I gained consciousness to hear chanting slowly turn to labored breathing. I tried opening my eyes, but they were heavy, as if I were still in deep sleep. After a minute, I felt the heaviness being lifted. The first thing I saw was someone’s foot wearing a pink and black striped sock. I sat up with this pressure in my chest and heaviness in my head. I twisted my body to see the face of the person laying inches from me. Almost as if they were glowing, there were these emerald eyes, as beautiful as the Emerald Pools of Zion.

“Bona?” I used to have long conversations over the phone with that voice.

I close my eyes, bowed my head, and took a deep breath before looking back at her with a forced smile, next to her laid someone else. Her brunette straight hair down to the middle of her back was all I could see. She was in a black onesie pajama with printed stars. I didn’t even have to ask who it could be; I was officially screwed over by whatever hand of fate willed this moment, my smile was gone, and I shook my head in distaste. Maggie sat up looking to her side, curious as to what I was looking at, she was wearing the sweater I bought her those many years ago and black pajama pants. Maggie looked back at me and her little sister a few times before trying to wake her up.

“Hey, Illy? Wakey wakey.” She was shaking her on the shoulder gently, Iliana did not wake.

“Hello, Warriors, I am Reverend Mirth, wel…”

“SHUT IT!” I yelled at the voice that sounded anxious but somehow confident, without taking my eyes off the two girls in front of me.

“Maggie, you all right?”

“Y-eah, I think so, Illy is sound asleep though, do you know where we are? And who was that?” She had stopped trying to wake Iliana up when the man spoke and was now looking into the dimly lit room. I stood up and decided to take in my surroundings as well.

We were inside of a small room, the three of us were on a stone platform which rested atop a wooden stage. There was a glowing circle still etched into the stone, and we were surrounded by men in green and purple robes. Candles lined the walls of the room, there were about 6 robed figures. One was looking right at me, the others had their heads bowed and hands clasped, kneeling, and breathing heavily. I assumed the man standing and looking at me was the reverend that introduced himself.

“Reverend Mirk, was it? I need you to allow us to recuperate. Afterwards, I will deal with you.”

“I know what we…”

I put a hand up and glared at him. “I said later.”

Maggie, who had just been looking at the shadowy figure, turned back to her sister and poked her face chiding her.

“Illy, hey, what’s wrong?”

“Alright, Maggie, move aside, I’m gonna try to wake her.” Maggie looked at me then stood up, motioning me to give it a try.

“Perhaps I can explain, this was mentioned by our God that one may…”

“Reverend Mirk, speak again and I will personally…”

“Bona, enough! Why are you acting so belligerent? He’s trying to help, for goodness sakes. Reverend Mirth, please go on.”

“Maggie, he was involved in this ‘summoning,’ because of him, your away from your family, from your friends, from your church. This world doesn’t deserve our kindness.”

“Bona, please calm down. Right now, we have one lifeline, him.” Maggie pointed at Reverend Mirth. “Do you think threatening him is going to tell us anything? Mr. Mirth, please, why won’t my sister wake up?”

“Umm…, yes, I, umm.”

I walked up to him and pulled him onto the platform. Right now, I was angry, I was stuck with two girls who broke my heart, and with a guy who thinks himself a worthy mouthpiece of his God. I wanted Iliana to wake up, to get this over with. Most importantly, I hated that Maggie was right, and I had no refutable evidence to continue being the aggressor.

“Okay Mirk, try to wake her with your all-knowing prophecy.” I was acting like a child, I knew it, and I think Maggie knew it. The Reverend was looking at Iliana before turning to me to speak.

“Truly, I apologize for the circumstance we forced onto you. Warrior Iliana will wake soon, possibly any second, the summoning spell for her was harder on her because the spell needed someone to…”

In short, the summoning spell was an experiment. In the toil that has been happening in the kingdom, the God of this world gave the church a prophecy, and in it was this summoning spell. In the church’s studies, they were only able to summon up to three warriors and learned that anymore would cause their world to crumple into itself through the sheer power it required. Also, one member of the three summoned was chosen to cast the spell from our world.

