Nate’s eyelids felt glued shut. The pressure in his head made him concerned it might explode, his muscles and skin burned and cried out in pain. He could feel cool grass along the length of his body. A soft breeze gently caressed his skin.

With tremendous effort, he opened his eyes. The sky was clear, a brilliant sapphire that was painfully bright. He squinted in a vain attempt to filter out the blaze, and swallowed heavily. His throat was parched, and his thick tongue felt like sandpaper against the roof of his mouth. He needed some water.

He smacked loudly as he sat up, trying to get the metallic taste and cotton texture out of his mouth. He scratched his head, his mind clouded as if he had slept for several weeks. He glanced around for the cooler, but it was nowhere to be found.

In fact, nothing he was seeing made any sense.

Instead of the campsite, Nate now found himself in the middle of a lush green meadow with hills loping off in every direction. The verdant vegetation stood roughly a foot off the ground. Several boulders, slightly taller than Nate, dotted the landscape. Patches of radiant wildflowers were scattered within the intense green. Giant cliffs and bluffs of slate stone surrounded the small valley where he sat, and the thin air made him slightly light headed.

To his left, the meadow dropped sharply, and a small blue river cut its way through and carved deeper into the mountains around him. Nate scratched his chest and shivered as the breeze picked up.

It was then he realized he was completely naked.

He stood, carefully covering himself as best he could with his hand. He stumbled slightly as blood rushed to his head. He didn’t fall, though his legs wobbled dangerously.

“Sam?” he called out tentatively. There was no answer. He scanned the landscape, and saw another form prostrated on the ground. He approached cautiously. It was Charlie, face down and snoring.

Nate squat down next to his friend and shook his shoulder. “Charlie,” Nate whispered as loudly as he dared. “Dude, wake up.”

Charlie snorted loudly, and his eyes popped open. He grimaced at the sharp taste in his mouth, and rolled over. His eyes bulged. “Why do you keep flashing me with your junk?” he said, shutting his eyes tight against the horror.

“Yeah, well, you’re naked too.”

Charlie sat up, and quickly covered himself. “What the hell, man? Why did you undress me?”

“Yes, Charlie, this was all my elaborate plan to finally take your pants off.”

Charlie blinked heavily, taking in their surroundings. “Where are we?”

“I have no idea.”

“How did we get here?”

“I don’t know.”

“And where are our clothes?”

“Charlie, you have exactly as much information about our situation as I do.”

“Where’s Sam?”

Nate stood, and called out to their friend, a little louder. Charlie slowly clambered to his feet and followed. Nate bent down to pick one of the bright vermillion wild flowers, causing Charlie to grimace. He rushed to stand next to Nate. The view from behind was one that would haunt Charlie for years.

“You ever seen a flower like this?” Nate asked. The flower’s color was so intense it almost hurt to look at. In the center was a deep purple circle covered in thin conical thorns. From the center, five petals spread outward, but along the edge was a delicate netting, not unlike the intricate white doilies Nate’s grandmother had crocheted endlessly, spread out and interweaved, dropping down below the flower like the edges of an umbrella.

Charlie shook his head. The two continued their search, each using a hand to firmly hide their shame.

Nate’s entire body turned red as they found Sam on her back, her body splayed in the grass. The two friends immediately turned their back to her.

“Well, I guess we found her,” Charlie mumbled.

Nate nodded awkwardly. They both stood, frozen, unsure how to proceed.

Charlie scratched his head. “Did you see her-“

“Everything. We both saw everything.”

“She’s going to be so pissed.”

Their minds raced. “What do we do?” Charlie asked.

Nate began to pull leaves and grass from the plants nearby. Charlie, confused, simply followed suit. Nate then slowly backed toward Sam, and began dropping handfuls of leaves onto her body, covering her nakedness. Charlie did the same, although they each stole more than an occasional glance.

Once she was mostly covered, they turned to face her.

“We should wake her up,” Nate said. Charlie nodded wordlessly.

Nate bent down to rouse his friend.

“Would you please stop bending over in front of me!”

Sam’s eyes shot open. She bolted upright, scattering the plants they had so carefully used to cover her.

