People — none. Snakes — twelve, low elevation and far away enough they weren’t a problem. Big snakes — none. Birds — lots. Big birds — none. Wolves — none. Big wolves — none. Bugs — so many it was mind boggling. Big bugs — twenty, all a distance away.

A shaky breath left me as I jumped off Rollo, my legs a little weak from how long I’d been riding. I shrugged off my satchel and reached inside, pulling out all my stuff and laying it on the ground – food was at the bottom and it made it hard to reach without a lot of effort. I’d been packing with a mind of my stuff being checked and hadn’t wanted anything that might look strange. Apples and oranges had been my go-to, foodstuffs that were easy to steal and didn’t spoil quickly.

I brought an apple up to Rollo’s mouth and he ate it heartily, forcing me to pull my hand back, afraid he’d bite a finger off.

“Gonna have to be careful, bud,” I said. “We don’t want to get hurt or there’s the chance of infection.”

Rollo only continued to chew, his expression blank. I ran a hand in the side of his neck, digging fingers in and starting to scratch him. There was no reaction, but Rollo had to like it because he didn’t move away. After a bit, I unclasped the buckles that kept the saddle from slipping, told him to go low and then pulled it off.

“Go and graze,” I said. “I’m gonna keep track of you and call you back if you get too far or close to anything dangerous okay?”

Rollo walked off and started smelling patches of grass.

A careful breath left me, as if I breathed too hard the dream which surrounded me would shatter and I would wake up back in Malnor castle. How long had it been since I’d been summoned into this world? A gilded prison whose confines I had never thought I’d be able to escape.

I took off my boots and my feet touched prickly grass. The feeling that ran through me was just too much and a careful laugh left me. I was still in Althor, and getting home still something of a distant hope, but I’d gotten out of the castle and right now that meant so much to me.

My costume was comfortable but it wasn’t freedom — only a heavy reminder of who the nobles wanted me to be. I stripped to my underwear and lay back, eyes closed and my attention on the impression moving around in my head.

People. Rollo. Snakes. Rollo. Big snakes. Rollo. Big bugs. Rollo. Big birds. Rollo.

There was nothing to worry about. I could just take the moment. My eyes closed and I settled into a light sleep, the hard ground keeping me from going too deep.

My trance was broken by the clucks of a chicken. I opened my eyes and was surprised by how bright out it was, maybe my ‘trance’ had been more sleep-like than I would have liked. Turning a little I saw the chicken, though it was like no other I’d ever seen before: it was big and plump, with bright purple features, bright red crest that fell to one side like hair and long, dangling wattles; most terrifying, though, was its bright yellow beak, bent like a hook and marred with what might be bugs.

I wasn’t afraid of chickens, but ever since a hen had flown at me for playing with its chicks, I had become cautious around them. So as the bird with a hooked beak stared me down, its clucks starting to take on a more warning tone, I moved carefully to my feet to seem like a bigger target.

“Shu!” I said, gesticulating. A dangerous air surrounded the chicken, something that translated into its clucks. “Listen, bird. If you don’t leave, we’re gonna have trouble.”

As if it could understand me, the chicken puffed up, its voice taking on a deep tone while its wings opened to make itself bigger. It started to move in a half circle, its head up and down and its clucks became more frantic.

What is your deal? I thought, but I wasn’t about to be run off by a chicken.

Still moving with caution I got low and touched my gun before stopping. It was possible that the others were chasing after me, that they were close but out of my range. Sound travelled and my gun was loud, better that I used a quieter weapon. My hand reached further and took hold of Swiftwind — a temporal sword I hadn’t thought I would ever use so hadn’t trained with.

I pulled the sword from its sheath and blue light swirled up from the sword and around me, slowing everything down. My form was off and the way I held the sword was awkward; but time had slowed to a crawl, and unlike my temporal ring, my body would be able to keep up with my sped-up mind.

“You should have been more of a chicken, chicken,” I said, grinning at my own idiocy. A battle cry left me as I ran forward, and of all things the chicken moved to match me; it flapped its wings, calling forth a burst of air that sent it hurtling towards me, hooked claws ready to rip skin.

