Chapter 4 - Crossing the Line

The sixth annual Warriors of Magic Convention. Not the biggest of the kind, yet big enough for me, not that I had anything better to do those days. I bought the tickets online and saved some money for merch. Who knows? Maybe I'll find something worth spending on. I got there early, avoiding both the crowds and the midday heat. I grabbed myself a cold snack and started wandering around, exploring, checking out the stands, and looking for whatever might look interesting or at least new.

"Real relics of the lost ancient past! Never before seen! Wonders lost in time!" claimed the leaflet.

Real stuff? Yeah, right, I thought, amused and yet curious. They got everything documented. Maps, excavations, some weird ancient relics dated by some weirdly named university professor. It all seemed legit, way too legit for a convention, therefore fake, I concluded, throwing the paper in the nearest trashcan. I looked ahead at the stands, a few of them already stashed with merch, nice. There was little time left before the place would flood with all the geeks and nerds.

No! I shake the thought away, annoyed by my own arrogance. I shouldn't call them such names, these are my people, and I'm part of them, damn it! There's nothing wrong with having a bit of fun, enjoying some history, fantasy, magic, and so on. Life's full of shit, and here you can escape, at least for a moment, and leave that boring reality behind!

Yes, I love my kind, despite keeping this part of me hidden from everyone at the office... oh well, who cares? It's my way to forget about the shitty grind. It's not my fault the rest are boring as hell and don't know to let go from time to time. They can all bite me for all I care.

I kept roaming for a bit, looking around, enjoying the fresh AC breeze, searching for something interesting, something to buy, maybe? Nothing new, I sighed, defeated by my own growing disappointment. The same old stuff, the same old stands, the same old crap. I wasn't expecting to find much and still got bored. What's else to do around here?

I remembered the flyer. Why not visit those "real relics of an ancient past" or whatever the name of that stand is?

Stones, are those runes? Rusty bronze artifacts, a cool iron dagger, a nice gold bracelet, I wondered what kind of savage maiden would have worn it back then. Oh, what's this? A stone portal? Yeah, sure...

That memory wakes me up! I'm sweating, chained to others, barely able to breathe the thick air. The sandstorm rages outside, and burning dust slowly fills our round tent. We cough, we push ourselves one against each other, keeping our heads down and our eyes closed, not daring to think about the insanity of the outside world. We survive, barely.

I dream again, memories fading back in. A portal? That stone door frame? The damn thing looked fake as hell, and yet it had a large "do not trespass" warning in front. What a joke, I thought back then. A tall poster stood right next to the "artifact". Large red words, "warning" and "not yet researched" piqued my interest even further. Nice marketing strategy, I'd give them that.

I glanced over some photos of a huge pit, probably the so-called "excavation site" where they found this so-called „relic". I remember an image of a cute young girl smiling next to a bearded fat guy jubilating, full of himself. Was she a student? The guy must have been her professor, I thought at the time.

Yeah, thinking back, I shouldn't have stepped over the red rope, but there was no one around, and the thought of taking a selfie right inside that "magic portal" really excited me. Get that portal, nerds! I „touched stone" and even got the pics to prove it! So much glory for waking up early, jumping over a red rope, and getting inside an empty stand, how could anyone resist the temptation?

The stone door, gate, frame, was not that big, barely wide enough for two adults, far less impressive than in those excavation pictures. I touched it and felt something strange. It was real, not cardboard, and yet somewhat lighter than it should have been. Is that even stone? Maybe it's not. Fake? It could be plaster, I thought, and then stepped in....

"Food! Food! Food!' the prisoners cried.

"Food!!! Foooood!!" I shouted the same, dragging myself to the center of the tent, pushing others away, trying to reach at least one of the falling pieces. There, a bone! I dashed and grabbed hold of it right before two more fell near. Damn! Too late! Too slow... others grabbed them already...

I looked around, hoping for more, but the savage brute was already gone. That was it, my entire meal for the day.

Meat? Yes? I dare not question or even look at it. Just eat whatever it's there and then suck on the remains until there's nothing but tiny pieces of dry bone left. Not gonna lie; it tasted like raw meat and dust. Therefore it was meat! The best kind! A prime cut, full of proteins and nutrients and such. Or maybe not, maybe I was just delirious from the heat. Who cares. This half-chewed bone is mine, and I'll make sure to savor it for hours to come!

Where was I? Oh, yes...

The portal? Yes, the damn stone portal!

I stepped inside, hoping to go through and back, take a smug selfie from within its frame, and quickly exit the crime scene before anyone notices me. It seemed like the perfect plan, the most useless of crimes. Just another desperate attempt to break the everyday routine and give myself something to brag about on all the stupid forums and social platforms no one cares about. Damn, was I that bored? I could've been; I don't remember that far back.

The company's flagship project dragged on for months, and coding the database filters and front-end UI was nothing to write home about. What was worse, the future looked just as bleak. The higher-ups loved us so much that they pushed the release for another whole year.

