The air around the Tear was filamented with sparks of red. Like an isolated thunderstorm, the Tear made way for rolling layers of preserved depth. Look at it one way, and your sight continued across the horizon. Look at it in another, and the world stretched for eternity.

The boys and Gelo stood a safe distance away, eying the redness.

“I don’t like it,” Leland said quietly, as if the Tear could hear him. “Feels strange.”

Jude was making a face at the sky of the new world. “Why is it red?”

Gelo shivered. “I don’t like the mana here.”

“I know, right?” Leland whispered.

“Feels fine to me,” Glenny said with a shrug. “I’m not understanding why you all are acting like this?”

“Allow me,” Jude said. “Imagine, dear Glenny, that this Tear is like a hot pepper. Some people don’t like heat, others, like you, are strange and do.”

Everyone slowly turned and stared at him.

“What?” he asked, innocently.

“Ignore him,” Leland gestured at the Tear. “It reminds me of the Archons, alien. My skin feels like it’s under a magnifying glass.”

“Like I’m standing too close to a campfire,” added Gelo with a nod.

“I just don’t like that the sky is red. What’s up with that?” Jude asked.

“I don’t know, light wavelengths or something.”

Now it was everyone’s turn to stare at Leland.

“What?” he asked, innocently.

“Ha ha, next you’ll tell us the moon is a big rock!”

Leland blinked slowly. “No, that would be crazy talk.”

“See?” Glenny asked. “You three are acting strange. What is with this conversation?”

Jude answered, “I think it is the idea that there is life outside of our small little world and that the grand scheme of the cosmos is far larger than any of us ever believed. And these Tears are proof that the world is changing in unforeseen ways, ways that scare us because, in reality, we are not strong enough to make a difference.”

Now they were back to staring at him.

“No, there is just too much mana in the air.”

“Agreed,” Gelo added.

“Or that,” Jude supposed.

The bantering continued as the group progressed into the Tear. None would admit it, but each was scouring the red infinite horizon for any signs of danger, life, or anything, really. Anything to not go in. What better way to experience life on the other side of the Tear than to not enter at all!? Like a researcher documenting frogs in a cage, it was easier to collect data outside the cage.

But as they walked, a switch happened. No longer were they walking into the Tear but out of the Tear.

“Like a hot pepper,” Jude muttered.

No one stole a glance at him, the dark sand suddenly a minefield. Who knew if any of these grains of sand were safe to walk on!? After all, they were alien sand grains and could be dangerous.

Straight overhead, a red orb took up a section of the red sky. Slightly off in hue, the orb sat stationary like an ever present sun, albeit a giant one, watching over the desolate world. Glancing at it, everyone quickly looked away, their eyes burning as if they were actually looking into the sun.

“It’s too bright in here,” Leland muttered, flipping through his grimoire. The Lord of Chameleon’s contract adapted to the situation, which, in this case, made his eyes adjust to the rough lighting. “Ah, that’s better,” he sang, able to properly look around.

Rapidly blinking, Glenny let out a similar grunt as Leland. “I think I just adapted to the sunlight. I can see properly.”

Both Gelo and Jude stared at him, their eyes almost completely shut. “I hate you,” Jude said. “Agreed,” Gelo added.

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“Leals, can you go get a contract from the Lord of Light for an eye protection spell?”

“Nope. Lord of Light is a Vile Lord, remember? The Light Architect.”

Jude cursed, kicking sand. “I think it may be worth it…”

“Not going to happen. And if you want, you and Gelo can exit. We’ve got an hour to kill before whatever happens, happens.”

Without having to be prompted a second time, the cub quickly dashed backward. Jude followed, yelling, “We’ll be back in an hour!”

And just like that, the squinters left. Leland hesitated in his next few words, but he felt the need to get them out.

“I-I… You know that cantrip I’ve been working on? Memory Recall?”

Glenny slowly nodded, still scanning the sand for signs of trouble.

Leland continued, “I finally figured it out. Annnnd, I saw her, your mom.”

“What?”

“It was a memory. Jude, you, and I were at the market with her. I bumped into a fruit seller’s stall and knocked some fruit down. The seller yelled at me then your mom yelled at her.”

“Really? How old were we?”

“I don’t know. Like seven? Young.”

“I don’t remember that at all.”

“Neither did I. Your mom taught me the lesson of giving a few minutes of your time to someone to help them. A few minutes can make someone’s life that much easier.”

