1

January 28th, 2073

Harper released Kylah’s hand and jumped through the portal, leaving the safety of the portal room behind her. Her body clenched as the icy water on the other side embraced her skin like a death shroud. For a brief instant, the veteran mage lay suspended between the relative warmth of the portal room and the frigid lake. Then Harper slipped through completely and swam ahead through the churning water, away from the portal.

She saw the other teammates above her. Some were swimming to the surface. Others were struggling to gain control in the turbulent crosscurrents. Harper had been expecting at least thirty feet of water, but this depth was more like fifty. She turned to face the portal. Just then Kylah emerged from its shining green light. The young girl looked around desperately in the dark blue water.

Kylah, can you hear me? Harper telepathed, waving an arm to get her attention.

The fourteen-year-old peered up at her. Yes… I’m scared!

Harper swam to Kylah and grabbed her hand. Hold on tight. She kicked her feet and the two mages rose through the murky water. Harper could see beams of sunlight piercing through the surface.

A strong current swept through them, tipping their bodies into a horizontal, down-facing position. Harper caught a glimpse of the portal glowing green at the bottom of the lake. Then she saw the black quantum glitches swirling in the water like passive devourers. Their qubits shone like stars beaming up through the murky depths.

Harper pointed at the black splotches. Kylah, if you see those things, let me know. We must avoid them!

The younger mage nodded as small bubbles of air escaped through her pursed lips. Terrified, she pulled Harper’s hand upward. Briefly, Harper wondered again how Cloud Nine could have forced Kylah into the realms. But she knew the answer.

Harper kicked for the surface as she sent a telepathic message to the entire team. Everyone! Keep away from those black glitches! They’re dangerous! She could see the team members above her, swaying with the rough currents. They had unequipped most of their metal armor and boots, knowing they were going to have to swim through the bottom of the lake. Salmon weaved indifferently between their bodies, navigating the waters with ease. Damon, the veteran orc, had reached the surface, while others were close. Harper could see more glitches swirling above them. One was dangerously close to Armando, a new recruit.

Did he not hear my telepathy? she wondered. Just then, the orc paddled away from the black glitch.

Suddenly, Kylah let go of her hand.

Harper turned and saw that the young girl was panicking. Large bubbles of oxygen burst from her mouth as she attempted to say something. The sound came out warbled and was lost in the muted cacophony of the roiling water. Kylah was pointing toward the center of the lake.

2

Harper turned and saw a dark shape surging toward them. It was fifty feet away, but closing fast. Help! she telepathed to the group. I’m with Kylah and we’re about to be attacked!

The creature was twenty-five feet away now. It looked like a seal or a walrus, but it had the soulless black eyes of a shark.

Harper turned to check on Kylah and panicked when she saw the young mage gulping water. Readying her Boulder spell, she bellowed at the group, Someone get Kylah to the surface!

Armando shot downward through the murky water. The orc grabbed Kylah’s hand and started pulling her toward the surface.

Harper turned back to the onrushing monster. Her Creature Description details appeared.

BUNYIP (Level 16)

HP: 210

MP: 111

STRENGTH: 25

CONSTITUTION: 21

DEXTERITY: 53

INTELLIGENCE: 11

WISDOM: 13

XP: 112

DESCRIPTION: Dingo-croc-rus from down under.

Harper fired the Boulder, but the water slowed the stone ball’s velocity, and the bunyip easily averted the projectile. The monster propelled forward and opened its mouth. She saw four long tusks and rows of molar-type teeth. The tusks locked around her hand, but she was able to slide it free just as the bunyip’s jaws closed. The creature bumped Harper as it swam by. Its fine layer of hair brushed against her skin.

As it quickly turned to face her again, arrows sailed through the water from above. They pierced the monster’s body, and it howled surprisingly loud. The warbled sound resonated through the water as crimson ribbons of blood spiraled up toward the surface. Harper looked up and saw Angie descending with her bow in hand.

The bunyip charged at the veteran mage again. No longer able to hold her breath, she started choking down the salty water at the worst possible time. Desperately, she fired Mana Flash at the mob, but the spell fizzled in the water.