“What is going on?” she shouted. Her head throbbed. She looked up at her friends, both stark naked. They had turned a deep shade of red while holding their junk, staring up at the sky. “Why are you both naked?”

She glanced down, and quickly slapped her hands over her chest. “WHAT EXACTLY IS GOING ON?” she roared.

“We- uh- We don’t know,” Nate stammered. “The last thing I remember is the… meteor, or whatever. And then I woke up naked in this field, just like you.”

She glanced around, equally confused by their surroundings.

“Where are we?”

Nate sighed. “We don’t know. Nobody knows. In a field, I guess.”

“Do you mind turning around?” she asked, her rage having dissipated. Both Charlie and Nate snapped around again, blushing with their backs to her, both mumbling apologies.

She grinned. “Two full moons out tonight.”

“Just be careful, Nate likes to bend over for no reason.”

Sam slowly stood, using her arm and a hand to cover herself as best she could. “So what are we supposed to do now?”

The three of them were at a loss as she moved to stand next to them. Charlie’s eyes scanned their surroundings. His jaw went slack.

“Uh… guys?”

He pointed to one of the mountainsides, where a human skeleton wearing rusted armor lay pinned to the stone by a gleaming metal sword that stood straight out between several broken ribs. The chipped and weathered blade was buried halfway into the rock. The sight of a dead body was enough to shock them, but its size was incomprehensible.

From this distance, Nate estimated the skull to be at least fifteen yards in diameter. Several crows, mere black dots in comparison, circled and called to one another before landing on the dried jawbone that hung loose in an eccentric grin. Judging from the rust and tarnish of the armor, the body had been there for decades. Maybe even centuries.

“Where are we?” Nate murmured to no one in particular.

A stiff breeze picked up, reminding them how vulnerable they were in their current state. Nate and Charlie were still pointedly avoiding looking at Sam.

She sighed. “Look, can we all just agree that there will probably be stray glances, but that we’ll do our best to only look each other in the eye?”

Charlie and Nate exchanged a quick look, silently debating telling Sam exactly how much they had seen, before nodding their heads in unison. It was a secret they wordlessly agreed to take to their graves.

“Good. So, what do we do now, Mr. Eagle Scout?”

“It’s only going to get colder as the sun sets,” Charlie said. “We won’t have to worry about water, but I don’t see any wood and we can’t build a fire out of this grass. At the very least, we should try to find some shelter.”

“What about those?” Nate asked, pointing to some pine trees in the distance.

Charlie shrugged. “Maybe, that’s a long ways off. Let’s poke around for a cave or outcropping we can use in the meantime. If the sun rises, then we should have enough time to walk that distance and get something built. But if it’s setting-“

“You mean you don’t know?” Nate interrupted.

“Do you? I don’t know where we are, or how long we were unconscious. Getting caught in the open naked for the night could kill us.”

Sam shrugged and walked toward the nearest rock shelf. Charlie and Nate followed, hustling to catch up so they wouldn’t be tempted to stare at her backside.

“This has to be a dream, right?” she said.

“I had the exact same thought,” said Nate. His forehead creased. “But that would make both of you figments of my fevered imagination.”

Charlie laughed. “That’s exactly what dream-Nate would say.”

“It sure doesn’t feel like a dream,” Sam said. She slowed her steps. “Do you feel that?” she asked.

“What?” Nate asked, puzzled.

“I don’t know. It’s like a…” she struggled for the right words. “Like a burning feeling in my chest.”

“I thought you didn’t want us looking at your boobs,” said Charlie.

She sighed. “No, like, inside my chest. It’s like… that feeling when you’re really nervous and excited about something.”

Nate and Charlie exchanged a knowing look. Sam’s lips pulled tight. “You know, whatever, forget I said anything.”

They continued in silence, but as they walked, both Charlie and Nate began to sense something too, almost a tickling sensation at the exact center of their chest. And it grew stronger as they walked past one of the giant gray boulders scattered across the meadow.

“You know, I think I feel-“ Nate began. He was interrupted by the sound of giant rocks knocking together, grinding and rolling behind them.

