Sela, Nita, and Ari were on their normal patrol to check their forest home and make sure that no beast had somehow passed through the magical barrier that protected them. While the elves checked their animal traps, a large burst of mana sent a pulse through the trees and the three of them turned to look. They saw a bright light cut through the trees and exchanged looks.

“What do you think that was?” Sela asked.

“It was a couple of miles away and yet the light reached us this far away through the trees.” Nita said. “No doubt whatever it was is going to attract attention.”

“That's well within the forest barrier, though.” Ari said. “We just came from there and no one was around.” She glanced at Sela and smiled. “Unless someone couldn't detect them.”

“Bite your tongue!” Sela said and used the flat edge of her sword to smack her sister's backside.

Ari jumped at the tap and laughed. “We need to go back there and check the area again.”

Nita reset the empty trap and the three elves used their forest running skill to quickly traverse through the trees, both on the ground and high in the branches, to get back to the previously cleared area. What they saw when they got there surprised them. A black clothed body lay partially against a tree and a teleport circle was burned into the grass around it with part of it marring the tree.

“Oh, no!” Sela exclaimed and ran over to the body, pushed it aside and rolled it out of the way, then put her hands on the tree. “It's okay, old one. It's only surface damage!” She said and called mana to her hands and invoked the forest's magical healing wards. The trunk of the tree started to glow and the burned marks on the bark filled in and regrew to erase the damage. “There! All better.” She said in relief, then she knelt and looked at the grass.

“Don't waste your mana.” Nita said. “It should fix itself.”

“Hey, it's a man!” Ari said as she checked the body and lifted the mass of long hair out of the way.

“You're kidding!” Nita walked over to her and helped her roll the body onto its back. It was surprisingly heavy. “Hey you're right.” She said. “I thought for sure it was a woman with all that hair.”

“What is this thing?” Ari asked as she touched the weird metal on the man's face. “It looks like it's embedded into his face!”

“That's a shame.” Sela said as she came over to look at him. “Some kind of spell gone wrong, maybe?”

“I don't know.” Nita said and knelt to examine it herself. She pushed the hair out of the way to look at the side of the man's head and caught her breath. “His ears are pointed!”

“What?” Ari leaned over and looked, then sighed in disappointment. “He's not an elf.”

“He has to be a half-breed with an elf parent, or even a quarter-breed if one or both of his grandparents are elves.” Nita said. “His ears would be longer, otherwise.”

“Why are we talking about this?” Sela asked. “He's trespassing on protected elven land.”

“I don't think it was voluntary.” Nita said.

“Intentional or not, he's crossed the magical barrier.” Sela said and drew her sword. “We need to kill him and get it over with.”

“No!” Ari said and stood to block her sister.

“Ari, you know the law as well as I do.”

“The law doesn't cover something like this.” Ari countered. “We've never had anyone teleport through the barrier before.”

“Well, I guess that's true.” Sela said. “Nita, what should we do?”

“We need to consult a higher authority.” Nita said and stood. “We can't leave him here, though.”

“Then we need to bring him with us.” Ari said.

“I'm not helping you carry him.” Sela said.

“You don't have to.” Ari said. “I'll make a stretcher and drag him myself.”

“Your sister rivalry is tiresome sometimes.” Nita sighed. “I'll help.”

“Thank you!” Ari said and hugged her.

“Yeah, yeah.” Nita said and pushed her off. They quickly made a stretcher and managed to roll the unconscious man onto it. Nita noticed the two cylinders hooked to the man's waist and took one to examine it. She was surprised that she couldn't, since that was her skill, then she remembered her teacher telling her that sometimes even experts can't recognize ancient artifacts when they see them. She was unwilling to admit that she couldn't identify them, so she took the other one and tucked both into her pack.

Ari had tied the man securely to the stretcher, so she and Nita picked up the side with his head. With the two of them holding it on the same side, his weight was halved, and since they were only picking up one side, it was almost halved again. Sela led them through the forest, her sword at the ready just in case, while her sister and Nita dragged the stretcher behind them.

*

Inside the large ornate royal chamber, a group of twelve white and golden robed female acolytes chanted. They had been at it for nearly an hour, and several of them were starting to become hoarse from speaking for so long without taking a break. It had taken them days to gather enough mana to complete the circle of summoning, and now they pleaded and prayed to the Goddess Chaiya to send them the help that they and the kingdom desperately needed. Just as one of them choked and coughed as they lost their voice, the circle lit up with a bright light.