With ungainly movements I pulled back my sword and swung. The chicken flapped and flew higher, my swing missing. I stumbled to a stop and whirled around, slashing in expectation of an attack from behind. None came. The chicken didn’t really care about a fight, it cared about food. It had used the burst of flight to reach a long hanging branch, then used that to jump off and land near my supplies. The chicken found its target — a discarded apple core — grabbed it and ran off, clucking with high energy.

A snort left me and adrenaline that had started to fill my body started to evaporate. I walked over to the sheath and shoved the sword inside, the blue light of temporal magic disappearing. The chicken had woken me up and that meant taking stock.

Rollo, I thought with a bit of focus. He was a distance away, moving at a slow pace, probably foraging. People. There were four but they were at the edges of my range. I frowned because one of them was at a high elevation. Not on a hill, I was sure, but…in the sky? Probably gravitational magic.

“Rollo, come,” I said and the goat appeared. “I think there’s someone who can fly who’s pretty close, bud. I’m gonna need you to stay close or go under tree cover.”

Rollo decided to settle into a sit beneath the shade of a tree.

“Really love how smart you are, bud,” I said. “Makes all of this easier.”

He ignored me.

As I dug through Jaslynn’s stuff I was hit by how poorly I had packed. Of course there was some stuff I wouldn’t have been able to get without it being suspicious, but it felt like I could have done more. Jaslynn had brought a tent and a sleeping bag, a small celestial fire gem that spat out flames after a hard knock — this was kept in a box for safety; a few changes of clothes and feminine hygiene supplies; bowls for eating and a smaller bag filled with salt, knives and spoons, though she hadn’t bought any food.

This was supposed to be a hunt, I thought as I poured some water into the bowl and put it in front of Rollo. She must have expected to catch our meals. Or have me do that.

Rollo opened his eyes and then drank it readily. We’d ridden all night and I’d forgotten to give him water. I’d have to get better at doing that or taking care of him in general. It had been so much easier to take care of our livestock back home; there was usually a trough with water and feeding them was a matter of letting them out to graze. The more complicated stuff was something Grandma dealt with.

A smile touched my expression as I thought of being back home and telling her of my adventures, letting her see and interact with Rollo. I laughed as I thought of how the world would react at knowing that another world existed and that it had magic and that I had come from there.

There’ve been other Champions before. One of them must have gotten back home. Does the world know about this sort of thing and it’s being kept secret by the world governments?

Or have no Champions ever returned home.

My smile disappeared and my expression darkened. The thought wanted to lead to another, to interrogate some evidence that getting home might not be possible, but I nipped that in the bud. The only thing I had was hope and the moment I let myself lose it, then…then I didn’t think I would have the will to keep moving.

I kept rifling through Jaslynn’s stuff and found a box that made my already dark feelings double. The box was made from a dark wood and engraved with diagrams I hadn’t gotten any better at being able to read, but I knew it intimately, having used it to pass word to my servants — a messenger box.

For a moment I considered breaking it or throwing it away, cutting ties completely. But I couldn’t. I opened the box, expecting that there might be a letter inside. It was empty and that filled me with hope that Jaslynn hadn’t told the others of my escape yet.

Maybe she’s dead, another part of me thought. It didn’t look like she was winning against the guy.

I shoved the thoughts aside.

I found a shower head with a screwy bit of petal poking out of the back. I screwed it in until I hit something housed within, water started to dribble out. Screwing in the bit of metal further got me more water, a harsh, cold spray.

Couldn’t have gotten one that gets hot water? I thought, which was maybe asking too much when I hadn’t thought about water beyond three water skins and hoping to run across rivers or creeks.

It was a good find, but the best find was a course brush.

I started to give Rollo some TLC. He deserved it, because if he hadn’t made the first move, I doubted I would have had the courage to get away from Jaslynn.

***

We left our camp at noon. The Great Barrier Ridge was visible on the horizon and I used that to get my bearings. Rollo and I kept to a slow pace, being careful not to use any defined paths so we could be as far away as possible from people — though it meant I had to travel much closer to snakes than I would have liked.

The experience was fun, all things considered; riding up and down hills, meeting short cliffs that we had to scale up. Rollo was a pretty good climber, able to keep up even though he had to scale diagonally while I moved up, aided in three parts by my suit, the lizard-hide gloves and the Feather-Light Circlet.

I got the idea to keep the circlet on and keep it at its highest setting, meaning Rollo wouldn’t feel my weight and he could travel faster and longer.

