Standing up resolved several problems at once. He still couldn't see the snarling creature, only the trail of flattened grass hurtling toward him like a freight train. His brain told his feet to run. It took a heartbeat or two before his feet picked up the signal. He sprinted to the nearest tree. His heart pounded with the desperate hope that the beast pursuing him couldn’t climb trees. A fleeting thought pierced through the chaos. Can I climb? Be nice if I could fly? He held onto that idea as the adrenaline pumped through him. Can I fly? How would I do that?
Two steps up the trunk and a leap nearly proved his thought true. A quick scramble through leaves and over branches brought him to a safe overhang, he hoped. Taking the opportunity to view the monstrous killer beast, he looked down. A piglet? A cute, pink, and gray piglet like creature slid to a stop under the branch. Its snout shot straight up in the air. The snarling continued, along with a few squeals, accompanied by Keith’s chuckle of relief.
Jeesh, Keith, good thing nobody saw that I’d never…Keith’s thoughts froze, and he looked around. He now took in what had barely registered during his panic. The sandy brown tree bark, the orange tinged leaves, the tall brown-red grass he’d run through, and the pig creature—none of it familiar. Where am…what happened…what’s going on?
Keith felt the fear creep across his body, a cold tingling fear. He remembered crawling under the covers of his bed, kissing his wife goodnight—then waking up in the unfamiliar grass with grunts and snarls chasing him. A powerful gust of wind hit the tree, rocking Keith. His fingers stretched desperately toward the rough bark of the branch, but it slipped through his grasp. Suddenly, he was weightless, plummeting through the air. The world spun around him. His back slammed into the unyielding trunk, knocking the wind out of him. A sharp pain shot through his skull as his head struck the ground. His moans of pain added to the snuffling of the piglet creature.
A cold, wet, pinkish snout pressed at his cheek. Another wave of fear set off a slight tremble in his legs. The creature pressed on Keith’s cheek again and let out a snuffle with a high-pitched sound that didn’t quite make squeal levels. It’s going to eat me, isn’t it? Or is it? Keith opened both eyes just in time to see the small beast cock its head and stare down at him.
“Curious or hungry?” Keith’s voice cracked as he asked.
The creature’s head cocked to the other side. Two short squeals were its reply.
“Okay, this seems to be going better than I feared.”
Keith cautiously sat up, freezing still when the creature jumped and squealed.
It settled down, resting on its haunches, and watched as Keith completed sitting up.
Groaning, Keith rolled his shoulder, pain shooting down his arm as he did. “May have hurt myself. I’m going to go lean,” he pointed to the base of the tree, “over there.”
The piglet grew quiet, staring. It stood back up, then took a few steps backward, it’s hooves scraping up part of the short, orange-yellow mossy grass that grew around the tree.
Quieting his voice, Keith tried to speak as soothingly as possible. The tremble in his voice, only slightly apparent. “Listen, I’m not going to hurt you. I want to lean against the tree and think.” I need to do a lot of thinking and processing and…could I be going crazy? Maybe already there?
The creature stood still. Keith thought it seemed to glow, but decided it had to be the light reflecting off the thing’s skin. It kept a close eye on him as he made his way to the trunk. Sighing as he leaned against it, using it as a backstop.
He rolled his shoulder again and winced. “Ow!”
A snarling grunt filled the air. Looking up at the creature, Keith knew, without doubt, the thing glowed, and now glowed brighter than before.
Working hard to keep his voice calm, Keith spoke to the piglet again. “Sorry, my shoulder hurts. I was shouting at that, not you. Like I said, I am not going to hurt you. At least, not if you don’t hurt me.”
The glowing subsided, and the creature took a tentative step forward. Keith held his breath, ready to climb the tree at a moment’s notice. He let his breath out with a long sigh when the creature sat back down. With a closer look, he noticed a narrow silver-blue fur stripe on either side of its spine. The fur stood out, slightly, from the short, grey fuzz covering the rest of its body. Head of a pig, body of a—dog? Medium-sized dog? He looked closer and noticed a silver-blue furry tail peeking out from under its body. Maybe a large foxish thing with a pig head?
