The road we were traveling was much more boring than I had hoped. I’d initially thought we’d see glimpses of towers or at least other highways, but the way the transport was enclosed prevented that. I had no idea if it was to hide the secrets of the reltleons or to keep us safe from whatever else was out there. From what I had read, I knew chaotic space was extremely dangerous, but beyond that, I hadn’t bothered with much further research. I didn’t expect it to be something I encountered, and despite this trip, that did remain mostly true. While it may have been on the other side of these walls, I wasn’t likely to encounter it.

“Any idea how long until we get there, Timon?” I asked. The anticipation of seeing my home again was hard to fight. I could be a patient man when waiting for something I wanted, but this was something that I needed.

“I’m guessing they set up a one-way transport path for us, so probably pretty soon. Haven’t used one of those in a real long time, though, and I've never used one to go to an unincorporated world, so no clue where it’s gonna spit us out. Prolly gonna need Chip to come sit up here just to make sure the bus has enough mana. I’m gonna have to supply it all since your world don’t have any natural flow,” Timon answered. I hadn’t considered the issue of the bus and how it would run without mana. It was a good thing Timon had.

“Sure.” I scratched Chip behind his ear and pointed at Timon. The little guy wasted no time in leaping off my shoulder onto Timon’s. “Stick with Timon for a while, okay? He needs your help to keep this bus running once we hit Earth.”

“You’re an impressive little dude, Chip,” Timon said as I sat back down, barely able to contain myself as I waited for the trip to be over. The chat window, which I still hadn’t fully gotten used to, appeared in my brain.

Corey: Dave, what is the plan once we have defeated the orcs? If I understand what I have learned correctly, it seems very unlikely any of the bigger Spiral factions will want Sanquar alive on Earth.

Dave: Ah, you caught onto the big old problem. Yeah, I agree. I’ve been worried about it for a while now. Once we stop the orcs, assuming we can, then that’ll be the big thing we likely have to face next. I will admit that my very first order of business is finding my kids, and I have zero intention of letting anything get in the way of that.

Corey: I understand. I will assist you in that.

Dave: Not that I don’t appreciate it, but why?

Corey: You were correct when you said we were in this together. Both strangers to all of this, and as I come to be more aware of the world around me, I believe you are the best mentor I could have to allow me to grow safely. With what Mel said, I fear what would happen to me if I were not part of your team.

Dave: Well, it’s probably for the best you feel that way. I have no intention of abandoning you; as I said, I’ve got some future engineering plans in store for us.

Corey: I look forward to them. But this still didn’t address the question of what comes after the orcs.

Dave: You’re right, it didn’t. The simple truth is that I don’t know. I hope, no, I believe that Mel is off planning something that’ll help us there, but I can’t be entirely sure of that.

Corey: I hope that you are right. I wish to see much more of the Spiral and to further grow and evolve myself.

Dave: I hope I am, too, buddy. I really do.

The chat window disappeared. Had that been enough to calm the dungeon core for now? I doubted it, but considering my own uncertainties with the future, I wasn’t sure what else I could do. I looked at the brothers sitting across from me and figured I should check on them as well. Just as I opened my mouth to say something, the tunnel walls were gone, replaced by a blue sky. A sky a recognized. There were clouds, beautiful clouds. Was I finally home?

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“Timon, can you track mana sources? I’m guessing the biggest one is going to be Sanquar keeping time frozen,” I asked, it was the only thing I could think to quickly get us where we needed to be. I was worried that if it took too long, our presence here would add too much of a tax on Sanquar’s spell that was keeping time frozen. He had wanted me gone as quickly as possible after first casting it.

“Already on it, my dude. Looks like the tunnel shot us out real close. Probably also looking for the biggest source here. Brace yourselves, it’s gonna be a rough landing. I didn’t prep this baby for air travel!” Timon shouted. I looked out the window and realized that, yes, the bus was plummeting fast. I was sure the brothers and I would survive a crash, but could the bus? Could Timon or Chip? I doubted it. The bus jerked, and our descent slowed as the sound of several cracking tree branches hit my ears right before the bus impacted the ground, relatively gently, all things considered.