“It's working!” Someone off to the side exclaimed. “She's answering us!”

A second later, four people were flung out of the bright light in different directions. A man flew into the spectators on the right side and knocked several of them down, a young woman was thrown down the isle towards the door of the royal chamber, a woman was thrown to the left and into the spectators there and knocked some of them down, and a young man was thrown towards the group of acolytes and knocked most of them over as he landed on them.

The bright light and the glowing circle faded and disappeared. Everyone was shocked at the very unorthodox arrival of their saviours, since they had expected them to appear inside the summoning circle.

“What just happened?” A woman's voice demanded. She wore a bright blue gown with gold filigree and a crown of jewels sat upon her head. She pointed to one of the robed people. “Acolyte! Speak!”

“We've successfully summoned help, Queen Celestina.” The acolyte said, sure of that answer.

“What kind of help hurts my people?” The queen asked.

“It wasn't intentional.” Josh said as the acolytes around him picked him up and helped their fellows. He felt a tingling sensation in his hands and he turned to the ones he had landed on and held his palms out. A green light covered them and after a moment, all of the minor injuries they had were healed. He felt something nudge him towards the right, so he went over to the spectators as Steven stood up.

“Yeah, I could use some...” Steven stopped as the green glow went around him and healed the four people he had landed on. He tried to put his hand into the glow, and it avoided him. “Hey, what are you doing?”

“You don't need it.” Josh said. He felt a tug to the left and quickly ran to the left as Kara stepped out of the crowd. He moved around her and covered seven people with the green glow. Once that was done, he felt another small tug down the aisle and walked over to Jessica as she sat up.

“Ow.” Jessica said and held her wrist.

“It's just a sprain.” Josh said right away and knelt, gently took her hand and held it, then the glow covered her wrist and healed it. “How's that?”

“Th-thank you.” Jessica said, her face slightly red.

Josh stood and helped her stand, then let her hand go and they walked over to where Steven and Kara stood. One of the acolytes stepped towards them and looked at Kara as she spoke.

“We welcome you, the summoned champion and her three companions.” She said. “The Goddess Chaiya has blessed us to send such powerful heroes in our time of need.”

“I'm not the leader of her emissaries.” Kara said, to the acolyte's surprise.

“But... the summoning was a success.” The head acolyte said and looked at Jessica. “One champion and her three companions.”

“It's not me, either.” Jessica said. “It's Mar... ah... Hunter.” She corrected herself. “Hunter is the leader of our party.” She turned towards the people. “HUNTER! Get out here!”

“Stop that.” Kara ordered her. “Ullir isn't anywhere in this room.”

“What?” Jessica looked towards the window along the side of the throne room and saw a sea. “No!” She ran over to the window through the crowd and looked down to see high jagged cliffs. “I can't have lost him again!” She burst out crying and tried to think of something to do. “I'm an archmage on this world! I should know what to do in a situation like this!”

Murmurs and whispers of surprise spread throughout the crowd about her being an archmage.

“There's no need to overreact.” The head acolyte said. “A simple location spell should reveal the whereabouts of this Hunter.”

“You don't believe us.” Kara said to her.

“There's always only been four.” The head acolyte said. “Never more, never less.”

“How many times have people been summoned?” Josh asked, and Jessica came back over to them.

“Your party is the sixth group we've brought here.” The queen said. “You are the first to be summoned from the newest religion to appear in my kingdom.”

“We have been mocked and ridiculed for the entire year we have been practising.” The head acolyte said, and another murmur came from the crowd. “When the last group of summoners failed to make any headway into the evil that has laid siege to the world, we were reluctantly called to the castle to try and get help from our Goddess.”

Kara glanced at the queen, who wouldn't meet her eyes. “I'm surprised you needed to come here for that.” She said and looked around. She could feel a large amount of residual energy in the floor that matched the new bundle of mana energy inside of her. “Wouldn't being inside your own church have given you more power?”

The acolyte's face flushed slightly red. “We... don't have a church.”

“Excuse me?” Kara turned and looked at her. “Did I hear you right?”

