Ethan Bishop ignored the pain from his bloody, straining fingers as he pushed them deeper into the cracks of the red, alien rock. The texture of the stone felt wrong as he desperately reached higher, his chalk-stained hand questing for anything that could support his weight. In his haste, his left foot lost its hold, but Ethan refused to look down as he reflexively caught himself.

It was down.

He could hear claws scratching and raking against the cliff face below him as the enormous creature crawled ceaselessly up the sheer mountain side. The cloying sound sent waves of adrenaline and fear through Ethan’s body, pushing him to climb at an increasingly reckless pace.

His rational mind kept reminding him that his safety equipment was long gone, and every move could be his last. Still, while he’d seen what falls from this height could do to a body–both as a climber and as a doctor–his imagination painted far more grizzly pictures of what his pursuer would do if it caught up. Ethan pushed for greater speed, heedless of the greater risk.

Gritting his teeth, he kept his eyes upward, each ragged breath bringing with it an unfamiliar and sour taste. After a seeming eternity he spotted a ledge, and dim hope propelled him upward. He gripped an unexpected root in his haste, only to feel it writhe and twist like a snake, and he barely managed to maintain his hold as he recoiled in shock.

A gust of wind chose that moment to buffet him, and Ethan reflexively hugged in close to the traitorous mountain. The scratching grew louder–closer.

“Move your ass, Bishop!” he grunted, quoting his eldest brother by habit. It had the desired effect, and he attacked the rock with renewed vigor. Just a few desperate lunges later, and his hand felt the lip of the ledge. He scrambled madly, pulling himself the rest of the way up as his mind screamed that the creature was right behind him.

He rolled onto the blessedly wide and flat stone, panting and coughing in the thin air. Knowing he couldn’t afford to rest, he pushed himself to his knees. Ethan’s eyes darted in every direction, both afraid of what he might find, and desperate for anything that could offer a semblance of safety.

He was on a natural ledge halfway up the mountain, and he had to force himself to ignore the view of the sprawling, impossible valley it afforded him. Death was right on his heels.

He scrambled over the red stone, spotting what he needed. A crack traced its way up the mountain only a dozen paces off, and he raced toward it. He could barely squeeze inside, and felt jagged rock cutting into him as he forced his body through. It widened slightly inside, working like a proper climbing chimney, and he could see the dark, cloudy sky at the top. With no time to think, he pressed his hands into each wall, and continued moving upward, ignoring the complaints of his exhausted body.

As he climbed, desperate for as much distance as possible between him and the thing, he couldn’t help but stare out at the vista he’d been ignoring. It wasn’t Earth. It simply couldn’t be. Everything he looked at was wrong in its own way, and his mind fought against what his senses told him.

The mountain range felt familiar; Ethan had been climbing in the Rockies when all this madness started, but these weren’t the snow-capped grays he knew. They were all shades of rust, jagged, and somehow threatening, as if they were daring foolish men to climb them, knowing it was a path to a quick end.

The valley was likewise reminiscent of where he’d been, though the forest covering it was a sickly yellow and brown, and Ethan could swear it was moving. Shifting and undulating as if alive, far too organic to just be the wind. He thought back to the root that had squirmed in his hand, and he shivered, despite the oppressive heat.

At last he let his eyes fall on the most impossible sight of all. He’d resisted looking at it, as if everything else could be accepted, but the circle of blue-white light that rose into the sky was in open defiance of nature. It was like a tear in the world, an open wound in reality. Ethan knew that light, having seen it wrap around him on his climb, before he woke up in this terrible nightmare.

He could see smaller reflections of the mysterious phenomenon in every direction, bursting into existence and often fading just as quick. But they were small, little more than flashes, nothing compared to the gargantuan circle of energy that dominated the valley, easily as large as a city block.

As he climbed, Ethan could see glimpses of somewhere else through the impossible circle that he was coming to believe was a kind of gateway. It was a lush, green and blue landscape that seemed to mock this harsh and terrible place he’d been banished to. He found himself drawn to it, like an oasis in the desert.

Then he looked down, at a nightmare made flesh. Long, hairy legs were reaching over the ridge he’d just departed. They looked like they belonged on a tarantula the size of a car, except there were far too many of them, and the stinger that rose up was more scorpion than spider. He forced himself to look away, focusing on the dangerous climb, his body shaking as he pushed himself higher.

