CHAPTER 1

“The portal.”

The sky cracked.

A gigantic bolt of lightning illuminated the atmosphere, revealing a huge fissure. What had begun as a glowing crack in the celestial vault quickly transformed into a circle emitting light of its own, and thick black clouds began to surround the halo of light.

Despite the intense reddish hue, the dimensional portal went almost unnoticed by most of the human population below it, too busy planning their appointments for that Saturday night to notice the strange phenomenon.

A whole army of trolls, goblins, orcs and kobolds landed on the trees of the largest ecological park in the city of Blasky. Some even descended on the rooftops of the few nearby buildings. The goblins who were smart enough to secure their landing by using the huge bodies of their “temporary allies” as a shield survived the fall. They then moved in small groups through the lush, immense trees, gathering information about the new territory and leaving a trail of lifeless human bodies in their path.

It wasn’t until much later, after a hundred magical creatures had already passed through the portal and began to invade the streets, that most passersby noticed the strange formation in the firmament, when a young, fearless wyvern emerged.

And his deafening roar heralded the chaos.

****

1 hour earlier.

Kalysto Luna let out a long sigh at the sight of the high prices of goods in a store that was supposed to sell good products at low prices. After the economic crisis and the recession that shook the country, life in the city was six times more expensive than in the poor mining town where she was born, and although she was now doing well in her job as a waitress in a luxurious restaurant, it had not always been like that.

At least I don’t have to worry about starving anymore.

She calmed down, as she took a ten-pack of green apples and put them in the shopping cart while letting out a long sigh. I want to go to sleep. I’m too tired to be doing this right now.

If it weren’t for the call she received from her best friend Alice Sanders an hour and a half ago, while the other young woman was having a nervous breakdown, Kalysto would be sleeping comfortably in her bed. Instead of being left practicing archery with the archery club at the university while she waited for Alice to arrive after she finished the last exam of the semester earlier that morning.

“Don’t even think about going home to sleep! And stay away from the college dorms!” She had made her swear at her during the phone call. So Kalysto ended up giving up what little free time or sleep she could get within her busy schedule before leaving for work at five in the afternoon.

What one does for friends. Good thing she only had three, four if you counted Sakura. But other than Alice, the others were much older than her.

“Do you really think we’ll need all that?” Alice, an Olympian who had won two gold medals in archery, and who, like Kalysto, was on an athletic scholarship at the university, questioned.

“Probably not, but I needed to buy a couple of things on Monday anyway before my first freelance job, so why not take the opportunity and get it over with?” She shrugged, trying to hide how excited she was at the chance to translate an indie author’s novel into Spanish. The latter would be her second step, after getting the scholarship to study languages, of her elaborate plan to travel the world and get to know other cultures while enjoying the freedom that working online could give her.

Kalysto smiled, excited at how close she was to achieving her dream and the level of freedom she longed for, away from boring jobs with strict work schedules and demanding clients she was forced to serve with a friendly smile despite how annoying they were.

One step at a time. She reminded herself and hid her smile. She didn’t want to make her friend feel bad after all she had been through in the last few weeks. Let alone with the strange way she was behaving.

“In that case..." commented Alice, adding several bottles of water and energy drinks, “how about we buy cookies and snacks? We don’t have to worry about training anymore so we can say goodbye to dieting for at least a couple of weeks,” she added with a smile that was hard not to return. Kalysto nodded and Alice hurried to put several snacks in the shopping cart. “By the way, have you thought about trying out for the archery trials again...?” she questioned as she looked sideways, suddenly alert to any small noise in the surroundings and ready to run for her life at any moment. “You’ve improved a lot, I’m sure Coach Watson will give you the scholarship this time” Kalysto sighed, she wasn’t sure if the man would offer her to exchange her athletics scholarship for an archery scholarship, but if given the chance she wouldn’t hesitate to take it. Although she wasn’t sure Coach Brown, who ran the track club, would let her go so easily.

Not when she was his best runner, and he was still upset that he hadn’t managed to convince her to participate in the past Olympics. Worst of all, he was still trying to convince her to participate in the next ones, something she had immediately refused to do.

Is he crazy? I barely have time to sleep right now between work, training and classes! And I’m already a year and a half away from finishing my degree! Why the hell does he think I would go into another career just to be able to participate in the Olympics? What would I gain from that?

Yes, she was good at running, but it wasn’t because she liked it, it was because she had to become fast in order to survive.

Old memories she thought she had forgotten about her childhood where she was chased and had to run into the woods to avoid getting hurt, getting lost in the trees that surrounded the back of the town where she grew up, began to flood her mind.

Kalysto quickly pushed them away.

Instead, she grabbed the supermarket shopping cart and headed for the kitchen implement section, where she grabbed one of the sharp knives on display and silently watched it. At that moment, her phone rang and as she watched Alice jump in fright at the unexpected sound, she pulled her cell phone out of her pants pocket and checked the text message that came in.