The creature stared back at Keith and continued its low-volume grunting.
“You seem safe enough.” Relaxing a little, Keith recalled what shocked him out of the tree. He raised his hand in front of his face. “Blue skin? I know I didn’t have blue skin. How did I get…I mean, what did this?” He looked over at the piglet. “Any ideas?”
A cocked head and squeal were the creatures’ reply.
“Relax, again, I’m not going to hurt you. I just need to figure out am I dreaming? Going crazy? Or is something else is going on?” Keith’s light blue hand scratched at his beard, his fingers recoiled when they found a clean-shaven chin.
“Beard’s gone?” His hand rubbed across his face, not finding any facial hair. “Okay, blue skin, clean shaven, strange trees, strange grass, and glowing pig-foxes. My dreams don’t get this bizarre, so it’s down to crazy or something else. What do you think?” He looked at the piglet. “Can’t keep talking to you without giving you a name—the fact I’m even thinking that way sides with crazy. Anyway, name…”
The piglet increased the volume of its squealing, as if trying to speak.
“Okay, Squeally it is…maybe not, doesn’t flow. Skwilly? That’s better. Skwilly it is.”
Keith screamed in pain, Skwilly joined in with higher octave squeals and ran to Keith.
Blinding lights exploded in Keith's vision, each flash like a dagger piercing his skull. The agony was so overwhelming he couldn't distinguish whether the lights were tormenting his mind from within or attacking from the outside. All he knew was the excruciating pain searing through him, and that Skwilly was in his lap, squealing in agony, amplifying the chaos and suffering. He petted the piglet, hoping to comfort it. My head is going to burst and I’m going to die petting a pig-fox thing.
The pain subsided. Keith lay his head back against the tree and took in slow, deep breaths. Skwilly rooted around until his chin rested in the crook of Keith’s elbow.
“Hurt. Now better.” A high-pitched voice caused Keith’s eyes to shoot open.
“Who is that?” He called out.
“Me, Skwilly.” The voice came from the piglet in Keith’s lap.
“You’re speaking?”
“I’ve been speaking. I understand you now and you understand me.”
“Crazy, that’s the only option. How?”
Skwilly squirmed around to sit and look at Keith. “Don’t have an answer. First of your speech I understood was the word Skwilly, and I somehow knew that was my name.”
Keith stared, mouth open, for several seconds before speaking, “I don’t understand anything. What just happened?”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
<
Keith froze for a heartbeat, his mind reeling from the abrupt silence left by the voice that had just echoed in his head. Suddenly, he erupted, leaping to his feet with a primal scream that tore from his throat. One hand rubbing the top of his bald head, the other clamped around the squirming Skwilly. The blinding, flashing lights started again a second after Keith stood.
It felt good to scream, Keith decided. He pushed all of his fear, confusion, and frustration into that scream. Somewhere after the thirty-second mark, a thought slithered its way through the screaming—can anything else hear you? Keith shut up immediately, and his head swiveled.
“What are you doing?” Skwilly asked. “And can you put me down?”
“Sorry.” Keith set Skwilly down on the ground. “I’m looking to see if my screaming got the attention of anything we should be worried about.”
“Oh, now I’m not sure I want to be down here. Then again, better to defend if we’re both more in our natural state.” Skwilly commented.
“Hard to argue with that—but then I’ve never argued with a pig-fox.”
Skwilly looked up at Keith. “I’m not a pig-fox…I don’t think.”
“Brings up a whole lot of more questions.” Keith rolled his shoulder, a slight gasp escaped when he found it painless. He looked over at Skwilly, who had stopped next to him and watched in silence. “Since I see nothing heading our way. Let’s get back to those questions. If you’re not a pig-fox, what are you? Did you make the lights flash? Where are we? Did you help in bringing me here? Think that’s enough for starters.”
