Ch. 21 Why Me?

As the girls and I drove home I was thinking back to the training that we had done without the team. Training my Light Armor skill was kind of painful if I was being honest with myself...Okay it was really painful. It did give me a bit of perspective though.

Tanks had a lot of punishment laid on them and took it like champs. I knew how much being run through by a Goblin hurt and from what I was told, Orcs were a lot worse. My Light Armor skill would hopefully be able to take some of that sting away if I ever got into a situation where I was physically at risk.

Halfway home Rosa began whining in the back 'I need to go pee' so I chuckled and pulled over a few minutes later to a small side of the road rest stop. The second I parked all three of the girls jumped out and ran into the small forested area nearby. I went into the rest stop and grabbed a pepsi from the vending machine.

I waited almost ten minutes before I felt Bella grow anxious. Following their mental link I asked Bella what was wrong. 'Something is strange in the air'. She showed me what she was seeing and I almost tripped from that mental picture.

It wasn't what she sent me that tripped me up, but the feeling of having a second set of visuals for the first time. I didn't even know that was possible. I definitely had to start working on that, it could be an amazing tool.

From what I saw as I was jogging towards them there was a distortion in the air. It took me another minute before I got to them. There were small what looked like runes that were glowing blue and red in a circle on the ground of the forested area.

The shimmer in the middle of them looked like the shimmer of heat from a desert. I could see through it, but it was distorted. Pulling my phone out I called up Sean from my Guild.

"Hey Odellin, what's going on?" he asked answering after three rings. I described what I was seeing and he instantly put me on speaker. "What you're seeing is a new Rift being formed. Can you describe what the runes look like and their color?"

"Yeah from what I can see the runes are a bluish purple color and possibly Nordic." "How do you know they're Nordic?" he asked. "I used to do research on runes from the older pagan religions."

He responded "Give me a moment, I'm getting one of the Association officers in here." It took almost five minutes before I heard another voice. "Your assistant said one of your members found a new gate being formed?"

"Yeah he's on speaker right now. Odellin, I have Agent Sebastion Reefus here. Tell him what you're seeing."

I explained what I was seeing to him, the runes themselves translating to 'mountain home' and 'strength of stone'.

Sebastion spoke up "I've never heard of those runes being used before when calling in a rift. How far apart are the runes and how intense is the glow?", "Can I take a picture and show you guys?", "Unfortunately that won't work. It would fry your camera and your phone. There is too much ambient mana in the air for you to be able to capture it from as close as you need to be."

"It looks like the runes are about a foot apart and they're glowing pretty bright. Kind of like looking through your rearview at someone shining their brights on you."

His voice became urgent "You need to leave now. It's about to open." I was turning around to run when instantly I felt something reach out and grab me. It wasn't a hand, or any kind of physical thing. I could feel a band of electricity surge into me and lift me up in the air.

I dropped my phone and screamed, hearing fading voices as I felt something touch my mind. It felt like a hand gripping my brain. As it did I could feel and see memories flash through my mind. My dad and I playing StarCraft in our boxers, meeting my wife for the first time, my babies being born, my first encounter with a Mana Stone. All of my life's memories flashing before my eyes before I was dropped to the ground.

Just when I thought I would pass out from the pain, I felt another surge as the portal began opening. It latched onto me and pulled me into the air again before I could feel something flowing into me.

I could see the memories of a small statured man walking through an underground cavern, being greeted by others of his race. The name Dwarf came to me as I watched him talk to his people. His memories flashed before my eyes of him being acknowledged as a full fledged warrior of the HeartStone clan.

The language didn't make sense to me at first until more memories flowed into my mind. It was harsh, but at the same time beautiful. Guttural yet strong as it began to translate in my mind to English.

The power that was holding me dropped me once again. This time I wasn't in pain, just stunned as I laid there. The Rift continued shimmering before me. The mana in the Rift reached out like a tentacle and touched my own aura.

As soon as it did I could feel something within me open up as I was flooded with Mana and a new understanding came over me. I closed my eyes in pain once again as I felt and saw my Mana Channels begin to open up further than they ever had before. The pain felt like when you rubbed your skin raw from scraping it against the ground.

It continued like this for I have no idea how long until finally they were open enough for it to use me as a conduit. I knew it wanted to use me as a conduit because I could feel the intention behind the Rift. Then as it finally solidified I passed out.

I opened my eyes to see that I was no longer in the forested area by the rest stop. My eyes scanned my surroundings and I could see a bluish purple haze around me with what looked like stars all around. I knew where I was, I was in the plane between the different worlds the Rifts used to access different worlds.