“Who is it?” Alice questioned, her anxiety returning to the surface.

The last thing Kalysto wanted right now was to face another panic attack from her best friend, so she hurried to reply.

“Edward, confirming that he’s agreed to change the time and place of today’s tutoring," she commented giving her a sidelong glance, but for how bad Alice had been a couple of hours ago, she wouldn’t have had to change her plans for that day. But after the police had called her friend yesterday morning to identify the body of Liz, Alice’s other best friend and with whom Kalysto didn’t get along so well, Alice had started to say one crazy thing after another, and today she had come to the practice field saying that everyone would die that day and something about blocking the screen of a system.

I hope she wasn’t talking about my laptop…I barely finished paying for it last week! But for the safety of her new computer, it was best to keep it away from her friend, for now.

“I thought you weren’t teaching him anymore. Didn’t he finish the semester today, like the rest of us?” Alice frowned, suddenly annoyed at the injustice.

“No," she hastened to answer, relieved to see that Alice’s attention was elsewhere, which stopped her acting like a frightened bunny. “Like Thomas, he has a Japanese exam on Monday. Professor Lee got sick last weekend and everyone agreed to postpone the class to next week.”

“I imagine Mrs. Cooper asked you to keep tutoring her absent-minded nephew," Alice grimaced, annoyed that the fifty-one-year-old woman was taking advantage of what little free time the only living friend she had left had.

“It wasn’t like that," Kalysto defended her, although she understood her point. “The good thing is that after today’s tutoring, I won’t have to see him until next semester," she consoled, and felt a little guilty about the surge of relief that swept over her.

How could I not return the favor to Amanda by putting up with her naïve nephew’s nonsense and helping him not to lose the semester... If it weren’t for all the help she had given me I would still be being exploited in a low-paying job and going hungry! And that was the reason she hadn’t gotten rid of those annoying hours of free weekly tutoring.

For Kalysto, Amanda was practically the reincarnation of an angel, always ready to help her when she needed it most.

To say that I am deeply grateful to the woman who has helped me survive in this inhospitable city is an understatement... I owe her so much.

“But Edward is so... agg... annoying," Alice complained and Kalysto had to try hard not to laugh, agreeing with her.

“I know.”

“How can you stand him? If I were you, I would have already made up an excuse to get rid of him," said the beautiful blonde.

“Do you remember last month when I was sick for a week and couldn’t go to work or training?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Amanda came with her husband in their car, brought me food and bought the medicines the doctor prescribed for me that I could not afford because they were expensive and I did not have cash since I had left my wallet at work.

Also, she paid the rent for my room for the whole month, so I didn’t have to worry about anything.”

“...Oh!“

“...Yep.”

“You know that if I had as much money as she did, I would have helped you too, right?” she asked, her voice suddenly heavy with anxiety.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“I know," she replied with a tender smile. “Just as you know that if I had it, I would help you, right?” Alice nodded with confidence, only to look nervous again the next second.

“But you’re all right now, aren’t you? You’re not in any pain, are you?” She questioned with her pretty blue eyes full of concern as she looked her up and down.

“I’m fine, just tired. It’s been a heavy month," she assured her before letting out a long sigh. I hope she’ll soon get over this stage of having to make sure every now and then that I’m okay or if I’m still alive. "Why don’t you come and spend the next week with me?” she invited her, hoping she wouldn’t have to receive the collection of messages that were sure to arrive, asking her if she was all right.

“I..." again Alice seemed nervous and her gaze drifted to the supermarket exit and then to Kalysto. “You’re going to buy knives? But you don’t cook!” she questioned her, changing the subject and looking at her as if she was crazy for even thinking about buying them.

I’m not the one who’s been acting crazy all morning. Kalysto wanted to tell her, but restrained herself and decided to let it go. I’d better wait until she’s ready and tell me what’s really going on.

“Actually, I do know how to cook. I just don’t need to do it now that I live with the Tanners. Besides, we’re going to need something to defend ourselves with if what you said really happens and a horde of monsters from another world attacks the city,” she said, trying hard to hide the irony in her voice. “And if not, they’ll serve me in the future," she replied with a shrug, as if what she had just said was the most normal thing in the world.

“Does that mean you believe me?” Alice perked up, suddenly full of hope. She had been trying for hours to convince her skeptical friend, “Because it’s impossible that it’s just a coincidence that the police found Liz’s body in exactly the same position as the protagonist of that book, where the girl with the same name transmigrates to another world after being kidnapped and murdered in the same way Liz was!” The young blonde girl approached Kalysto and took one of her hands as she felt the air starting to get scarce. ”Even the blow on her head is in the same part! Both of them hit against a rock while they were running away and both of their hands were pointing towards the forest! Can’t you see?” she exclaimed, full of despair, her voice rising in pitch with each sentence.