The Reverend couldn’t explain why there needed to be two spells cast simultaneously, but he assumed that the spell caster from our world would choose their companions and connect the two worlds. Thus, because of that, they would be exhausted for a little longer than those summoned along with them. In this case, Iliana was chosen, and some unexplained reason, I was dragged here, along with Maggie. I wanted to ask, if what the reverend says is true, why did she choose me to bring with her? But priority has it that I was more worried for the state of mind the two girls would be in, I didn’t want to question Iliana when their world has been swept away from under their feet.

“Where, where am I? Dad, mom, Agie, Becca, Mark?” Iliana sat up and looked around, her eyes landed on Maggie who was rushing towards her.

“Shhh, it’s all right Illy, I’m here.” Maggie hugged her sister, then helped her stand. Iliana’s eyes were wet, making the blue of her iris brighter. And those sapphire eyes landed on my dark brown abysses, after looking around.

“Bona, who is that? Who, who are they? Where…”

“Stop with the questions, Iliana. Reverend Mirk, we’ve recuperated for the most part, explain this ‘toil of the kingdom’ thing to us. More importantly, explain to me how I can get these two back home.”

“Yes, Warrior Bona, we can do so, just follow me to the dining hall. Once you’ve eaten, I can explain.”

I grabbed him by the collar of his robe and stared him in the eyes. At this point, I was informed that because the kingdom was having trouble, the being calling himself God decided to involve two girls, and a random guy in a war. Three, aforementioned, never having been in a war, or in a world where fighting was mandatory. And this priest nonchalantly says he’ll give a summary of what we are now involved in once we leisurely fill our bellies. What these two innocent girls must do from now on in this new world.

“Mirk, I am through pretending what has happened isn’t a problem anymore, not that I did a good job at it. But I will break every bone between the six of you here until you tell me how I get these two back home.” I started clenching my teeth out of anger. The reverend looked down and took a deep breath.

“I was against it. But still, I gave the order, do not harm the others! If my words seem unreasonable, or uncaring, harm me only.” The reverend said. I understood, because of his shaken welcoming, I knew he didn’t truly want to summon warriors from another world. Something inside of him reminded me of my pastor, how he cared for his members. I released the reverend and looked at the others, they seem exhausted, a few were meditating, while others were on all fours struggling to breath.

“Bona, what happened to you? Your…, you’re acting like a… I don’t know. You’re not your usual self.” Iliana was holding onto Maggie’s left arm; we were still standing on the platform with the Reverend. Maggie looked at me with contentment on her dimly lit face.

“Mirk, dining hall, lets go. Where’s the door?” It didn’t matter at this point that I was angry, rationally to keep things moving I asked for the exit. I didn’t care if the six robed men were all squirming on the floor with broken bones, I just wanted to vent. Maybe I would’ve spared one, though to him it might’ve seemed as if I denied him his request and did the opposite.

Reverend Mirth pointed in the direction of the door; I could see the candle light reflected off the golden doorknob. I looked at Iliana, when our eyes met, she looked away, honestly, if we were in our world, I’d be a stranger she’d never speak to. What does it matter if she won’t speak to me in this world? Still, I cared about her, about the happiness she reminded me of, I asked her…

“I’m a little late, but, Iliana, you okay?” She didn’t answer, just nodded.

“Alright, lets go.” I headed for the door, still thinking about our situation. I grabbed the circular knob and it formed into my hands.

“Mirk, are doorknobs here made out of soft clay?”

When he came to inspect what I was talking about he looked in shock at the door. Then bowed his head and said what I assume was a prayer before answering.

“Warrior Bona, you have used the Mana in the air to manipulate your body. What you did there is a testament to the power God has given you. I only pray you lend this kingdom your strength, but if you refuse, I will plead with the king for you and your comrade’s safety from this war.”

“Yeah, glad to hear it.” Maggie and Iliana walked over wondering what the fuss was about. When they saw the deformed doorknob, they looked at the reverend and apologized.

“You two are too calm right now. Why are you apologizing to your kidnappers?”

“Bona, you realized you really could’ve killed these men. I understand, our situation is horrible. But it doesn’t mean we need to take it out on everyone here.” Maggie said making a motion to the men resting and meditating on the floor around the stone platform. I ignored her and made for the exit. The very men she deemed innocent were the cause for this whole situation, but I was trying to get things moving.