They turned and, in horror, saw the nearest boulder they had passed was growing. Well, not growing exactly, though that was the first impression it gave. It was more like something was pushing the stone up and out of the ground from below. Clumps of black dirt stuck to the rough gray stone as it erupted.

“What in the…” Charlie trailed off as the three of them backed away.

More stones bubbled out of the earth as the grass and sod tore with a loud crackling sound. The rocks rolled together into the hulking vague shape of a man. Its arms were thick, and extended clear to the ground with no discernible fingers, its broad shoulders protruding far above its head.

They could not make sense of what they were seeing as the stony creature, covered in moss and dirt, raked its arms across the ground, carving deep gouges in the meadow’s greenery. Its craggy face an amalgam of sharp rocks that jutted out at queer angles. The creature stretched its jaw, which clicked and clacked and scraped as dust sprinkled to the ground.

As the last of the rocks rolled into its body, the thing’s eyes began to glow a bright pink. It shook its entire frame like a dog coming in from the rain, showering the three of them with clods of dirt and mud. It then turned and stared at them, its head slowly tilting to one side like a puppy trying to understand a whistle.

“What do we do?” Nate whispered out of the corner of his mouth. His friends could only watch, slack-jawed, as the creature regarded them individually. After a moment, it raised its heavy hands, and slamming them into the ground, and roared, making a sound like an avalanche.

All three of them screamed and ran as the beast loped heavily after them. Its movements were sluggish, but the ground shook with the weight of each gallop.

Sam and Nate peeled off in opposite directions. The creature bellowed again, and honed in on Charlie, the loudest of the group, his high pitched squeals echoed off the stone walls of the valley.

The beast tried its best to close the distance as Charlie shouted the word “no” repeatedly, like a mantra as he ran, his long hair streaming behind him, both hands pumping, body parts flapping freely as all thoughts of modesty fled.

He cut toward another boulder, trying to put as much distance between the monster and his soft flesh as he could. Much to his dismay, another one of the creatures roared as it pulled itself out of the ground. The sound Charlie made at this realization was somewhere between an owl screeching and nails being run down a chalkboard.

He darted left, nearly tripping over his feet as the second creature swung its single free arm at him, missing his left shoulder by only a few inches. He shuddered to think of what the hard stone would have done to his muscle and bone had it connected.

Nate slowed his pace, now several hundred yards away from the two beasts in hot pursuit of his friend. It would have been almost comical, watching Charlie, buck naked, running screaming through the field as the two stone monsters bounded clumsily after him.

But Nate could only watch in mute horror, too terrified to think rationally. He crouched down, hiding in the tall grass as best he could, peering above the green line to ensure he was not being approached.

Sam made it to one of the rocky outcroppings before she thought to look behind her. The rumbling sounds had receded, but her mind was too filled with adrenaline to register. Noticing the creatures in hot pursuit of Charlie, she slowed her speed, pressing her back against the cold stone wall of the cliff.

She glanced down at her feet, which were mangled and bleeding from the rough ground. The grass had left long green stains on her shins. One of the creatures brayed and Sam reflexively turned and ran, slamming face first into the heavily armored woman who had stepped silently out of the shadows.

Sam fell flat on her back, her head throbbing from the impact. Looking up, she saw a woman in bright-white plate armor, like something out of the Dungeons and Dragons manuals she had poured over for so many years. The woman’s arms were lined with white scales, and over her shoulder, a hefty white cloak made from lion skin hung. The lion’s head came up over the top of her helmet, its ten-inch fangs glinting in the sunlight.

Her face was covered by a crimson cloth that hung loose from the bridge of her nose, her eyes narrow and fierce. A small sash draped from her waist, both it and her gauntlets and ironclad boots the same brilliant shade of red as her mask.

In her left hand, she carried a spear that was almost exactly her height, the elongated blade stretched about a third its total length. It glowed and crackled with energy.

Sam scrambled back from the woman, who approached her cautiously. The woman spoke in a language that did not even sound familiar to Sam, low and guttural; her voice was commanding, filled with authority.

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“I- I don’t…” Sam stammered. The woman took another step, raising her hand to calm Sam. The woman again spoke in the strange language, nodding in the direction of Charlie, who was still running in circles, his arms flailing in panic.

