cargo containers before turning and vanishing back toward the city.

“Shipment of fish from down near Docks.”

“Which ones?”

“The town,” Kneelength responded.

“Ah, and you must be the dwarven emissary, come to speak with her Ascendedness.”

“Yes,” replied Sune before Kneelength could correct the elf.

“Are the Jatayyim here?”

Sune dug his elbow into Kneelength’s side. “Forgive my assistant,” he responded through his shirt, “he’s been on the sea for such a short time - he’s become delusional with the smells and rolling of the waves.”

The elf eyed Kneelength, then turned to Sune with a bow. “I’m sorry we could not send a proper boat to fetch such esteemed emissaries. You see, we weren’t expecting you for another month at the earliest.”

“Yes,” Sune replied, “So few ships coming and going from Docks that we just thought we’d take advantage while we could.”

The elf nodded. “Seas are unpredictable since the fog started rolling in. Again, I’m sorry for the smell.”

Sune shook his head and lowered his shirt. “It’s fine. My senses are a bit heightened these days.”

Kneelength almost fell over. Sune’s face had shifted to that of a tall, stately elf. All the fur had vanished, his monkey-like ears had shifted into the pointed ones, and his hair had grown long and dark. He smirked at the human and winked.

“It’s rare for an elf and dwarf to be traveling together these days.”

“Well, an ambassador’s job is never normal,” joked Sune, eyeing Kneelength with the very clear warning to keep his mouth shut.

The dock elf led them up a nearby set of stairs and into a side gate, which opened into a sprawling white-rock street. 

“Cobbles, I think…” muttered Kneelength, eyeing the road.

“You have an eye for architecture, my dwarven friend,” replied the dock elf. “Quarried from the mines just this side of the Crystal Tier.”

“Impressive,” replied Sune without missing a beat. “And those walls, made of the same stone, or is that wood?”

“It is wood,” replied the elf. “Have to have some semblance of elven architecture these days. Our shapers are skilled.”

“They are indeed,” muttered Kneelength, trying to keep up with the ruse.

They continued up the winding street, past shops and cafes, store fronts filled with strange wares, and even a few government buildings. Declarations hung from public bulletin boards, scrawled in some sort of language Kneelength couldn’t understand. But elves, humans, and dwarves seemed to gather around them, reading the latest news.

“What is this place?” whispered Kneelength when the elf paused to examine a notice.

Sune gazed around, and replied quietly, “we are in a city I didn’t even know existed. It is present in this moment of time, and no other realm has a connection to it. I have no idea where we are or how this avoided our gaze for this long.”

The elf turned back from the sign board with a broad smile. “The citadel is open for visitors. It is the first time in ages! They must have heard of your early arrival and are opening the doors to you and all the well-wishers. We have news that there might even be an ascension today!”

Sune nodded appreciatively. “That is good news, indeed! Let us hurry, then!”

The elf nodded. “Come, follow me!”

The street wound its way through the city, continuing up and around until they could clearly see an expanse of ocean over the far wall. It was a glorious shimmer, even with the clouds that obscured the sky here.

The city leveled out, and a broad plain stretched out before them. The grass had long since died, and patches of pale snow sat in melting drifts here and there, but a white road stretched straight on before them, lined with the largest trees Kneelength had ever seen.

“Come, this is the final stretch.” said the elf, leading them along.

Syth’s Journal:

It would be a piece of speculative fiction for me to imagine what was seen and heard in that citadel. The chapel-like building, according to reports from Rip when he regained his memories, housed all manner of elves and other mythical beings. He reported dwarves, some strange race of birdlike creature, more angel than monster, and of course other humans.

These all gathered before a shining being of that race of birds known as the Speaker of the Citadel, an angelic elf-like creature with broad wings that stretched out like an albatross. That is the only comparison of all the words he said that seemed to make sense. It was an elf with the glow of an angel and broad, albatross-like wings. What it wanted or why it was there, Rip never would tell.

According to Rip, there were multiple beings there, though only one physically manifested itself. The angelic creature was joined by several invisible forms - forms Sune could apparently sense, and Rip could almost sense - a pressure in his mind he called them. But, no one else in the room seemed aware of the darkened presence hovering about in the unseen places.

