The man came to life with a roar, struggling against the four Feelers holding his limbs still. Rudra was used to such reactions by now. Most of the people he’d healed so far reacted that way. Just as familiar with the situation as he, the four Feelers pulled the man off the ground and carried him off to the side. A second group of Feelers took their place an set down another corpse. As he’d done hundreds and hundreds of times already that day, he reached out with that new sense of his and pushed her time back, rewinding the deceased to before her death. This time the patient’s eyes refocused and she froze, glancing about in confusion just before the Feelers lifted her off the floor and moved her out of the way. Whoops. He’d rewound this one a bit too far.

It had become clear rather quickly that Rudra was not actually “healing” people. Every so often he’d “heal” somebody a little too much, and instead of coming back to life fighting, they’d be confused. Apparently, these people didn’t even remember the battle where they’d died. They remembered doing something else before the battle and then suddenly they were back in Pholis with nothing between. That’s when everybody had realized that he wasn’t healing people as much as he was reverting them to a previous point in their lives. It made for an interesting thought, but Rudra didn’t feel like it actually mattered. Somebody had suggested that he try doing the opposite and pushing somebody forward in time, but he refused to even consider it. To rob somebody of their life, even by a few days, counted as violence in his eyes.

The process continued as the day wore on. Thousands of people who’d met their ends suddenly drew breath again, but as night began to fall it became clear that there was still much to be done. Looking about as he stood up for the first time in hours, Rudra realized that even with all that work they hadn’t even finished a third of the dead.

“Uuunnggh,” he moaned as he stretched out his stiff back. “I think that’s all I can do for the day. Anybody know where I can get something to eat? Preferably something spicy. I’ve been craving that for weeks!”

A soft cough came from his side and he turned to find a small woman with silver hair and droopy dog ears standing nearby. “There is plenty of food at your new home,” said Tepin Silverfall.

“How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough,” she replied wearily. She turned to the nearest Feeler, who was having a conversation with two others nearby. “Pardon me, sir.”

The man she spoke to ignored her, instead continuing his coversation with the other Feelers. Tepin coughed, but still the Feelers ignored her.

“Hey!” Rudra barked. Finally, the Feelers paused, turning towards them with scowls of irritation on their faces.

“With your permission, I request that this Shell be dismissed,” Tepin said quickly with a respectful bow. The man let out a harumph and gave a dismissive wave before returning to his conversation.

"Come with me. Once I show you to your house I can go home," Tepin said as she grabbed Rudra’s hand and led him away. Without a word, several guards joined them, taking places in front and behind. Apparently he needed to be guarded around the clock. He wasn’t thrilled by the prospect, but he knew he needed to accept it. His ability was far too important to the Stragmans to allow even the smallest chance that something might happen to him. They walked in silence for a while, riding elevator platforms and crossing rope bridges as they slowly worked their way higher.

“So you’re the leader’s helper, right?” he asked after a while.

“I assist the Chos in her duties,” the small woman curtly replied. “Why do you ask?”

“That makes you pretty important, right? So people should know who you are.”

“As much as they would care about a Shell, yes.”

“Aren’t you upset about how rude that man was to you earlier? You’re the assistant to the Chos and he ignored you like you were nothing.”

Tepin coughed weakly. “He is Fleg, and we are Shell. He is our superior no matter our function. We acted above our station when we interrupted him, and we should consider ourselves lucky he did not deem our actions worthy of discipline.”

“Then why did you even bother him at all?”

“So I could release you from their command, of course.”

Rudra scoffed. “I wasn’t under their command.”

Tepin threw an unimpressed glance his way. “Of course you were. They are Fleg, we are Shell. They command, we obey, until we are dismissed. It is the way of things.”

“How can you put up with a system like that?”

This time he got a withering glare. “Don’t speak as if you understand. Our traditions keep order in this lawless world. They make Stragma strong, and keep us alive inside the forest. Without them there would be only chaos and death. What right have you to judge us? You know nothing.”

