Chapter 5

Finn stayed outside, standing awkwardly in the middle of the shifting corridor. The heavy stone door creaked shut behind me, and for a moment, the room was deadly silent. I looked around the room, and the first thing I observed was that it seemed more stable than the corridor rooted in one place. Yet it still had an otherworldly feel to it.

The high-vaulted ceiling stretched endlessly above our heads into the darkness, and there were faint pinpricks of light far above, as if emulating the night sky. The walls were carved with intricate runes that pulsed faintly in the dark, casting the room in a calming blue. There were massive tapestries hung far back, depicting scenes of battles; defeated and triumphed. t. The figures in them were shown locked in combat with a shifting mass of darkness, so lifelike that it seemed like the shadows were actually moving.

Then I turned my attention to the council who were sitting on high-backed wooden chairs that resembled thrones. Five of them sat at a long table that was really just a single slab of stone, polished to a mirror finish. They all watched me, their gaze varying between curiosity and scrutiny. I could feel their eagerness in the air around me, as if they were on the edge of something big. I stared back at them as it suddenly dawned on me that they were hoping for some grand speech from me I begrudgingly had to break the silence myself.

“So,” I started, “what was that you lot said before about needing my help?”

Maybe not the grand opening they had hoped for but it was all they would be getting from me. It’d serve them well to lower their expectations when it came to me and the sooner they learnt that, the better off all of us would be.

The middle-aged woman at the center of the table who had spoken earlier smiled thinly. “Welcome, Sam. I am Magister Lyra,” she said, her voice clear and authoritative. “We’ve been expecting you.”

She gestured to the others, who introduced themselves one by one with their absurd titles, removing their hoods as they did so. They probably thought it made them look cool while I just felt like I was in a badly executed cosplay competition.

“Keeper of Mystical Relics,” said a grim old man with an eyepatch.

“Champion of the Celestial Veil,” said a young, red-haired woman with a cheeky smirk.

“Voice of Reason.” This one was a short, stubby man with a ponytail.

“Chains,” the last man said, wearing a black mask that concealed his face entirely. Why put the hood up at all if he was just going to wear a mask under it? And why just Chains? I got needlessly irritated at that for a second before taking a deep breath to compose myself.

“I see you’re not from around here,” Lyra continued. “Finn’s report was... enlightening, to say the least.”

“Oh, good,” I muttered sarcastically refusing to hide my displeasure at them poking their pointy noses all up in my business.

Lyra’s expression didn’t waver. “He told us about your confrontation with the Cultist. And about your… unusual abilities.”

I walked over to the table and sat down on the tiny stool, facing the council, who towered over me. I felt kind of small in front of them but I was already sitting, and getting up now would only make me look like more of an idiot.

I crossed my arms, trying to convey my indignation at their attitudes. “Let me guess: this is the part where you tell me I’m some kind of chosen one destined to save your world?”

Lyra exchanged a glance with one of her colleagues, who looked like he hadn’t smiled since the dawn of time. “Not necessarily,” she replied. “That’s what we’re here to determine.”

Great. Another group obsessed with destiny. I sighed. “Look, I’m not interested in saving the world. I just want to know if you can send me home. Can you do that?”

Lyra hesitated and her sharp gaze flickered. “Returning you to your world is beyond our abilities.”

“Right. Figures.” I straightened, rising to my feet as I turned to leave. “Then at least teleport me to Spuria. I’ll figure things out on my own from there.”

“We could do that,” she admitted. “But before you decide to leave, you should know something important. Your world is connected to ours in ways you cannot imagine. If the Void overtakes us, it won’t stop here. It will reach your world too, sooner than you think.”

I stopped. “You’re saying the fate of my world rests on me sticking around this place to play hero?”

“No,” she replied. “I’m saying the fate of both our worlds may depend on you choosing to stand with us.”

I contemplated. The Order was pretty annoying but so far, they had proven to be trustworthy people, even leading me into their own secret headquarters and bringing me face to face with their leaders. While I suspected that they were lying to me about being able to send me home, I couldn’t really expect anything else from them. I would do the same in their place; forcing someone else to save my world while I rested at home. It wouldn’t hurt to at least hear them out. Especially if my own world was in danger.

I sighed.

“Fine. Tell me what you want me to do. But make it short, I really can’t have this day test my patience any more than it has already.”

She took a deep breath and started info-dumping, as if she’d rehearsed the speech and given it a hundred times before in the past. “The Void,” she began, “is a sentient force, a darkness come to life. Over the past few centuries it has begun spilling into this realm in the form of savage beasts and devastating darkness.”

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Suddenly the tapestries at the back made more sense.

“It has consumed entire nations, and even wiped out an entire continent off the map, leaving only ruins, despair and monsters in its wake. If left to its own devices, it will consume all life on this world. The Order exists to fight this enemy and its followers, the Cult of the Void.”

When she mentioned the cult, the old man, the keeper of eye patches spat on the floor in disgust and began to speak.

“They are filthy traitors who believe the void to be a form of salvation. You have already fought one of these Cultists of the Void alongside Finn.”

Lyra nodded at him and continued, “We have tried to peer into the Void, to learn more of it, and have discovered two things. Firstly, it is from another realm entirely. Perhaps the realm itself is the Void, or perhaps it consumed everything else and, still hungry, has begun to wade into ours. We are not sure. Secondly, ours is not the first world it has attacked, nor will it be the last. .Only when it consumes one world completely does it move on to the next prey.”

I nodded.

“So what you’re saying is that even if I go back home, it will follow me there considering you lot can’t figure out a way to put a stop to it?”

Lyra gave a grim nod.