Glenny swallowed, his throat feeling as if he had just coughed up a lung. “Sounds like her,” he forced himself to say, keeping his face as neutral as possible. “That’s a good cantrip.”

“It is,” Leland said, stealing a glance. “I can teach it to you. It will be hard, you not being a mage and all. But it theoretically is possible. As long as you have the mana to cast it. Which isn’t that much, all things cons—”

“Thanks, but no.” He tapped the side of his head. “There’s no point in living in the past. She’s gone, and she’s going to stay that way. Reliving my memories… just— Thanks, Leland.”

The Warlock bit his tongue, mentally chiding himself for not pushing the Lord of Souls harder. Any contract would have been worth it to resurrect Glenny’s mom.

The boys fell into silence, each staring off into the distance or occasionally stopping to brush at the sand. Not even Zeke, who flew overhead, saw anything but dark sand and a red sky. Eventually fifty nine minutes passed and Jude and Gelo returned squinting.

“Anything?”

“Not yet,” Leland mused, looking from his birthday pocket watch to the surroundings. “Annnny second now.”

And as the second hand ticked past a full revolution, he snapped the watch closed and stuffed it back into his pocket. The gesture alone made the hairs on the back of everyone’s necks rise, even Gelo and her mane of fur. Slowly, they shifted their weight across their feet, lowering themselves into a semi-crouch. If battle was to come, they would be ready.

Glenny was the first to notice him.

A figure against the dark sand moved toward the group, toward the Tear’s exit. Slow, methodical, as if the world could wait, a man walked.

All at once, the red sky darkened into shadow. Around the man was a plane, a domain of arrogance that rejected light and relinquished structure. The sand melted and solidified, a walkway for the man to step without burrowing his naked toes into the granules.

As the man neared, more and more details could be made out. Skin as white as snow, the man had but a scrap of clothing – nothing more than a dirty rag or strip of fabric. He wore it as pants, but calling it proper clothing was a stretch. Maybe, once, years ago, but now it was hardly worthy of holding. But for the man who had nothing else, it may have been a national treasure.

“What in the world…” it was Jude, now able to see thanks to the shadow, who spoke though everyone was thinking it. This world was supposed to be barren.

“Guess the Lords wanted us to be his welcoming party,” Leland muttered before waving.

The man’s vacant eyes picked up on the movement, his whole façade changing in an instant. What was a slow, tedious walk ended. Recognition found his mind, and the man, for the first time in ages, stopped his wandering. He had finally found someone.

He took a single step, appearing before the boys and Gelo instantly. Each of them reacted by flinching.

When the man failed to attack, draw a hidden weapon, or cast a magical spell, they relaxed. Leland took a half-step forward, asking, “Can you understand me?”

The man twitched, his forehead creased with emotions he had long thought dead. Opening his mouth, a string of words flooded out in a long dead language. To him, this voice sounded as alien to him as the people before him. How long had it been since he spoke?

To everyone’s surprise, Leland responded in that same language, “Ah. Hello. Can you understand me now?”

The man recoiled, almost falling flat on his butt. “What madness has consumed me!? Is this the end!?”

“Uh, I don’t think there’s any madness here. Just some Lordly magic. The Lord of the Lexicon made it so that I can understand all languages after hearing them.”

“Lord of—” The man tilted his chin down, his eyes regaining life. “What madness—”

“My name is Leland. What do we call you?”

He paused, carefully inspecting the group before him. And yet, despite having gone for so long without seeing people, what sat behind them drew his attention. Color. Blue. White. Green. Blue skies, white clouds, green treetops in the distance.

“A portal—”

“We call them ‘Tears,” Leland supplied. “Tears between worlds created by the Archons in hopes of combining dying worlds into live ones. I guess your world is dying.”

The man stared at him. “This… this is no madness. You speak of the Archons… I remember them… they… they were the last beings… They left me here, alone.”

“Alone?” Leland gestured at the wasteland of sand. “You mean—”

“There is no one. I am the last of my kind… cursed to walk my world for eternity, alone. Oh how long have I walked. How long has it been since the sun—” He shook his head. “A cursed existence. A cursed… I was cursed…”

Leland scratched his cheek and glanced around at his friends. They were staring at him with the surprise of a lifetime, which, unfortunately, was not helpful in this situation.

“Uh,” he said, “funny that you mentioned curses. I may be the only person around who can get your curse looked at.”