The message remained in his mind, but Aiden had no idea what it meant or where he was.

Welcome to the Brookside Runeportal in Draydon!

He looked around, blinked a few times, and soon enough the message faded, leaving him looking at a place he didn’t recognize.

The sun was overly bright, and Aiden shielded his eyes as he tried to get his bearings. The first thing he noticed was that he was sitting on what seemed like a circular platform about six feet in diameter. The ground itself was a patchwork, an intricate weaving of stone and metal that felt almost alive under his touch. Rocks, rugged and unyielding, were intertwined with metal veins that glinted with an soft light that seemed to be dissipating as he watched. ones written within the metallic veins, pulsed gently, casting a soft, ethereal glow that illuminated the ground with a spectral dance of light.

Touching the rocks beneath him, he realized they were warm and if he listened carefully, he thought he heard some sort of deep hum that seemed ready and powerful. Aiden couldn't help but trace the runes with his fingertips, marveling at their complexity and the smoothness of the metal, which contrasted starkly with the rough texture of the surrounding rocks. The temperature under his hands shifted gradually from warm to a neutral coolness.

"This can't be real," he muttered to himself.

in the heart of a clearing, that hinted at what may have been a small, busy town.

The platform was in the heart of the remnants of what may have at one time been a small town. Around him were left a few small stone buildings next to others that apparently had burned down. There were a few wooden buildings left, but many of them had dark charred marks across the sides. Some of the stone homes had been boarded up, before the owners left, and still had closed doors and shuttered windows, while others were just shells of the buildings. Everywhere, front yards were obscured by weeds and wildflowers.

If it had been a busy town at one time, the streets were now completely empty. The only sound came from a door on one of the buildings that had come halfway off its hinges and now was blowing back and forth in the wind.

Aiden looked around for any sort of life left, but the only thing moving was a small bush that somehow had been uprooted and was rolling between the abandoned buildings. The leaves were still bright green and there were tiny red thorns between the branches that gleamed like tiny daggers.

As he watched, strange little bush move, he realized it wasn’t really rolling with the wind. It was going this way and that, almost as if it was looking for something and choosing its path with sentient deliberation. Aiden frowned, trying to figure out what he was seeing.

Then, astonishingly, a few more bushes rolled in to the dirt road and soon, there was a group of the creatures. They were each about the same size, no more than two feet tall and each seemed to be nothing more than a ball of what looked like a living ball of branches or twigs. However, each group of twigs was now rocking back and forth, turning one way and then the other, almost as if considering what to do next. Finally, one collection of brambles turned down a road away from Aiden and the other two turned and followed.

Aiden's mouth hung open in disbelief and watched intently until finally the bizarre creatures disappeared behind a building.

"Okay, Aiden, think," he told himself, his voice steadier now. "You're not in Middleside anymore. This is... somewhere else. Somewhere impossible."

Drawing a deep breath, Aiden looked down at the sleeping skunk still on his lap and very carefully opened his legs to let it gently slide to the ground.

As it reached the stones, it opened its eyes and gave Aiden a look that he thought was very much a glare. The small animal then looked around, yawned and then stretched like a cat waking up from a nap.

Unlike Aiden, the skunk seemed to have no problem with the transport and started exploring the runeportal sniffing and smelling at the rocks as it passed each of them.

“Well, you may have the right idea,” he said to the skunk, “Figure out where and then figure out how we can get back home. “

He stood up and looked down at the rocks beneath his feet. Whatever energy had been coming off the rocks, was nearly completely gone and the rocks just looked like regular rocks now, the metal between them, simple lines connecting the stones.

“Caw,” Pearl announced again as she pecked away at a large rock in the center.

Aiden walked over to where she was and looked at what she had found. Each rock was decorated with some sort of lettering or rune, carved into he stone. The sharp lines and edges etched into the metal seemed so unusual, like nothing he had seen before, but there was something about the writing on the rocks that looked strangely familiar although he couldn’t make any of them out for sure.

He bent down to trace his finder along the soft lines of the stones.

“It almost looks like writing,” he said to Pearl.

She stared at him and tilted her head from one side to the other.

“But what does it say?” he asked no one in particular.

In his mind, he once again noticed the small glow of light.

“Um, system,” Aiden hesitated. “Quanty, control, something, something.”

