“Surrounded?” Aiden asked looking around, “I don’t see anything?” He looked down one road and then the next until he had checked around a full circle, but everywhere he looked he didn’t see anything that looked like a threat. If there was an Fire Imp or an Emberwisp nearby he couldn’t see it. All he saw was just empty buildings, broken walls and front yards overrun with wild plants. There wasn’t even a smoldering branch, to show that one of the fire creatures had been by recently.

“I don’t see anything either,” Jabari agreed as he looked from one building to the next.

“Maybe something is hiding inside one of the worn-out shops?” Dorian suggested.

“Maybe, but I think I see the problem,” Morgan said, “Look at that front yard,” she said pointing toward one of the nearby buildings. Those plants in front, aren’t just natural growth. Look carefully,” she instructed, “there are Bramblefangs in there.”

Aiden looked at one of the broken-down houses and in between the dilapidated fence posts was a small round ball of sticks that he thought looked quite a bit like the bushes he had seen rolling down the street when he had arrived. When they had first passed down the road, the balls of leaves and twigs blended seamlessly with the underbrush that overran the small town.

But looking at them now, Aiden realized that what Morgan said was right. What he took for old piles of twigs and sticks were actually individual small bodies covered in sharp, spine-like protrusions. These twig-like spines were irregular and haphazard, making it look like natural foliage.

“There are so many,” Elara whispered, a hint of awe and fear mingled in her voice.

Aiden looked around and realized she was right. There weren’t a few, there were many creatures, and they were all over. The town which he had thought was naturally overgrown, was not really overgrown, it was actually overrun.

QCore, what are those… bushes? He thought to himself.

Creature Name: Bramblefang – Level 1 Description: A cunning creature that blends seamlessly into the underbrush which makes it a master of ambush within the forest's dense foliage.

Now that he knew what he was looking at he could even make out its tiny eyes, small and beady, almost hidden among the spines, giving it a sneaky appearance. One rolled a little way toward him and he watched, as it approached a small patch of grass, and opened a mouth that was disproportionately large compared to its body. The mouth brimmed with an array of menacing teeth, that looked like small branches with razor-sharp points as it gobbled up the small plant in front of it.

“Do you really think that those things could be rift shadows?” Dorian asked, “They are all low level, and I’ve been here for a while, and they didn’t come near me.”

“Well, it would explain why the runeportal doesn’t work,” Morgan said.

“Besides, they don’t have to be very high level, when there are so many of them,” Elara explained.

“Maybe we could try to clear the ones near the runeportal and see what happens,” Jabari suggested.

“Maybe,” Dorian began doubtfully, “but they won’t be easy to damage. Look at the way their branches surround them, like thick armor. Even if they are slow, it will take a great deal of damage to destroy something like that.”

“Well, I don’t think any of my Tailoring skills are really going to help me here,” Morgan volunteered. “How about you, Jabari?”

“Me?” Jabari said, his hands spread wide as he shrugged, “Most of my skills are designed to help plants grow, I don’t dare try any of them.”

Elara looked over at Dorian questioningly, “Do you have some skills unlocked that could be helpful?”

“Only what is traditionally unlocked in the Dawn of Duty,” Dorian began, “But those skills are more for survival, than offense.”

“I checked all my pockets and I didn’t bring any Tangletraps or Stickypaste with me,” Jabari said with a disappointed sigh.

Looking down at the bag around Dorian’s waist, Jabari gestured toward it, “How about you, Dorian, do you have anything useful in that bag of yours?”

“For wilderness survival and for the Academy, yes I do,” Dorian answered, “But for these things…” he looked around at the Brambles, “I don’t think so.”

“Maybe some sort of fire spell would work?” Elara suggested, “I have a few of those for Smithing.”

“Maybe,” Morgan answered, “But that could also start a fire with all of this old wood around?”

“It may be the risk we have to take,” Dorian declared, his voice ringing with a sense of duty. “After all, if they are rift shadows, then we have an obligation to destroy each and every one of them. It’s the right thing to do.”

Jabari looked over at Aiden and surreptitiously rolled his eyes, obviously not on board with Dorian’s suggestion.

“And if it doesn’t work,” Jabari said, “The riftshadows might still be at the runeportal and we’ll wind up drained,” his deep voice calm yet carrying an edge of caution.

“Then so be it,” Dorian declared firmly.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“We can’t take that chance,” Morgan shook her head, “If we get drained, then we can’t use the runeportal and it’ll take days to get back to town and by then, who knows, how far the riftshadows could get.”

Morgan looked seriously at Dorian and then continued, “We can’t try to fight this many unless we know it will work. Our goal has to be to get back to town and let the Guardians know that a rift has been opened so that they can handle it. We need another plan.”

Turning to Aiden she asked, “Aiden, what magical skills do you have?”

Aiden reflexively wanted to answer “None,” but in this new world, he realized he wasn’t sure.

‘QCore can I do any magic?’ he thought to himself.

