FOR FIVE DAYS, THINGS remained the same. The odd routine in a camp where they had a freaking elf cult and magic became a comfort. I continued sleeping in Nasilain’s tent while she stayed up half the night reading, then passed out on the armchair with the orange cat on her lap.

Every eight hours the elves served a large meal, which corresponded with the shift changes for the soldiers. This way, everyone could eat before work or right after, then have snacks in between.

Even at breakfast, Nasilain’s face remained glued to her tablet. A geeky sorceress with two wolves. How the hell did I get myself into this mess?

The shift in the air pressure popped my ears. Where was this coming from? I turned around, hoping to spot the cause and caught the dying flash of light in one of the barns.

“Landing bay two,” Nasilain shouted as she got up. “Whoever is done eating, we’ll need a few people to help unpack.”

My plate still half full, I followed Nasilain to the largest of the wooden buildings in the camp. When Nasilain swung the door open, Jill, Ricci, Vinsor, and Bralazin were finishing getting dressed. Did they have to get naked to teleport? We hadn’t had a problem with it earlier.

“Nasi, look, we got a Hummer, and I ordered one more. Isn’t it awesome?” Jill beamed and hopped twice, then noticed me and stopped. “Sooo, how is everything here?”

“Good. Everything is good. You’re just in time for breakfast.” Nasilain’s fingers fumbled with the edge of her shirt. “There are a couple of things we need to talk about. I didn’t want to go out and investigate until you came back.”

The four gave me a cautious look, then came with us to the breakfast tables set outside while four elves unloaded the Hummer filled to the brim with supplies, including a case of instant coffee. These people took their caffeine consumption seriously.

“I feel like I haven't eaten anything for five days.” Ricci got a plate of fried meat, eggs, and steamed vegetables.

“Five and a half hours, Ricci.” Jill created her own heaping pile. “While we were in the other world, we ran into Jehovah's witnesses, and it got me thinking. What if we teach elves to do door to door bullshitting?”

“Doesn’t sound safe,” I said, even though no one asked for my opinion. “You go through this much trouble to keep everyone safe in the camp because everyone wants you dead. If they go out there dressed in neon green, everyone will know who they are.”

“See,” Ricci said. “I told you, we need to write the good book and drop copies off in a few towns around the area.”

“We could have the elves copy them. They would like doing that,” Nasilain agreed.

“That’s what we have printers for in my world.” As much fun as it would be to see hundreds of elves in neon green pants, slaving away on handwritten books, there were easier ways to do it.

“I can buy a new printer for my office and bring the old one here. I already have a whole bunch of toner for it, plus a new printer can be a tax write off,” Ricci said.

Finally, with the super important topic of brainwashing out of the way, they started catching up on everything going on here. Nasilain explained about the disappearance of animals and the issues with caravans reaching the surrounding towns. Now that they switched to discussing problems, Nasilain looked more comfortable in her own skin and confident in her words. She could run this camp on her own any day.

“Let’s recharge the cars, take the portable generators, and check out what’s out there.” Jill's eyes darted to me, then back to Nasilain with a silent question.

“He should come along,” Nasilain said. “He was in the military. A SEAL.”

Ricci and Jill turned all of their attention to me. I could practically see thoughts flying through their heads.

“Thank you for your service,” Ricci said after a moment.

Jill nodded in agreement, then looked at Vinsor.

“He’s safe,” Vinsor said. “Lord Dralik has another demon. If he finds out we have one more otherworlder, he might try to control him.”

“I’ll make another amulet.” Nasilain turned her attention back to me. “Demons can influence your emotions and read your mind. You should wear glasses whenever you leave the camp, so they can’t read you. The amulet will keep them from changing your emotions, but it has to always touch your body. Do you have anything made of gold that you always have on you?”

“Change my emotions, huh? They sound like grey aliens.” Seriously, what the hell did I get myself into? I took the cross off my neck and handed it to her. “It was my grandfather’s. I always have it on me.”

Nasilan’s hand closed around it, and it glowed a warm orange color as if the sun sat in her palm. After a minute, she unfolded her fingers and gave it back to me. The metal burned my skin, but I slipped it back around my neck.

“Thank you.”

She nodded in response. “I never believed that the spirits of the dead watch over us, but I hope I’m wrong, and the magic will grow stronger for you.”