“Quantix Cognitive Orientation Response Entity Ready,” the message flashed in his mind.

“Okay, Quanty cognitive orienting…” Aiden hesitated.

“QCore,” the system replied helpfully, and for a moment Aiden thought he noticed a tinge of sarcasm to the tone, but he dismissed it.

“Okay, QCore… What does this writing say?”

Draydon Text identified.

Would you like to Activate the Draydon Language Interface?

YES NO

Aiden smiled, finally, he seemed to be getting the hang of whatever this thing was.

“Yes!” he said out loud.

Activating the Draydon Language Interface

Updating…

Aiden stared at the runes, and as he started, the flowery writing, that he couldn’t understand started to change, almost imperceptibly. It wasn’t that it moved, or appeared any different but the curves and squiggles that had one moment been meaningless began to become more familiar. He stared and squinted at the largest of the stones in the center of the platform. The script on that one looked like three fancy oversized loops cris-crossed with lines.

As he started, it suddenly seemed familiar, like the word was just on the tip of his tongue. Then he realized, he understood it. It said “Runeportal”.

Excitedly he looked around at the other writing on the stones. A series of wiggles and lines that were on the stone that had been glowing said “Drayden” and nearby, the words “Brookside” had been on another of the warm stones.

Update Complete.

Excitedly he looked around and realized that the curves and squiggles he was seeing throughout the stones were words, and words that he understood now, even if he didn’t understand what each word meant.

“Wyndora, Galvania, Coral Isles,” he read the words and knew they were places, even if he didn’t recognize them.

Excitedly, Aiden looked around at the round platform. If this was a Runeportal, it was the think that brought him here and if it had brought him here, it could bring him back.

He read every piece of text going from stone to stone, checking each one to see if he could find anywhere near his home, but none of them were places he had ever even heard of before. Nothing on any of the stones seemed to be instructions on how to use the runeportal or how to get home.

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He focused for a moment on the line of thin spidery lines that was throughout the metal between the stones, maybe that was also writing. The metal was etched with a line and there were sharp points and hard edges, randomly coming out from the center line, it was unlike any language he had seen before, but maybe…

“QCore, what does that say?” he asked and waited for the glowing light.

Nothing happened. He frowned and thought maybe he had asked the question wrong.

“QCore, what language is that?” he asked again

This time the small glowing light appeared…

Wyverntongue Script Identified.

“Install the Wyverntongue Script Language Interface,” he ordered.

Wyverntongue Script Unavailable at this time.

“Can you translate the language?” he asked.

Wyverntonuge Script Interface is not Available.

Aiden sighed with frustration, it was a language, but not one that he understood and not one that his interface was going to help him understand.

Maybe he was going about this the wrong way. He didn’t really want to read the language, he just wanted to use the runeportal to get home. Whatever was in his head had taken him here, maybe it could take him back.

“Q Core, I want to go home. Take me back to where I was before I was transported.”

Transport to Earth is Unavailable at this time.

Aiden frowned, ‘Unavailable at this time’ is not the same thing as ‘no’. If it was unavailable at this time, that might mean it could be available later.

And then the message hit him and Aiden’s eyes opened wide. “Transport to Earth? Where am I!”

You are still at the Brookside Runeportal in Draydon!

Time Elapsed in Brookside 4 minutes 23 seconds.

“Why can’t I transport to Earth?” he answered in frustration.

Transport to Earth is unavailable while Compulsory Transport is still in Progress

A sinking feeling hit him in the gut. He was stuck here and couldn’t get back.

Everything had happened so fast, that he barely remembered what exactly the system had told him.

“What transport is in progress?” he asked.

Transport to Talindor Academy in still in progress

Aiden looked around, nothing seemed to be in progress that he could see. The town was quiet, except for maybe the bushes that seemed to be running around. There didn’t seem to be anything happening.

“Okay, so why am I not at Talindor Academy?” he asked.

Due to a Runeportal Transport Malfunction, Compulsory Transport to Talindor Academy was not complete.

A malfunction? He frowned. That probably wasn’t good. Especially not if the malfunction landed him in an abandoned town when he was supposed to be somewhere else.

“So, what happens now?” he asked looking around at the abandoned town.

The system didn’t answer.