“Yes. Like I've told you, we have been ridiculed since we started worshipping the Goddess.” The head acolyte said. “Raising funds or having volunteers to build a church has been a monumental task.” She said. “We've had to gather...” She closed her mouth and stopped talking.

“You were going to say 'at home'.” Kara said, and she nodded.

“We all have to start somewhere.” The head acolyte said. “My sister offered her barn for our use; but, I knew at least a comforting home was more suitable than that.”

“I agree. A barn would have been a useful space; but, a church is supposed to be a place for people to gather and worship in comfort.” Kara said. “Do we need to go to your home to cast the location spell you mentioned?”

“No. All we need is something of his.” The head acolyte said.

“Would some of his dried blood be sufficient?” Kara asked, and the woman stared at her for a moment. When she nodded slightly, Kara took out a small blade and turned her right hand over to show the dried blood stains and went to scrape the blood off.

“No!” The head acolyte exclaimed and grabbed her hand with the knife, then gasped as she felt Kara's mana reserve. She took a breath and let it out. “Don't disturb it.” She said and turned to the group of white and golden robed women. “Evangeline? If you would.”

One of the women stepped forward and put her hands over Kara's palm and chanted some strange language that Kara hadn't heard before. After a few moments, she understood the words.

“Heed the words of the humble and meek. Use this blood to find what we seek.” Evangeline said, over and over, then her hands glowed. Kara felt her hand tingle and the blood glowed as well. A one foot wide almost see-through green bubble formed between them and on it appeared the castle viewed from the top down. Nothing else appeared, then the castle shrunk away and it showed the town nearby and a good portion of the water. Nothing appeared and the woman started to sweat as more mana was required to search farther. The scene shrunk and showed a good portion of the countryside, and Evangeline started to pant from exertion.

Josh saw her struggle and held a hand out to her. She glanced at it, then at him, and nodded. He reached in and touched the back of her hand and mana burst out from both of them. The bubble grew to ten feet across and showed the entire kingdom that was several hundred miles across. The name First Sothen Kingdom appeared to float above it and nothing else, so it shrank and showed the next kingdom that was a third bigger than the one they were in called Second Choutia. Nothing else appeared, so it shrank and the bubble showed the next kingdom called Third Nogam and a huge forest that was nearly the size of the first two kingdoms combined.

“Oh, no.” The head acolyte said and a groan came from the crowd when an area about fifty miles across pulsed with a white glow inside that forest.

“What is it?” Kara asked.

“He's inside the Verboten Forest.” The head acolyte said. “It's protective barrier keeps everything out.”

“How did he get in there, then?” Steven asked.

“We know as much about this as you do.”

Evangeline stopped chanting and the bubble faded away. She turned her hand over and held onto Josh's hand, and he looked at her in surprise. She smiled at him and didn't let go.

“How long will it take to travel there?” Kara asked.

“At least several weeks, even with the fastest horse and carriage.” The head acolyte said. “It's pointless to waste the time going there, since you wouldn't be allowed to enter.”

“I wasn't asking permission.” Kara said and turned to the queen. “Our party is incomplete and we need to retrieve our missing member.”

“I suppose you won't do anything for us until you get him back.” Queen Celestina said with a sigh.

“I have no problem dealing with issues along the way, since it will take us weeks to get to him.” Kara said. “I was tasked by the Goddess Chaiya herself to help, and I will do so.”

Queen Celestina nodded and waved to the side of the room. A man stepped out and bowed to her. “He will take you to the armorer, weapon smiths, and any other specialist you may need to prepare yourselves.” She said. “I will also provide you with a guide and a list of things that can be taken care of while you are on your journey.”

“I can't promise to be as effective without the full party; but, we will do our best.” Kara said.

“Thank you.” Queen Celestina said and stood. “Emissaries of the Goddess Chaiya, I bid you good luck and hope you are successful in finding your lost member.”

Kara gave her head a bow, and the acolytes did the same. Jessica, Josh, and Steven saw everyone do it, so they did it, too. The man walked over to them and ushered them and the acolytes out of the throne room. The chatter from the crowd increased in volume as they left, then the large doors shut behind them and cut off all the sound from inside.

“Wow, we're really in another world.” Steven said. “Did you see the clothes some of those people wore?” He asked and chuckled. “Give me a pair of jeans over burlap any day!”