I’ve no doubt if Paul were there, he would have seen things for what they were. It seems to me that he and Sune share something of their power - an ability to see through belief and illusion and see things for what they are. Either way, even with all that power, the creatures managed to conceal most of what they were from Sune and Rip as they attended the ascension.

As for the Jatayyim, I’ll have to do more research. In all my exploration, I’ve found no good corollary for the Jatayyim, and it was both Sune’s as well as my own conclusion that whatever this Piasa man was, he was not actually one of the Jatayyim, though the connections were concerning. Perhaps he was an exile, or some other distant connection. However, after standing in the presence of whatever it was that was lurking in the shadows of that room, it’s safe to assume that this Piasa probably came from our realm originally, cursed in a manner like to my own, rather than from theirs.

Legends abound of creatures, both good and evil, malevolent and benign, who swarmed across this continent. Is it any surprise that some of them found a way into the realm that tainted them in the first place and made a way there? Paul regularly speaks of old friends, including one named Bill, who he believes is probably still living in the fairy realm somewhere in the deserts of the Mojave to this day. Only time will tell what the long-term consequences are, and if all suffer the same fate Rip did after an extended stay in that land.

Realm of the Jatayyim, the citadel of Ascension, unknown year

“Sune, I don’t like the looks of this.”

They stood in a waiting room overlooking a large, circular room, in the center of which was a large, raised dais. A large angelic being stood there, his features elven and large bird-like wings extending out to each side. He hovered, seemingly not using the wings at all.

“Feel the darkness in the air?”

Kneelength nodded.

“This is something new. There is a presence here I have not felt before. Its essence is similar to my own. We stand before one of the gods of this realm.”

“Gods?”

“Immortal, unbelievably powerful beings. They control their offspring through various means. I don’t know this one, but there are notes in its harmony that I recognize.”

“I’m not seeing anything. That angel down there is a god?”

“No. That is but an agent. There is something stirring. I can almost see it, but not quite. It’s nearby, though…”

“What will we do?”

“Follow my lead.”

Kneelength watched Sune. “Where are you going?”

“We’ll ask to be Ascended.”

And so, without further ado, they strode into the chamber of the Speaker of the Citadel. His glow filled the chamber, and all those around him bowed their eyes.

“Ah, my ambassadors. I trust the realm of the fog is treating you well? I do apologize that we could not meet with you in your own place, but rather were forced to ask you here. You have settled in well, I trust?”

“Yes,” replied Sune. His elven disguise was flawless. From the shimmer of his hair to his boots, every bit of him was elven. Even to the tail.

The tail?

Kneelength noticed it for the first time. Sune’s tail had not changed, and had been lifted up and over his shoulder as if it were a satchel strap.

Sune gave an honorable bow to the jatayyim and pointed out the window. “The fog covers all, and the smell of fish. I am truthfully glad that we could meet here in your glorious realm.”

Kneelength watched the winged elf’s features. So far, so good.

“The one above us wishes to speak to you in private. Will you join us?”

Sune nodded. “No doubt the prying ears of the unseen shall cause us no end of trouble. My good Speaker, might we ask a question before we depart.”

The Speaker nodded. “Say on.”

“My revered companion and myself were journeying through our realm when we were waylaid by a beast.”

A twitch in the face? Maybe?

“What sort of beast?”

“It was a winged creature, covered in scales and feathers. However, it had wings like a bat instead of the glorious ones as you possess. And it had a long, snakelike tail and antlers.”

“Truly a sight to behold. I trust you dispatched it with much speed?”

“Yes, but it was very skilled in illusion. All those I fought were but duplicates, and when it revealed itself, it stole away a friend of mine and vanished.”

“That is troubling indeed. Have such horrors truly been unleashed on our world?”

“It would appear so, my esteemed Speaker. In truth, this is why our journey had to be proceeded upon with much haste. For, you see, the danger of a shapeshifter moving through our realm unchecked spells not only danger for our people, but for the peace we wish to establish.”

“Indeed.”

The Speaker gestured to the milling crowd, and they were ushered out.

“Follow me.”

He led them into a sort of antechamber. Thick gold carpets ran the length of the floor, running up and over some sort of altar. Emblazoned across the altar was a gold and white sigil. Kneelength eyed it, noting the slight dark stains around the edges and the frayed points here and there. Scrub marks. Someone had worked hard to get stains out of the fabric.