I attempted to open the door again by forming my hand to the knob calmly and turning. Thankfully, it opened into a lighted hall lined with large windows and a marble tiled floor. The Reverend led us down the hall towards a t-intersection. The light outside looked dim, probably late evening. We took a right and continued till we were at a double door with a sign above it to our left. The sign itself was written in nothing more than shapes, but I knew what it spelled, “Dining Hall”. Then it hit me that this whole time, we were speaking whatever language existed in this world.

The reverend opened the doors, inside were three long stone tables sitting on wooden pillars spaced evenly apart. The stone was polished, though their color were a dull grey, it glistened in the low light coming from the windows. The Reverend then drew some symbol with his hands and the sconces lining the walls and candles sitting atop the tables lit with a warm amber glow. The room was large, the northern wall where we were was about 6m wide and extended to about 10m to the southern wall which also had a set of double doors. The tables nearly took up the same length and were a bit over 1m wide each.

The wooden chairs had stitched leather paddings on the seat, and arm rest, the refined color of the dark red wood and dark brown leather gave the whole room a regal feeling. The reverend walked to the middle table and pulled out two seats on the left side, I walked over and pulled one seat from the right. Iliana and Maggie sat in front of me and the reverend excused himself. After a minute of awkward silence, Maggie asked,

“Bona, why did you act the way you did?”

“Maggie, how long has it been?”

“I don’t know, a few years, maybe… What does that have to do with anything?” She looked off to the side and signed.

“It’s really good to see you again. I know we haven’t hung out in a while, but I’m always worried about you, you know.” Iliana looked at me with a smile that could stop a war.

“Sure, little goose. Maggie, to answer your question, I couldn’t give two twittly winkles about Mirk, about this world, or about the people that is forcing the two of you into danger for their own sake. I acted as a person should when forcibly summoned with no definite way to return from where they were taken. I am more surprised at your lax reaction to all of this.”

“I just don’t know what’s going on. What makes you think we’re going to be in danger anyways?” Maggie was looking at the stone table, rubbing her finger over the surface.

“I don’t know…, just understand that the me you knew is gone, and this world is going to know a Bona that you never did.”

I could feel Iliana glaring at me, when I looked in her direction, she shook her head, looking disappointed. A part of me felt this stranger had no merit of which to judge how another sees the world, and a part of me felt guilt at saddening a precious friend. It wasn’t 50/50, there was more displeasure in her judging me, than sadness in hurting her image of me.

“Who are you? You sound like a villain.” Iliana asked while looking at her folded hands on the table.

“Oh, that’s right, I should introduce myself, it has been sometime. Hello, my name is Bona Gallio, nice to meet you all, I hope we can all get along as we traverse this foreign land either together, or separately. I’m fine either way.” I said with a fake smile and emphasizing separately. Iliana was twiddling her thumbs and paid no attention to my statement; Maggie was grinding her teeth while looking at the table. I truly hoped they wanted nothing to do with me, it would be no different than how things have been.

“Bona…” Maggie started to speak when the double doors opened, and waiters came in rolling wooden trays with food and drinks out to us. The reverend entered in and explained that he went to inform the staff we were ready, apologized for the wait and stated it took some time because he also checked up on the 5 summoning priests.

“How are they, they didn’t seem well?” Iliana asked.

“Oh, don’t worry yourself about them, I’m sure they will be fine. Enjoy your meals, I just need to get a messenger prepped to go out to the king, and to make sure your rooms are ready. Then I will be back to explain everything, and the three of you can decide what to do.” The reverend focused his attention to me.

“Warrior Bona, truly I wish I had more power to stop this. I will research the scriptures to see what we can do to get you all home. Also, I realize this is a new world and bad situation, but my name is not Mirk, it is Mirth.”

“Oh, that, Mr. Mirth, Bona will never correct that, just accept it. Maybe if he ends up liking you enough, he’d try. But he doesn’t even get his best friends name correct. Ha” Iliana explained. As the waiters started putting our food on the table, blocking my vision to the reverend.

“Ha, I see, will, no matter. I will be back soon. Warrior Bona, Warrior Maggie, Warrior Iliana, thank you for accepting my hospi…”

“GO!” I yelled, from behind the waiter.

“Right.” The reverend said after a second of silence and walked out.