“P- Please. He’s my friend. Please help us.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed. She straightened and, in a single smooth motion, unclipped her cloak and swung it from her shoulders. She covered Sam with it, and gripped her shoulder reassuringly.

“Thank you,” Sam managed to say as the woman stood and ran toward her friend and the two goliaths chasing him.

From his vantage point, Nate only saw a white streak as the armored woman ran faster than his eyes could follow. She jumped, closing the remaining twenty feet between her and the first creature.

She crashed into its back with her knee, her momentum knocking the creature off balance. As they both pitched forward, she spun the spear behind her back and, swinging it overhead, plunged it into what would be the creature’s spine, if it had internal body parts.

With a loud roar, the creature collapsed, and the stones broke apart, clattering loosely to the ground with a heavy thud. Both Charlie and the remaining pursuer stopped, stunned by the sudden turn of events. The creature reared on the woman and howled, slamming its fists angrily into the dirt like an aggressive gorilla.

The woman walked calmly toward the monster. With another roar, it tore a nearby stone from the earth, and tossed it at her.

“Look out!” Charlie shouted, feeling helpless as the massive rock flew straight for the woman’s head. The woman held her free hand up, and with a flick of her wrist, the stone deviated from its course as if deflected by an invisible barrier, crashing harmlessly to the ground on her left.

Her muscular arm cocked back, and the spear flared even brighter as she threw it like a javelin. The weapon sizzled as its heat sliced the air, slamming straight into the monster’s chest, cutting into the stone like it was putty.

The force of the hit knocked the creature flat on its back. It blew apart upon impact. Charlie slumped to the ground in exhaustion, and vomited.

The woman approached the rubble where the creature had been, and retrieved her spear, spinning it to clean the dirt and debris from the blade.

She then approached Charlie, and offered her hand. He spat the remaining bile into the grass, and wiped his mouth on the back of his arm before taking it.

“Thank you,” he said, his voice ragged, his breath labored. He wheezed audibly as she pulled him to his feet. She nodded, and began to examine him for injuries, pushing him to turn and touching the scratches on his body. He became acutely aware of his nakedness, and covered himself with his hands.

“I’m fine,” he insisted. She pointed to his feet, which were bloodied. He nodded. “I’ll be okay,” he said slowly, trying to slow his breathing. He hacked and coughed several times, his chest tight.

“Talking slower won’t make her understand English,” Sam said. Charlie turned to see his friend, now wrapped in the lion cloak.

“Doesn’t seem fair that you get clothes,” he muttered. Sam gave him a hug.

“Are you okay?” she asked with a sincerity Charlie had rarely seen.

He nodded. “You?”

“I guess. Thanks to her.”

“Don’t suppose she has a spare inhaler,” Charlie said, wheezing slightly.

“Are you going to be okay?”

He nodded. “I’ll be fine. Where’s Nate?”

She shrugged. “Hiding probably.”

“Nate!” Charlie shouted. “You can come out from your hiding spot!”

The woman touched his shoulder, and held her finger to her mouth, shaking her head.

“Oh, right. Sorry. Monsters.”

In the distance, Nate’s scrawny form popped up from the grass. He waved to his friends as he limped toward them, his feet cut and bruised.

“Well that was close,” he said as Sam hugged him. He turned to the woman who stood, observing them coolly. “Thank you,” he said, bowing slightly. “For saving us.”

She nodded slightly, and turned to walk away. After a few steps, she looked back at them, and beckoned for them to follow.

They exchanged nervous glances. Charlie asked what they were all thinking. “Can we trust her?”

“Don’t have much choice,” Sam said and, without another word, began to follow the woman.

Nate shrugged at Charlie, and followed Sam.

“This dream sucks,” Charlie muttered, and followed his friends.

They marched for several hours, following the river down deeper into the cliffs and slate outcroppings. The river bifurcated, and they followed the smaller stream that veered sharply to the left.

Their progress was slow and laborious as they stepped carefully through the stony stream bed, trying to avoid further damage to their already tender and torn feet. The verdant meadow had given way to sparse shrubbery and small copses of trees, mostly fir with an occasional cottonwood.