“I wish you had not spoken of that beast in the presence of the… uninitiated.” the Speaker’s voice was cold, matter-of-fact. There was none of the levity of political jangling that came with his public persona.

Sune bowed. “My apologies, Lord. I assumed you would be familiar with said creatures, and that we might take some of  your trackers back with us as a gesture of good faith.”

“In the realm of the ancients, all manner of possibilities exist. Our Lord is he who possesses the realm of the flying beasts. However, it knows not of what you speak.”

A roiling darkness thundered at the edge of their vision - invisible, yet perceptible. A harmony running alongside the melody of the world, threatening to dissolve into a discordant note.

Kneelength felt it rather than heard it.

Something was wrong with this portion of the world. Something dark moved, and he couldn’t tell how he knew or why, but by the sudden thrill of fur that stood up on Sune’s tail, he knew he could sense it, too.

“We are not sure what it is you ran into, and apologize that we cannot help you find your friend.”

Sune froze in place as a door opened nearby, and another elf strode in. He wore a matching sash as Sune, but his features were different. He wore a robe with the sigil from the altar emblazoned on the shoulder. “Lord Speaker. Might we have a word with you?”

The Speaker paused in confusion, then gazed at Sune and Kneelength.

“Please, pardon this interruption.” He strode out of the room, closing the door behind him as he did. There was a distinct click of a lock.

Sune relaxed. “That was convenient. We must find a way out of this room.”

“What was that?”

“That dark presence is looking elsewhere at the moment. We have but a few minutes to find a way out of this.”

Something rumbled in the other room.

“I’m getting sloppy,” confessed Sune. “That ruse should have been undetectable.”

Then the door swung open, and a being stepped in that froze their blood.

“Nu’wo?”

The large bull strode in, axe at the ready.

Sune swore. “You… all this time… where have you been?”

Nu’wo nodded at the door, silently gesturing for them to follow him. He quietly closed the door behind him, then pointed forward at the next door. It led into a small staircase, which they barely fit down as it wound down into the bowels of the cathedral.

“Where have you been? We’ve been searching the realms for you!” cried Sune, barely containing his fury.

“I was taken. I had no say in the matter. Have you seen my duplicate?”

Sune nodded. “Briefly, but he fled. We’ve been trying to track you or that beast that took you. So, he is here!”

Nu’wo nodded. “Yes. His clones scattered so you couldn’t track him. But, apparently you’re just too good.”

“And what’ll happen when that Speaker finds us missing?”

“He’ll be distracted for a while longer. He’s having a word with Piasa for drawing attention like he did.”

“But how did you escape?” Kneelength asked.

Nu’wo continued in silence before answering. “Honestly, I didn’t. This is a ploy. They’re hoping I’ll lure you down where they can kill you.” He sheathed his axe. “But I don’t intend to play their game.”

They stood in a sort of glorified cellar. Arches of stone rose over them.

“Crypts?” Kneelength asked. “You brought us to the dead to free us?”

Nu’wo stood a short distance from them. “They’re watching me. There is no escape for me…” he sounded despondent.

“This isn’t you.” Sune replied. “You’re my brother. You would never turn.”

“Wouldn’t I?” Nu’wo replied calmly

Sune stood silently.

“We had an agreement, you and I. An agreement you refused to uphold.”

“That’s not how this went…” Sune replied.

“... and you turned first. I’m merely catching up.”

Sune shook his head, the elven features melting away as he did. “No. No.”

Kneelength saw a sort of rage roiling in Nu’wo. It was an over-exertion to be sure, an overcompensation. It was something other than just hatred. Hatred was there, but this was more… a betrayal? A disgust? What was it?

“You!” Nu’wo muttered, more forceful and loud this time. “You turned.”

“No,” Sune replied, his fists clenching and unclenching. “Don’t say it.”

“You turned first…” Muttered Nu’wo, as if trying to convince himself. “... and now, it’s my turn. That is the only way to end this. To do what you can not, what you will not. Then they shall ascend me and I shall have my vengeance where you failed.”

Sune pushed Kneelength off to the side. “This is between us. Do not get involved.”

“You brought him into this. When I’m done with you, I’ll finish him as well.”