This wasn’t the first monster he’d seen, but despite a year spent working in a hospital it was still the worst thing he’d ever seen. When he’d woken up here laying on cold stone, he’d found himself surrounded by something like fire ants the size of possums. In a panic he’d crushed them with a large rock, his mind not even accepting that they were real until he was left panting and staring at their crushed forms.

The thing that hunted him now must have been attracted to the blood, and had appeared only minutes later to devour the remains greedily. Since then Ethan had been its prey, and he could think of no worse fate than being devoured by that horrifying mouth. He put the image out of his mind, knowing it would haunt his nightmares if he was lucky enough to survive.

He was nearly at the top of the chute when he heard the sound he’d been dreading, of too many legs pulling a monstrous body up the mountain after him. He scrambled up the remaining distance, before heaving himself out of the crevice. He was panting, the air burning his lungs as he dragged himself ever onward.

“Bishops…don’t…give up,” he muttered, again quoting his brother Dean. He felt childish saying it–it was genuinely something his brothers had yelled as children. But at the moment he would take anything that might help him keep putting one foot in front of the other.

He was on a narrow path, devoid of any vegetation, and he kept his right hand on the mountain side as he stumbled forward. The path curved up ahead, and there was something about the way the rock looked in the dim sunlight that was strange. He didn’t have time to consider the oddity as he heard the beast behind him.

Ethan tried to move faster, knowing that he couldn’t outrun what was coming. He began to look at the sheer drop next to him with some longing, and resolved that he wouldn’t let himself be killed by the monster. He was moving past the oddly shaped rock when he made the mistake of looking back.

It was right behind him, remarkably quiet for its size, and horrifying beyond belief. One glance at that enormous vertical mouth, split down the center of its furry, bear-like face was enough to cause him to stumble to the ground, screaming in abject terror. The monster had reached out to grip his leg with one of its terrible pincers, but released it suddenly as if burned.

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Shockingly, the scream seemed to affect the comparatively quiet monster, which backed away, its mouth snapping as if nervous. Ethan couldn’t imagine why the sound would bother it, but as he couldn’t stop himself from screaming anyway, he took the win. He shrieked with all the volume his burning, ravaged lungs could produce as he dragged himself backward.

It was then he realized why the rockface had looked so odd, as the wall next to him began to move. In a single rapid motion his pursuer was crushed under a colossal, rust-colored hand, which opened to effortlessly wrap around the broken, spasming body of the monster.

Ethan had stopped screaming, the shock having left him utterly paralyzed. His gaze mechanically followed the hand as it slowly lifted its victim higher and higher up the mountain. His unintentional savior was enormous in a way that defied Ethan’s understanding.

It was vaguely ape-like, with arms longer than its legs, and it was camouflaged to match the mountain, which was how Ethan had run right under it. Not only was its furry hide the same shades of red, but actual rocks seemed to be growing from the beast in clumps, making it look more like a piece of the landscape than a living thing.

The long, crooked fingers finally opened as the hand completed its journey, an enormous lower jaw opening on the stoney face, creaking like an ancient drawbridge before the remains of the vile, many-legged and many-eyed predator were crushed inside.

My screaming had to have woken this thing up, he thought, trying to creep backward with what stealth he could manage. It became clear it was too late when the massive, gorilla-like head lowered to get a better look at Ethan. As it came closer, and he could feel its fetid breath on him, Ethan had an odd and likely final thought: still better than the tarantula-scorpion-bear thing.

Strangely, the ape paused halfway through its descent, looking up and past Ethan. Then the lights came. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them, sparkling all around the ponderous giant. They rapidly took shape, lengthening and sharpening into countless glistening lances of silver.

As one, they plunged into the stone ape, whose red fur and flesh instantly turned snow-white, freezing the creature completely. Ethan had no time to consider this implausible revelation before a woman appeared, landing directly on the beast’s gigantic head.

She was tall and lithe, covered almost completely in form-fitting silver armor, which seemed to reflect more sunlight than should be possible through the dark clouds. Raven black hair blew in the wind behind her as she reached down to place a hand flat against the frozen monster.

What truly caught Ethan’s eye were the intricate silver tattoos that wove across every inch of her exposed skin. They seemed to glow with an inner light, contrasting even against her pale skin. That glow was echoed by the creature, the light intensifying until its entire body seemed to blur and shift. All at once the massive form seemed to lose cohesion, as it soundlessly shifted from stone, into snow.

It was an oddly peaceful moment after the terror and death of the last few minutes. Ethan found himself watching the gentle white flakes pile up around him with confused detachment.

