Side Story 1: Arrival on Terra

[Sarrasak, Chinebar Republic, Tellus, weeks earlier during the struggle versus the Prophet of Terra]

After the portal shattered, Aayla's artifacts began to dim. Daren knew that they were running out of power. His mana would last much longer. However, the spatial plotter was keeping some spell alive. At this rate, both of them would lose their lives when the artifact began to consume their life forces when their mana ran dry.

Flustered, he gripped Aayla's hands tighter. He refused to abandon her. So, Daren instinctively made a fateful choice. A choice that would save their lives with unintended consequences that would ripple farther than anyone could ever predict.

Just before all his mana was consumed, he reached his senses towards the blood-red crystal. In that last second, he connected the New Moon bracelet's mana to the crystal. At that moment, it was like a circuit had been completed. Time seemed to slow and then reverse.

The falling portal shards switched directions and flew upward. They merged back together in seconds. Daren desperately hoped to stay with Aayla and keep her safe. A hidden source of strength that Daren didn't even know that he had filled him with energy. The spatial plotter glowed as its rings slipped into place.

Now open, the portal began to pull in everyone near it. Daren held on to Aayla while the Prophet of Truth grasped for the spatial plotter. The Prophet was too late to change anything. In the blink of an eye, the portal had taken them all and disappeared.

Inside the portal, all that Daren could see was darkness. With Aayla unconscious, he wrapped his arms around her. The air seemed to disappear. He couldn't hear or speak. Daren could barely breathe and the warmth was slowly leaving his body. The only light came from behind them but disappeared as soon as the portal shut.

Daren felt an invisible current pull him and Aayla somewhere. He could feel the energy inside him draining away. After what felt like hours, a light appeared up ahead. Like a mirror, an azure, oval disc shone in front of them. He had never seen such a beautiful blue before.

Before he could react, the pair hit the disc. Daren braced himself for the impact, but it felt like falling through a tarp. Suddenly the air returned. He could the wind whistle as it passed by his ears. A few seconds later he hit the ground.

After rolling for several seconds, Daren realized that he was alive. He anxiously checked Aayla, and she was faintly breathing. Daren laid on the ground for several minutes before he regained his senses. The entire time, he could feel his magic fading, like water draining from a tub.

He couldn't see much. Wherever they were, it was dark. Under the light of a single moon and stars that he had never seen before, he could make out stalks of wheat surrounding them. They seemed to have landed at a farm. The faint outline of the portal was barely visible and tens of feet above them.

A shrill scream interrupted his thoughts. Daren grabbed Aayla and hurriedly moved away. Something hit the ground with a thump where they once were. Whatever it was became silent after that. All his remaining mana vanished within seconds, causing Daren to black out.

When Daren awoke, the sky was still dark. The portal above had long since closed. Daren hissed in pain when he moved. His head had a pounding headache. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't feel any mana inside of or around him.

Aayla was still unconscious, but her breathing was steady. Not knowing what to do, Daren slowly stood up and looked around. Faint lights marked the location of something in the distance. They flashed by quickly along the same path.

Hoping that he could find help, Daren picked up Aayla and shuffled through the field toward the lights. As he got closer, he finally exited the field. A flat road covered with a strange, hard substance lay in front of him. In the faint moonlight, he could see odd stripes painted on the ground.

A pair of lights drew closer. Daren drew back into the fields. A large object sped past him but stayed inside the lines. When another pair of lights grew closer, Daren decided to take a risk and stepped next to the road. He frantically waved his hand, but the lights sped by.

Fortunately, that thing stopped a little way down the road. Bright red eyes glared at him from the darkness. Daren shrank back but still held firmly onto Aayla, ready to run. What looked like the creature's ears opened up. Surprisingly, two people stepped out. One angrily walked towards them while the other smaller figure tentatively followed behind.

"Son, what on God's great Earth are you doing at this unholy hour? You need to step away from the road. A car could hit you!"

Before the angry one could continue, the smaller figure pulled them back.