Nu’wo raised his fists. Sune shook his head and drew out his staff. “If we’re going to have a proper fight of it, then let’s make it proper.”

And he struck before Nu’wo could draw his axe.

The bull stopped the blow with a broad forearm, then struck back with his void axe. Sune parried the blast, his weapon diffusing whatever dark magic flared across the surface of the bull’s blade. It sparkled in the darkness of the caverns.

Sune returned the strike, a powerful double-handed blow from overhead. If he could land a solid hit, he could drive Nu’wo into the ground and end this. With more agility than the old bull seemed capable of, he leapt back, leaving the rod to cleave a channel in the stone floor.

“You tried to kill me.”

“We both know that wouldn’t have split skin!”

“This will!” The bull swung around with a chop of his axe.

Sune blocked it, aiming a punch at the mighty warrior’s side before he could recover. Armor cracked, and Nu’wo staggered back, swiping an awkward strike at Sune’s face, which he blocked with the side of his staff. Another punch to the bull’s side, another crack of broken armor.

Nu’wo growled and bowled into Sune, using what little momentum he could to shove the simian back. Sune looped his tail around an overhead beam, stopping their progress and sweeping Nu’wo up and off his feet. The bull slammed into the ceiling as he force carried him up and around.

They both fell to the stone floor with a crunch.

Sune rose to a crouch first, stepping back toward the door.

“You were a fool to throw in your lot with Andren. He’ll be the end of us all. At least on that point, the other elves are right.”

Sune shook his head.

“You said we’d take him down, not join him! Is your pride worth so little?”

The bull rose to full height. He now towered over Sune. Apparently, he wasn’t holding back any longer. With a roar, he rushed forward, using his head as a battering ram.

Sune planted the rod in the ground, using the other side as a sort of spear to catch Nu’wo in mid-charge. The rod connected squarely with the top of Nu’wo’s skull, but instead of caving it it, the rod slid back, gouging a deep channel until the force of the charge buried it deep in the stones. Nu’wo rose to full height again, cracking his neck and back as he rose.

“Never seen that one before,” he chuckled. “Well played. Almost stopped me.”

Sune helfed the staff from the ground, pulling a chunk of masonry with him as he did. He swung this around, shattering the stone against the side of Nu’wo’s horns. “Your memory’s as bad as your aim, old bull!” 

The bull stumbled with a laugh. “That strike might work on a deer, but it won’t work on me.”

Sune vanished, reappearing behind Nu’wo. He brought the staff down on the middle of the bull’s broad back, then kicked viciously before vaulting across the room, landing in a graceful crouch. He sprang off the ground again, closing on Nu’wo with a violence that thundered across the stones and rumbled the cavern around them.

A shockwave of dust blossomed off the old bull before he closed a mighty fist around Sune. He slammed him against the wall once, twice, a third time, before Sune pried the fingers free and leapt back, nursing a bloody streak across his scalp.

“You managed to get first blood,” he muttered, licking it off a finger. “I’ll get next.”

Nu’wo’s axe flared to life, and he brought it sweeping toward Sune with an arcing chop.

Blocked with the staff, swing, and strike. Sune dodged to the side, blood flecking from his head wound. Nu’wo bellowed and slashed again, cutting a disintegrating line through the stones. Again and again he chopped and struck and slashed. And again and again, the masonry dissolved and hissed, breaking an crumbling with each blow.

Kneelength could only imagine what would happen if a blow connected with Sune. And the simian leapt and dodged, always just out of range. Rocks, the staff, a few blows here and there, connected with Nu’wo, but he never yielded. He never knelt.

Blow after blow landed, but the old bull couldn’t fall!

Sune fell back, breathing heavily.

Nu’wo charged forward, sweeping up with one hand to grab Sune and another to pin his arms to his sides. Sune writhed like a fish.

“Relax, king of the Gong. You got what you wanted. You lived as a king. And that’s all you ever desired - to be respected, to be honored. Well, here’s the honor I’ll give you now. You will be honored to die at my hands.”

Nu’wo began to squeeze. Something cracked. Sune’s tail lashed out, looping around Nu’wo’s wrist and tightening as best he could.

The old bull glared at Sune, continuing to squeeze. Sune groaned and gasped.

Then something clanged in the tomb.