More than once, they would have to take a momentary break when an ankle would twist, or a stone would give way and one of them would clatter heavily to the ground.

Finally Charlie gave up, sitting heavily on a rock near the stream, his breath ragged and labored. Sam watched nervously as his rib cage quivered with each breath. “I can’t,” he said between gasps. “I can’t keep going. I need to rest.” Each desperate inhalation brought with it hisses and whistles and a concerning crackling sound.

The woman turned, and stared at him. She spoke again in her strange guttural language, her voice harsh. Charlie held up his bruised and bleeding foot. “Rest,” he said loudly, as though volume would help her understand. “We need to rest.”

The woman’s eyes flitted between the three of them, all looking rather wretched and pathetic. She spoke again, her tone angry, before stalking off to one of the trees near the slope closest to them, which led sharply up a sheer rock face.

She spun her spear, and with a single swing, the blade cut clean through the trunk. The tree slowly tipped to the left, her hand seeming to guide it as it fell to the ground.

A few more quick slashes made quick work of the trunk. She pointed to Nate, and beckoned him near. He approached her slowly, carefully stepping over the stones, wincing with each step, one hand still covering his shame.

She grabbed his arms and pulled them straight out. He reflexively covered himself again, his eyes bulging. She rolled her eyes at his modesty while Sam and Charlie snickered. She stalked over to Sam, and the smile quickly melted from Sam’s face as the woman yanked her cloak free. Sam squealed and hid herself.

The woman used her blade to cut the bottom two feet of the cloak free, before tossing the cloak back to Sam, who quickly wrapped it around her body. She cut the remaining piece in half, and tossed one chunk at Charlie, which hit him in the face.

“Thanks,” he muttered as he wrapped it around his waist like a towel. It was tiny, but hid his shame, though his butt cheeks hung out the back.

She then handed Nate the remaining strip. He smiled sheepishly as he covered himself, then held his arms out as she began to stack firewood, which he carried over and began to pile near a small patch of smooth ground under the eve of a rocky outcropping, which would provide modest shelter should the weather turn.

Feeling useless, Sam and Charlie washed their bruised feet in the cool river water, gingerly poking and prodding their tender flesh to test the extent of their wounds. Luckily, nothing was seriously injured, just innumerable bruises and scrapes. They began to pick rocks and make a fire pit near the pile of wood Nate had been slowly building.

Nate finally collapsed, exhausted, and began to pick the splinters out of his forearms and the palms of his hands, looking positively miserable. Sam sat next to him, and carefully took his left hand in hers. Nate winced as she began to pull the tiny slivers from his swollen skin.

Charlie began to construct another fire, musing to himself how odd it was to be repeating the actions from the previous night under such starkly different conditions.

The woman approached, setting her spear down against the rock wall. She knelt by the fire, and nodded her head in approval. Reaching under the sash, she withdrew a small piece of tan rock and a loop of worn steel that resembled a pair of brass knuckles. She tossed them to Charlie.

Charlie picked up a dry piece of bark, and pulled at the edges, fraying it into a web of small strands. He placed this in the center of the fire pit, and gripping the steel knuckles, swung down at the rock with a sharp motion.

Nate and Sam had never seen someone start a fire with a flint and steel, but they were too tired and cold to make any sarcastic remarks to cover how impressed they were. After four or five strokes, the bark caught, a tiny little ember formed. Charlie blew on it gingerly, and it spread until a small flame blossomed.

He dropped the bark into the fire pit, and began feeding it sticks. The fire grew quickly, hungrily licking the wood which snapped and hissed.

“Nice work, Chuck-o,” Nate said, scooting closer to the fire to warm his legs and hands. Sam did the same.

The woman watched them, her eyes studying their faces. Finally, she pulled the mask from her face down and took off her helmet, sending her long hair cascading past her shoulders.

Nate, unsure how to communicate with her, simply pointed to his chest, and said loudly “Nate!”

She nodded her head, and pointed her finger at him, repeating the word with a thick accent. She then pointed to Sam.

“Sam,” she answered.

