Why did those words come out of me? It was stupid, right? I didn’t know what I was saying—I can’t trust that. How do I know what I’m EVEN TALKING ABOUT?

But even as he internally shouted at himself, Jack knew he was wrong. The words had been true. He didn’t know how or why, but it was just the same with seeing things right before they happened—the same with the Athe. Sometimes it was images, sometimes it was just a flash of a thought or bit of a feeling, and the implications of that terrified him.

Because I know it’s true. I know there are portals here, but also what if I’m wrong? What if all of this stuff is wrong—all of my Athe feelings? I mean, they’ve all been right so far, but what if that isn’t how it always goes? What If I mess up and what if the mess-up is this one?

Genys and Pyrn limped a few steps in front of Jack. They had seemed to react fairly well to whatever Orv had done to them medically. Both were on their own feet, they had both been pretty adamant about that. Jil and Orvalys were right behind them and were having an ongoing conversation. Jack wasn’t listening to any of it, his conversation was currently happening entirely in his own head.

And if there really are portals down here what does that mean? Are they stable? Do they open and close? How many of them lead to the expanse of space or the hearts of stars or icy wastelands, and do any of them lead to other places where… people live?

He wished he could have been alone to discuss things with Orvalys. It had been awkward enough to have a conversation half in English, but right after Jack had had his ‘Athedrinker epiphany’ the homunculus had cut short the conversation and explained to the others that since he and Jack were travelers from different worlds, their ‘expertise’ would be needed as the group navigated the cave.

It hadn’t seemed to completely convince Genys, but both her and Pyrn agreed that the extra hands at least would be useful. The homunculus also gently hinted that he had saved their lives.

What if we find something in this cave? Something from somewhere dangerous? What if something attacks us from a world where things are a hundred times stronger and more ferocious than we’ve ever seen

He was spiraling and he knew it. It was obvious, and he even knew the reason. In this moment, walking through this tunnel, he was closer than he ever had been to potentially finding Nymia—that’s what was really going on. That was what was putting him on edge. He wanted nothing more than to run down this cavern and try to search for that mind-splitting multicolored portal and that familiar alien sky and otherworldly air behind it.

Instead he was trapped in the middle of a weird situation where he felt like if he spoke he would say the wrong thing.

How did this happen? It was a thought he had often had. How did I go from being WarKing to following behind groups like a sad puppy?

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

It was the same kind of thought he had had a million times since he was thirteen (for the second time). He had led a nation, how could he be a substitute teacher—a shy kid, a bullied, quiet, weak shy kid? Jack tried to tune out his inner thoughts and listen up to what everyone else was saying.

----------------------------------------

“So even the crusades were orchestrated by the Thori?” Jil asked. “Fascinating.”

“Glitz was their technology,” Pyrn said, limping his way down the tunnel. “Through its implementation, they subjugated a million free citizens without any of them even knowing.”

“So are you aware how long this mine has existed here?” Orvalys asked.

“My theory is that Thori discovered this vein while trading with Yarva,” The general explained. “We believe it to be their reason for initially infiltrating these lands. Long ago, perhaps a hundred years.”

“And so when Tinaria presented itself as a potential threat to Yarva, they intervened?” the homunculus asked.

“Exactly,” Genys said. “As much as I detest our history, it seems to indeed be our history.”

“Tinaria has been paranoid about a Thori invasion for as long as anyone can remember,” Jil said. “So that was all false?”

“Not only false, it was likely an intentional paranoia,” Pyrn said. “Without that fear we may have tried to cross the ocean decades ago.”

“And that would have been… bad?” Jil asked.

“We may have shattered the Thori’s most valuable strategy,” Pyrn said. “Their secrecy.”

“I thought glitz was most valuable to them?” Orvalys asked.

“Secrecy is their strategy, glitz is the weapon by which they enforce it,” Pyrn explained. “Take one down, and the other tumbles. After we hit them there, the entire Republic will do our work for us. Without glitz, the Thori won’t be able to silently subjugate. It was a bargaining chip they played long ago, but it still serves as their greatest protection.”

“There will be chaos,” Jil said. “Have you thought about the fallout from all this?”

Pyrn turned to Genys, “your sister asks a lot of questions.”

“I’m a big reader,” Jil said. “I like history, and it seems to always repeat itself in the worst way when people don’t read it as much as they should.”

“She’s a smart one,” added Pyrn.

“One could even say a strategist,” Genys added. “Runs in the family.”

“We… don't have to talk about that… please,” Jil said quickly.

The group walked a few more paces in silence.

Orvalys was the one to break it. “General, I for one trust in your expertise during the potential reconstruction after all this is over with, which is another reason for you to find a way out of here alive.”

Pyrn actually laughed. The sound took everyone by surprise and was loud enough to echo for a while down the tunnel walls.

“You’re very small,” the enormous general said. “How exactly did you come to be that way?”

This time it was Orvalys’ turn to chuckle. “I was born like this.”

“Born or made?” Pyrn asked.

“You ignored my question,” the homunculus pointed out.

Pyrn smiled. “And you may ignore mine.”

Orvalys smiled to himself and said, “I see we have more than one expert strategist among us.”

“That and something else,” Jack said suddenly, causing them all to turn. He was facing away from them, peering down the inky dark cavern. Slowly he turned back to the group. “Something that heard you laugh.”

“And it sounds fast.”