What Kalysto could see was how her friend was slowly beginning to lose her sanity. Perhaps both deaths, along with the news that her grandmother had cancer and less than three years to live, were too much for her.

That, the nightmares after witnessing the horrible murder of her roommate, the insomnia and the stress.

Kalysto looked around absently, inwardly grateful that there were few shoppers at that time of the afternoon and that the section they were in was empty. She was about to speak, but Alice stepped forward.

“...Kal...what if...what if it’s true what the rumors say and the author can predict the future?” Kalysto’s body froze.

Not this again!

“Alice," she said, lovingly stroking the blonde hair of the sweet young woman in front of her in an attempt to reassure her, “it’s practically impossible, nothing more than a strange and very bizarre coincidence that I’m sure her marketing team is cashing in on to sell more books. Just like those false stories that say she’s a witch,” the young waitress stared into those blue eyes, so different, sweet, and innocent in comparison to her green, distrustful, and deep gaze. Kalysto regulated her breathing, and without Alice realizing it, she had begun to imitate Kalysto’s calm breathing, beginning to calm down. “Kassandra is just another author whose books hardly sell and need all the publicity she can get to make some money. That these murders coincide with the way she wrote them in her books is either an unfortunate coincidence or someone wants to get her in trouble.”

Alice’s face seemed to deflate as she listened to her.

“... So you don’t believe me?” The Olympic medalist’s shoulders slumped in defeat.

“No, but I’m your friend and I’m going to support you in everything you need,” she assured her calmly, as she hugged her, trying to comfort her. “And if you need me to go with you to check that no interdimensional portal will open and end the world in an hour, we’ll go. Of course, if nothing happens, and it’s only in your head, promise me you’ll go see a psychologist. So much stress can be bad for your health," she whispered.

“I’m not crazy!” she growled defensively, stepping back and away from her.

“I didn’t say you were," Kalysto added in a soft voice, trying to calm her down as she raised her palms in surrender, “but it’s obvious that, after Liz’s disappearance, you haven’t been feeling well at all, let alone after...” she didn’t want to say it, not openly, but after Alice witnessed how her roommate’s ex-boyfriend blew the other girl’s head off with a gunshot, her friend was sleeping less and less. And the huge dark circles under her blue eyes were getting worse and worse. “That kind of thing tends to leave an imprint on people, a trauma," she tried to explain. “That’s hard to overcome,” Kalysto continued with all the tact she could muster. Though she knew she wasn’t good at that sort of thing.

Or for anything that was very emotional, for that matter.

Or making you remember every five seconds that your grandmother could die at any moment if something went wrong with the treatment. She thought, but didn’t tell her.

“Just like you did with your mother’s death?” Alice challenged her with some annoyance, knowing she wasn’t the only one who had witnessed a brutal murder.

As soon as Kalysto heard those words, her attitude cooled completely.

She took two steps backwards, away from her friend, folded her arms and frowned at her, not at all happy with the turn the conversation was taking.

“We weren’t talking about me, we were talking about you," she spat coldly.

“You never like to talk about yourself!” Alice complained. In the three and a half years they had been friends, she knew very little about her, Kalysto on the other hand knew the date of her grandparents’ birthdays. She even had their phone numbers, even though they lived in the countryside.

Silence reigned.

One that Kalysto didn’t bother to break.

Seeing that the future translator didn’t budge, the Olympic medalist lowered her head, guilt creeping into her face.

“I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to make you remember something so painful... but you have to understand that I’m not crazy, besides it’s too much of a coincidence!” She raised her head and looked at the green-eyed brunette. “And if what happened to Liz happened just as the book said, it means that maybe the same thing will happen to Thomas just like the protagonist of ‘The fall of the hero’, and if that’s true, it means that we are in danger and we must find a way to get through the portal with him! Getting a system is the only chance we have to survive this madness!” she shouted.

Kalysto let out a long, weary sigh. She was too exhausted to have to deal with this right now.

Evasion... she’s just avoiding the real problem. She tried to convince herself. Since she herself didn’t want to admit that there was a very real possibility that Alice was going crazy.

It was one thing to share her friend’s tastes in fantasy literature a little, quite another to see her start to confuse fiction with reality.

Although, if we get down to it, I would love to be a powerful archmage, have a magic wand and be able to heal people... Maybe then I could have saved my mother.

Kalysto shook her head.

The last thing she needed was to fall into that depressive spiral right now. It wouldn’t do either of them any good, and right now, at least one of them needed to stay sane.

And while Kalysto could admit that the coincidence was odd, she didn’t give in. She looked her friend in the eye and a prolonged silence settled between them.

