Alice still lay on the stone slab, using ambient mana to sustain herself. Being a magical being has its perks. Something in Alice kept calling out, “Use all your force.”
Alice took a few deep breaths and listened to the voice inside of her, she ripped herself loose with a mighty yank as she sat up. She uncuffed her legs. She stretched as she stood up, her neck hurt from being branded. That is something that might bite her in the ass one day.
Alice decided to investigate the cave, there were no other clothes. But she found some bread, old bread.
Alice grunted, “It is better than nothing.” After investigating the caves, and not finding anything interesting at all, she went out of the cave by following the stream of light. She looked down at her white robe, it was covered in her dried blood.
Alice saw a crossroads sign with three places to go and one of them was Brickton, she heard about Brickton. “That seems like a good place, however, I need a place to rest first.”
Alice checked her inventory, it had been disabled and emptied when she got brought to the other reality, she grumbled to the air, “My inventory is empty. And there are these woods I need to cross to get to Brickton.”
Alice looked at the woods, she wanted to scoff but the being inside her made her giggle, it seemed they did not agree on what to feel at this moment. Alice shook her head and thought about how Steve would go out of his way to describe these woods. But these are just fucking trees. She looked back at the cave, I don’t feel too comfortable resting in there. Alice started walking to the woods.
After a while, she sat down against a tree and talked to the air. “This place seems devoid of life.” A man hooded in a cloak appeared. Alice pointed her sword at him. “Don’t even dare to throw dust in my face!”
He smiled, “I have a bottle of water for you.”
Alice greedily grabbed the bottle and drank the water. “Oh, thank god.” The man nodded and left through a portal.
Alice sighed, “At least someone is watching out for me. I bet, chances are high, if Steve is alive, he will be in Brickton.”
Alice fell asleep, and her dreams were filled with awkward visions again. Things of the past, and of things yet to come. She gasped awake as the visions she saw of the future were terrible.
Alice grabbed her head that throbbed with pain and got up, if those things come to pass, then it will be a wild ride. Alice started following the trail through the woods.
She had no clue how long she had slept. After a while, she noticed movement, Alice stopped and looked around. The roots started moving and of them flung her way, Alice swayed aside and swung her sword with grace at the incoming root, it got cut in half. When Alice looked around, a tree with an evil smile looked at her.
Alice chuckled, “You are one creepy bastard, sneaking up on a lady in the woods.”
More roots flew towards Alice. She ran forward and slid over the ground while shooting red energy beams at the roots, destroying them. As a new root came at Alice, she chopped it with her sword. Alice got up and smirked at the creepy tree, “Is that all you have?”
More roots came at Alice, she dodged aside but one of them scraped her side, she’s still wearing that white robe, the root easily scratched her waist. Blood fell to the ground. Alice grunted as she grabbed the root and pulled on it hard enough to rip it off. As Alice twirled around another root, she threw her sword right into the tree’s smile and blood streamed out, or rather sap.
It stopped sending roots and fell over forward. Alice hung forward and panted, “I am very rusty. I should have kept up with training.”
She put her right hand on her wound and healed it up with red energy. “Yeah, I am more rusty than I had expected. It feels as if something is bursting out of me. A being that wants to be free, maybe she called out to me, to free me from that stone slab.”
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Alice grabbed her sword, “I can ponder more about it when I get to Brickton.” Alice started walking forward, when suddenly a portal opened up in the sky and a man rolled out. It took a moment for Alice to notice him, she almost tripped over him.
Alice helped the man up, he smiled, “Hello Alice, it has been a while.”
She scratched her head. “Paul?” How did you get here?
He let out a long and deep sigh. “Some shit went down after you left with Steve and Abby. Talking about them, where are they anyway?”
Alice chuckled awkwardly, “Things did not go as planned here either. I can tell you all about it, we need to rest first.”
Paul nodded, “When I fell out of the sky, I thought I saw a house a little to the west of here. My back hurts, and I think my pants are torn.”
Alice turned towards the west, “We should check out the house. Then we can rest, while you tell me what happened to you. Do you know how to fight?”