The knowledge of where I was didn't scare me, it fascinated me. I could instantly pick out which Rifts led to Earth, which Rifts led to the Dwarven worlds and which Rifts belonged to the Orcs and Goblins.

Just as I was about to reach out to touch one of the stars that led back to Earth I heard a voice behind me. "Welcome Human."

The voice had a power to it that I had never felt before. I turned around and was immediately stunned by the face that was staring at me smiling. It looked exactly like my dad.

"Ah, sorry about that. Seeing your memories I hoped this form would be the easiest to speak to you in. Only one other Sentient being has accessed this plane before and my true form was too much for her mind to comprehend."

I walked closer "Why am I here? What do you want from us?" The first two questions that came to my mind came out before I could stop myself.

"I can't answer your second question, the laws of the Council forbid me from doing so. However your first question is simple. You have been brought to this plane because your world has been brought into the Collective of Worlds."

"Collective of Worlds?" I asked. He smiled "Yes, the council made the decision two years ago in your Earth equivalent of time to bring your people into the Collective." my mind was reeling "Why was this decision made?"

"This I cannot answer as per the laws of the Council. However I can say this. Your task is to bring knowledge that your race is not alone in it's fight. You know of one race that is fighting against them, the Dwarves as you call them. There are two others. The Elvarin, or as your race calls them Elves, and the Aevarii."

The knowledge of both races and an understanding of who and what they were came to me just as the knowledge of the Dwarves did. This time without the pain.

"You are the only one of your species that will be able to open Rifts to the worlds of the other races, those of your enemies and those of your allies. It is a gift we give only to one being of each race at a time. If you die, another will be chosen."

I just stood there listening. I was more or less in shock as this information was given to me. As my wits came back to me I asked again "Why me?"

He grinned "Because of your heart, as you humans like to say. You were brought to our attention when your Animal Companion Bella died. You followed her to the interim between life and death. Sacrificing a part of yourself to bring her back.

When we saw that, we looked through your memories and saw that you are a good man. You took on Bella and her sisters after your accident with their mother." I blushed when he said this and he chuckled "We don't hold that against you. I laughed when I saw that to be honest.

However, you brought them into your life and made them part of your family, animals that most of your species would consider 'Trash Pandas' and annoying creatures. You have a good heart and your morality is on par for what we are looking for when we choose a Herald."

I chuckled and shook my head, 'Bella will never let me live this down'. The man with my fathers face laughed at that "No I don't think she will, but it is for those reasons among others we have chosen you." He said as he walked closer to me.

"So what now?" I asked, he grinned and held out his hand, pointing to a star "That is the Rift you saw opening into your world. Return to it and bring with you the knowledge of what you have learned here. Meet with those in charge and show them the way." he began to fade away.

"Wait, show them what way?" I asked and I heard his voice as his image dissolved "The way of the other races, the way to bring the fight to those who try and take from you and yours. You will know what to do Odellin, I can see into who you are." then his voice faded as well.

I sighed and turned towards the star he pointed at and reached out my hand. I felt my Mana reach out and grab the star, pulling me to it like a fish being reeled in.

I woke up to a splitting headache, laying on the ground as voices that sounded like an avalanche of rocks came to my ears. I could understand them even though it wasn't in English.

I spoke up "Quiet down, my head is splitting." every voice cut off as I opened my eyes and saw the stunned look of ten different dwarven faces staring back at me.

One of them stepped forward and spoke up, thankfully in a quieter tone "You can understand us?" I nodded and spoke back in their language, which definitely hurt my throat and made my jaw feel like it would break "Yes I can understand you. I think I'm the only Human to be able to for the moment."

The Dwarf nodded and held his hand out to me. I reached for it and he grabbed my arm, pulling me up. I took in all of them in with a moment of scanning. Seven of them were the stout and short men that you would see when dwarves are portrayed in our movies and literature, each of them with beards braided with iron rings and bones and teeth mixed in.

The other three in the back however took my breath away. They were some of the most beautiful women I had ever seen in my life. Don't get me wrong, I love my wife Lynette and she is the most beautiful woman I've ever met, but these dwarven women were breathtaking. Their features were soft, yet held a strength unmatched by anything I had ever seen.

The Dwarven man grinned as he saw where my eyes were pointed "They be beauties alright. Just don't make the mistake of getting on their bad side. They be vicious when they get mad." I nodded and chuckled "I know, I think I saw the memories of a man named Gortim HeartStone."