“Anyone hurt?” I called, not expecting anyone was. The landing had been much gentler than Timon’s warning had made me expect. More of a big speed bump than a high-speed collision type of crash.

“Shouldn’t be. I found us a couple of trees to come down on nicely, gave me time to fire the mana thrusters. Any landing or crash you can walk away from is a good one, right? Uh, there’s an angry-looking bird standing outside. You know him, Dave?” Timon asked. Standing up, I dashed for the bus door, hoping that I, in fact, did know the angry bird.

“Ah, Dave, good, it’s you. You’ve returned in plenty of time. I could have kept this spell going for another year or two, maximum. I had nearly forgotten the thrill of mana channeling to this extent. I admit, though, I was concerned after your mind had returned here,” the bird, whom I most certainly did know, said.

“So that was real then? I hadn’t been sure, but we can discuss that later. How long until your spell ends, Sanquar? I assume not long since we’ve added five more people to it,” I asked.

“Perhaps two minutes. I am glad to see you brought back others to help,” Sanquar nodded as the brothers, Corey and Timon, with Chip still on his shoulder, exited the bus.

“Some yes, Cecile, Elicec, and Corey will help me fight the orcs. I believe we can handle them. The moment time unfreezes, we’ll take care of the batch here, and then we can figure out how to hunt down the rest,” I said. Could Timon just track them? It seemed plausible, as he'd tracked Sanquar.

“Good, because that moment is quickly approaching,” Sanquar said. I looked around the area. I counted twenty of the orcs near us, but there could easily be more hiding in the woods. How many more were in the cities if they had twenty out here? Were they just attracted to Sanquar’s mana?

“Can we just kill them now before time unfreezes?” I asked. It seemed like a good idea, even if it wasn’t exactly fair, but considering they had tried to kill me and, I assume, had already killed many more across the globe, fairness didn’t really matter to me. Was there even such a thing as a fair fight? Maybe in a duel or a sporting event, but certainly not anything pertaining to life or death.

“I’d rather you not. Altering any living being in the frozen time causes extraordinarily painful feedback to myself relative to their sapience, and these orcs, as much as I may dislike them, are very much thinking beings. Luckily, the trees you crushed on your way down were only very rudimentarily aware of anything. Most of the plants in this world have yet to develop their own souls,” Sanquar answered.

“So uh, dumb question, but do you think my shield orb can easily take a hit from one of their clubs? I know it’s stupid, I really do, but I want to do something funny,” I asked. I had no idea why this had popped into my head, but it was now something I felt I had to do.

“Likely yes, but hurry with whatever you’re planning,” Sanquar answered. I switched to my shield orb and moved back to where I had been, trying to get it exactly as close as I could remember. I saw Cecile pulling out his hoe and the two twinogs moving behind several of them, ready to strike. Corey stuck near me, likely curious about just what I was doing. I doubted this was something that I could easily translate in a way that made any sense because it made no logical sense at all. Well, not no sense; there was a certain power in presentation, and I hoped that this drove home some of the fear they had managed to so deeply ingrain into me. The bastards deserved every bit of what was coming to them. How quickly would they notice the new people on the battlefield?

Time unfroze to the sound of several grunting orcs, and the club that had been about to end my life so many months ago resumed its swing as though nothing had changed. With all the force the orc had put into the swing, it collided with my mana shield and shattered into splinters.

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Chaotic space is a misnomer. It’s not as though we haven’t mapped it; things don’t really shift other than when we shift them. In reality it’s just a name we use for the unknown, the things not truly under the Spiral’s control. Yes, there are monsters that hunt the darkness, but how is that any different than life within the Spiral?

Grom’s Musings