She remembered reading the tragic book ‘The Fall of the Hero’ years ago when Alice lent it to her. Of the other, she didn’t even remember the name. And if her memory served her correctly, both Liz and Thomas had not only the same first and last names as the characters in those novels but their physical descriptions and personalities also matched. She also remembered that in ‘The Fall of the Hero’, Thomas was betrayed and killed shortly before the continent of Tanish was destroyed and from which only a small group of fairies, one of the many native races, survived.

But what she really cared about was the precarious mental health of Alice. Who always made time for her despite her busy schedule and spent months helping her train so that she, too, could try out for the archery scholarship two and a half years ago. Their plan hadn’t worked out as they had planned and instead, Kalysto earned the track and field scholarship and not the archery scholarship, but that didn’t diminish the value of her friend's effort.

Even now, the blonde still gave her advice and corrected her if she saw her doing something wrong the few times Kalysto had some free time to practice with the bow.

And if there was one thing the young waitress had learned throughout her life, it was that the world was about simple exchange. If you receive something from someone, whether good or bad, you have to make up for the value of what you received. That was one of the few things her biological father had taught her and always emphasized to her, “we always pay our debts, Kalysto.”

Or at least he did until she saw him disappear in the middle of the night, years ago.

“ ... It’s better to be prepared, that’s what knives are for," answered Kalysto after letting out a long sigh, deciding to change the focus of the conversation.

Alice, on the other hand, opened her eyes wide, surprised by her friend’s strange logic and the ease with which she changed or connected topics. And her gaze focused on the huge kitchen knives Kalysto was studying.

“You’re right. How could I forget something so obvious?” Her face turned pale. “I think I’d better go get my bow! I’m afraid I left it in my locker at the archery club.” Alice said.

“That would be the safest thing to do," Kalysto tried to reassure her. “I’ll wait for you in the park," she commented calmly. “Is there anything you want me to buy you?” She changed the subject, trying to keep her distracted.

Alice was about to say no, but then thought better of it.

“More purple grapes! I don’t think the ones we’re carrying are enough, not with the speed you eat them. Oh, and a bunch of peanut brittle!” She added, handing her a couple of twenty-dollar bills to cover her share of the groceries.

“Okay, consider it done. See you in twenty-five minutes. Don’t be long.”

After saying goodbye, Kalysto ended up buying more than she had planned. She couldn’t stop herself from grabbing several packages of cookies and muffins when she passed by the section where the breads were. She had a weakness for baked goods and snacks. So she went to the cash register before she ended up buying more chocolate chip cookies than she had already carried. She handed the cash to the young man handling the cashier and stuffed almost all of her purchases into her huge black backpack, the same one she had gone camping with her friend on a couple of occasions.

I can’t wait to finish university and get out of the athletic club so I can eat everything I like with total freedom. And stop carrying this gigantic backpack! In which she had to keep her work uniform, a change of clothes for after her workouts and all the things she needed for her classes for the day.

It’s a pity that the lockers at the university are so insecure. If it weren’t for that, she could leave the house without so much stuff on her back every morning.

“Nice shirt," commented the young man who worked as a cashier as he handed it back to her with his gaze fixed on Kalysto’s favorite black T-shirt with the Hela print with the phrase ‘Kneel before your queen’, which she was wearing.

“...Thank you," she replied awkwardly at the unwanted attention. She picked up the bag with the bread and cookies with her left hand, not wanting them to spoil inside her backpack, and hurried to leave before the young man tried to engage her in conversation.

Forty-five minutes later, Alice had not arrived at the fountain with the statue of a pair of dolphins, the spot where they had arranged to meet in the city’s largest park.

And she wasn’t answering her cell phone either.

“What the hell?” She was annoyed. She could be lying on her bed reading a new chapter of her favorite web novel, or even better, sleeping, instead of walking around like a lonely fool near cloying couples who looked like they needed a hotel room badly. She hurried away as she took a bite of a juicy green apple and continued to wander into one of the many paths in the park, enjoying the paths surrounded by huge trees and the various flower beds of which she only recognized the colorful tulips.

It was a pretty sight with the little butterflies fluttering back and forth, but she was too tired and the park was so big that it connected to a zoo and further south to a nature reserve.

The few times she had come here before, she always got the impression that it was too easy to get lost, that or find couples having sex outdoors if you did some hiking away from the nice marked trails where many took advantage of for sports on the weekends.

Her heart squeezed with longing for those Sunday mornings when she and Alice used to come jogging. Now, she used them to try to catch up on the many hours of sleep lost during the week.

I already want it to be tomorrow and sleep until late.

She was about to pull her cell phone out of the back pocket of her pants to call her for the tenth time when she saw it.

And the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and her stomach cringed with fear.

A huge, russet-colored portal glowed in the distance in the sky, several meters above the canopy of the leafy trees.

“Shit!” The green apple she was about to take another bite of fell from her right hand without her being aware of it. “So Alice and the author were right... there really are other worlds.”