No matter how hard I tried, I can’t remember the taste of my first meal in this kingdom, but I remember that we hardly eat. The drinks were bitter, the atmosphere was thick, it was a situation where swallowing was a loud and conscious action. I was in a room, with two girls I cried over from the thought that I could never hear their voices again. Worst, I became a man they seem to hate even more than the man I was, and for some reason it bothered me, if only a miniscule amount.

Reverend Mirth returned in 15 minutes to us staring at full plates and loss in thought.

“I understand your not hungry, suppose your probably…, well let me explain everything then I will ask for your decisions.” The two girls continued staring at the table, a corner of their mouth moved slightly up with their cheek, I looked at the reverend and rested my head in my right hand.

Astrum Kingdom, under rule of King Astra III, on the continent of Orbis, there are those that oppose the king. On this continent there were 2 other kingdoms, usually all 3 co-existed but the group calling themselves The Balance has rooted themselves deeply in each kingdom. The continent was divided into thirds, each holding a strip from west to east about the same size. Astrum obtained the middle strip of land, Mundus the north, and Terrarum the South. The Balance has completely ruined the kingdom of Terrarum, they are without a ruler, and the land without law, many of the villages and pier cities were abandoned leaving Astrum in a refugee crisis.

The Balance has found a way to open portals to other worlds, in doing so, the South has been infested with creatures never seen in this world. Originally this world was no different from my original world, there was no Goblins, no Orcs, trolls, Lost Souls, monsters, it was just a world filled with people and animals. But The Balance found it their goal to bring the world to an end, 6 years ago they attempted opening portals in hopes to bring about a being strong enough to collapse this world into rubble. Fortunately, the summoning spell the church researched is something only they can do because of their particular connection to the mana. What The Balance has achieved was a devious and forceful usage of the power God gave to the world.

Currently, The Balance are opening portals here in the Astrum kingdom as well. They use their bodies as the source for what the church calls corrupted mana, and the mana forms some sort of structure hiding their bodies within and housing beings from another world. Sometimes these are castles in the middle of a field, or caves forming multiple levels, to simple houses sitting atop a dungeon. Adventuring guilds had been formed to fight off the evil beings and attempt to tear down these portals by killing their source.

Reverend Mirth stated the High Mage Knight will explain how mana works during our trainings. For now, we were given our summary, the Reverend concluded…

“We have lost many lives, the 3 portals we have located took the lives of 19 adventurers, and 31 of the king’s knights before they were closed. 80 nights ago, his majesty came to me for prayer and we were answered with a prophecy, the mana formed a scroll, on it was the summoning spell we used to summon you. I originally denied using it, believing we shouldn’t involve other worlds in our problems, but the king wouldn’t have it, claiming if the bastards can summon devils, we can summon angels to fight with us. Now I am asking ‘his majesty’s angels’ whether they want to fight or, remain neutral while I work on getting you 3 back.” The reverend mockingly called us the king’s angels and looked at the 3 of us for an answer.

I turned to the two girls, Maggie was in the middle of taking another bite of her meal, Iliana was back to twiddling. Taking a deep breath, I decided to stand and tell the Reverend I will fight but these two will not.

“What? You can’t just decide that on your own. I get that you don’t want to be around us, I didn’t know we hurt you so badly. But please don’t give up on us Bona.” Iliana said.

“Honestly, Warrior Bona, I am surprised you will fight with us.” The reverend looked at me with furrowed brows as if I said the most incredulous thing.

“Mirk, I will fight because, unlike Iliana, I can’t sit around twiddling my thumbs all day.”

“Shut up, you big doofus. Why are you being so mean?”

“Illy, give it a rest, Bona just needs some time alone. Mr. Mirth, what happens if we do decide to fight, at what time will our lives be put in danger, as Bona has been saying.”

The reverend put his hand to his chin…

“It’s up to the High Mage Knight as to when you will be on the frontlines…, but if you decide to fight, the king will give you the title of Warrior, the highest rank in his army. Then after Knight Freya gives the king her approval, the king will make a celebration of your first mission if he can.”

I didn’t want to stop the two girls from deciding what they wanted to do. I wanted them to separate themselves from me, yet it seems they were against that.

“Will the three of us have to fight together?” I asked, believing it was worth it to test the waters to see if I could get them to agree to separate. I didn’t want them to see me as I am.

“Doesn’t matter if we don’t have to! We are sticking together!” Maggie stated while standing and pounding a fist into the table.