A full year until the stupid app would get launched! A full year of database torture, tables, queries, and mind-breaking boredom! Damn you, fake stone portal, give me your best shot; I demand it, no, I need it!!

One step forward, and the entire reality changed.

The bright neon lights turned into a dark, barely visible, amber gloom. I was inside a large stone cave, dimly lit and covered in dust and sand. A construction area? I thought, walking forward, trying my best to avoid hitting some kind of scaffolding, cables, or power tools. Are these extension cords or what? What a mess. I can't see much. Is that a cable moving across my leg? I take a look around, wondering at the sight. What the hell? They're building an entire ancient temple here!

A couple more steps, and I felt it! A sudden draft of dust-filled air passed around me, pushed by whatever happened behind. I turned around just in time to see the shimmering golden glow vanish and the pillars starting to crumble. Slowly, silently, and just as fake.

I broke the damn thing! But how could it happen? I barely touched it! These people and their shitty props! Fuck it; I'll pay for the damages. How much can such a piss-poor of a fake „portal gate" door cost anyway?

I felt guilty and a bit annoyed. Maybe I shouldn't have jumped over that red rope. Maybe I should have read those warnings. I took out my phone; whatever, I'll talk to them and apologize. I'll pay for the damages if they insist; I'm sure they won't hold it against me. These things happen, right? It's just a stupid prop, displayed at a stupid convention, after all. Now, where am I? It's so dark in here, there, the flashlight is on, let's see....

Right then, everything goes dark.

All my memories, gone! A blow to the head and a half-day comma took care of them. All that was left was pain and a bloodied cracked skull. Oh, and a weird rigging in the left ear each time I turned my head around. It faded days later.

I woke up tied down to three other poor bastards, naked savages of some kind, surrounded by some sort of fantastic giant beasts of burden in the middle of a Haare. A gang of these barbaric desert fuckheads fighting among each other for the remains of some kind of fried sand lizard, or whatever the hell that thing was.

Where the fuck am I?

It took me some time until I dared thinking. The fear, the dreadful realization. This isn't my world! My world is far from this one! My world is back there, behind that crumbling portal gate! I'm alone here, I'm lost. What's gonna happen to me?

I tried to rationalize it, to find a reason, to understand it. Each time I woke up sweating, cold, chained to others, unable to escape from this... this nightmare! I took me days until I gave up and lost all hopes for a miracle to happen and all this madness to stop.

I had to open my eyes. I had to face it. I'm here now, in this world, and this is my reality... and I should have read all those fucking warning signs!!

I shake my head. My mind feels numb, the pain fades away. I'm back here, sitting next to her, alive, in this world, trying my best not to go insane, knowing too well that I should. This isn't my reality, this isn't my reality, damn it!

I stare at her, slowly chewing on my roasted drumstick. Did she just say she's not from here, either?..

"I walked through the door myself, when I was little," she confirms, pushing the rest of the food away from her, wiping her face with the back of her hand, stretching her massive body, looking well satisfied and pleased.

I nod. "So, what are you doing here?"

"What else?" She smiles with a vicious grin on her face.

She's scary again.

"I fucking survive!" she continues, pushing her massive chest out for me to stare at, clearly proud of herself.

My head instantly fills up with questions. Is she from Earth too? What's her name? When did she come here? Who is she?!

I look at her and feel a strange mixture of anger and fear. How can she be so chill about this?! We're trapped in this fucking world, forced to live like this, prisoners of these fucking savages! Why aren't we going back? Why is she smiling!? What the hell is going on?!

"Doors close behind, no one's going back."

Her words hit me like a truck, blasting away my already feeble conscience.

"Door close?..." I manage to babble. No! No, it cannot be! Mine didn't close, it crumbled! She's wrong; she must be wrong!

"Yeah, they vanish." She sighs and starts picking her teeth with a sharp piece of skinned-off bone. "Light's gone, it's over."

I feel the blood drain out of me.

My world! My sweet, boring, stupid, shitty, fucking world!

This cannot be true! I want to go back! I don't belong here! Someone! Something! Anything....

I feel like choking; I need some air, my mouth is dry. I need to drink!

"Got here from Tee're, thought twenty ens ago. Was this much," she informs me, pointing at one of the smaller dead animals.

That tall? A teenager? Was she barely fifteen then? And what the hell is "Tee're"? Is that Terra? Is she from back home or not!?

"How?.... from where?"

"It's late now," she stops me and my annoying questions, then looks right into my eyes, almost making me drop my food.

"You're beautiful," she compliments me, and I swear I heard something snap deep inside my brain.

No! No fucking way! This cannot be! I'm not beautiful at all, and I don't even care if she believes it or not! I'm ugly, dirty, stinky! I'm not...

She leans forward, casting a huge shadow over me.

"And you smell good."

My heart stops.

"Smells like the forest of Tee're," she whispers, sniffing my head.