Nu’wo paused and turned, both hands still clenched around the squirming monkey.

“You stupid human,” he spat, “I’ll enjoy tearing you apart.”

Kneelength stood, an urn in his hand. He heaved it at the combatants. It shattered, scattering grave dust across the two. Nu’wo paused to cough. That was all the advantage Sune needed.

In a moment, he blinked out of existence, reappearing in two different spots at once.

“Another trick, Sune. You’ve held back all this time.”

Sune clenched a fist and rushed Nu’wo.

“This again!”

He raised up a mighty hoof to stomp Sune into the ground. He looped around Nu’wo’s leg, spun up behind him, and planted a firm kick between his legs. He then scurried up the bull’s back and slashed at the exposed neck.

The bull collapsed to the ground with a groan, then flopped forward.

Then vanished. A single feather remained on the ground, bloody and torn.

Sune stood for a moment, then turned to Kneelength. “I knew it.”

“How?”

“No matter how angry he got with me, Nu’wo would never use that axe against me. Our weapons are enchanted so as to never harm the other.”

Kneelength thought of the battle in the woods against the birdlike creatures, the void axe had passed through Sune on more than one occasion, but had been fatal to all others.

“The power can’t be broken?”

“Not that I know of.” He knelt and plucked the bloodied feather from the ground. “This is Nu’wo’s blood.”

“He was struck by a talon before that bird creature threatened us.”

Sune nodded. “Then that’s probably it. They are blood simulacra.”

“What?”

“Blood spawns - they can only be made when the binder uses the blood of his victim to duplicate him.”

“But your wound.”

“Yes,” replied Sune, rubbing at the gouge along his scalp. “We may have to find a way to test our friends in case this blood simulacrum becomes a problem. Can’t have more than one of me wandering around. The universe isn’t ready for that.”

“Does it have your memories?”

“Normally, no. And Nu’wo apparently didn’t share enough for his clone to know my moves. None of those should have been a surprise to the real one.”

Something rumbled above them.

“We should be going, I imagine.”

Sune nodded. “We’ve found what we came for. we need to go.”

Something glowed above them, and they felt the presence appear once more.

Sune drew out his medallion. “One good thing from supporting the king, despite it all.” And with that, they vanished.

When Kneelength woke, he was sitting outside a broad, crystalline structure. Small cords that seemed to be made of light itself stretched out from the main gate. He blinked a few times and gazed up at the stone supports. Pillars of some sort, carved and interlaced with intricate designs he couldn’t begin to understand.

He stood, trying to push off his thighs with his arms before realizing he couldn’t. One of his arms was still missing. He looked in confusion at the stump. It had been sealed and bandaged. It didn’t hurt so much as it just confused him. It was just… gone.

He shook his head and stood up fully.

“I need a drink…”

The strange men in the cave in the mountains, Sune and not Nu’wo battling in the depths of an old cathedral… this was too much to handle sober. He took a step toward the strange encampment and something clattered under his feet.

“Metal… plates?” He crouched and used his remaining hand to touch the strips of metal that someone had firmly planted all around the camp. It formed a strange ring all the way around.

He poked at one.

“Just plain old boring metal. So… an elven camp?” He looked around. Sune was nowhere to be seen. 

He stepped up to the gates and paused. There were no gates - not exactly. There was this strange opening in the light ropes that formed a sort of doorway. Except, it wasn’t really a doorway either, more like a… he didn’t even have a word for it. Maybe a shimmer - a…

He shrugged. It was as if someone had held up a sheet really tight, then cut a line down it, leaving a space to step through, yet somehow the sheet was still whole. There was a rip in the sky - a single, unbelievably small line that he could only barely see. That was the gate. It was as if he could barely see through this tear in the sheet, and the buildings on the other side appeared and vanished based on whether he was looking through or around the opening.

He shrugged and pushed his head into the opening.

A small village lay beyond - stone buildings lined with gold and crystals.

He pulled his head back. Nothing.

He pushed his head back in. The buildings returned.

“Weird.”

He pushed his head back in. The buildings reappeared.

“Are you going to just keep pushing your head in and out like a fool?”

He pulled his head back out and looked around. “Hello?”

“In here.”

He peered around the hole into the empty campsite beyond. “Anyone there?”

“In here, you moronic human.”

The opening.

