I awoke to a similar pulsation. I jerked to a sitting position before I remembered how sore I was. I cringed in regret, but no pain came.

“I am sorry for that, but you tolerated the treatment well.”

“There was a chance I wouldn’t?”

She hesitated. “Yes.”

“You should have asked me first.”

“Perhaps. Though, I could see no other choice.”

I scowled. Given what I had heard, she was probably right, but she still should have allowed me to make an informed choice. However, arguing about it now would do little.

“How long was I out?”

“For the rest of the day.”

I took a moment to digest that and its implications based on the brief conversation I had overheard. “Does that mean…”

“That you are to go to the mines? Likely yes.I will try to argue otherwise.”

I reached for the bandage on my eyes. I had been in the dark for too long.I needed more information.

She grabbed my hand, holding my arm down. “Don’t. You haven’t stabilized yet.I am almost done.”

I could force it, but I had no idea my condition.It would also be a challenge. Her grip was surprisingly strong. Still, I didn’t have to hide my displeasure.“Are there any risks to this?”

“No. The worst has passed. I only have a few things to check.”

I relaxed. “Fine.” I waited, trying not to flinch with each of her touches. “Can you at least tell me what you are doing?”

“Oh? Most aren’t interested.”

I hesitated about telling her that I was a doctor. “It has been a lot, and not knowing what has happened makes it worse. You called me...Unmarked.”

"Yes.” The pause lingered, becoming an uncomfortable silence. I held back from filling it. “It was surprising. I have never heard of such a thing at your age. Those who are born and do not obtain a Mark in their first months often succumb. The rate is much higher as a child grows older. I never heard of a child older than two surviving. The channels are set. Yet, here you are. A grown man. Even if my master doesn’t believe me, I saw them appear with my own eyes. I don’t know what to make of you, but it was fascinating.” She took her time with her next words. “I recommend you never tell anyone else.”

I parsed her words. It sounded like I developed some type of infection. Clinically, that would make sense. Like polio or chicken pox, children manifest much milder symptoms than naive adults. Many infections have dermatological manifestations. Perhaps these ”marks” are just that, with a cultural stigma attached to them. But really, where the hell am I that a rash is called a mark? And channels? Did I end up in some anti-vax, hippie commune?

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“This should be the last bit. It might be uncomfortable.” She put a hand on my temple and another one over my heart. A familiar pulsing started, though this one had none of the sedative effect. It and my heartbeat slowly grew to beat in time.

“What is that?”

She moved from my chest to my arms and back. “I am just confirming your channels are undamaged.”

Again with the channels. “Am I in a hospital?” My mouth twisted, and my tongue stuck when I said hospital.

She stopped. Her hands left my body. “A what?”

“Am I in a hospital?” I scowled as my mouth made a similar twisting motion. The word failed to come through. Everything else came so easily. It was as if the word “hospital” didn’t exist…

“I’m sorry. I don’t understand what you’re saying, but you are in a healer’s lodge—well, hut might be more appropriate here.”

A healer’s lodge? What is going on?

Memories flashed in my mind. An explosion. A dinosaur. A waterfall. A language in which each word drove spikes of pain into my brain. None of this made sense, but it was too real to be a dream.

My heart sped up to a gallop. I swallowed, trying to wet my dry throat enough that I could ask the most essential question. “Where am I?”

I must have looked terrified because she spoke, softly as if trying to keep me from fleeing. “You are in a mining camp deep in the Æþerfajraltoj or, as we call it, the Fossandefjöll.”

“Please tell me that is some obscure mountain range in the U.S.”

She looked at me with confusion. "U? S? Is that the name of your home?”

“How about Earth?” She shook her head. I tried again, slightly altering my intent. “Earth?”

“Dirt?”

Whatever was translating our speech clearly had limits, but it also was light years beyond anything I had ever heard of.

Have I woken up in the future?

I touched my scalp, checking for some signs of a brain-machine interface and finding nothing.

It could be embedded…

However, that didn't explain what I had seen or her lack of knowledge about one crucial piece of information. "I braced myself as I asked the question. "How do you not know about Earth?"

My mouth twisted again, and I shook my head, trying to keep the tears from flowing.

Don’t want to impact my healing.

She cupped my hands. “I am sorry. I haven’t traveled far from this land, but it is clear you must be from far away. Even if your clothes and gear weren’t so foreign, your ignorance is too great. I know you have questions for me, but I have some for you too. How far have you come that you don’t know of the Wilds?”

I shook my head. How did I answer that? Did it even matter? “I'm from far away?”

“Then how did you survive? Your gear is not enchanted, and while I don’t have my master’s skill, you can’t be far into the first tier. How did you survive the beasts of the Wilds long enough to fall into the Æþertorento in the first place?”

"I don’t know. I…” I tipped my head to the sky. Did I tell her? My head dropped, as whatever strength I had gained disappeared. I barely managed a whisper in response to her question. “I think I'm here because of”—what did the insurance companies call it?—“an act of God."

She sucked in air, and she pulled her hands away from mine. A crash of something—a chair?—toppling to the floor followed shortly after.

The sound and her sudden movements jolted me out of my despair. “Are you okay?”

Before I could stop myself, I ripped down the bandage covering my eyes.I braced for pain, but that shock didn’t come. Instead, I got another shock when I finally got a look at the person who had been caring for me this entire time. Even though I wasn’t wearing my glasses, she was crystal clear, and her skin was definitely green.

I laughed. I couldn't stop laughing. At some point, my laughter became hysterical. She watched me the entire time.I must have looked insane to her. Perhaps I was. I wanted to believe that I had gone mad, but this had to be true. How else could I explain a rabbit, a velociraptor, and now this woman?

When I finally calmed down, my respect for this young woman grew. She had not backed away. I had seen many doctors flinch at far less. I should have thanked her, but instead I couldn’t quite grapple with what my eyes were seeing. “Are you…human?”

“What do you mean by that?”

Her words had taken on an edge.I picked up on it, but I couldn’t make myself care.

“I mean, you look it, but…“ I waved in her general direction with both hands, implying the rest.

Every bit of empathy drained from her face. "That is the first thing you say upon seeing me? I brought you back from the edge of death, and this is how you treat me? I’ve killed men for less. How dare you bring up my heritage after all I've done for you.” She stood up and walked towards the door. She stopped and pointed. “What remains of your clothes and items are in that corner.I now regret not handing them to our [Quartermaster]. Good luck in the mines. You'll need it."

She was leaving me over a single question? I giggled. What had I said? I giggled again. She hesitated in the doorway. Her dark green lips drew into a line. In the shadows, her brown eyes glowed with flecks of fluorescent green, and yet I found not an ounce of compassion in them. I tried, but I couldn't stop the laughter. Could this day get any worse?

This time, she did not wait for me to stop.