Chapter 7

Two weeks later

Igni hopped out of my car as the audio from the latest Puggy Electron Man video ended. I shut the door and looked at the cabin; it was still in good repair. Behind me, I heard Mike's door close, too. I turned and looked at his truck, an old Chevy C30. Mike was a large, muscular man, and his time in the Marines ensured that most of that was muscle, not fat. His truck was loaded with a few large items from my apartment.

I was still going to have to pay my lease for another three months, but I decided I was going to move out to the cabin now and just collect my small stuff as I got the chance; it was mostly clothes and small items left, “so this is the place huh?, Looks nice!” mike said walking up to stand next to me. “Yeah, you don’t know the half of it,” I said as we walked up to the house. I opened the door, and Ingi ran inside, sitting on her bed, and I realized I would need to get her a new one.

She had grown from about half the size of a beagle to the size of a labrador retriever in the two weeks since she came home with me and was still growing. Mike hadn’t met her until yesterday, so he wasn’t on to her yet, but she was going to get huge if she kept up this way. Make fire? The words came to my mind despite me knowing they weren’t mine. Igni had started doing this last weekend and was now able to send me actual words. She was still an excited puppy on the inside, though. “Not yet, girl; once we get done unloading.”

Mike gave me an odd look for a moment but then shook it off. “ come on, I’ll show you the room you can use tonight.” I showed him to one of the rooms with the bunk bed and left him to set down his stuff. I started bringing in some of the lighter stuff, and soon Mike joined me and started bringing in the shelving and other units. Igni ran around us, but unlike other dogs who often get between your legs, she would stay out of the way.

As we brought in the biggest box, Mike accidentally kicked the wood block, holding the door open against the wind. Before it could swing closed on our load, Igni dashed forward, pushing it back open and holding it open with her body. “Thanks, Igni,” I grunted as I passed her, heading inside. Her tail thumped happily. You're welcome. We set the box with my computer stuff down in the living room.

“That's one smart dog,” Mike said, looking at Igni. I’m not a dog! She thought back at me. I had already decided to tell Mike everything. He lived in Chellan, only about an hour and a half away, doing electrical work. He had moved there to be closer to his fiancee. I would need his help for the upcoming trip, so I decided to just start showing him the interesting things going on in my life.

“ yeah, Igni, I know, but what are you then?” she cocked her head. I don’t know, but not a dog. I laughed while Mike looked at me as if I had a few screws loose. “Yeah, buddy, so there are some weird things going on here. First, I can talk to Igni. She wants to make it well known she's not a dog. We don’t know what she is, but she knows it's not a dog. Since there is no way for me to prove that, let's try this: go ahead and make a fire. Igni, make it flashy, but don’t set the house on fire.”

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Mike was about to say something, probably going to tell me I lost it, when Igni barked happily and, to his surprise, began gathering wood from the stockpile in the laundry room and setting it in the fireplace; she skipped the tender and just brought the large pieces of wood then moved back to the middle of the room, inhaled and spat a fireball the size of one of those small squishy dodgeballs. The fireball crossed the room and hit perfectly in the middle of the fireplace, catching the wood on fire. Igni ran over and closed the fireplace door, curling up contentedly on her bed in front of the fireplace.

Mike looked back and forth between Igni and me a few times and just stared. I knew this would happen, so I grabbed my secret weapon from the fridge. Pulling a beer with the logo of a man in a row boat with a few beer barrels and a coke for myself, I walked back over to Mike. “beer or Coke, man?” he blinked at me, then saw the beer I was holding out. “Oh, my favorite,” he mumbled, then with one last blink, he was back. “the beer, please, thanks man. Did your dog just breathe fire?”

I nodded. “Yep, the basement has an armory with a legal machine gun and a portal to another world.” I looked outside and was happy to see my timing was spot on. The sun was just starting to go down here, so based on my guess, the first moon should be up there, and the second should be at least visible. “Want to go see it?” Mike sat up.. “The machine gun or the portal? What type of machine gun?”

of course, Mike would be more interested in the machine gun. “ come on, you can bring your beer down, and we will look at the M60, but either grab extra ammo for your pistol or use one of the ones downstairs the other side of the portal can be dangerous” Mike looked at his beer, “how dangerous?” Mike hadn’t been nearly as into gaming and DnD as I was in high school, but he still played enough to know the basics. “Well, I helped a local patrol fight off a goblin attack last time I was there. They pay in gold, which is why I had you bring the bikes. I was hoping you would go with me to get the rest they owe me from their outpost. I’d be willing to split some with you.” I answered and asked hopefully all at once.” Mike snapped his fingers. “that's why you said they needed to be able to do 400 miles on what we brought with us. No were to fill up in goblin country!”

I nodded. “Yeah, the road is about 200 yards from the ruins. The tunnel opens up to a dirt road, but it looks well-built, according to the patrol. The place we are going is the farthest out-established outpost, so we are in real wild country. I am hoping to find some way to claim the land on the other side of the portal while we are there. The lieutenant in charge of the patrol made it sound like it's still free for now, but it was first come, first served.”

We walked downstairs, discussing the trip and what would be needed. We opened the armory, and Mike immediately went over to the M60. “oh, look at this Pig, that's amazing. I can’t believe this is here. It works, right?” I shrugged, “I have only dry-fired the thing. You know how Washington is lately; it is fully legal, but I’m sure it's been forgotten in the records and if they hear me let off a few rounds from a belt, they will find a way to confiscate it, maybe firing at a range would be a reckless discharge.”

Mike couldn’t help but nod. He loved the nation as much as anyone who volunteered for the military with other opitions, but that love did not extend to our state. “OK, let's at least go through the looking glass so I know what's going on.” with a nod, I grabbed one of the pistols and a vest, not feeling the need for a full suit for just a step out. I did a quick press check and holstered my pistol; Mike had also decided to throw on a vest and holster. I showed him to the side door, and we followed the tunnel. I opened the hatch, and we quickly checked the ruins to make sure nothing was going to jump on us. Then Mike looked up and saw the two moons, “looks like we aren’t in Kansas anymore.”