As the bunyip swam toward her, Angie sliced its body with the tip of her scimitar sword, but the wound was shallow. The strange creature howled again and kept charging at Harper. The monster chomped down onto her ankle and its flat teeth tore through her flesh. Harper screamed, and more lake water rushed down her throat.

The monster, still clamped onto her ankle, started dragging her toward the bottom of the lake. Harper’s lungs were screaming for air now as she struggled to break free.

From above, Angie surged past Harper with a Boulder clamped between her legs, using the spell to accelerate her diving speed. The team’s veteran hunter drove her sword through the monster’s body. The bunyip went limp and released Harper’s ankle. Just then, Harper felt huge orc arms slid under her armpits and she was hauled to the surface.

3

Harper and Damon broke through the surface, gasping for air. The team general held her above the waves as she coughed out water and stomach bile. Around her, Harper could hear the waves crashing, her teammates struggling and coughing. But over all of that sound, the eerie howling she had heard underwater was louder now. It echoed and reverberated off the reflective realm border to the south and, further away, the eastern and western boundaries.

She wiped her wet brown hair away, looked around, and saw Armando with Kylah. They were breathing comfortably, having been at the surface for a few minutes now. He pointed to the northern shore. “Whatever attacked you,” the orc said, “there’s more coming.”

Still gulping air, Harper turned and saw more bunyips swimming toward them, alerted by the call of the first one. They howled in unison as they advanced from about thirty yards away. She paddled to Armando and Kylah, checking on the young girl. She was pale and shivering from the cold water.

“Armando, who else is still under?” Harper asked as she scanned the surface. She saw Emma helping to keep Thao, another new recruit, afloat.

“I think it’s just Zack and Angie,” he replied.

Harper grunted and telepathed to the entire group, Is anyone in trouble? Who’s still underwater? No one replied. A second later, both Zack and Angie bobbed to the surface, gasping for air. Harper swam back to Damon. “Until Zack and Angie catch their breath,” she huffed, “we’re going to have to lead the group against these monsters.”

Damon nodded as he equipped his steel flail. “This’ll make quick work of those dog-walruses.”

Harper readied Fire Scorch, knowing she could blast multiple creatures with that spell. She counted nine bunyips, and they were all within ten feet now. She launched the spell. The stream of fire rocketed through the air toward the bunyips, but just as the flames reached them, the creatures dove below the surface.

A moment later, Emma and Thao were pulled underwater.

4

Damon took a deep breath, then dove below the surface. He switched from the flail to his skelchion sword and slashed at the bunyips that were attacking Emma and Thao. More blood clouded the water, and the mobs released the two Grimalkin members. Emma pulled Thao, who couldn’t swim, back to the top.

Damon broke through the surface just as two of the team’s healers, Rachel and Zahra, were attacked by the submerged bunyips. They cried out fearfully, but wiggled out of the monster’s tusks. Frustrated, the orc general slammed his fist down onto the thrashing waves. “They’re like sharks!” he shouted. “We can’t see them. How are we going to attack or defend?”

“Maybe if—“ Harper’s words were cut short as teeth closed on her bleeding ankle, dragging her under again. As the lake water cascaded over her head, she looked down at her attacker. The bunyip’s dead black eyes gleamed up at her as it continued to pull her deeper. Then the creature opened its jaws and soared upward, swallowing more of her leg. As her foot slid into the writhing flesh of the monster’s throat, its teeth crunched through the skin of her calf.

Harper screamed, and her mouth immediately filled with salty water. As it hauled her to the bottom of the lake, she saw Damon swimming after her. On the surface, another bunyip pulled Kylah under. Armando dove in after her.

We’re getting creamed, Harper thought. There must be another way to attack these mobs. She equipped her crescent knife and slashed viscously at the monster still clutched to her leg. The water became opaque with blood and, through it, one of the bunyip’s severed black eyeballs rose toward her.

Ugh!

Harper kicked away from the dead bunyip and swam to the top. The surface noise enveloped her ears again. The scene was chaotic. Everyone was thrashing in the water, trying to stay afloat and avoid the attacks. Harper turned to Zack, who was floating nearby. “Hoist me up.”