We kept to wooded areas which meant a lot of animals, mostly birds and bugs, some squirrels and rabbits. After feeling out for any people, I decided to take a risk. I left Rollo and our supplies behind and trekked after the rabbit until I found its burrow. From there it was a game of waiting in a tree until one foraged too far away and shooting it.

My marksmanship had come far because I hit it on the first try, and between the impact and the flames it was dead. I had a meal of rabbit as night fell while I gave Rollo an orange as a nightcap.

The night passed with only one incident — a chicken stole the rabbit pelt which hadn’t been skinned very well, I wondered if it was the same chicken or if there were just a lot of them in the woods. By morning we were moving again, occupying my time between keeping track of our surroundings and singing songs from back home under my breath. Every now and then I remembered an Usher song and tried it to see if I would get any reaction from Rollo, but I must have been repeating some of them because the goat was his usual silent self.

Late afternoon Rollo and I stopped as we spotted a fox between a cluster of exposed roots, looking at me with keen eyes. I quickly reached at my side and pulled on my mask.

“Hey,” I said. “Are you an Urocy?”

There was no reaction. The fox was a reddish-brown colour and was unadorned with any accessories. I didn’t know if that was a thing all Urocy did — I’d only met Surefoot and Duke Quickwit, and both of them were special cases. It was strange, though, but I hadn’t sensed the fox as ‘people’ even though my spatial sense automatically did the same for the Urocy.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I said. “I’m a friend.”

The fox ran off. Fox, I thought, tuning my mind. Impressions of them bloomed in my head and I sensed a cluster not too far away. I decided it was better if I stayed away. When a search was eventually put out for me it was within the realm of possibility that the Urocy might be able to converse with regular foxes.

That feels like it has speciest undertones.

I frowned as Rollo and I rode on, interrogating the thought. Humans were close cousins to other primates, but that didn’t make communication any easier. Except in the case where we taught other apes how to speak in sign language, and even that was limited.

Could the Urocy do the same? They had Urayemi which had enabled me to be able to understand their language. What if the Urocy could do something like that with regular foxes?

I looked at Rollo.

What if the use of the Urayemi was why Rollo could understand me so easily? Why he was smarter than goats in a way that just couldn’t be because of training?

A chuckle left me and I shook my head.

“Maybe solitude and being alone with my thoughts is starting to get to me,” I said.

We reached a creek by early evening. I consulted my maps and that gave me a sense of where we could be. The creek wouldn’t be far away from the ruins of Narlen’s Ire — a town that had been a neighbour to Narlen’s Grace before the sudden appearance of a fire-aligned dire beast had burned most of the town.

The creek was a low line of water but it was deep within a channel, making crossing hard without having to scale down. I could sense things in those waters and I could imagine that some of them would be predators.

Using the Feather-Light Circlet I ran and jumped over, then summoned Rollo to my side. We continued until, more light draining from the sky, darkness taking its place, with me keeping track of the impression against my mind for anything that might hurt us.

There were no dangers, but all the same Rollo stopped, bleated, and that sound was enough to wash away all feelings of safety.

“What is it, bud?” I asked, my voice catching in my throat. Trying to will Rollo forward had him stop and stamp his feet. He turned and wanted to move back.

I quickly filtered through a variety of animals, but I couldn’t be sure why he was reacting the way he was. Going broad and detecting everything meant I sensed too much. I restricted it to bugs but there were none that could be considered dangerous; wolves — there were none within my range; and most of all there were people. Foxes? No, there were none there too.

So what?

I tried to change paths but all Rollo wanted to do was go back.

Why? What wasn’t I able to sense?

Rollo bleated again and this time he started to trot, turning so violently that with the Feather-Light Circlet on he almost threw me off. He started to run and this was round about the same time that I heard something, the pounding of feet against the ground and heavy, laboured breaths.

I rifled through the different types of animals and still felt nothing that would narrow down what it was that was chasing us. The foxes had already shown that there were some blind spots — animals that I didn’t know well enough to account for. But it was very hard to know what I didn’t know.

But then I saw it: Big, fat and fast, veritably grizzly.

It was hard to make out when much of the sun had slipped beyond the horizon, so I reached inside my satchel and pulled out the luminous orb. Light burst out and I saw it.

“Oh shit,” I thought and said, “that’s a bear.”