He poked his head back into the opening - right into the belt of a very tall person. He craned his neck and peered up over a thin stomach and chest to the narrow features of something vaguely humanoid.

He pulled his head back through the opening when a long, pale hand reached out, grabbed him by the beard, and hauled him back into the opening.

He let out a yelp and fell through, landing in a heap on the metal-paved street on his hands and knees.

“The things I have to put up with. What do you want and how did you get here?”

“Uh… I don’t know and… uh… I don’t know.”

The creature was tall and stately, with narrow features and pointed ears. Long, black hair ran down his back. “You don’t respond to the metal, so you’re clearly not with the traitorous king. Come in.”

Kneelength stood, brushing off his knees with his… one hand. He frowned.

“The things took a bit of you with them, didn’t they?”

He held up his hand and wiggled the nub of the other. “You could say that.”

“Did you see what did it? We’re attempting to catalogue all the species collecting around this area’s nodes.”

“Not sure what a node is, but it was kinda like you, but with no hair, sunken eyes, and long arms.”

“Humanoid, matching predominant species in the region…” the tall elf-like thing noted.

“Predominant what-now?”

The elf guided him deeper into the village, which seemed oddly large now that he was inside. Creatures surrounded him, kept in by those strange light fences and crystal posts. Things beyond his description glared at him. Some, that seemed to be able to fly, were hedged in on all sides by what he could only call a “rope cage” made of light and small crystals at the join-points. He gazed up in awe.

“We’ve been gathering specimens from your region for the last several months and depositing them in this, the Repository.”

“I’m sorry,” Kneelength mumbled, “I don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Oh, I thought I was speaking your language. I will try another.”

Gibberish.

Kneelength stared up at him in confusion.

More Gibberish.

Finally, after multiple attempts, the tall being began speaking English again.

“That one. I understand some of that one.”

“That is the language I began with,” observed the stately being.

“Oh, I understand that you’re speakin’ my language. I just don’t understand your words.”

“Ah,” replied the elf. “Then I shall talk slower.”

“I hear plenty fast. What’s a depository?”

“Repository,” corrected the elf. “Where we store the creatures.”

Kneelength nodded appreciatively. “I used to have a wolf. My big boy was my only love. He and I went everywhere together.”

“Where is he now?”

“I don’t remember. He was there when I left, and I haven’t seen him at all since.”

“And your family?”

“Wife is terrible and my kids are too young, so I spend most of my time hunting.”

Now the elf stared in confusion.

“What?”

“Your wife is terrible?”

“Have you ever had a commander who knew nothing of what to do and reminded you of it every time he spoke?”

“Not for a long time, but perhaps.”

“Then you understand a fraction of my pain.”

“And what is the name of this saint from an unknown world that stands before me?”

“Don’t remember,” Kneelength responded, dryly, picking at something in his teeth. “Sune called me Kneelength.”

“Sune?”

“Yeah, big monkey-like thing - working with a giant bull creature named… oh, what was his name… don’t remember. Anyway. They saved me from the things that were eating me.”

“And… how long have you been lost in this realm?”

Long spans of time seemed lost in his memories. He could remember his time with Sune, but from the moment he’d been delivered back to this realm, his memories all seemed to fade. He shrugged. “I’m not sure about any of it.”

“What realm are you from?”

“Um… I’m from New York.”

“What realm is that?”

“Um… the Colonies of his majesty the king.”

“That doesn’t make sense… the king’s soldiers cannot abide metal.”

“They can’t? But they tax it enough… wonder what they do with it?”

Confusion reigned for the moment.

“Your king is Andren?”

“Who?”

“King Andren. He fled the Nexus realm after destroying it, slaying the dwarven king and the other rulers, and sealed his people away to regain his strength. We’ve been spying more of his agents in the field, clearly scouting so they could invade. He’s been slowly conquering the realms from his impenetrable fortress in another dimension.”

“No. As far as I know, my king goes by the name George, like every other king. I’m not sure. Who’s Andren?”

“The Dark Elf king. You probably have yet to hear of his return.”

“And who are you?”

“I am a Lemurian.”

“A what now?”

“Lemurian. From the outskirts of Oni’ja.”

