Asema’s face flushed red as she turned away from me, facing the fire. The light kissed gently against her dark skin, illuminating the Rot that sat on her right cheek like a beacon. Gently, she brushed it with the tips of her fingers, her nails tracing the outline of it as she let out an audible sigh. “The truth is, I’m dying. Slowly… but dying nonetheless. Still, you asked why I am here, and that still does not answer your question—because I am not here for me.”

Thinking back to the time we’d run from the Rodrent Sentinels, I scratched at the scrape I’d received in the woods, asking, “For the old man?”

Asema nodded, turning to meet my eyes as she replied, “Yes, my father. We were silver miners; not by choice, but by obligation. Necessity. Still, during my father’s life, he seized the eye of some of the lesser nobles who spend their days squabbling over which veins of silver belong to whom. They gave my father honors for his strong work-ethic and ability to find silver where non other could. Eventually, he was able to buy a modest home; even find a woman to marry. And I was born. Life was fine, for a while, as fine as life as a human can be, but, eventually, my mother was taken from us. By a petty noble who’d thought to use her for his own sick pleasure. Worse, my father was forced to choose to fight for his love, or protect me. After that impossible choice, he came down with the Rot. You say he’s an old man, but truly he is only in his late fifties. The Rot has taken its toll on him over the years. So, when I heard that a human with curly blond hair was seeking a cure to this curse as a servant to a Rodrent alchemist, well, I couldn’t resist. You ask what I’m doing here? I’m here to save my father. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Nodding to her story, I replied, “And who told you?” Putting my hand to my chin, I spoke again before she could answer, “That rebel in the tunnels under the city; Raled. So that means…”

“I’m a member of the resistance,” she replied simply.

Saise seemed to ignore us, instead, leaning her head against the wall as if she would go to sleep.

“So the resistance… is it just in Silverock, or does it exist everywhere?”

“As far as I know, there are pockets of it in every major city in Selea.”

Then, I heard a grumbling, and I turned to see Vekrem open his eyes. He looked around as he rubbed his neck. “Ugh,” he said. “Why do I feel like I was struck in the head?”

Smiling, I replied, “Because you probably were.”

Vekrem tried to stand, but a sudden head rush sent him back to the floor, leaning heavily against the stone wall. “My Head’s on fire…”

“Here,” Saise said, standing and bringing him a water pouch. Vekrem reached out, grasping it, and dumping the contents into his mouth, wiping any excess that spilled from the edge of his mouth with the back of his hand. He winced as he did, looking down, and seeing the red, rawness of his arms. Saise crossed her arms. “You should rest. We all should.”

“No,” Vekrem said, pressing himself to stand. This time, he prevailed, using the wall to bear himself up. “I heard a small portion of that conversation, but I would expand upon it.” His eyes fell on me with a devious curve. “Isaac, I’ll ask this bluntly. Who are you? Really? You claim to know so little of this world, and yet… you seem to know so much. Are you truly as ignorant as you depict yourself being?”

Suddenly, the group looked upon me with distrustful eyes, and I felt an immense pressure in my chest.

“They suspect,” Dragon whispered in my mind like a serpent.

Vekrem’s ears suddenly perked up. “Who said that? Who suspects?”

Saise sighed, looking up and down at Vekrem. “You appear to have hit you head harder than you thought. Nobody here said anything.”

My mouth hung open aghast as I said breathlessly, “That’s not true…” Moving to Vekrem, I asked, “Can you hear him?”

He peered at me curiously, as if confused by my question. “Hear who?”

“Dragon,” I purposely said out loud for everyone to hear. “Speak.”

Then, like a small fire that was suddenly doused in kerosene, Dragon boomed into my mind like the blaze of a wildfire. “I am not a dog to be commanded. I will speak when I determine it necessary.” His voice was so loud and all-encompassing that it sent me to the floor. But, surprisingly, Vekrem was there right beside me, holding his hands to his flattened ears as if he could block out the bellowing roar. Dragon withdrew his presence, settling at the back of my mind.

“What. Was. That?” Vekrem asked, not daring to open his eyes.

“My secret…” I replied. “Well, part of it anyway.” Feeling a sudden bout of courage, I stood addressing everyone. “The other part of my secret—well, it’s hard to explain—but… I’m not from this world.” The only sound I could hear—the only sound that seemed to exist at all in that moment was the small licking of the flame against the air in the small, stone room.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Vekrem, recovered from Dragons explosive proclamation, stood straight as he asked, “Then that day I met you. It was truly the first day you ever set foot on Selea?”

Running a hand through my hair, I replied, “Yeah; my world is named Earth, and it’s a lot different from here. Selea, I mean.”

“How so?” Vekrem asked.

