Liam sprung awake to the sound of banging. “What? Again?” He assumed the worst, but things weren’t as bad as he feared. Pausing to listen, the banging was coming from the front door of the house. “Oh.”
Already dressed from his earlier meeting, he jogged down the hall to the front door.
“Yo, Liam, open up!”
“Jeez, just a second!” Liam recognized the voice and opened the door.
“Hey man, I need your help.”
“Dammit Vince. Couldn’t you text first?”
“I did dude!”
Liam’s hand went to his right pocket, but he didn’t have his phone on him. “Fine, what?”
“I need you to take care of Nathan.” Vince held out his dachshund up with two hands.
“What? Why?”
“Like, the Department of Health is at my dorm. They kicked us all out. Asbestos or mold or something like that.”
“So?”
“Dude, I can’t bring Nathan to a hotel.”
“It’s not like you’re supposed to have him in your dorm room either…” Right now, Liam didn’t want to invite anyone to sleep over, but he just had to ask. “Why don’t you want to crash here yourself?”
“So, I called my parents, and they have a bunch of points that are going to expire. They said I should stay at the hotel right by Route 2.”
“But your dog…”
“Liam! Just take care of him for a bit.”
Liam decided not to argue the point since he really couldn’t have human boarders right now. Still, he didn’t want the dog either. It was a well-behaved dog, but there was already too much going on in the house with the magic toilet and all. “Aren’t there places you can check in pets?”
“They’re so expensive. Here.” Vince somewhat forcibly handed his dog to Liam. “I’ll text you once I find out what’s going on with the dorm!” Vince jogged off.
Liam and Nathan looked each other in the eyes.
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“Your Majesty, Sir Alaric Carnell.”
“Ah, Alaric. Welcome back.” The king dismissed his messenger and bid Alaric to take a seat across from him. “What happened?”
“We made contact with a man we presume to be the hero.”
“Excellent! Did he return with you!?”
“Not as of yet. He was concerned the invisible door might close behind him so he chose to stay behind for now.”
“Drats. What was it like on the other side?”
“According to Lyria, there are no signs of any magic at all, but the interior of the hero’s home seemed… quite advanced.”
The king blinked. “No magic? At all?”
“Yes, Sire. Lyria said it was the first time in her life she couldn’t sense anything. The invisible door excepted.”
“Hm, I see. And you say the home was advanced?”
“Yes. A few minutes ago, Lyria postulated that their non-magical pursuits advance at a greater rate because they have no magic to speak of. The workmanship on their crafts are like nothing any of us have seen.”
“Even the dwarf in your party?”
“Yes. Thane was just as impressed. He also… found their drinks to be quite to his taste.”
“Bah. What else?”
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“On the other side, they produce light without flames, ice without magic, and water without anything in it. The water we sipped was the purest any of us have ever tasted.”
“I’m sure it’s quite something. Tell me about the hero.”
“Sire, having not left his home to explore, it’s difficult to say how he ranks in society on the other side of the door. Still, he seemed to be leading a noble lifestyle. His mannerisms were not polished, but his hands did not seem calloused and his grooming was exceptional.”
“What’s your assessment of his abilities?”
“He…” Alaric took a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing. “He doesn’t show signs of being physically or, obviously, magically gifted. I enjoyed the short time we spent together, but I don’t see any way he could inspire our armies as he is now.”
“Then, is he unsuitable as a hero!?”
“It’s too soon to say. He may gain abilities after passing through the door.”
“Or…”
“Sire?”
“Or, perhaps what he has to offer is not personal combat ability.”
Alaric’s eyes widened. “You don’t mean…”
“We must learn more about what his world has to offer. What could he send through the door? He may be right that the door will close once he passes through to our world. If that happens and he doesn’t gain fantastic abilities, we could be doomed. Instead, shouldn’t we leverage whatever advantageous resources he can provide from the other side?”
“You mean weapons…?”
“Not just weapons. Let’s not jump to conclusions, Alaric. While time is short, there’s no need for us to rush and possibly sour our relationship with the hero.”
“As you wish, Sire.”
“While we’re on that subject… did you notice anything that particularly interested the hero? Any members of your party, perhaps?”