My hair.

My neck.

My lips.

"Tee're?" I ask, not daring to move. Forests? That's nothing like this place. There's nothing but sand and dust here! Is she from Earth?...

"Aleneen el Tee're," she answers quickly, pushing herself into me, her words striking me as alien even for this world.

"Tell me more about it," I insist, desperately hoping to save myself from her burning gaze.

"My home," she softly whispers and looks away for a moment. Her eyes cloud as she tries to remember. It takes her a bit; her mind seems to have a hard time recollecting the past. She's completely silent.

Suddenly she snaps out of it, smiles happily, and grabs herself a drink from the table. Her eyes start glowing again. A thought? A memory?

"Forests, tall trees, five men wide, rivers, beautiful lakes, grass, animals, birds. Birds flying high in the sky, they were big, shadows, we were chasing them, running wild in the grass. It was wonderful there! We had a beautiful valley with many farms and villages, we lived there since ever. The air was always clean and fresh! Flowers everywhere! Trees, flowers, green everything." She pauses, raising her drink, lost in thought.

I guess her memories don't hurt like mine.

"It sounds beautiful," I dare speak, taking a sip from my fermented juice. I want to find out more about her world.

"Ika, my place, not that big. But we got our temple, scrolls of Re'hn chants, glorious songs of the Tearval, the wisdom of the gods. Miners came down from the mountain, brought us metal tools and weapons. The field people were trading their food with us. We had a good life there!" She sighs, drinking away.

Re'hn chants? Songs of the Tearval? I've never heard of such things.

"The earth dragon was our protector," she continues and then stares back at me, smiling. "It could cover the sky with his wings."

Her words make no sense, yet I sense they must be true. I could feel it in her voice. That was her home, with huge trees and temples and dragons, with ancient scrolls, rituals, and gods. I feel lost.

She's not from Earth. My heart sinks again.

She laughs and suddenly shatters her empty pitcher on the floor.

What? This again?

"You! You smell like home!" She looks at me with a large smile. Large enough to see her oversized fangs! Teeth! Beastly, menacing, savage!

I feel the chill again. Adrenaline's kicking.

"But you're not from Tee're, you're too pretty...." she continues staring at me with fire in her wild beast-like desert eyes.

I swallow hard and try to think of something witty to say, but all I can hear is my heartbeat hammering in my ears. I take another large gulp from my drink, hoping that somehow there's enough alcohol in it to knock me out cold. Or at least make it look like it.

"You're beautiful.... and your skin is soft," she whispers, licking her lips, pinning me with her savage eyes. "I bet you taste delicious...," she adds.

I suddenly feel like burning. It's too hot in here! Sweat starts running down my back. I quickly reach for another jug and start gulping down as fast as I can. Courage? Cowardice? I'm not sure yet! I'm just drinking as fast as I can. My mind fogs but refuses to give up. Somehow I'm still sober, and she's still there in front of me with her savage pupils wide open. I don't dare to look back.

So this is how it feels to become the prey? I swallow the sweet liquid, pushing the drink deeper inside as fast as I can. Kick in, damn it, I need you! I feel it, but I'm not there yet. I wonder how much it will...

Too late!

She's fast, so damn fast!

One second she's there, pinning me down with her eyes, and the next, she's gone without a sound just to find myself in her beastly arms, head back and mouth open.

Oh God!

Her tongue is swirling inside, reaching depths I couldn't even believe existed! This isn't a kiss; this is an animal drinking from my skull!

"You taste good," she moans, licking her lips.

I feel her breasts pressing against my chest as she pushes me down under her massive body. I'm being pulled into her, and I do nothing to resist. I should be squashed, dead, breathless under her weight, and yet, somehow, I'm not! I can move, I can breathe, I can push and grab, touch and feel.

Her burning body is grinding against mine as I try to push back with all my strength! My blood boils! There is instinct, and then there is will! I'm not going down without a fight! She gives me room, surprised, and I take it, no, grab it from her! My primal brain takes over.

It's my turn now, damn it!

My hands go crazy, they touch, grab, push, feel, explore! I'm insane! I dare! I want! I fucking need it, and she's not stopping me. Everything's mine to take, everything she has! I won't leave anything untouched! She's mine! Her glorious bare chest, her burning chiseled body, her deep...

My head goes dizzy, and my vision starts to blur. My heart rushes in, my adrenaline jumps for support, my muscles tighten, trying to keep my brain awake for a bit longer.

But the battle is lost. My mind slips away.

I feel numb.

Not now! Not now, damn it! I rage and scream inside myself.

There's so much to touch, to feel, to....

Just then, before I could touch her depths, four large jugs of fermented alien fruit juice kick in all at once! The room spins, and everything goes dark.

God, I hope I wake up... there's a lot more to explore... to feel.. to... live for...

I fade away, a single thought remaining.

One day, I'll fuck you, savage world!

Literarily.