“Remember what the Goddess said about not having normal things to live with.” Kara reminded him. “By the looks of this place, I doubt that they can make anything close to what any of us are wearing.”

Everyone fell quiet as they thought about that, and the man led them through the castle and out into the large courtyard. Several blacksmiths were there, working the fires and hammering metal.

“Hello, Gavell.” The blacksmith said as the man stopped in front of him.

“The queen requests armor and weapons for these adventurers.” Gavell said.

The blacksmith sighed. “I still haven't finished the broadsword order.”

“Please delay that until these people have been seen to.” Gavell said. “I need to go and find a capable guide for them.”

“Yeah, yeah.” The blacksmith waved him away. “I'll have them sorted out by the time you get back.”

Gavell nodded and quickly walked away.

“He seems to be in a hurry to get away from us.” Steven said.

“Well, we're technically heathens and don't believe what he does.” Evangeline said, and Kara, Josh, Jessica and Steven turned to look at her. “New religion, remember?”

“How's that working out for you?” The blacksmith asked.

“Really well.” Evangeline said with a slightly red face and gave Josh's hand a squeeze.

The blacksmith laughed. “Good for you!” He said and looked at Josh. “You're too scrawny for armor plate, so you must be some kind of magic user.”

“I'm... what was it she said?” Josh squinted his eyes in thought. “Oh, I remember! I'm a Sorcerer Priest of Light.”

All of the acolytes gasped, even Evangeline. She let his hand go and the acolytes gathered into a small group a short distance away and started muttering. They were covered in mana a moment later and the muttering was silenced.

“What's that about?” Steven asked.

“No idea.” Josh said and looked at his hand. He hadn't had a girl voluntarily hold his hand like that before; but, her pulling away was definitely a familiar gesture that he had experienced several times. He was saddened by those thoughts and Steven put a hand on his shoulder while the blacksmith showed Kara some nice armor and Jessica looked at the different staffs he had available.

“Hey, there's lots of women here.” Steven said and leaned in to whisper. “None of them know what it was like for guys back on Earth.”

Josh blinked his eyes and looked at him. “What do you mean?”

“I was a loner and didn't care about the girls back home.” Steven whispered. “They were too immature and really full of themselves.” He smiled. “Here?” He looked around and leaned back in close. “Look at them. All prim and proper. You know they've been raised right, too. I bet almost none of them have had sex yet.”

Josh's mouth fell open at that realization.

“Ah, I think you're getting it now.” Steven smiled. “Look, when that girl comes back over and takes your hand again... believe me, she will... lean in and whisper in her ear.”

“Whisper what?”

“Dude, it doesn't matter.” Steven responded. “Tell her you like her smile or something.”

“I... I can't.” Josh said, his face flushed slightly red.

“Trust me.” Steven said and stepped away when he saw the acolytes break apart. He gave Josh a thumbs up and turned to the blacksmith to give him some privacy. “What can you show me for a Paladin of Light to use?”

The blacksmith's eyes lit up at those words. “This way! This way!” He waved Steven over to the side and practically dragged him over to show off the fanciest set of armor he had while Josh was swarmed by the acolytes. He felt someone take his hand and Evangeline stepped closer to him than the others.

“What's your name?”

“J-J-Josh.” Josh stuttered. She really took my hand like Steven said! He thought in surprise.

“Your full name.” The head acolyte said, as if it was a requirement for something.

“Joshua Hector Harrison.” Josh said.

“Joshua Hector Harrison.” All of the acolytes repeated like a chant. “Blessed be the Goddess.”

“When the Goddess blessed me, she asked if I wanted to change it and I said no.” Josh said, because they all looked at him as if they expected him to say something else.

Evangeline caught her breath. “You kept your given name.”

“Joshua Hector Harrison.” All of the acolytes chanted again. “Blessed be the Goddess.”

“Are you going to do that every time I say something?” Josh asked.

“No.” Evangeline said with a big smile. “Only when it involves words related to the Goddess.”

The smile reminded Josh of what Steven said, and his face flushed red.

“Are you all right?” Evangeline asked with concern in her voice.

Josh heard the concern, then figured he didn't have anything to lose. He leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear. “I really like your smile.”

Evangeline squeezed his hand really hard and he leaned back to see if he had screwed up as badly as he thought. Instead of seeing anger on her face like he had expected, he saw a deep blush and a huge smile.