I rubbed my forehead. I didn’t want to deal with this world-ending business, but I couldn’t let Earth just die either. What if they were telling the truth…

“Occasionally we have managed great victories against the void but those would not have been possible without the heroes,” said the red-haired girl “While some of them were people from our world, most were outsiders like yourself or Finn. Brought here by some twist of fate, people like you have always played a role in the battle against evil.”

Here the masked man began to murmur something and ponytail man began to comfort him in hushed tones as Lyra continued.

“We recently received an oracle’s vision,” Lyra continued, her expression tightening. “A hero would arrive to save us from the Void’s destruction once and for al-”

I held up a hand, cutting her off. “Fine. I’ll help.”

Lyra blinked, taken aback. “Just like that?”

“Yeah,” I said, shrugging. “Look, I don’t think I’m the chosen one you’re looking for. And I don’t like this destiny business or being forced into saving a world. But I also don’t want to live in a world full of monsters either. Besides, if helping you makes you stop talking, then I’m all for it. Where do I start?”

Her lips twitched in what might have been a suppressed smile. “Thank you. But first, we need to determine if you’re truly the one from the oracle’s vision. Though Finn vouches for you, an other worlder is not always to be trusted. People like you have always been at the center of great changes, but not necessarily for good. Finn himself knows a thing or two about such things. Though it did not work out quite so well in his case.”

That last part made me more curious, and I made a mental note to myself to ask Finn about the details.

“We had considered setting up a trial to test you, but fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, a situation has come up that seems perfect. There is a danger in the forest that must be dealt with. Someone has unsealed an evil entity from an ancient pillar.”

I whistled innocently. “Sounds like something a real idiot would do.”

She nodded like a sage, agreeing with me. “If you can survive this trial, it will prove your worth.”

Frankly, I found the whole thing to be rather silly. If I weren’t the chosen one, they were essentially sending some poor ambitious fool to get killed. Either I lived, or I was the wrong guy; a pretty bleak situation if I do say so myself. Still, I said nothing. I felt kind of guilty for being the one who had unsealed the pillar in the first place. I don’t like fixing other people’s problems, but I have to clean my own mess.

Lyra gestured to the door. “Finn will lead you to your quarters for the night. You’ll leave in the morning with some of our trainees.”

“Trainees?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “What are they supposed to do? Cheer me on?”

“They are capable,” the red-haired girl spoke, indignantly. “I trained them myself.”

Capable or not, I doubted they’d be much help, but I kept that thought to myself. Lyra led me out of the chamber, where Finn was waiting. He looked up, his usual grin still plastered on his face.

“Rough meeting?” he asked, leading me down yet another endless hallway.

“You could say that,” I replied. “Speaking of which, Lyra mentioned something about you being responsible for a ‘terrible change.’ Care to elaborate?”

Finn’s grin faded. “Ah, that’s a long story, my friend. One for another time.”

I frowned but didn’t press further. He didn’t want to talk about it, and I could relate to that.

Finn changed the topic and asked me what I thought about the council.

“They’re definitely strange,” I said. “What is that masked dude’s deal?”

Finn laughed but didn’t respond.

The corridors around us shifted again, and suddenly, a door appeared out of nowhere. Finn pushed it open, revealing a sparse room with a single bed and a small table laden with bread, cheese, and water.

“Home sweet home,” he announced. “Get some rest. Big day tomorrow.”

The next morning, Finn woke me early and dragged me to the teleportation chamber. It was an enormous, circular room with walls that seemed to ripple like water. Crystals jutted out at uneven angles from the walls and cast a white glow that danced across the floor. The air hummed faintly with energy and carried a metallic tang that tickled the back of my throat. The room was alive with activity and robed figures ran around, carving glowing runes into the floor.

“This is where the magic happens, quite literally,” Finn said as he gestured to the intricate circle in the center of the room.

Before I could reply, the door creaked open, and two figures entered. Finn waved them over with exaggerated enthusiasm.

“Sam, meet your team! This is Zeke, Luna, and Herbert.”

Zeke was tall and wiry, with wild purple hair and a cocky grin, face gleaming with mischief. He was younger than I had thought, and looked like he was in his late teens. He gave off an energy that told me he was either incredibly capable or about to get us all killed. “Hey,” he said, clapping me on the back with surprising force. “You’re the hero huh?”

He gave me a once-over, apparently judging if I was worthy of saving the world. I hoped he found something wrong with me so I wouldn’t have to do this. But Finn gave him a disapproving look and he walked away laughing.

Behind him was Luna, her demeanor almost exactly opposite to Zeke. She seemed to be the same age as him and was half a head shorter. Her auburn hair braided neatly and threaded with tiny, colorful flowers, and she had an elegant ivory bow attached to her back. Her expression was a mix of nervousness and determination. “Hello,” she said softly, offering a shy smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

I couldn’t tell if Zeke’s confidence or her shyness would serve us better in battle. I just hoped they would be able to pull their weight.

I looked around for the third person Finn had named but he shook his head and gestured at the plant.

Herbert, as it turned out, was the plant.

“Hi,” I said, eyeing the plant as its branches extended toward me. I shook one firmly. “Nice to meet you, Herbert.”

I was slowly getting desensitized to this new world. Or maybe growing crazier by the minute.

“He likes you,” Luna said, smiling warmly.

“Fantastic,” I muttered. “Let’s just get this over with.”

The Order members finished their preparations, and the team stepped into the teleportation circle. As the runes flared to life, I felt a strange pulling sensation, as though the world itself was tugging at my body.

The last thing I heard before the light consumed us was Zeke’s voice ringing out cheerfully: “Here I come world!”

At least someone was excited.