They had gathered at the dining room table as Alexander wondered, what in the actual hell just happened? Who is this guy? Most importantly, why is he in my house, eating my protein bars?

The stranger swallowed a bite, marveling rather nonchalantly at the bar. He hummed briefly. "Same effect as a minor potion at a tenth of the price... this world really is something." They gazed at the boy, somewhat concerned, but mostly confused. Finally, Emily spoke.

"Um- Excuse me, Mister-"

"Drop your formalities," he sneered. "It's Kieran Renvar."

It wasn't even five minutes before he'd already triggered Alexander's nerves. "Look," he interjected. "I know I probably shouldn't speak out against the one who saved our asses back there, but this is still my house. Be respectful."

"Well, then respectfully, shut up. I'm not here because I wanna be."

"Then why are you here?" Taber cut in, growing obviously agitated.

"A long story that we have zero time for here."

"Bullshit," Alex said. He wasn't usually one to get heated, but for Kieran to invite himself into his house and speak cryptically was a level of arrogance he'd once deemed unheard of. "You'll tell us, now."

"Learn your place, half-wit."

"Just tell us what's going on, then!" As Alex finished, Kieran's face contorted with apprehension before relaxing into a sigh.

"Fine. But you will wait until we get there."

"Get where?" Taber pressed.

"Adrin. My world."

"Oh, okay, buddy," Alex began. "You just expect us to believe you came from some random world just to spirit three rando's away for little to no reason? I ain't buying it. You may have been a big help back there, but you're obviously deranged."

"Oh," Kieran's brows dropped. "It's for a reason, and even I can't believe it's happening. Much less that it's you I'm taking."

Taber slammed his hand on the table and shot up from his chair, squaring up with Kieran. Alex followed suit. "Nobody said they were doing anything, asshole!" Taber shouted.

Kieran rolled his eyes in aggravation. "For the love of-"

In two swift movements that they could barely follow, Taber and Alex lost their footing and landed on their asses as Kieran grabbed onto their torsos and reached out, grabbing Emily's arm as she yelped. As he was crouched down, Alex heard three unfamiliar syllables escape Kieran's lips in a strained voice. "Os... voros!"

A cloud of smoke swirled around them and in the next moment as it dissipated, a blinding light invaded his retinas. Originally, he was going to question what the light was from, but as soon as he took a look around to find themselves surrounded by a forest, Alex had quickly realized that the light was the sun.

And that he was no longer in his house. In fact, there wasn't a single trace of their town.

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For Taber, more than anything, it was the sheer disbelief of it all as he slowly made his way onto his feet, taking several glances around. Everything that had transpired leading up to this moment, the smoke that had surrounded them, and even the current environment had his mind swirling. From the looks of it, they were nowhere near home. There wasn't a forest anywhere close to where they lived.

Taber peered around at the greenery, the faint scent of cedarwood and pine invading his nose. Trees lined the small clearing they found themselves in, bushes tucked between their trunks with an assortment of blooming flowers dotting them. Three dirt paths branched out in different directions, disappearing into the seemingly endless expanse of vegetation.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Dumbfounded, he decided to be the first to say something. Taber turned his focus back to Kieran, whose intense gaze met his own. "Where in the hell are we?"

"Kora Forest," Kieran began in an uninterestedly nonchalant tone. "In the Territory of Dakir."

"Okay, what the hell does that mean?" Taber replied, his tone laced with agitation at the lack of an explanation.

"It means that you're in Adrin. Welcome to the rest of your life, at least for now."

As Kieran began to walk away, as Taber's jaw hung agape. He heard Alexander's voice sound off to his right as he started stomping toward him. "Now listen here, Kieran, I don't know who the hell you think you are, but-!"

Alex had his arm outstretched as if to place his hand on Kieran's shoulder, but in one aggressively swift motion, he grabbed him by the collar and spoke with a tone that was cold enough to make even Taber's blood freeze over. "I'd suggest you think twice before placing your hands on me, half-pint. I know you aren't quite aware of what's going on here, but frankly, we don't have time for this! As we speak, the Followers are making their move and Master doesn't have long to train you boneheads before sending us off." Kieran removed his grip on Alex with a subtle shove as he lightly stumbled back.

"We didn't ask for this!" Alex shouted at him, his voice laced with emotion.

"None of us ask for anything. Fate just places you in a situation and you have no choice but to act. This is your time to do just that. There is no other option. Either you decide to get your head out of your ass and act, or we're all dead." There was a notable tension in the air with the delivery of his words. Even just the mention of death, and the fact that he'd directed his words specifically at Alex, made Taber wonder just what they had all gotten themselves into, and just how deep they were. "Now let's go," Kieran continued. "Our time is running thin."

As he turned to begin walking once again, Alex, Emily and Taber eyed each other. As they returned their gazes forward, they took a hesitant step into the forest.

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To Alex, it felt like they'd been walking for hours in silence, and in that quiet time he'd had a well of different emotions play out. Anger, confusion, frustration, sadness and concern were just a few of them. Why is this happening? What did I ever do to deserve something like this? And why with this insufferable grouch of a person, no less?! A cacophony of other thoughts piled up in his head to the point that he almost didn't notice when they had reached another, much larger clearing in the forest.

Next to a river sat a cozy-looking two-story log cabin. Draped over the cabin's porch stood a smooth wooden awning and off to the right of it was a small patch of compressed dirt, with a couple of training dummies posted at the far edge. To the cabin's front, closer to the path, was a picnic table, a fire pit built adjacent to it. As they approached the log cabin, the front door began to creak open. Immediately, Alex felt an intense pressure in the air as his eyes subconsciously grew wider out of innate fear, as if his body knew what was going on before he did.

He caught a glimpse of who he could only assume was the source of this feeling; a young man, not much older than Kieran, with jet-black hair that rested at the top of his shoulders. Despite his presence, the man's stubbled face exuded a sense of indifference, his forest-green eyes soft as he strode down the steps from the porch and approached the four of them. Most of the man's body was hidden behind a cloak that draped over his shoulders, one side of it covering half of the front of his torso, drawing more attention to the sword strapped to and hanging from his hip. "Master," Kieran revered as he took a knee. "I've returned."

The man nodded in approval and then surveyed the rest of them, before bringing his focus back to Kieran. The longer he stood there, the more the fear within Alex subsided, and the more the feeling began to fade. He couldn't tell whether that meant his body was getting used to it, or if the man was controlling it himself. If he was, he was trying to send a message to the four. One that was working.

"Welcome back, Kieran." The man said, with a voice that was hushed and friendly, contrasting starkly with his aura. He turned to the rest of them, bowing his head slightly. "I must apologize for bringing you all the way that we did. However," he continued, turning away and moving toward the fire pit. "I fear that our time is running short." He turned slowly as he faced them again, gesturing toward the bench as if inviting them to take a seat. "And quite frankly, it is of the essence."

They took the hint and moved over to the bench and took a seat next to each other. With that, the man continued. "All of that in mind, we needed to bring you here as soon as possible."

"But..." Alex began, trying to find the words he wanted to say, but had no idea how to thread them all together. So instead, he asked the biggest question he had: "Why?"

"Why us?" Taber interjected.

"Right," the man said, "I should probably explain. My apologies." He placed his hand on his chin. "Where to begin?" Alex watched as he went to sit down on nothing, briefly expressing a small bit of confusion. Until the man had done something that Alex had expected the least. A small circular portion of the ground rose up to meet the man as he sat down, captivating Alex's attention. For a few moments, his mind wasn't entirely focused on what the man was saying. All that was racing through his mind was one excited thought:

This world has Magic!