“You’re using a lot of strange words, young man. I don’t appreciate it. I ask how long you’ve been collecting creatures and you go off on a rabbit’s trail of mythical spirits and ancient beings. I think you’ve gotten into some of that special Dutch Reserve.”

“I merely wish to assess the origin of your person.”

“Oh, I came from my mother, I’m sure. Not sure how that works in your lands, but I’ve heard stranger things.”

“I meant what world.”

“New York, I already told you. Are you from the Virginia colony? I never could understand you people.”

“I have no concept of what you are speaking of. I am from Lemuria by way of Telos, and am now the guardian of the Repository.”

“Ah, that you said. And you collect animals.”

“Some are, yes.”

“So some are not animals? You must be from Virginia, gathering the slaves. Though these look like none I’ve ever seen.”

“We do not enslave these creatures.”

“Then what do you do with them?”

The elf seemed confused as to what answer would not proceed to create a strange loop of conversation. “We… study them.”

“And then what?”

“Release the ones that are harmless.”

“And the others?”

“We destroy them.” replied the elf, as if the answer were obvious.

“You what!”

“We destroy them. Anything that would tear the fabric is disposed of.”

“Well, if you’re going to kill it, I hope you at least eat it first! I may not agree with the natives of my land on everything, but they have a rule. If you’re going to kill something, you use as many pieces of it as possible so as not to waste the energy invested in its creation.”

The elf blinked several times, now clearly the confused one. “I… shall think on this.”

“Good.”

“But understand, there are venomous creatures that must not be released into these realms.”

“Heh. Now I know you’re pulling my leg. There are no venomous creatures in the Catskills.”

“Where are the Catskills?”

“New York, I guess. They’re mountains.”

“Oh, so you are of the mountain folk! I thought you might be one of the dwarves, but was afraid to ask.”

“I’m not a dwarf; I’m a human.”

“So, are you from Zylthania or one of the other realms?”

Kneelength gazed back at him in confusion. “I’m not familiar with that tribe. My family came from Groningen.”

“Not familiar with that region. Ger’maine would probably know, but he is back in the city at the moment.”

Kneelength yawned and stretched. “Well, this has been an unbelievably stimulating conversation…”

“Oh, yes. You must be very tired from your journey. Come. I will take you to a place where you can rest yourself. Ger’maine will want to talk to you when you get up.”

1958. Whiskeytown

Rip sat in the ruins of an old town.

“How’s your head? Any new memories?” Paul asked.

Rip nodded. “I think so. It’s all so strange - like I lived two lives and then fused together. I don’t even know how to speak anymore. Does ‘jatayyim’ mean anything to you?”

Paul shook his head.

“Sune?”

“Nope. Only from what you’ve said. Some large warrior from Oni’ja?”

“You know Oni’ja?”

“Yes.” Paul had had this discussion with the short man repeatedly, and each time, the thrill of recognition would come across his face at the mention of Oni’ja, as if the city held some sort of special connection for them all.”

Rip stared down at the stump of his old arm.

“S-so I can summon… what now?”

“You’ve pulled things into this world from the fairy world. So far, you’ve mainly dragged in some sort of large tentacle.”

“Wish I could remember that story.”

“I probably don’t want to know.”

Rip chuckled and let out a yawn. “Syth around?”

“Hunting.” Replie Paul, jerking his head toward the nearby trees. “Not sure what he’ll find, but that reservoir is getting pretty full.”

“They call this place ‘Whiskeytown’? Think that means there’ll be drinks?”

Paul chuckled. “Knowing California? Doubt it.”

Syth dropped down from above.

“Good hunt?”

He shook his head.

“What happened?”

“Something large and strange has been sighted nearby.”

“What?”

Syth pointed down to Paul’s shoes. “You haven’t gone anywhere recently?”

He shook his head. “No.”

He handed over a newspaper article. “They’re calling it Big Foot. Look at the article.”

Paul flipped over the page and stared at the large human-like prings. It read “Are the tracks a human hoax? Or, are they actual tracks of a huge but harmless wild-man, traveling through the wilderness? Can this be some legendary sized animal?”

“Probably a hoax. Look at the way those toes are.” Rip replied, pointing at the strange flat line of ties. “Someone stuck a board to his feet.”

Syth looked over at Paul.

“I think we need to go check it out.”

Rip yawned. “Well, wake me up when we get there.”