Oh shit, that’s the first bear I’ve ever seen in my life.

Oh shit, the first bear I see and it’s probably going to kill me.

The bear — a fucking animal that I’d seen being so cuddly TV and whose brutally was often understated — cut through a path between trees and threw its weight into Rollo. The beast was strong and Rollo was sent falling to the side, the motion throwing me and our stuff off, and sending me tumbling before I hit the ground, armour absorbing the impact.

I got up to see the bear, now standing tall, long black claws held up and ready to come down — ready to tear into my goat and end him.

No, I thought and there was no time to panic.

“Rollo, come!” I shouted, pushing all of my will into the command. Moments before the impact could land the goat disappeared. He appeared close to me, already getting to his feet.

The bear appeared confused for a moment — but then the bears I’d seen on TV always had a cute-confused expression, probably why people thought they were cuddly. The fucking beast wasted no time and pounded towards me and the goat.

“Run,” I told Rollo as I got on all fours on the goat’s back and jumped up. The circlet meant I sailed and caught a branch above me. The bear noticed but decided against trying to get at me, running towards Rollo who was fast, but slower than the bear that looked so chubby and whose body had no right being geared for speed.

Gun. Shoot.

But I’d fallen and lost grip on my gun. I searched and saw it. Then let myself run towards it, all while tracking Rollo and the bear — you suck, spatial sense, waiting for me to know that animals exist before you make me feel them.

“Rollo, come,” I said when the bear felt too close to the goat. Rollo appeared behind me, his gaze too wide, fear written across an expression that was usually impassive. “I’m not gonna let this fucker hurt you,” I said, equally terrified and angry. “But we’re going to have to help each other.

The bear had turned and was running towards us, feet pounding and its breath laboured. Rollo bolted, not away, but running around some trees. I trusted him and didn’t let my resolve waver.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Three times I met my mark, blooms of fire hitting the bear and scorching fur, but the bear only roared and kept coming. At once it was upon me and I pushed off to the side, landing close and coming up with the gun pointed. The bear turned towards me and was hit by another ball of fire to the face, hitting it so hard its roar was mingled with pain.

The bear swiped an errant claw. I was close but not so close it could reach me, even so I was struck off my feet, my armour tearing as claw marks ripped into it. I hit the ground in a roll, coming to see the bear already on me, but with no time to pull up my gun and shoot. Rollo materialised as if from thin air, moving so silently that I hadn’t heard him coming even though I’d felt him coming; head bowed low, the goat caught the bear with a head butt and sent it stumbling to the side.

I used the time to bolt, glancing back to see as the bear started to swipe — “Rollo come!” — and missed.

Bangs filled the air as I shot, running through trees so the bear had trouble keeping close to me. A plan started to form, a very dangerous plan, but the bear seemed to find it easy shrugging off my gunfire, even though it was moving a little slower than at the beginning of the skirmish.

I ran towards Rollo as the bear gave chase. Playing with the circlet, I jumped and caught a branch. “Rollo, this way!” The goat ran so that it would pass under me. I changed tack, pulling out the electric blade. As the bear passed by — chasing Rollo — I did something I’d see Allyceus do in the mines.

He’d played with gravity, making it light so that he was faster but increasing so he could fall with force. That couldn’t happen with the circlet, at least not directly, but it made me less floaty as I dropped onto the bear’s back and stabbed, flicking on the electricity function as the blade punctured flesh.

Closed circuit, idiot, a part of me thought. You’re part of the circuit.

But my suit must have made me resistant to electricity, if I was even remembering the science right.

The bear wailed in pain and anger.

I jumped off, using the circlet again to sail further up and grab a branch. Rollo, horns at the ready, head butted the beast once more and had it falling on its side. The bear tried to get up but had trouble, the blade was still within it and electricity seemed to me messing with its motor functions. I got at a point-blank range and shot over and over.

It took me too long to realise the bear was dead, its face a scorched and bloody mess, before I stopped shooting.

A shuddering breath left me, this time there was no laughing like the encounter with the chicken.

For a long moment I stared, thinking nothing, before my brain caught up with me. All those bangs in the night and I was still running from people.

People, I thought and my heart stopped as I felt someone one above, descending.

I looked up and caught a shadow — a bird, I thought for a moment because of the wings, but the shape at the centre was humanoid wearing breastplate and carrying a long spear.