"Bob! Honey, stop! Something's wrong. Look at their clothes! And the poor boy is shivering. The other one doesn't look well either. We need to take them to a hospital."

After some gentle coaxing, the couple drove Daren and Aayla to the nearest town, where an ambulance took them to the hospital in the nearest big city.

**********

While Daren and Aayla rested in the hospital, Dr. van Brakke woke up in the wheat field. Cold and starving, he was in a dangerous mental state. His mana had disappeared. His pride and joy that he had worked on his whole life had disappeared.

The man wandered around for hours, hoping that he wasn't where he thought he was. Dr. van Brakke finally discovered a farmer's house with a dirty old pickup truck out front and a tractor out in the field. A gravel driveway led right to a paved road. The house was only a couple of miles from a cute, little town.

He was forced to see reality. He was back on Earth.

"NO! NO! NOOO! I'm back on Earth. How?! How could this be… nononono. This is impossible! Impossible. My magic… my power… I was right… I AM RIGHT! GAAHH!"

He practically lost his mind. All of the power and the results of his hard work were back on Tellus. Now, he was just a crazy old man on Terra. Dr. van Brakke ranted and raved, kicking up a huge fuss. He jumped up and down, kicking at the dirt, cursing it for not being the 'right kind'.

One of the household's occupants was home, a kindly grandmother. Worried about the man in distress, she made a quick call to the local sheriff. As Dr. van Brakke got dangerously close to the road, the elderly woman cautiously stepped out of the house to get him out of the road.

"Sir, sir! You're getting dangerously close to the road sir. Please be careful!"

The woman suddenly stopped. A sense of danger suddenly chilled her to the bone. Dr. van Brakke turned to look at her. His wrinkly, skeletal appearance was frightening. Crazy, reddened eyes peeked out from unkempt hair and a frizzy beard. Spit leaked out of his mouth, and his hands were constantly twitching. The clothes on his body were torn, dirty, and strange, like a wizard's robes.

"You… Are you mocking me?!"

"What…? No, no sir! It's just, you're close to the road. That's very dangerous sir."

"Hehe. Hehehe. HAHAHA!"

The woman jumped back.

"Danger? Me? What a bold lie! How could a wizard like me ever be in danger?! You, how dare you mock me! I'M THE BEST WIZARD IN THE WORLD!"

At this point, the woman turned and ran towards her house. She screamed as Dr. van Brakke chased her.

"HELP! HELP!"

"STOP PLAYING INNOCENT YOU CRAZY b@*$ I'LL F@#$*NG K*LL YOU!"

The commotion attracted the attention of farmers working in a nearby field. When they saw Dr. van Brakke grabbing the poor grandmother, they leaped into action. One of them called the police while the others grabbed their tools and raced to help.

By the time the farmers arrived, the poor woman was beaten black and blue. They struggled to pull the crazy old man off of her. When they finally did, Dr. van Brakke turned on them. He bit, scratched, and did whatever he could to land a hit. The lunatic laughed at their terror and fear.

A couple of minutes later, two police cars came screeching down the road. An ambulance was on its way behind them. The officers pulled out their guns and walked towards the fight.

"ALL OF YOU STOP! GET ON THE GROUND! ON THE GROUND! HANDS ON YOUR HEAD! WHERE I CAN SEE THEM!"

Dr. van Brakke paid the officers no attention. He kept attacking the farmers who tried to stop him. The officers frowned. He was too close to the others for guns. Two switched to tasers and moved in closer. The other two secretly moved behind Dr. van Brakke to corner him.

"I SAID ON THE GROUND! NOW! GET YOUR HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!"

One of the farmers got a good hit in, stunning Dr. van Brakke. An officer hurriedly tased him. Dr. van Brakke twitched and staggered. He turned towards the officer who tased him and pounced. The other officer fired her taser.

This one stunned him long enough for the other officers to cuff him. They called on their radio to send another ambulance while watching the old lunatic throw a tantrum in the back of a patrol car. This call was destined to be legendary.