Rudra rolled his eyes so hard that they nearly got stuck. What kind of person just laid down in the face of such treatment? “Well you can let other people order you around like a slave all you want, but I’m not going to take that. I don’t care what you or anybody else has to say about it,” he declared.

Tepin let out a derisive snort. “Big words from a coward who couldn’t even fight a Fleg.”

“At least I know how to stand up for myself. You don’t seem to know anything other than lying down and letting everybody else walk all over you.”

The woman whirled around to face him, her hands grasping at a nearby rope railing to steady herself. “I know what I need to know,” she growled. “I know my place. You would do well to learn yours before it is too late.” She let out a heavy cough and swayed unsteadily, leaning against the rope railing to keep herself upright.

“Are you okay?” Rudra asked. He reached out to help her but she smacked his hand aside.

“Don’t touch me,” she said with another disapproving glare. “I don’t need the help of somebody like you.”

After a moment more she continued onward with determined steps, her gaze set forward with determination.

“Hey, look,” Rudra began.

“Enough,” she replied. “I will speak no more of this.”

Rudra could hear the finality in her voice, so he decided to leave her alone and instead enjoy the ambiance of the city at night. Even after the sun sank beneath the horizon, the bustle of the city continued. Burning torches stood in stands or literally stuck out of holes carved into the massive trees Pholis was built upon. Rudra didn’t understand how the city hadn’t burned down yet. Nearly every building was entirely made of wood and other flammable material, while the town itself was built upon giant towers of wood. A thought of what would happen if just one of the trees caught on fire and became a massive infernal column of flame reaching high into the sky flitted through his mind, but he chased it out. He didn’t want to think about just how many people would die in such a disaster. But nobody else seemed even the slightest bit worried about it. Perhaps the trees were too large and vibrant to burn, or perhaps it didn’t matter since somebody could just show up and magic up some water to put it out if need be.

Rudra wondered how the ability to just create something out of nothing changed how societies in this world functioned. Pholis was a perfect example. Sixteen million people, and yet seemingly no river or other abundant water source anywhere to be found. Normally a city of that size in a place without enough water would perish, but here it seemed that certain people could just create all the water the society required and everything was just fine. How did magical talent affect your future? If you could make water, did that just mean you were set for life since you’d have a steady income?

He couldn’t help but notice how different the gender dynamics were in Stragma compared to India. Things seemed much more equal. Perhaps all it took was the fact that a small woman could actually be stronger than a large man or could set him on fire. What other far-reaching effects did these wondrous powers have on the people of this world?

The sounds of the city were quiet now that they’d ascended so high. Rudra took a risk and glanced over the edge. The lights dancing below, so far off that they were little more than tiny specks of light, reminded him of fireflies from back home.

Home. It had been a while since he’d thought about his past life. In fact, he’d spent most of his time here specifically avoiding such thoughts. If he were given the choice to return to his old life, would he even want to? He missed certain things, of course — television, the internet, electricity in general, the food... but when it came to his personal existence, his old world had little to offer him. He’d fallen into a serious rut, and if he hadn’t stumbled into this impossible place he’d probably still be spending every day the same as the day before — waking up, working, getting drunk, sleeping, and generally just living to live and nothing more. This world offered something new, something different to light the fire within him again.

On the other hand, the more time he spent in this place and learned how it worked, the less he liked what he saw. The stratified social structure of Stragma bothered him deeply, though everybody’s tacit acceptance of it bothered him more. It seemed like the Shells felt like their treatment was something they deserved, like a punishment for being weak. The very concept drove him crazy because he’d been like them a long time ago. Then he’d met a girl who’d shown him that there was so much more to strength than just fighting, and everything had changed. Why couldn’t these people see what he saw?

“We have arrived.” Tepin’s soft voice pulled Rudra from his thoughts back to reality. Before him stood a rather large home on a solitary platform by the edge of the city. Off to the side was another platform, or at least what looked to have once been one. Now only several broken beams remained, their remnants burnt and their ends jagged as if torn apart with extreme force.