An angel?

No, as they tucked in their wings and entered the small clearing I stood within they were too human.

“Y-you’re a Falconer,” the words were strangled out.

“And you must be Althor’s Champion,” the man said, his voice deep and rich.

My eyes widened and my hand went to my face. I wasn’t wearing my mask. Then I remembered that he couldn’t know that for sure.

“No,” I said quickly. “I’m not. Just a traveller.” I smiled. “I’ve had to hide this face since stories about him started up. I mean…a guy doesn’t mind being called a Champion, but it gets troublesome after a while. People expect me to hunt dire beasts for them for free, get all uppity when I want payment.”

The man frowned. There weren’t any Indian people in this world, but that was the sense I got from the Falconer, brown skin that trended towards black, a full beard and curly hair that fell to his shoulders.

He said something I didn’t understand, probably a language from the Sky Courts.

“Ayizosebenza lo nto, andilazi ilwimi lakho,” I returned in Xhosa: That’s not going to work, I don’t understand your language. “I’m not from the same people you’re used to.”

He hummed. “I was asking if you were a hunter,” he said.

I shook my head. “Traveller, trying to see Althor. But I hunt to make money. I’m not part of any guilds, though. Freelancer.”

The man nodded. “I heard the ruckus from your pistol,” he said. “I thought it was worth checking in case someone was in trouble. But I see you have yourself well handled. We have yet to introduce ourselves, have we? I am Surya the Auburn Winged.”

He was big but not too much and he wore a breastplate with a sun and two wings erupting from it; his wings were an orange colour, mostly, with white tips.

“It’s customary that one asks to touch them after we’ve known each other for more than a moment,” said Surya, smiling lightly and his spear held lazily.

“Oh, ah. Okay. I’m—” I stopped short at giving Jordan as my name. Maybe Surya didn’t buy my bullshit, but I would have rather we keep up the game than for me to give it away. But what name should I give now. I’d given the name Jordan because I’d wanted to fit in, not seem too other, but the environment I was in now required the opposite.

“Khaya,” I said. My name, and one I hadn’t used since getting to this world. The irony of it hit me and made me smile, but more than anything it punctuated the sense that I could be myself for the first time in forever. “I’m Khaya.”

“Ris be blessed for this introduction, then,” he said, bowing and presenting two turned up hands.

I instinctively mirrored the motion a little awkwardly. Surya chuckled.

“A proposition, Khaya,” he said. “It’s dangerous to travel alone. My companions are a distance away, but they would greatly accept you into their company. We could travel together for a time until our paths diverted.”

I swallowed, uncertain. Could I extend that sort of trust? Wasn’t it better to travel alone? But the bear had almost killed me, and who knew how many other threats existed that I couldn’t account for?

“You’re worried that I will rob you?” he asked. I didn’t say anything, but my expression might have been enough. As quick as a flash he brought his spear forward butt first; I brought up my gun but with a flap of his wings he was already close. The gun went off but he’d knocked it off course, then he moved to smack me in the chest and sent me stumbling back.

He spun his spear and brought the tip forward, stopping it seconds before it could stab my neck.

“I’ve fought pirates before,” said Surya, his expression hard and half his attention on Rollo who looked about to headbutt him. “You hold your pistol like one who’s still new to it. If I wanted to rob and kill you, it would be the easiest thing in the world.” He smiled. “But I don’t. You’re running from something, Khaya, I have seen it before. I am too, and so do those I call friends. If you ride with us you’ll find safety and friendship, something that’s direly needed in this world.”

I swallowed. “Can you get the spear away, please,” I said.

Surya stepped back. “By Ris’ grace I beg your forgiveness, but I’ve found these things move faster this way.”

A sigh left me. I was still afraid, but…

“Okay,” I said. “Can you help me pick up my stuff?”

A test, maybe. If he found something valuable and ran away with it then that was answer enough. Surya helped me gather my stuff, singing a song of dark clouds passing through that made it seem like the world would forever be engulfed in darkness before great winds came and cast them away.

“We should travel in the morning,” Surya said as we finished. “Oh, Khaya, it seems you have a message.”

“What?” He held up the box and threw it over. I opened it to see a neatly folded letter. I hesitated, then opened it with shaky hands.

One word written in a jagged scrawl.

Why?