Then “Charlie,” as she pointed to him.

She reached over, took Sam’s hand, and held it. She then reached over to Charlie and took his, and said something in her language, nodding her head at Nate.

“I think she wants us to hold hands,” Sam said as she took Nate’s hand.

Nate reached for Charlie, who smirked. “This is definitely something dream-Nate would do.”

Sam rolled her eyes. “Charlie…” she said, her voice twanged with annoyance. He sighed, and grasped Nate’s hand.

The woman closed her eyes, and began to breathe deeply.

“What are we supposed to do,” Charlie whispered to Nate. The woman’s eyes shot open and glared at him. Charlie smiled awkwardly, his eyes dropped under her withering gaze. She closed her eyes again.

The three of them felt the peculiar sensation return their chests. At first, it was a simple burning, like they had butterflies in their stomachs. But the feeling intensified, as though they had jumped from a great height and were in free fall.

Sam looked at Nate, squeezing his hand tightly. He licked his lips, and shrugged, his breathing ragged. The feeling spread up and out through their hands and arms, as if the sensation were passing between them in vast waves.

The feeling swelled and spread until it became difficult to stay seated. Nate wanted to jump up and shake his limbs. The prickling concentrated in his chest. His arms and hands went numb. Slowly, it traveled like a ball of crackling electricity up his chest, through his throat, and into his brain.

He was jolted by the sound of static electricity in his ears. It was deafening. As though a swarm of wasps were swimming through his brain. It wasn’t painful. Just overwhelming.

And just as suddenly, as if with the flick of a light switch, it stopped.

The woman opened her eyes, and smiled. “My name is Elred. Elred Elebar.”

The three friends blinked, stunned.

“How can you speak our language?” Sam asked.

“I cannot. But by using the Luminous Aether, I have gifted you with understanding,” she replied, as if that made perfect sense.

“I’m sorry, the what now?” Nate asked.

“The Luminous Aether,” she answered, confused. “Are you not of the faith?”

“We, uh…” Charlie said. “We’re not from around here.”

She studied them each in turn, their faces, bodies, in silent concentration. There was an intensity to her eyes that made them each uncomfortable, as if she were gazing into their souls.

“I understand,” she finally said. “The Luminous Aether is a power that is created by all matter in the universe, a field of energy that surrounds and penetrates us, and binds the universe together.”

“So… the Force?” Nate asked.

“No, the Luminous Aether.”

“It sounds like the Force to me.”

“I don’t know what this ‘the Force’ is,” Elred answered.

“It’s from the movie, Star Wars,” Sam said, but seeing Elred’s confused expression, quickly followed with: “A play? With actors? Fiction?”

Elred thought for a moment. “This is not fiction. The Aether is sensed by your feelings. You can feel it, between you, and me, and these stones, and that tree.”

“That’s the Force,” Charlie said.

Elred pursed her lips. “Well, can one do this with the Force?” She reached out her hand, and stared at one of the heavy stones nearby. Slowly, it lifted into the air.

“Yes,” the three friends said in unison.

“That is exactly the Force,” Nate said.

“Man, even my dreams are derivative rip-offs,” Charlie muttered.

“Did you not feel the Aether as we held hands?” Elred asked.

“I felt, something. Like a burning in my chest,” Sam said. Nate and Charlie both nodded.

“Call it the force, or any other name you desire. That was the Luminous Aether. A power that permeates all creation, created at the beginning of time by Eloa, the Grand Architect. It led me to the three of you. What were you doing wandering the Golem Bluffs naked?”

Nate sighed, and recounted what had happened. Charlie and Sam interjected now and then with details that they thought important. Elred listened in silence to their story.

When he finished, Elred stared into the fire, lost in thought for a long while. The shadows grew long in the blue haze of dusk. The three friends shared knowing looks, but none of them dared break the silence. Finally, she spoke.

“I have heard stories, legends, of travelers from distant lands summoned here by the Aether. I do not think it an accident that I found you.”

She stood, snatching her spear. She was never out of arms reach of the weapon, the white blade crackled with energy as soon as she touched it. She stepped out of the light of the fire and into the darkness.