“You will find everything you need inside.” She turned to the nearest guard. “May I be dismissed from my duties, sir?” The guard nodded and so she slowly walked away, though not without giving Rudra one last disdainful look as she passed.

Rudra walked inside the house to find a nearly-fully furnished home. There were chairs, tables, chests... the only thing he found that seemed off was that instead of a bed with a mattress, he found a thick bedroll lying in a corner. The pantry was chock full of food, and there were even spare outfits in a chest. Whoever had set this up had put in a lot of work. Grabbing some fruits and other things that struck his fancy, Rudra sat down for his first meal as a free man in a long time.

The sound of rustling from under a nearby chair startled him. Looking carefully, he noticed a pair of small, beady eyes staring out from beneath the chair.

“Well, hello, little guy,” he said softly, getting down on his hands and knees to get a better look. Down under the chair sat a long furry wruelit about three quarters of a meter long. The beast eyed Rudra warily as he slowly extended a hand towards it’s head. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you.” He curled all but one of his fingers in, letting the adorable fuzzball sniff carefully at his digit. “My, you’re a real cutie, aren’t you?” he said. “You and I are going to be the best of- AUGH!”

Without warning the beast bit down hard on his finger, its sharp teeth digging deep into his flesh. Rudra yanked his hand back but the wruelit did not let go. “Get off!” he cried, shaking his waving his hand in the air, but the beast held on, the ripples from Rudra’s shaking traveling down its body like they would a slinky. Finally the creature let go with a squeak and scampered back under the chair.

“Stupid asshole,” Rudra muttered, though he wasn’t sure if he was referring to himself or the animal. Wrapping his finger with a piece of cloth found in the clothes chest, he glared at the beast, who glared warily back. “What am I going to call you?” he wondered. An evil grin crept onto his face as the image of the shaking wruelit latched onto his finger played back through his mind. “I know. I’m going to call you ‘Slinky’.” Slinky squeaked, possibly in protest. “Nope! This is your punishment for biting me. You’re just going to have to deal with it.” Slinky squeaked again before retreating out of view. Rudra made a mental note to ask somebody the next morning what wruelits ate, how they pooped, what they liked, and... man, he really hadn't thought any of this pet thing through.

The next few hours went quickly. He ate, relaxed, cleaned himself, and generally just unwound from the stress of the last few weeks. Back in India his single-person apartment had felt like a prison, but his outlook on things had swayed since his arrival. Finally, as the three moons journeyed through the sky above, their light poking through holes in the massive canopy above, Rudra laid down and closed his eyes.

“I guess I was wrong about you after all.”

Rudra’s droopy eyes snapped open in panic and he sat up faster than he’d ever sat up in his entire life. Looking about, he saw still-unfamiliar furniture and Slinky’s tiny head poking out from beneath a chair, but that was it. Had he imagined the voice? The sudden feeling of a cold blade against his throat informed him that no, he had not.

“Nice and quiet now,” murmured Sneak behind him. “No need to let the guards know I’m here.”

The Hidden Fang. Rudra had been so busy with raising the dead and getting his freedom that he’d forgotten all about the elusive group of vigilante killer Shells. The stories Bitol had told him resurfaced in his mind. Tales of brutal assassinations taking place in the middle of the night, of people waking up in the morning to find a family member beheaded, disemboweled, or worse. And now they were here him. He gulped. “What do you want?” he asked.

“The leader just wants to see you, is all. No need to make a fuss.”

“Uhhh... at least let me get dressed first.”

The knife slid away from his neck and Rudra released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Hurry up. We don’t have all night.”

Rudra quickly threw on what he’d been wearing that day. “Okay, I’m ready,” he said as he turned back towards his bedroll, only to find nobody over there.

“Let’s go then. The leader doesn’t like to be kept waiting,” said a voice right behind him.

Rudra nearly jumped out of his pants. “Do you have to keep doing that?” he whined.