I paused, deciding how much I should say—how much they should know. Or, better yet, how much they would believe. However, knowing what kind of quest we had ahead of us, I decided on being honest. Truly honest… far too many stories end in tragedy by keeping secrets. “Well, for starters, humans are the dominant species. In fact, we’re so far above the rest that we effectively destroyed the entire world. At least, that’s what people believe.”

Asema’s eyes lit up with excitement and Saise scoffed at the idea that humans were so powerful from the place I came from. I couldn’t blame her, seeing what I had from this world would make me skeptical as well. Vekrem, surprisingly, took it all in stride, simply nodding to my words as if I spoke simple truth.

I gave the group a quick overview of Earth. How we are separated into different countries, how large the world itself was, and how small we truly were in comparison to the greater universe. At some point, I remembered that I’d packed cigarettes in my pack. Removing them, I found the cigarettes to be soaked, and I threw them into the fire. Small trails of smoke bellowed out of the fire before I continued, telling them about my own life and it’s many many trials.

Again, Vekrem nodded, offering little in the way of comments. Saise, having heard enough, moved to the other side of the fire where she curled up close to it as if she were some type of red cat, her tail fluffing out making it appear larger.

Eventually, once my life’s story was all done, Vekrem stopped me, asking, “And the voice in my head.”

“Our head,” I corrected. “That’s Dragon.” I pulled out the amulet. “He lives in here and is on an adventure himself.”

“What sort of adventure?”

Dragon spoke for himself, speaking in a quieter voice. “The kind I can’t remember, but of the utmost importance.”

Vekrem snapped his fingers. “So is that why you are helping me? You think that by learning more about the world you’ll figure out more about your own quest?”

“Something like that,” I replied. At that moment, I decided not to tell him that I was also hoping to find treasures to bring back with me. With everything else going on, that reason felt selfish and petty.

“And this being in our minds; what sort of creature is it?”

“I am not a creature,” Dragon replied, but at least he had the wherewithal to not overwhelm our minds this time. “I am a force. An eternal being. Some would even call me a god.”

“And yet,” Vekrem said, grinning as if he sussed out a great secret, “You seem quite powerless, trapped in this amulet as you are.”

I clapped my hand on the side of my leg as I remembered something. “He’s like a genie in a lamp. All powerful, but forever shackled. Bound to it. Except… he doesn’t grant wishes. Do you grant wishes, Dragon?”

Dragon raged silently, but offered no retort to my mean spirited comment. Vekrem and I held our heads in shame; we’d offended him.

Asema, still taking an interest in our conversation, interjected, asking, “So, if I am to get this straight, you both can communicate with a being that lives in this amulet?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “That sounds about right.”

Crossing her arms, she added, “And you, Isaac. You’re from another world? One where humans rule over the Were-races?”

“Ike,” I corrected. “And yes, humans rule, but there is no such thing as a Were-race there. Nor are there mushrooms that seemingly give magical powers. Vekrem, that was—”

Asema’s smile quickly faded. “It is too much to hope for I suppose. This world you speak of, a world where humans aren’t persecuted… Where they live freely.”

I wanted to tell her that it’s not all that she’s making it out to be. That my world, Earth, had plenty of the atrocities that I’d seen here, only humans doing it to other humans. But, seeing her hope fleeing, I tried desperately to find something right to say. “I’m not lying—there is a world out there different from your own. Not better, just different.”

Asema nodded to my words, finding her own place around the fire where she stared into those grasping flames as if she searched for an answer deep within herself. Her fingers ran the length of her Rot scar, and tears flowed down her cheeks.

I pretended not to notice.

“Ahem,” Vekrem said, coughing into his hand and drawing me back. “Then I have just one last question, for now: Why am I suddenly able to hear this Dragon?”

Dragon rumbled from deep in our minds. “Not even I can answer that Rodent.”

Vekrem seemed to take offense at the ‘Rodent’ comment, but, deciding against arguing, he let it slide. “Then there is still much to discover. If I weren’t so preoccupied with my own dealings, I would love to theorize more about this. Run tests. But, just as before, other matters take priority.”

“Yeah,” I replied. “The Rot. Vekrem, I don’t know much about it other than it glows, and apparently, rapidly ages you.” Whispering so that only Vekrem could hear me, I added, “Asema seems scared of it. Is that really all there is?”

Finally, Saise had had enough, standing, she walked over to me until she stood chest length to my front. Pointing a long-nailed finger at me, she said, “Such ignorance! The Rot is a curse unlike any other. It—” Vekrem put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down, but she shrugged it off. “Don’t touch me filthy Rodrent.” She walked away again, settling back on the other side of the fire. Asema didn’t even bother to look our way, still quietly contemplating to herself.

Vekrem leaned close, whispering, “The Rot doesn’t just age you quickly, it takes over… like a parasite. When someone with the Rot passes, they don’t go to the ground, but rise, seeking to spread the toxin to other living beings.”

“Holy shit,” I said, my mouth wide open. “It turns you into a fucking zombie?”