The shocking cold of the snow finally snapped Ethan’s mind back to the moment, and he forced his aching body to stand. Turning away from the mountain, he saw what had arrested the ape’s attention. Hovering some distance away was a creature of unequaled beauty, somehow the opposite of everything this world had shown him.

It was at least as large as the formerly stone ape, with two sets of tremendous wings, seeming to drift as if it were swimming through the air. The creature was mostly white, but with highlights of blue and silver in feathers easily as long as Ethan was tall.

The tail stretched out far past the body, and flowed hypnotically in the wind behind it. Its face was small, with oddly human eyes and a wide mouth. Ethan’s gaze was drawn to the mysterious woman, now standing upon its head, watching either him, the snowfall, or both.

As much as Ethan was thrilled to see another human, his body had experienced one too many ‘always a bigger fish’ moments, and the urge to run and hide was irresistible. Forcing his eyes away from the flying wonder, he turned back to the path and took two shaking steps before almost colliding with the woman in silver. She was now standing directly before him with an assessing expression, her tattoos even more intricate when seen up close.

“You don’t belong here,” she said in perfect English.

“I couldn’t possibly agree more,” Ethan croaked, finding it even harder to breathe.

“You’re from Earth,” she said, gesturing and raising an eyebrow at his climbing outfit. “Potentia is killing you as we speak. Everything here has had countless ages to adapt to the power of this world. Even still, it twists and warps every living thing it touches.”

“No kidding, did you see the scorpion-tarantula-bear?” he asked, his dull mind refusing to focus on the pronouncement of death he’d just received.

“You encountered a scorpiursi?” she said, her stunning face scrunching with distaste. “Those are the worst things I’ve ever seen.”

“That’s actually comforting to hear,” Ethan said. “If they were just average, I think I’d go back to my plan of jumping off the mountain.” She looked over the edge, as if judging his meaning, then nodded in agreement.

When she didn’t say more for a moment, the floodgate of questions finally broke inside him. “What did you do to that creature? What is this place? Is it really killing me?”

She looked into the distance, shaking her head. “To your first question, I used magic,” she said without a hint of irony. “To your second, there’s no simple answer, and certainly not one we have time for. My Familiar isn’t easy to hide, as you might imagine, and we’ve drawn considerable attention.”

Familiar? he thought, looking back to the majestic creature still floating contentedly in midair, and likely visible for miles in every direction. The woman drew his attention to something else though, as she gestured toward the enormous circle of light. There were people there, and they were moving toward the mountain rapidly.

“Who are they?”

“An even more complicated answer,” she replied, before handing him a sealed black container the size of a shoebox. Where did that come from? “I can’t return you to Earth, the rifts here are only aligned to Nexum.”

“I don’t know what any of that means,” he said. “What’s in this box?”

“It’s a survival kit, made by someone who visited your world. He’s…eccentric, but you should understand it, and it will keep you safe…for a time. And that–” she said, pointing at the paradise beyond the circle of light, “that is Nexum.

“It’s my home,” she continued. “A world of magical creatures and wonders beyond imagining. It’s everything this place is not, and you can have a life there.”

“What kind of life?” he asked, coughing.

“If you’re willing to work for it, then with discipline and bravery you can have any kind of life you want. But I must warn you, Nexum is a world of beauty, but also of violence.”

Ethan deflated, his hope of safety shattered. “Look, my name is Doctor Ethan Bishop. I’m a healer; I don’t belong in a world of violence. Please can you tell me how to get home?”

Strangely, her blue eyes widened. “Doctor?” she said, then shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry, I don’t know where you’ll arrive, let alone how to guide you back to your world.” Abruptly her gaze shifted to a shade of silver that matched her tattoos, and she turned her gaze away from him.

“We’re out of time. I’m sorry Ethan Bishop, you need to go.” With those words she reached out a hand, effortlessly lifting him by his climbing harness, then turned and held him out over the sheer drop. He could see more vegetation hundreds of feet below, squirming and moving as if about to be fed.

“Good luck,” she said, “and do not tell anyone you’re a doctor.”

“What are you doing?” he said in a panic. “And why not?” She answered with another sad smile, then let go.

Ethan felt himself falling through the air, his stomach dropping as the woman disappeared above him. He didn’t have time to think, or truly react, but some instinct made him grip the survival kit like a lifeline, before blue-white light wrapped around him, and he was gone.