“Only as long as you keep making it hilarious,” Sneak replied. He grabbed Rudra, one hand on each shoulder, and pulled him into the nearby darkness. “Here we go. Try not to puke.”

Suddenly Rudra’s stomach lurched as the ground seemed to give way and he fell into darkness. Nothingness overtook him, a void so oppressive that his soul screamed in agony at the unbearable solitude. Then in just moments he was somewhere else, his whole body spasming as he spilled his dinner all over the wooden floor below.

“Why do they always have to puke?” Sneak groaned as he pulled Rudra to his feet. “Come on, get a hold of yourself. We still have plenty more shadowdives left before we get where we’re going.”

“There’s more?” Rudra cried in horror. “Nononono-”

The darkness swallowed him once more.

“The leader will be here in a moment,” Sneak said as he left the small room.

Rudra looked about the room as he tried to recover from his trip to... wherever this was. He was in a room with several small, wide stools and a table, all made from some sort of dark brown wood. There were no windows, and just a single doorway that led to a hallway. The room was bare save for the table and the stools, with the one exception of a pelt hanging on the wall opposite the doorway. Rudra approached it and inspected the mottled gray and gold fur, wondering from what manner of beast it came.

“A wruelit,” said a voice from behind him, scorn dripping from each and every syllable. “A wruelit and a house. You brainless simpleton! She was in the palm of your hand! I’ve never seen her so desperate in all my life! She would have agreed to anything you wanted. Anything. You could have changed society itself, and instead you asked for a pet. You. Make. Me. Sick.”

Confusion washed over him. He knew that voice, but what was it doing here? There was no way... unless the situation was far more complicated than he’d ever thought. He turned around, a smile of false confidence on his face. Standing in the doorway behind him was a small woman, her silver hair shining an orange hue in the torchlight. “Hello, Tepin. I thought you didn’t want to see me anymore.”

“Shut your mouth, you pathetic excuse for a man,” came her scathing reply. A soft glint of reflected firelight made Rudra suddenly aware of the large serrated knife in her left hand. “Sit down,” she commanded, pointing at a nearby stool. “We’re going to have a little talk.”

Rudra did as ordered. His sitting merely served to bring him down to her diminutive height, a fact that would have earned a chuckle if not for the cold fury he saw in the woman’s eyes. “So you’re the leader of the Hidden Fang?” he inquired.

“No, I just got lost and ended up here,” she replied. “Of course I am, you imbecile.”

“What happened to ‘I know my place’ and all that?”

“You think I would say anything else out loud? Surrounded by guards?” She laughed a derisive laugh. “I’m the most wanted person in this entire country, and I have been for over a decade. I didn’t stay free by being stupid. I have to keep up that meek facade at all times. You never know who might be listening.”

“So why risk bringing me here? You have to know I’m being guarded.”

“Know?” She laughed again. “Please. I organized the guard rotations! But enough of that.” The woman’s face lost all signs of joviality and became deathly serious. “Who are you working for?”

“I already told my story. You were there.”

“And I don’t believe it. You appear out of nowhere, just as all my work is about to come to fruition, and put it all in jeopardy? Too convenient. Who sent you?”

“Look, I don’t know what I can say at this point to convince you about any of this, but everything I said back then was true. I’m not working for anybody. I don’t answer to anybody. I have no orders, no instructions, nothing. I’m just a man.”

Tepin’s grip on her knife tightened as she heard his words. “Then why didn’t you save us when you had the chance?” she spat, as she stared him in the eyes. The anger, pain, and betrayal he saw in her gaze sliced deep into his soul.

“Because I’m an idiot. Alright? I’m a complete idiot.” He slumped over as he spoke, his strong, proud body seeming to deflate at the admission. “I got too caught up with my own situation and didn’t think about what was going on around me. You’re right. You’re totally right. I fucked up.” A defeated sigh escaped his lips as he put his head in his hands. “Jaya would never forgive me for what I’ve done,” he mumbled to himself.

Tepin blinked at his confession and didn’t immediately reply. Apparently that had not been what she’d expected him to say. “Alright then,” she said after a moment. “You work for me now.”