“Sire!”
“Alaric, do you have any idea how many lives are at stake? We can’t overlook any possible advantage right now.”
“As a knight…”
The king rolled his eyes. “I’m not ordering you to do anything. Just share your thoughts.”
“Well, this may be because there are no elves on the other side of the door, but… the hero seemed rather taken by both Lyria and Sylara. His attempts to hide it were admirable but… insufficient.”
“How old is he? Does the hero have no partner?”
“I didn’t ask his age, but he seemed about twenty, although easy to mistake for a teenager due to his peaceful upbringing, I’d wager. I couldn’t find any evidence he was married or had any mistresses or lovers, although I can’t be sure.”
“Hm, perhaps we should—“
“Y—Your Majesty!” A soldier ran into the room.
“What!?”
“A creature came through the door from the other side!”
Alaric reacted first and jumped to his feet. “We must secure the royal family!”
“No…” The soldier seemed conflicted. “The creature does not appear to be a threat…”
“Explain,” the king commanded.
“Those of us guarding the summoning chamber were startled, but the creature appears to be some type of small dog. It does not seem to be dangerous.”
“A dog? A dog!?” the king shouted. “Why did you make it sound like some monster had invaded?”
“M–My apologies! The dog is unlike any I’ve seen before…”
“Sire, why don’t I go investigate and report back?” Alaric proposed.
“Yes, do that.”
Alaric addressed the soldier. “Stay here.” He jogged down the corridor and descended the many stairs to reach the summoning chamber.
“I am here!” He burst through the wooden doors to a strange sight. A magus was cradling a small dog in her arms while the soldiers all around her stood with their weapons ready. Rather than barking, the dog was just whimpering.
“Sir Alaric!” the magus called. “Please tell them to lower their weapons!”
Alaric decided to trust the magus. “Do it.”
The soldiers took a few steps back and put their weapons away.
“You are?” Alaric stepped over to the magus.
“Elizabeth.”
“Oh, you’re the one who… Yes. And?”
“While I was inspecting the chamber, this dog dropped through the invisible door. It looked terrified so I stepped in before the soldiers could hurt it.”
“Hm.” Alaric leaned in to inspect the dog closely. The dog twisted its head away shyly. “Now that I look at it, isn’t it a strange dog? Put it down for a moment.
Reluctantly, Elizabeth placed the dog on the stone floor. The dog circled around behind Elizabeth to distance itself from Alaric and the other soldiers.
“C–Cute…” At some point, Sylara had entered the chamber undetected and was standing right next to Alaric.
“Yes… It’s so… long?” said Alaric. “Its legs are so short?”
“Arf!” The dog barked for the first time since Alaric entered the chamber.
“I don’t believe Liam had that dog when we visited earlier. Did you sense it while we were there, Sylara?”
The elf shook her head. “It must have arrived after we left.”
“Could you get Lyria?”
“Okay.” Sylara disappeared. Literally, nobody saw how she left the chamber.
“Lyria Moonseeker?” asked Elizabeth, who was now sitting on the floor while continuing to shelter the dog. “Even I can tell this is just an innocent dog…”
“I wonder…”
A few minutes later, Sylara returned with Lyria, who zeroed in on the dog as soon as she entered the chamber. “That animal came through the door?”
“Yes,” said Alaric. “What do you think?”
Lyria approached the dog slowly, extending her hand for the dog to sniff.
It quickly warmed up to her, allowing Lyria to pet it.
“I sense the tiniest seed of magic within this animal.”
Alaric started walking toward the door, but he paused and turned back to Lyria. “Just to check, does that dog pose any threat right now?”
“I don’t believe so, no.”
“All right. I need to report back to the king. We need to decide what to do about this.”
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Liam searched high and low for Nathan. He‘d taken his eyes off it for just a minute and it managed to disappear. The house wasn’t that big so he completed his search in just a few minutes. “Where the hell is it? Vince’s gonna kill me…”
He checked the exterior doors carefully one more time and then started his search over again. When he got to the master bathroom his eyes settled on the toilet. The cover was down but it wasn’t exactly latched. “Don’t tell me…”