“Now isn’t the time for love confessions Maggie. Mirk?”

“I suppose it is up to the three of you. Are you fighting alongside us?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah.”

“Uh huh.”

I was stuck with them.

The Reverend guided us to our rooms, we left the dining hall, entered the main hall lighted with nothing but the amber glow of sconces on the wall, turned left passed by another set of double doors on our right, and took the next right, there were three doors about 4m apart on the right side of the hall, and large windows on the left side across every door. At the end of the hall was a dead end, sconces were to the right of every door, and one on the dead-end wall. Reverend Mirth led Iliana to her room, closes door to us, then Maggie, then me, he told each of us we were assigned an assistant and they will be by soon to introduce themselves.

My assistant was Emily, she knocked on the door to my 4m by 5m room and entered upon my reply. She was wearing the classic black and white maid outfit, blonde hair, 5’10”, green eyes, and looked wearily at me. I was sitting on the bed in the far-right corner of the room, staring at the desk on the opposite side of the bed, behind the open door. To my left was a bedside drawer, and 5 ft from the left corner was the door to the bathroom, across from that was a wardrobe, and a closet door on the left side wall. One thing I haven’t thought about in this world was the lack of electrical appliances, the only thing in this room for light was the wall sconces, one above the desk, one near the closest, one above the bedside drawer, and one inside the bathroom. I walked by numerous lighted sconces, yet it was just now sinking in that there was no electricity here.

“Hello, Warrior Bona, I am assigned to be your servant. My name is Emily Famulus, I look forward to being of service.” She stated with a bow.

“I’m guessing you were told all about me.” I said with a smile.

“Yes, and I am honored to be here.”

“Em, do I need to use mana to turn on these sconces?”

“Yes, Warrior, I can turn them on if you please? I am sure you will learn soon enough, but till then, feel free to rely on me.”

“Em, I’m going to sleep, please leave.”

“Yes, Warrior. I will be outside your door if you need anything.” Emily made her way outside.

“Why? You don’t have to wait on me hand and foot.” I just thought it was a waste of resources, she was just going to stand outside my door, waiting on me to make a request, why?

“Oh, I am to be your servant alone, when you are out training or away from the home, I do have other duties then. But while you are here, I am yours.” She stood at the door facing me.

“Good night then. Though you won’t be sleeping out there I’m guessing.”

“Good night, Warrior.” She grabbed the door handle and slowly stepped out.

Laying in the soft feather stuffed leather mattress, I wondered about how spotless this place was. I wonder how many people they had working here, and if these servants ever had a chance to rest. I didn’t even know where we were, whose home were we in, Reverend Mirk’s, or the king’s? I guess it will be something I find the answer to tomorrow. 10 minutes into my slumber, there was a quick knock on the door.

“Bona, Reverend Mirth is requesting entrance.” Emily announced from outside.

“Okay.”

“…Does that mean I can let him in?”

“Nope.”

“Bona, it’s Mirth, I’m coming in.” Reverend Mirth opened the door and asked if it was all right to open the lights.

“Sure, this better be important.” I said, with both of my hands behind my head, looking up at him from my pillow.

“It’s just about tomorrow and thank you for pledging to fight.”

“First, let me be clear that I don’t care about your pathetic kingdom or king. And what about tomorrow?” The Reverend looked at me angrily.

“Don’t you dare blasphemy my kingdom or king! Bona you may be able to slay me in a single blow, but I will not stand for anyone to insult my homeland.”

“Okay, I get it, you love your homeland. Tomorrow, what’s going on?” The Reverend took a deep breath, probably annoyed I didn’t apologize. Yet he kept his cool and stated…

“Knight Freya will be here for you all around 10am, here is a watch. When you are up, the kitchen is to the left of the dining hall, knock on the doors and let them know you will be waiting for a meal. It is staffed at all times, if you get hungry at any time during the night, please feel free to eat.” Reverend Mirth said with a heartwarming smile.

“Thanks, turn the lights off on your way out.”

“I will, Warrior Bona, and I’m sorry for yelling. Rest well.” The reverend drew a symbol with his hands when he stood in the doorway. The sconces were shut, and he walked off, Emily reached in to close the door. Honestly, he isn’t a bad man, but I hardly know him, still it pisses me off he didn’t close the door himself.