“Wait, what?”

“I have pushed myself to the brink of death for fifteen years working to free my people, and I’ll be damned if I am going to let everything I’ve strived for be ruined by some jackass from another world who doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing. You say you don’t answer to anybody? Well, now you do.”

“And if I refuse?” Rudra replied, crossing his arms in defiance.

“Then one day soon you will go to sleep and never wake up,” the small woman replied, taking her knife and driving it into a nearby stool. It quivered as it stood there, its tip lodged into the wood just enough to keep it from falling out. “Do you know how many Shells live in Stragma right now? Over three million. You are not important enough to risk the salvation of three million people. Neither am I.”

Rudra studied Tepin’s face, trying to figure her out. The frail woman looked like a mild breeze would knock her over. He’d even seen her nearly collapse just from walking. Where did she get the strength to carry on day after day? Where did that drive come from?

“I guess I don’t have a choice, do I?” he sighed. “What do you want me to do?”

“For now, continue your agreement, but nothing more. Next time she comes demanding your help, you require things to improve our lives.”

“Next time?”

“Did you think this was a one-time arrangement?” She chuckled. “Oh no, she’ll be back with more demands soon enough. Who wouldn’t be tempted by what you have to offer?”

“What do you want me to say?”

“That depends on what she wants. The bigger the demand, the greater the price. We have to make sure we don’t push her too far or she’ll just snap and lose it. She won’t be as vulnerable as she was last time.” She shot a hot glare at Rudra. “I’ll come up with an ordered list later. For now, a good thing would be a large increase in our wages.”

“You get paid?”

“Of course we get paid. This isn’t Kutrad. The problem is we don’t get paid enough. The roof on my home leaks when it rains. I run this entire country. You think that the Chos could govern sixteen million people without me?” She scoffed. “The entire nation would fall to chaos if I were to disappear, and yet I can’t even afford to fix my roof properly. Start with that.”

“Alright. But I want something from you in return. I want you to stop killing people.”

“Absolutely not. Those people deserve worse than death for what they do. The government has overlooked their crimes for centuries. If they will not protect us, we must protect ourselves.”

“Then I won’t cooperate with you.”

“How are we supposed to fight for our wellbeing if we can’t fight? We have to be strong! Strength is all that matters in this world!”

Rudra stood up slowly, a disappointed frown on his face. “There’s so much more to strength than killing,” he said. “Maybe one day I’ll get you all to understand that. I’ll give what you said some thought. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m tired and I have a lot of work to do tomorrow.” She made no effort to stop him as he strode past her. “Thank you for not using that knife.”

Tepin didn’t say anything more as he walked by her and left the room. Down the hallway, he found Sneak waiting for him.

“You look entirely in one piece,” the man observed when he spotted Rudra, a speck of surprise in his voice. “I’ve never seen the leader so mad before. Thought she was gonna rough you up a bunch at least.”

“We worked something out. Can you take me back please?” he asked with no small amount of dread for what was to come.

Sneak waved him over and grabbed him on the shoulders like before. The horrid falling feeling swept through him again as the world plunged into darkness.

Rudra fell down onto all fours as they emerged into his bedroom many shadowdives later, trying his best to fight back the dry heaves. “How do you stand it?” he asked between pants.

“You get used to it eventually,” the man chuckled. “Have a nice rest, Rudra. I have a feeling that we’ll be seeing each other a lot in the future.” And with that, he was gone.

After taking a few minutes to calm down and undress, Rudra laid down on his bedroll. Try as he might, sleep would not come. There was just too much to think about. He thought about Stragma, Shells, and his place in their society. He thought about Akhustal Palebane and Tepin Silverfall and Caprakan Bloodflower and Sneak, and everything else. But most of all, his mind kept coming back to a sound he’d heard as he’d walked down the hall after his discussion with the leader of the Hidden Fang. It was the sound of Tepin collapsing as soon as she thought he was too far away to hear it.