The orc looked at her, confused.

“Piggyback, Zack. Piggyback!”

Realization dawned on his face, and he dipped below the waves. A moment later, his shoulders bumped against her thighs, and her entire body rose high above the water. From her new vantage point, she saw the dark masses of the bunyips circling the team. They were especially focused on Kylah, who was back to the surface with Armando.

Perfect. Now I can see them, Harper thought. She examined her spells, then tried Battering Ram and Fire Bullet, but the spells were ineffective against the water. Harper looked around at the team members and saw Emma with Thao. The hunters, she thought. It has to be the hunters.

Harper dove off of Zack and swam toward the two Grimalkin hunters. “Emma, I’ll keep Thao afloat. Get on Zack’s shoulders and show us your archery skills.”

The veteran hunter passed a quick look to Thao, then rushed to Zack.

5

Once Zack got Emma above the fray, she targeted the bunyip closest to Kylah, firing a steel arrow that torpedoed through the water and punctured the monster’s head. Meanwhile, the other creatures remained close to the surface, not reacting to her attack. Emma nailed a few more bunyips, then realized that she didn’t want to waste the opportunity for the newbies to gain experience points. “Get Thao on your shoulders,” she called to Damon. “I think she should get a few of these.”

Damon grinned and dipped below the waves. A moment later, he shot through the surface with Thao’s legs wrapped around his neck. The startled Grimalkin rookie yelped as she leaned over and clutched onto the orc’s body.

“There are two left,” Emma shouted. “Equip your bow and start shooting.”

Thao looked apprehensive and took a few seconds as she became familiar with the system interface.

“Eh, mate!” Silo, one of the new orc recruits, barked at Emma. “We’re wastin’ time, and these things are still attackin’!”

Emma glowered at the British team member.

“I got it!” Thao announced as she equipped her bow. The slight Grimalkin member aimed and fired. Her wooden arrow slowed as it plunged through the water, but the weapon still skewered the closest bunyip, killing it instantly.

Emma laughed. “Just like shooting fish in a barrel, right, Thao?”

The Vietnamese recruit smiled and launched her second arrow, which killed the last bunyip.

Zack gently lowered Emma back into the water. “Nice delegating, little lady.” She smiled, then paddled over to Silo and gave the petulant orc a once-over. He glared back at her arrogantly. She considered calling him out but decided that he wasn’t worth the time.

As the bunyip’s dead carcasses floated on the choppy surface, the twenty teammates drifted into a tight circle and assessed everyone’s injuries. Emma, Thao, Rachel, and Zahra had minor cuts. Harper was bleeding substantially from her calf and ankle, but she refused to cast healing spells until she was out of the water. She also had a massive headache, a remnant of the concussion she’d suffered in the final battle against Kali the day before.

As Harper grabbed hold of Kylah again, the team swam toward the shore. On the way, the veterans realized the extent of the flooding as they traversed through the rough waves. They knew that the water was coming from a ripped glitch in the northern border, but the sheer size of the lake suggested the rip had grown.

“Everyone keep an eye out for those black glitches,” Harper warned.

They swam above the green field they had walked on just nine days before. As the land rose and the water’s depth decreased, the Inmates crossed over what had once been the swamp. Like an eye in the sky, they saw the mound-shaped bodies of the silicates lurking near the bottom. Their tentacles waggled lazily in their new environment.

When the teammates got close to the shore, the water became choppier, spraying white foam against the grassy clearing. They could hear the ptero birds squawking from within the forest far ahead. As they paddled toward safety, Harper stayed with Kylah the whole time and they crossed onto dry land together.

6

The teammates re-equipped their armor and spent fifteen minutes sitting on the grass, trying to regain their energy. Harper informed the rookies that their healing spells would refresh their weary bodies, so each member occupied their time casting Basic Heal on themselves.

Harper, of course, needed the spells more than anyone else. The bunyip’s flat teeth had torn deep gashes into her leg. As she inspected her wounds, she discovered a tooth fragment embedded into the flesh of her left calf. “Damn, I’m glad I didn’t try healing this in the water,” she said as she pulled the tooth out with a painful grimace. Her headache was pounding now, but it seemed the spells weren’t going to help her headache. Even her more advanced Mana Heal spell had no effect.