“You’re leaving?” Sam said, panic at the edges of her voice.

“You are hungry. I will hunt dinner. Remain here. I will return soon,” Eldred answered, before disappearing into the night.

Night fell fast in the mountains and, soon, it was pitch black beyond the light thrown by their fire. Charlie continued to feed the flames with the wood Nate had stacked close by. His asthma had subsided for the time being, although he would occasionally cough, hacking up a thick yellow liquid, which he spat on the ground.

They sat in silence for a long time. It was Sam who finally broke their reverie.

“This is insane.”

“I know I sound like a broken record, but this has to be a dream, right?” Charlie asked, looking at his friends for reassurance that none of this was real. That at any moment he would wake up in his bed back home, snuggled under the truck blanket he had used since he was a toddler and was too ashamed to let any of his friends see.

“If this is a dream, then it’s the most convincing and bizarre one I’ve ever had,” Nate said quietly. They stared into the fire for a moment.

Charlie inhaled sharply through his nose. He held up the palm of his hand and stared at it. He then looked straight up into the starry night sky. Then back at his hand. His face fell.

Sam and Nate watched him repeat this process several times, Charlie getting more flustered with each attempt.

Sam leaned over to Nate. “Well, I think Charlie’s lost it…”

Charlie continued his weird process as he spoke. “I haven’t lost it. I’m trying to lucid dream.”

“You know how to do that?” Nate said.

Charlie nodded. “Taught myself in junior high when I went through my occult and conspiracy theory phase.”

“What is lucid dreaming?” Sam asked.

“It’s when you become aware that you are dreaming, so you can then control the dream.” Nate answered. “You have to train your brain while you’re awake to have a trigger to test if you’re dreaming. Apparently Charlie chose staring at his hand.”

Sam snorted. “I’m guessing because Charlie is intimately familiar with the palm of his hand.”

“Is it working?” Nate asked.

Charlie sighed in frustration. “No… it’s just my same dumb hand.”

“What’s supposed to happen?” Sam asked.

“If I look at my hand, then look away, when I look back, it’s usually distorted in some way if I’m dreaming; the wrong color, or too many fingers. Then I know it’s a dream and I can…” he trailed off.

“Can what?” Sam asked.

Nate burst into laughter.

“What?” Sam said, her confusion genuine. “Like fly or have super powers or something?”

“Uh… something like that,” Nate said with a smirk as Charlie avoided their eyes.

“Oh…” Sam said softly. “That’s really gross.”

The sound of wings softly beating overhead drew their attention. The glittering river of stars visible between the cliff walls were more vibrant than the ones back home, as if the celestial bodies sizzled with life.

A swarm of giant moths, each about three feet long, fluttered overhead. They glowed softly; each had a unique bioluminescent pattern on its wings and body, soft blue and green swirls tinged with deep purples.

“Uh…” Nate said dumbly. “Isn’t that what was in your book?”

Charlie and Sam followed his finger as he pointed to the moon, which hung low above the far edge of the ravine. It was broken into several pieces, and a cloud of dust followed the trail of whatever had punched through the planetoid.

All three of them jumped as Elred reappeared from the shadows, with what looked like doe with thick, shaggy, silver hair slung over her shoulders. She lowered it to the ground, and as they got a better look at it, they recoiled. The creature was a strange mixture between a deer and a wolf. It had long, slender legs that ended in hoofs, but its head was broad, and it had a deep jaw filled with sharp teeth. Four knobby horns protruded from the top of its head.

Elred withdrew a small blade from her belt, and with practiced expertise, began to cut the skin free and butcher the meat.

“I have been thinking about what you said. About where you came from,” she said as blood from the animal trickled in tiny rivulets through the stony riverbed to the stream. “If it is true, then the Aether has brought you to our world for a purpose. I will take you to the head of my order, Alianna Stormbow. She will know what to do.”

“Your order?” Nate asked.

“The… Jedi Order?” Charlie said, his eyebrow raised in suspicion. Sam elbowed him sharply.

“The Soldiers of the Sun,” Elred answered. “The Luminous Aether has two sides. As in all things, there is opposition. On the one hand, life, light, love, and peace. The other, chaos, death, destruction, and fear.”