Skwilly looked back up at Keith, over to some rocks a few yards from the tree. “Maybe we’d be better off where you and I both can see over the grass.” His snout jerked toward the rocks, pointing them out to Keith.
“Agreed. Adding, do you know what a Travellar bond is? To my list of questions.”
Both trotted over to the rocks and climbed up onto a smooth stone at the top, where both could sit and see over the tall brown-red grass.
“While I walked, I thought about your questions. Some are the same as I have, others are not. I can answer some questions, others I can not.” Skwilly shifted for a few seconds. “First, you showed up in the field right in front of me, no warnings. You were just there. You know what happened with the chase and tree climb. I thought you were after me, so I decided to try to chase you before you found me. When you fell, I became curious, so I stayed and watched. Then when you said Skwilly, the lights flashed in my mind and then pain—a lot of pain. Then it went away and I could understand you.”
“Hmm, so you don’t know how I got here. All I know is I went to bed normally and woke up in a strange place with scary noises. You sounded quite scary.”
Skwilly puffed his chest out a little. “Thank you for saying. I’m a young one, just starting out on my own, so being able to sound scary is a desirable thing. Don’t have to use my magic, can save it for later.”
“Magic—another question I need to add to the list. Your magic, the lights?”
“Yes, I can use lights to blind or disorient others. Allows me to get away if needed.”
Keith nodded. I’m going to lose it, just curl up and cry. Questions, keep asking questions. There has to be something I can grab on to. “If magic is a thing here…”
Both Keith and Skwilly spun around when they heard the crack of a breaking twig.
A tall, lithe, dark-haired man in a muted color robe stepped out from behind a rock. “Whoa! Sorry for the surprise. I had to make sure I’d be safe.”
“Not sure that you are yet,” Keith answered.
The stranger’s mouth twitched into a smile.
I’ve seen that smile before, but who and how? Keith cleared his throat. “Who are you?”
The stranger bowed at the waist. His shoulder-length hair swaying as he did. “I am Malcolm Steele. And I hazard a guess you are Kellron Swifthand?”
Keith’s eyes widened. How does he know those names? “I’m afraid you’re mistaken. I’m Keith.”
“C’mon, get into character.” The man drawled.
Keith's brow furrowed. “Keltner, is that you?”
The stranger let his hands fall to his side. “Fine, if you're not playing along, yes, it’s me, Mark Keltner, at your service.”
“This is way overboard for a prank, even for you! Also, I want to know how you pulled it off so I can add it to my—”
Keltner’s hands went up. “Woah again! I’m not behind this any more than you are. Been here a bit myself. This is my fourth day here, to be exact. I’ve not seen or heard anyone other than Sandy.”
“Sandy?” Keith asked.
“The voice in my head that tells me I’m a human Eutythelon and ‘it will explain in more detail soon’, I’m hoping this is the soon.”
“So you’re getting talked to by someone as well?” Keith tried to keep his voice from trembling. Is he real? Am I hallucinating? Real means not crazy. Real, for now.
“Spoken too or shown. Sometimes both simultaneously. I heard your rant. I had the same one when I got here, but I didn’t have a pig looking thing to talk to. Had this taller, athletic body as an improvement, but nothing else.”
"Skwilly meet Mark Keltner, Mark meet Skwilly.” Keith kept his voice monotone.
“Glad to meet you fine pig,” Mark bowed at the waist again. “Anyway, I heard enough of what you were saying to be pretty sure you were you. Blue skin and pointy ears helped too.”
Keith’s hands shot to his ears, feeling the Elven point on each of them. “Didn’t think about the ears. So, have you figured out what is going on? I thought it was insanity until just now. But your attitude seems to be well adjusted.”
