Veronica and Rupert waited for the shadow to come to them. A little voice at the back of their head let them know this wasn't going to go well. The shadow was not good news.

After ten seconds, a massive bird landed in front of them. Its black feathers were all shimmering perfectly, still jostling from its abrupt movements. Its yellow avian eyes narrowed when it looked towards the human campers.

*CAW!*

On the back of the giant bird was a man covered in black rags. They covered his entire body, head and hands included, making him look like a weird mummy. The only visible part of him was his red glowing eyes peeking out from a small slit in the rags.

"You smell new here. State your name, rank, and intent."

Veronica stood in front of Rupert with one arm raised to protect him.

"Uhhhh... Rupert and Veronica, Human, Survival?"

"Look, we don't want any trouble. A weird space portal opened up and sucked us in and..."

The man in rags shouted over her, "Otherworlders! You filthy animals! The elder was right!"

After his adoption of an aggressive tone, both inspected the ragged man,

[???: LVL 6]

[Wind Bird: LVL 7]

Veronica and Rupert assumed a battle stance, ready for a fight. Against their expectations, the man remained stationary. He hadn't even moved a finger after his initial outburst.

The two could feel his sneer from under the rags.

"You thought I would lower myself to your level? Fight such underdeveloped creatures? You don't deserve to meet my gaze let alone fight my personage. You have a singular option. You follow me to the city and willingly become prisoners."

Veronica and Rupert looked at each other with shock. Prisoners? What had they done wrong? What was even going on?

"Why is that our only option? Can't you just let us go and we'll live quietly in the forest?"

The ragged man laughed.

"Otherworlders are to be neutralized on sight..."

---------

I stood over the unconscious bodies of the sailors. My rock was ready, and so was I. I slammed the pointed edge into their skulls, enough to cause mild head trauma.

---------

"You are underdeveloped and aggressive creatures..."

---------

I injured each and every one of the 6 people I had found, enough damage so that they would not wake up until I let them.

---------

"Every one of you are sadistic and insane..."

---------

I then started digging in the sand, deep enough to place their bodies upright. I threw them into the hole and filled it back up with sand, making sure each person could still breathe.

---------

"You are undeniably the cruelest..."

---------

After each one was secure, I woke them all up with a hard slap to the face.

"Which one of you is the least important?"

They all looked confused and in pain, but enough gazes gravitated towards the woman on the end.

Her then. Doesn't really matter if I'm wrong, they all should know enough.

I took my rock and mercilessly bashed in her skull. The bone cracked and shattered easily under the force of my rock. Blood and brain matter splattered around me, some getting onto the other people.

I wiped the larger chunks off my rock and with a perfectly flat face, I turned to the others.

---------

"Undeniably the most chaotic..."

---------

Two started to cry, two turned white as a sheet, and the last one looked at me with a straight face. The one with the straight face was the remaining woman.

The Captain I presume, or the new leader.

"You; you'll have some juicy information."

---------

"Every time Otherworlders come to this planet, an era of disaster has fallen. Billions suffering and dying at your hands..."

---------

I placed my rock against her skull, tapping it gently.

"Oh yeah, we'll get along real well."

---------

"Every single one of you is a total savage. The most horrifying beings to grace the surface of this planet. Animals. I'm pleased to have caught you at such a low level, you can't use your mind manipulations to control me and perpetuate your slaughter. Now move!"

The two couldn't resist when the bird moved behind them and shoved with its beak. They fell to the ground, but quickly picked themselves up and started to walk. They wanted to fight back, but their brain told them that would be a seriously bad idea.

Rupert reached out and grabbed Veronica's hand, holding it tight.

"Everything will be ok. We can get through this. We aren't bad people; this is all just a big misunderstanding."

Guarded by beast and captor, they set off into the forest. The midday sun marking the start of their journey.

The forest seemed endless, the group having walked for kilometers.

How did he find us this far from civilization?

Rupert kept the question to himself, their captor didn't seem all too friendly. He sat on the back of his bird mount, watching the two of them closely. His red eyes continued to glow, pulsing with a strange energy.

