The rogue mage straightened out of his squat and pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Chew on that, Sheriff." He grinned that terrifying grin. "I'm gonna get that boy and you can't stop me."

The rogue mage turned and headed out of the valley in the direction of the central cluster of skyscraper crystals.

Jacob collapsed on the ground and drew in deep, shaking breaths. So the rogue mage was after him. He thought he was going to vomit. All the rogue mage had had to do was look up at the right moment and poof, Jacob had been as good as dead. He wouldn't have been able to do anything to stop him. He'd have been helpless and he would have died and he didn't want to die.

His parents warned him about kidnappers and pedophiles and murdering psychopaths, and here he was with one chasing after him. He curled his knees up to his chest and stayed there until he was sure the madman was gone. But what did he do now? He couldn't just keep walking around here. He'd run into another creature like that chimera. Or that lunatic would find him. What did he do? Did he sit and wait? Did he move around?

Jacob realized he was panicking again and slowed himself down. He just had to think it through, think clearly. He kept going back to what his parents would do, what they had taught him to do in situations 'like' this. But how could he listen to that, to any of it? That chimera would have killed him if he had stayed put and waited for someone to come help him. Killed him. Not mugged him or yelled at him or scratched him. It would have killed him.

But he'd escaped. He'd escaped because he'd remembered what he knew, what he'd learned about animals like that. He'd escaped because of what he'd learned from Jimmy. He knew that. But he'd almost frozen up, he'd almost been paralyzed by fear, by panicking about all those things his parents had warned him about. All those stupid things. Here he was in actual danger, and he could barely move, had only just narrowly managed to escape that chimera by chance and impulse and luck. What good were any of those stupid, useless warnings if when he actually got into a dangerous situation he couldn't handle it?

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"Goddamnit." Jacob whispered.

Was he always going to be like this? If so, how could he protect himself from that rogue mage, even if he learned enough magic? How could he become a Ranger like Jimmy? Forget the magic, how could he go away for university? Would he live the rest of his life like this? Would he give up everything he liked, everything he wanted, simply because he was too scared?

No.

If he lived his whole life thinking about them he'd never be able to do what he wanted to do. He had to break free, be his own person, use his own knowledge like he had against the chimera.

Jacob got to his feet. His head spun, echoes of realizations whirling through him. For a brief moment he didn't feel like himself.

Okay. First things first. He had no idea where he was, what the orientation of this place was relative to the real world, or how to get out of here. He couldn't make a portal like Sheriff Hueller. Now, wouldn't that be a convenient thing to learn, eh? Camilla had mentioned how some areas of 'natural prominence,' whatever that actually meant, could be crossover points.

Jacob immediately thought of VanDusen Botanical Garden, and his spirits raised. But no, she'd said it was only a weakening of the barrier. He didn't know if he could break through. The only spell he knew was the resilience one. He'd have to find somewhere there was a legitimate crossover, but where the hell would that be? And how would he know where that area was on this side?

He was screwed. The panic came back.

Something yowled not far off.

Damn it, he couldn't stay here. As much as he just wanted to curl up into a ball, he had to at least keep moving. But which way? No matter where he went he was bound to run into some crazy monster that would eat him.

Maybe the rogue mage knew a way out of here?

No, he was probably using portals to go back and forth. But Jacob hadn't felt the man's magical signature since the raijū had crossed over, and if he was using portals, why had he walked out of the valley?

He peeked over the low shelf. It hadn't been that long since the rogue mage had left the valley. If he hurried, he might be able to catch up with him.

Was he really about to follow the guy who wanted to kidnap him, maybe wanted to kill him?

Jacob froze. That was crazy.

But was there another choice?

He crouched there and licked his lips. It was like hopping the fence. He could feel it. He just had to do it and then it would be over with and he would feel good.

Before he could think about consequences, he took off down the valley after the rogue mage.