“If I’m your gauge for sanity, we’re in trouble. Just a couple of days ago, here in this world, I was a blubbering mess. You have Skwilly and me. I only had the strange voice in my head. Took me most of two days to decide to make the best of this. When I realized it was you, I, unwisely, tried to have some fun.” Mark’s hands swept out from him. “But to answer you, no, I don’t know. It would seem, somehow, we’re a hybrid of some of our RPG characters. I don’t have a clue how or why. Oh, you're probably not Keith as far as whatever is going on. Say or think status, right now, though you’ll only get limited info.”
“Oookaay.” Keith drew out the word, wondering about his sanity again. “Status.”
<
>>
“I can tell by the look on your face, what I said is now confirmed.” Mark smiled as he spoke.
“It is. Makes me wonder more about the how. Why both of us?”
“Dunno, but now, with your help, maybe we can figure it out.” Keltner climbed the rock to sit next to Keith and Skwilly.
Keith stared up at the purple tinted sky. “We can try. Oh, and I got tagged with Valgrin’s name and class, but Kellron’s race. Did you get just Father Steele and that strange class?”
“Hard for me to tell. Except I have these.” Mark pulled out a pair of sai. “So, I think at least I got some of Aychawn, the monk.”
Keith nodded, and they all sat in silence for several minutes. Mark broke the silence.
“Should we get going?”
“Um, going where? You have a map or a plan?” Keith asked.
“Of course not, winging it is the only option we have. I’ve been here long enough to have figured that out. Sandy gave me some direction, told me to wait for a few days. It’s been a few days and you’ve shown up, so I’m saying it’s time to move.”
Keith stretched his arms above his head, “So you waited, and I showed up. At the very least, unless something else happens, we should give it the same amount of time to see if anyone else shows up.”
“Really?” Mark put his hands on his hips and feigned anger. “Really? You’re not here more than an hour and you’re already coming up with better ideas than me. Skwilly, gotta watch this one.” Mark paused for a few seconds. “Can he understand me?”
Keith shrugged. “I’ll ask. Hey Skwilly, can you understand Mark?”
Skwilly raised his head. “I’ve picked out a few things because of my understanding you—but the magic must not do a pure translation because most of it still sounds like noise.”
“Can you understand me when I’m talking to him?”
“Yes, but only getting one side of the conversation is tiring, so I don’t pay much attention until I hear my name. And yes, that’s one thing I understand from both of you.”
“He doesn’t understand you. Can make out his name, but not much else. Need to look for some magic to fix that. Dang, that switch to accept magic came quickly.” Keith stopped for a second. “Anyway, it might come in handy if we could communicate in a way nobody else understands.”
Mark nodded and ran the back of his thumb across his jawline. “Good to see you thinking long term. I seriously have no clue what is going on, so any edge we can think of can’t hurt. But, just to let you know. I can understand you when you're talking to Skwilly.”
“Hmph, good to know, even if it shoots that idea down,” Keith sighed. “And I agree, we have to be on the lookout for any edge we can find.”
“So, I’m bored and bored gets me into trouble or gets me sleepy.” Mark pointed at a small rocky outcropping. “There’s a caveish like shelter over there, been using it for last three nights and nothing has gotten to me. Room for both of us, and Skwilly, if you want to join me.” With that, he put hands on his knees and groaned as he stood.
Keith did the same, letting Mark get a few steps in front of him. I’m sure that’s Mark, aren’t I? He examined the wiry, long-haired person in front of him. Has to be him, I think. A slight movement in the bushes to his right grabbed his attention. Two red eyes stared at him from the shadows.
“Keltner.” He called out as calm as he could.
“What?”
“Keep it down! There is something in the bushes to your right. Just saw a couple of eyes watching me.”
Skwilly snuffled, snout in the air. “Don’t smell nothing.”
“Hmm, I’d say we keep moving and be wary.” Mark stated.
“Been doing that since I got here. Don’t plan on stopping now.” Keith watched the pair of eyes move, then disappear. He stopped to listen. “Don’t hear a rustle, but I think it’s on the move.”
“Great, we should be too.”