After migrating from the world of logic I once knew I ended up here. Now let me tell you the transportation was most definitely NOT first class. I nearly threw up the delicious rice and curry I had for lunch. Now let me tell you, I like my curry so to make me want to puke it out you got to do some serious shaking.

But to describe this feeling as “shaky” only would be an understatement. The world around me just felt wrong. I felt as if I was the focus for a multitude of earthquakes and the feeling, certainly, was not a good one.

As I struggled to breathe and even open my eyes I was hit by a sudden impact forcing me to the ground. Despite what one may expect it was actually a blessing in disguise as the pain and dizziness had subsided.

With the ringing in my ears gone I could now assess the situation around me. What I saw before me was the same as before, monsters.

There were some hideous ones mixed in as well: multi-eyed creatures, creatures with disfigured faces (if you could even call them faces), creatures with gnarled teeth and fangs, gigantic behemoths and even small imp-like creatures.

That’s not to say there won’t any nice ones among them such as fairies and the like but when you see a gigantic monster standing higher than the tallest building in your country you tend to overlook some stuff.

“Oi stop day dreaming and listen to what he is saying scrub,” a voice behind me grumbled. It came from a flying book. His name is Xam. Try not to think of it too much. My eyes focused on the figure in front of me. “Is that an old man?” I whispered to myself.

Scratch what I said earlier this fella was the real monster. The map of wrinkles on his face told of the most incredible journey. A journey I really didn’t what to undergo. It was at that moment I understood why girls fear aging so much.

“-And so the collars around your neck indicate your number. The higher the number the better your living arrangements will be,” the old geezer mumbled weakly. Oh, looks like I caught him mid-sentence.

Got to admit his voice matched his age better than I expected. But collar huh. I subconsciously felt around my neck. Oh crap…

There was one alright. It was grey, dull and made of some kind of metal. It was surprisingly warm to the touch and fit well. Must have been why I didn’t notice it before. “Now to just get it off,” I grumbled to myself as I began scratching at the collar. There must be a clip somewhere.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea fool”, muttered Xam in response to my actions. You know he was quiet for quite a while, must have been listening to the old geezer. I preferred him when he was quiet. “I don’t need you-”

SCREEEEEEEEEEE… BOOM!

A blast of a magnitude I had only witnessed in movies sprung forth. The air crackled and buckled under the explosion. As the shockwave collided with me, my body bent into a 90 degree angle and flew back taking some poor sap with me to the ground.

PIIIIIII-

My ears were ringing again and my vision was distorted. In my mind echoed a voice. “That originated from someone trying to remove his collar and judging from the size of the explosion he was quite a big fellow. Now… what were you going to say?” I instinctively knew that it was Xam. The irritating tone and bashfulness gave it away.

I touched my neck once more and made a mental note not to try anything foolish. I sighed inwardly. Lily your brother nearly got his head blown off from a dog-collar. Oops that’s right the fellow I knocked over.

With the ringing in my ears now gone I pulled myself back to my feet and turned around to help the sap up. My out reached hand was rejected by the person in question. She seemed to be a little girl not much older than my sister but if I had any idea as to how these things panned out I’m sure she’d be clocking over a century by now. Ignoring that, it seemed as though she was currently undergoing the process of becoming a tomato.

I had never seen a person visibly turn red before so it was quite a spectacle to behold. And if I had to link an emotion to that it would either be embarrassment or anger. “Sarah!” with a shout from the brat in front of me a blade greeted my face with a gleam.

Yep it was the latter after all. Oh Boy.