I guess these 'Otherworlders' aren't liked too well.

Midday turned to evening, and trees turned to plains. The tall grass grew up to Rupert's knees. This tall dry grass made walking much more tiresome. Its golden color went on for kilometers before the walls of a city could be found.

After hours of walking, they were starting to slow down. Exhaustion was kicking in and they needed a rest. Neither had the strength of will to go against this rag-covered man. Both the bird's presence and his seemed to smother any thoughts of fighting.

It was a new feeling as not even the massive infected rat made them feel this way.

It was getting dark when they made it to the walls. Every brick was made from massive blocks of blue stone. Each was easily three meters thick, a dozen meters across, and four meters tall. Stacked 5 bricks high, the wall was very tall and sturdy.

The man on the bird brought them to one of the numerous gates around the massive city. Guards protected it in tight formations, some looking worse for wear. They all wore less-than-new-looking black armor that reflected the evening light poorly.

When they stood in the entranceway to the city, one of the armored men walked up to their group. His armor had white stripes running through some of it, denoting his higher rank. He spoke to them through his helmet, having a reverberated voice.

"Lemming, begin transcription. Let the record show that I, guard captain Armov, began the check-in process for three personages. Visually, two men, one female. Male number one, level 6, covered in cloth wrappings, riding one Wind Bird, level 7. Threat level, low. Male number two, level 2, wearing basic mage robe, threat level, negligible. Female number one, level 2, wearing basic iron armor. Threat level, negligible. Beginning approach."

The man unsheathed his sword and approached the group, standing three meters away as he addressed them.

"Present your Citizenship card and state your business."

The cloth man produced a small metal square from his pocket and threw it at the guard. The man caught it with ease and pulled out a cubic device. He slid the square into a slot on the cube. It glowed green and spat the metal square back out.

"Authentic card. Marrow Isslo."

With his card checked and returned, he hopped off his bird and approached the captain.

"Captain guard sir, these two here are brought here by me as prisoners. They are Otherworlders."

At the mention of that word, every guard in at the gate unsheathed their sword. On top of the wall, archers retrieved an arrow from their quiver and nocked it, waiting for the right moment to draw.

Armov dropped the routine check-in procedure and adopted an authoritative tone to his runners.

"Increase threat level to maximum. Summon Mr. Novak, alert Mr. Riller, warn Mrs. Fanfetty, and send a message to King Polle in the capital. Otherworlders have been spotted. Assume formations 12-A and wall formations 6-B. Shoot on command. Should I die, Jiib will take command."

The armored men moved like well-oiled gears in a machine, standing in just the right places to assure coverage of the area. Swords were drawn and pointed, and bowmen were ready to draw.

Veronica and Rupert were standing there, shocked at the display.

What did we do? Why are they acting like this?

Armov walked over to the couple with 2 different metal cubes. One was red and the other blue. He held them in each hand and smash them together.

On contact, they morphed into a black, tar-like, substance that slithered its way over to Veronica and Rupert. It moved like lightning and quickly covered everything but their head. It folded their arms and legs in place before hardening into solid black metal.

They tried to fight it, but resistance was futile. It was much stronger than it looked, even in liquid form.

"Otherworlders seemingly apprehended. Group A, move to surround. Group B, Draw."

The bowman on the wall all pulled back on the strings of their bows. They couldn't hold it for long, but a minute was possible. As they did this, group A quickly surrounded the metal egg with two heads popping out the top.

"Let us go! We didn't do anything!"

"We're good people! Why are you doing this!"

The Captain spoke over them, "Ignore their mind games! Remain strong-willed against their sadistic manipulations!"

Group A picked up the egg and began to carry it to the prison. The bowman slowly released the tension on their bows and relaxed. With the egg being carried, they were 90% sure the Otherworlders were captured.

Instead of shouts of joy, every guard was downcast. The sighting of two Otherworlders meant more were here already, a new era of disaster had begun.