Yes.

The answer surprised him, but he tried not to show it.

‘QCore’, he thought to himself, ‘show me my magic skills.’

Available Magic Skills Spirit Shove

As soon as he read the words, he remembered a message telling him he had earned that skill back on Earth. It had seemed like a lifetime ago when he had been GeoCaching, and his biggest challenge was trying to find the ‘Champion’s Cache’.

“I have a magical skill,” Aiden answered, “But, just one,” he paused then continued, “Spirit Shove.”

Morgan nodded as she considered the answer. “That may be useful. It’s a skill that doesn’t require beating through their thick shell, it won’t start a fire and it should even let him attack more than one at a time. I think that will work.”

“But how is that skill unlocked?” Dorian asked Morgan, then turned to Aiden, “You don’t seem old enough to be a master. Are you currently a student at the Academy?”

“Um, no,” Aiden answered not sure what to say but not wanting to lie either. He just didn’t know what would happen if he admitted where he was really from.

“Then how…”

Shaking her head, Morgan interrupted. “We don’t have time for this anymore, Aiden.” Then turning to Dorian she added, “Dorian, he’s from the Otherworld.”

“What?” Dorian asked, surprised.

“The Otherworld, I don’t remember what they call it?” Morgan answered and then looked at Jabari, “What’s the name again?”

“Earth,” Jabari supplied helpfully.

“Earth that’s right. He’s from Earth World,” Morgan explained.

“Oh, I see,” said Dorian. “Is that true, Aiden?” Dorian asked.

Aiden was looking from person to person not sure exactly what to say. “Well, yes,” he said, “but, Morgan, how did you know?”

Morgan tilted her head then very deliberately looked him up and down, her gaze seeming to take in his t-shirt, hooded zippered jacket, jeans and old sneakers. “You don’t exactly look like you are from around here,” she said simply, “do you?”

“We all knew,” Jabari said as he clapped Aiden on the back, “Pretty much as soon as we saw you.”

Aiden looked over at Elara and she gave him a small apologetic smile, “It’s kinda obvious, but we didn’t want to push you if you weren’t ready to share,” she admitted.

Aiden looked around the group surprised and a little embarrassed. He had been trying to keep a secret when it hadn’t been necessary after all.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jabari said with a smile, “I’m an Otherworlder too, there aren’t many of us, but there are a few. I was transported when I was about seven. You get used to it, and besides, once you are at the Academy, you’ll realize it doesn’t matter all that much any way.”

Standing there stunned, Aiden realized he had so many questions he wanted to ask and had been afraid to mention. “So then, how do I…” he began.

Morgan cut him off, “I know you have a bunch of questions, but we’ll have to answer them later.” Morgan said, “Right now, we need you to see if whatever spell you discovered, that brought you here can be used to get us away from the Bramblefangs,” she suggested, “so, let’s see what you can do.”

“When? Now?” Aiden asked.

“Yes, now,” Jabari said with a smile. “You got this,” he said as he turned Aiden around and gave him a small push toward the Bramblefangs.

Aiden looked back and they were all watching him as if this was all the most natural thing in the world. Sure, he had been transported into another world. That’s perfectly normal. And now, they were looking at him as if telling him to ‘do magic’ was the most reasonable thing in the world. He had no idea how to ‘do magic’. He wasn’t even sure that he ever did ‘magic’.

He looked over his shoulder again and they were still staring. Maybe it really was just that easy, he thought to himself. He looked at the Bramblefang in front of him and considered what to do next.

‘Spirit Breeze’ he thought to himself, hoping that maybe the QCore system would take care of it for him.

Nothing happened.

‘QCore Spirit Breeze,’ he thought to himself.

Command not recognized.

He looked over his shoulder and gave them a small smile.

“Just cast the spell,” encouraged Morgan.

He stared again at the Bramblefang.

It completely ignored him.

“What’s wrong?” Jabari asked.

Aiden turned back toward the group, and gave them a sheepish smile, “To be honest, I don’t remember how I did it.”

Morgan frowned, “Aiden,” she began, “When you cast that spell the first time, what happened?”

“Well,” he began, not even sure where to start, “I was in an old building, and the skunk was in trouble and was going to fall. I reached for it, and I wasn’t close enough, but then, it was like the air pushed the skunk toward me and the message appeared that I had earned Spirit Shove.”

“So, is it possible that you did magic any other time?” Elara asked encouragingly.

Aiden was a bit embarrassed as he answered, “No, probably not?”

“Okay, let’s check and find out. What level is your spirit shove?” Morgan asked.

‘QCore what level is my Spirit Shove?’ he thought to himself.

Spirit Skill: Shove Level: 1 - Spirit Breeze Description: A gentle gust of force perfect to slowly guide a single piece of straw across a barn floor.

“It’s level 1,” he said.

“Well then,” Morgan said resigned, “If we want to get out of here it looks like we are going to have to teach you how to do magic.”