Charlie snorted.

Elred’s eyes narrowed.

“And let me guess, you seek to maintain a balance with this Aether?”

She nodded. “Yes, we worship life. Those who are gifted in manipulating the Aether are trained by my order. Is that part of your wars in the stars?” she asked smugly.

“Yes,” they all said, Sam nodding sheepishly.

“It’s exactly like Star Wars,” Charlie added.

Elred's mouth tightened as she shook her head. She stalked over to the tree she had felled earlier, and snatched four thin branches. Sliding her knife down the length of each, she quickly stripped the bark and smaller twigs, leaving only smooth shafts.

She then stacked some rocks on opposite sides of the fire, and slid some hunks of the animal’s meat onto each of the skewers. She placed these over the fire, balanced on the stacks of rocks. The scent of the roasting meat was immediately overwhelming. Nate’s mouth began to water as fat dripped into the coals, sizzling rhythmically.

“How does the Aether work?” Sam asked in an attempt to distract her mind from the voracious hunger gnawing at her. “I mean, how do you use it?”

“There are two ways,” Elred said, as she turned the skewers. “Some simply feel the Aether here,” she pointed to her chest. “They are able to intuitively connect with its power. It is in their blood, and with training, can learn to master it.”

“And the other?” Nate asked.

“The other is through precision and study of the language of the Ancients.”

“Who were the Ancients?”

“The first of Eloa’s creations. They spoke the pure language of the Grand Architect, which can command the Aether.”

“Spoke? Are they not around anymore?”

“Their extinction marked the end of the first age, and the beginning of the Age of Division.”

Nate had so many questions, he didn’t even know where to begin.

Charlie cleared his throat. “So you either intuitively know how to use the Aether, or you study the language of the Ancients?”

Elred nodded.

“So sorcerers versus wizards.”

“If you like,” she said, removing the skewers of fatty meat. “Now, fill your bellies.”

The three of them tore into the meat ferociously, filling their skewers again and again until their stomachs were swollen, and their hands and chins covered in greasy fat.

Sam sighed in contentment. “Thank you, that was the most delicious meal I think I’ve ever had.”

Elred smiled. “Hunger makes even the simplest of foods a feast.”

“Tell us more about your order. The, uh, Soldiers of the Sun,” Nate said.

Elred shook her head. “No, you must rest now. We have a long journey tomorrow.”

As if on cue, an animal howled in the distance, though it sounded more like a roar. Sam shuddered. “Are we safe here?”

“As safe as anywhere in these mountains,” Elred said. “The Stone Golems won’t wander this close to running water, and the fire should keep the other predators at bay.”

“What if it goes out?” Charlie asked, trying unsuccessfully to hide the fear in his voice.

“I will stoke the fires. Sleep now.”

The three friends had a wordless exchange, before Sam shrugged, wrapped her cloak around her as best she could, and laid down next to the fire.

“I still don’t see why she gets the whole cloak,” Charlie grumbled, before following suit. From time to time, he would sit up and toss a particularly sharp rock that was poking into his ribs, but soon, his breathing was deep and steady.

Eventually Sam’s soft snores joined in. Nate was the last to fall asleep, as he stared up at the foreign sky, filled with unfamiliar constellations and a broken moon. More than once, Charlie shifted and farted loudly.

Nate had grown accustomed to Charlie’s night gas over the years; he still remembered the first time he slept over at Charlie’s house when they were in third grade. They had shared a blanket on the floor in front of the TV after playing video games late into the night.

The first time his friend let loose in his sleep that night, it had felt as though someone with remarkably hot breath had exhaled sharply against Nate’s leg.

Another flock of the glowing moths fluttered past as Nate, lost in thought, wondered where the heck they were, and how they were going to get home.

Just before he drifted away, he glanced over at Elred, who was sitting nearby, her spear laid carefully across her legs, which were folded neatly under her. Her eyes were closed in concentration, her lips moving as though in silent prayer.

And with that, Nate slipped into a disquieted sleep, filled with dreams of his warm bed back home, and the parts of Sam’s body he had seen for the first time that made him blush to remember.