“You should keep that tooth as a souvenir, Hasta,” Silo suggested quite amicably, referencing her former online avatar name.

Harper glared at him. “Don’t you ever call me that again,” she said as she chucked the tooth into the lake. She lay on her back and thought of the last person to call her that name. She missed him. Had everything gone according to plan, she and Miguel would be starting their life together now. Instead, she was leading a bunch of newbies through the realms again. Miguel was gone forever. It had been six days since his death, but it felt like a million years ago.

7

“It was a mistake to go through the first portal,” Sierra Garcia, the Grimalkin mage, told the group bluntly as they rested. “We should’ve taken the second one that leads to the tower.”

Damon and Harper glanced at the brash newcomer, then at each other, knowing she was questioning their leadership of the team. While Harper grew angry, the orc general sighed. “Yeah, you may be right,” he said as he looked out at the waves crashing against the eastern and western borders. “The current was very strong, and we didn’t anticipate monsters from the water realm getting through the northern glitch.”

Angie stood and walked to the edge of the forest. “Well, what’s done is done. No one got hurt too badly, aside from Harper, and she’s already healed up. The reason we took the first portal remains the same. You’ll have the opportunity to level up against some weaker earth creatures as we make it through these woods.”

Behind her, Sierra scoffed.

Angie ignored her reaction and stared out through the forest, watching the sun begin its descent in the sky. The sunlight left dappled yellow speckles on her skin. She turned back to the group. “Before we move on, we should transfer our spells and abilities.” She gazed at Harper, who was still suffering from her migraine. The team’s veteran mage didn’t look enthused about doing it. “It’s alright. Damon and I can pass out the gems.”

Harper was relieved and summoned the three sparkling stones from her virtual inventory. Damon took two gems and started on the far-left side of the clearing with the Alabama orcs. “These will give you the ability to view hit point and mana point totals,” he told Madison as he handed him the gems. When the abilities transferred, the orc general moved onto Jackson.

Harper raised her hand from the middle of the group. “Now, these abilities apply to enemies and allies, so you should see your teammates stats right—”

“Whoa, yeah!” Jackson interrupted excitedly and leaned over to his buddy from Montgomery. “Aah can see all of Madison’s points! It looks like one of those blood pressure do-hickeys!” he cackled.

Harper smiled and stood up. Her headache was finally dissipating.

A voice grumbled from behind her. “We could’ve used these against those seal creatures.”

Harper recognized the voice already. It was Sierra, questioning their decisions again. She glanced at Damon, who was looking pissed.

Angie stepped up before either of them could respond. “You’re Sierra, right?” The new recruit nodded. “Well, Sierra, not everything is so black and white. Let’s consider what you said earlier. You wanted us to take the other portal that leads to the tower, right?”

Sierra nodded.

“Well, those black glitches that you saw in the water… they were infesting the tower when we left it yesterday, and who knows how much of that place has been corrupted since then. How would you have liked walking straight into one of those glitches?”

The Grimalkin mage stared back defiantly, saying nothing. Many of the recruits turned and watched with interest.

Although she wanted to smack Sierra, Angie just smiled and addressed all the rookies. “This gem will transfer all our hard-earned spells over to you.” She held out the green stone she’d just received from Harper. “But you’ll acquire only the spells that correspond with your class selections. The mages will have the most spells. The orcs will have the least.”

On intuition and as a way of testing how much control she had over the group, she asked the recruits to stand for the spell transfer. Without exception, they all did. Angie already had many first impressions of the new members. She thought Kylah was tragic and sweet. Her father, Nevan, even more so. She liked three of the four new orcs. But Sierra hadn’t made an impression upon her yet. Then she challenged the two leaders of the team, one of whom was Angie’s future husband. So, when Angie got to Sierra, she made the Grimalkin mage reach for the stone. As the spells transferred, Angie smiled at Sierra, but her eyes stayed locked on the rookie’s brown eyes, piercing through them, and warning her to watch her step.