“How do I get out of this town?” he said with frustration.

In front of him, a map appeared out of nowhere. The town of Brookside was labelled clearly as was his location in the center of the runeportal. The roads radiating out from the runeportal were marked on the display, however, since nothing on the map was familiar, choosing a road would be as good as just guessing and he was not going to just start walking.

That was not helpful. He rolled his eyes and tried to put the map out of his head. It disappeared again. He felt a bit satisfied that he was at least getting the hang of the way the system worked at least.

The runeportal had gotten him here, it seemed like his best chance to leave. Maybe once he completed the transport to Talindor Academy, he would be able to transport somewhere else.

“How do I get to Talindor Academy?” he asked doubtfully.

You are already on the quest to get to Talindor Academy!

“What quest?” he asked.

Current Quest: Quest To Talindor Academy!

Invitation to Talindor Academy, School of the Arcane Arts and Elemental Sciences

That message seemed familiar. He had seen it before he had been transported. The system had asked him if he wanted to continue, he had tried to get more information, but instead, it seemed it had just signed him up for the quest.

Reluctantly, he took a deep breath and let it out again, “Okay, can you transport me to Talindor Academy?”

Talindor Academy Runeportal is not available at this time.

Please try again later.

He threw up his hands with frustration. This was getting him nowhere.

He looked over at Pearl, “Well, any great ideas?” he asked.

The white crow stared at him and turned her head from one side to the other as she seemed to consider him for a moment.

“Caw,” she said, then hopped suddenly, toward one of the empty roads.

“What’s are you hearing, Pearl?” he asked.

He looked down the road but didn’t see anything.

She hopped a few times, heading down he road and then cocked her head from side to side.

“Is something over there he asked?”

He looked from Pearl to the skunk who was also looking down the road staring intently. The road seemed to be empty.

Aiden stood still listened for any sound that they might have heard, but the town was still silent.

“What are you guys looking at,” he asked with a frown.

In one quick motion, Pearl hopped up, and flew down one of the empty roads, the skunk started down the road after her.

“Pearl, where are you two going?” he shouted.

The bird landed in a tree, looked around for a minute, stared off down the rowed, cawed at him and then flew a few trees away

“Pearl! Come back,” he shouted as he followed her down the road.

He tried listening to see what they were hearing, but he didn’t hear anything… just winding going through the trees, a creaky door, and then… he heard it.

Voices.

This time he headed down the road while Pearl was still in the tree. The words were still too distant and unintelligible to make out, but he moved quickly toward the sounds quickly. Someone was there, someone who could maybe explain where he was and what was going on.

The more he concentrated, the more the words seemed familiar. He kept on, moving slowly and carefully listening for the source of the sound. He no longer was following Pearl, although she and the skunk seemed to have the same idea and they were following close behind.

Carefully he passed another of the abandoned homes and saw three people running in his direction shouting to one another. They were still a ways off, so he stood behind one of the homes and watched them for a minute. If he thought he was out of place, they didn’t look like they belonged in the abandoned town either.

There was a girl wearing a long deep purple dress that shimmered like silk with sparkling silver accents. She was wearing so many chains around her neck and bangles on her wrists that Aiden could see them flashing and sparking against her dark skin even from a block away.

Next to her was a boy about Aiden’s age. He had dark black hair, and his clothes were loose and faded, a natural green that was accented with lines of dirt. He was running too but holding a bundle of tattered rags protectively against his chest.

Bringing up the read as another girl, wearing pair of tall leather boots that went up to her knees and tight, form fitting embroidered pants. Her shirt was also embroidered, however the neckline and sleeves seemed to be made entirely of laces. Unexpectedly, she had a way too small hammer in her hand, but she held it almost as if it was a familiar weapon.

Aiden hesitated, wondering who they were and what they were doing out here.

The girl in the purple and silver gown was yelling something and he heard it but he couldn’t make out the words. Like the writing on the runeportal, it sounded familiar, but he just couldn’t place it.

Galvania Language has been identified.

Would you like to Activate the Galvania Language Interface?

YES NO

“Yes,” he said impatiently.

Activating the Galvania Language Interface

Updating…

Her garbled speech started to resolve into sounds that he recognized and then he tensed as he understood what she was shouting over and over…

“Run!”