Paul shrugged, “I have no clue, I used to be a wrestler once.”
Alice shook her head and sighed, “It will have to do, let’s go.”
They started walking through the woods, Paul looked around, “Then this is a different world?”
Alice grunted with annoyance, “No, this is a different reality. There are even more realities, and many more things beyond that. But for now, we should focus on the void. It is the threat that will be attacking this reality.”
Paul nodded, “I guess, I will have to follow you then. Can we get some armor?”
Alice hung her head, “Less complaining, more walking.”
Paul sighed, “You are not fun to talk with.”
Alice stared at him, “I just fought a tree, a living tree! I am very bummed with how much power I have lost. Then, there are things that are dragging me down. I am trying to focus here. Once we get to the house, I can lighten up and talk.”
Paul nodded, “Alright, Alice.” After a while, they did indeed find a small house in the woods.
Alice chuckled, “Want to bet what Steve would say?”
Paul looked at her, “Oh look, a cabin in the woods?”
Alice giggled, “No. From the outside, this house looks cozy. It has been built with cypress wood and has mahogany wooden decorations. Tall, rounded windows add to the overall style of the house, they have been added to the house in a very asymmetric way.”
Paul looked at her, “Just, why? It makes no sense to describe the house, we can all see it.”
Alice raised her hands and shrugged, “It is just something he does, it drives Abby nuts. We should go in to see if there are some supplies. Maybe a fireplace?” Paul nodded and walked forward.
As they walked inside, they saw mostly the basics, a few wooden chairs, a wooden bench, and one small room with a bed.
Paul pointed towards a fireplace. “I will make a fire.”
Alice nodded and walked over to what resembled some kind of kitchen. “There is not much food in this kitchen, but there is some kind of canned soup.”
Paul sighed, “Just put it on then.”
After a while, they sat down on the wooden chairs with a fire going and some soup. Alice looked at Paul, “We can use this for a safe haven, until we continue towards Brickton tomorrow. I can sleep on the wooden bench.”
Paul looked at the bed in the other room, it did seem someone left this house not too long ago, “You don’t have to be kind because I am old.”
Alice chuckled, “I just don’t mind sleeping on wooden benches. Now, what happened to you? How did you end up here?”
Paul stared at his soup while speaking up, “Things started going horribly wrong, right after you guys left. I locked up the bakery like I would any day. After another boring day, you can say what you want, but all work gets boring after a while. I went home to see my wife and kids. I don’t know if Steve told you about them?”
Alice shook her head, “We did not have much time for fun conversations.”
Paul nodded, “Then all hell broke loose, the sky turned a bright light. There was this plump woman, I have seen her in the bakery before, mostly eating apple pies. I don’t know who she is, or what she was doing at the bakery. But I caught her near my street, with a strange floating object. When I looked at her, I called out to her for answers. She shot this energy beam at me, it did not feel like she intended to hurt me, but just push me away. While I was flying, it looked as if she was waiting for someone. Before I landed, she stretched her hand and this portal opened up. That is when I landed near you. I am confident, that woman is going to do something horrible to our world.”
Alice sighed, “I fear you are right, but there is nothing we can do over there. We need to reach Brickton, and then we must find Steve and Abby. Before more horrible things happen to this place. The void is dangerous.”
Paul smiled at her, “So I got roped into this adventure? Whether I want it or not?”
Alice nodded, “Yes, do you want to help me find Steve and Abby?”
Paul nodded, “Yes, I will help you, but it is getting late. I am going to bed. Paul got up and left to the bedroom, but he glanced over his shoulders to look at Alice, thanks for teaming up with me, Alice. I may be old, but I will prove to you, that I can be an asset. Just give me some time to get accustomed to this new reality. I am doing this, to save not only this reality, but our reality too. I need to get back to my family.”
Alice smiled and nodded. “Good night, Paul, it is nice to have someone here with me, it makes me feel, less alone.” As he left, Alice let out a deep sigh and lied down on the bench. “Whatever you do, Steve, don’t give in to your rage.”