Eli and Dara had settled into their top-floor room that just happened to be one of the better places in town for Gifted travelers unaffiliated with the local temple. Eko had been apologetic that Herria didn’t have proper accommodations for them, which was somehow funny to Dara based on the smirk she’d been wearing. Apparently, a room the size of a studio with a sitting area, a big bed, and two smaller beds in a nearby alcove wasn’t good enough for some. Eli couldn’t help shaking his head at how everything was custom and high-quality work. The furniture wasn’t cheap particle board but well-crafted woods polished beautifully with different varnishes that brought out the various whirling grains. There were even little touches like how the various woods complimented the colored tapestries hung on the walls or the small end table beside his bed. All for a silver piece a night. A place like this would go for a boatload in Manhattan or San Diego, and he couldn’t help but wonder what the bigger cities would be like.

They’d just finished a short tour with Head Ute, the guy who ran the place. The older man looked to be in his late 60s and probably knew his way around a brawl based on the scars along his forearms and swollen knuckles. He’d been courteous to both of them during the personal tour, pointing out the different features, though there weren’t many of the modern conveniences Eli was used to, like a media center, internet, heater, or A/C as far as he could see. There were no lightbulbs, so if they wanted lighting, the Lodge provided two small hand lamps.

The one amenity that caught his attention was the communal bathroom on the ground floor. Broken up into a few rooms separated by swinging doors, the bathing area had a few narrow tubs on one side with a couple big enough to fit him. Some ceramic heaters set near the floor could be turned up to heat the water, but an attendant stood nearby to assist the guests. There was another room for getting changed with little benches and another attendant standing by to help, while the last room was for handling the body’s more mundane needs. Ute had mentioned that the waste was disposed of through some mechanism underground, created and managed by some group’s magic.

Eli had been amused yet fascinated as the landlord pointed out various features, curious about how the magic waste disposal worked. He tried to get more details on how the sewer magic was accomplished, but Head Ute only waved away the question saying that he didn’t know such a thing. It was disappointing as the idea of applying magic to create a “modern” technology was something Eli could get behind, and he wondered what else he might accomplish after he got somewhere safe to tinker a bit.

I’ve been here less than a week. I’m also way out on the frontier, according to the locals. So maybe I’ll see flying cities and dragons after all?

“I’ll admit it, Dara. I’m impressed,” he said and sat carefully on the corner of the big bed, conscious of the unfamiliar padding. It wasn’t all that soft, but they obviously didn’t have the latest Skyfoam technology. Shifting around, he didn’t think they even had a spring mattress. Still, the bed itself was beautiful, even if it was a bit lumpy.

There was a knock on the door, which Dara got up to answer, and she waved in a young man almost staggering under a large tray stacked high with various plates. Eli got up to help, but Dara made a little calming gesture behind the server’s back, and he simply stood there feeling awkward as the smaller man eventually made it to the table, where he carefully lowered his burden without somehow spilling everything onto the floorboards. Dara thanked him with a couple of the small coppers, and the server’s wooden expression suddenly lit up with gratitude as he bowed his way back out of the room.

Eli simply shook his head as his mouth watered, the smells hitting him enough to send his stomach growling with hunger, and he took a seat at their table. There was quite a bit to choose from with various sliced meats, a bowl of assorted fruit, another dish with unrecognizable mush, a chunk of bread, and drinks. It was an incredible spread, and after days of jerky, water, trail mix, and magic food bricks, he couldn’t wait to tuck in. He grabbed one of the plates they’d left and started picking through the offerings.

“What were you expecting?” Dara asked as she took her seat and poured drinks for them, a popular local juice that Head Ute had insisted they try. Placing one of the filled cups in front of her, she moved the other towards Eli and started filling up her own plate.

“Oh, I dunno, maybe something like my world’s ancient or medieval times,” he absently replied while eyeing a reddish sausage before shrugging and taking a bite. He groaned as the flavor exploded across his taste buds – the hot juices almost burned his mouth, but he didn’t care. The flavor was similar to pork mixed with chicken but with unfamiliar spices. He grabbed his drink, taking a small sip to test it, and the instant hit of citrus, but with a hint of some other fruity flavor, surprised him. Like so many other details of Lurra, it was familiar yet different. He couldn’t put his finger on the exact taste, but it was definitely a form of fruit punch.

“I have no idea what that is,” Dara replied with a smirk before taking a spoonful of the beige mush. Her eyebrows quirked up as her smile grew, and she grabbed a slice of meat and swiped it through the mush like a dip.

Smiling at having his words thrown back at him, he replied, “Just a period with no electricity, before a lot of our modern inventions. We don’t have a complete written record of many places, and some of their technology is still a mystery, but most people think of that time as backward and harsh.” Spooning a bit of the mush onto his plate, he tried a bite but grimaced at the bitter flavor. “Not my thing, I guess.”

“More for me,” she said with another smile before spooning the rest onto her plate. “So you think we’re backward and harsh?” she continued before dipping another piece of meat in the bitter mush.

He paused, the piece of sausage halfway to his mouth as her words registered. Frowning and putting down the food, he considered his own feelings. “Damn, I guess I did. Outside meeting and getting to know you, I can’t say I got the best first impressions with the cultists and then running into those bandits. Now I get to see the other side of things with this town and room, which definitely defies my earlier assumptions.” The tasteful décor and quality craftsmanship spoke for themselves. “I really need to check my assumptions at the door,” he finished with a slight headshake.

“This town and room aren’t the best representations of our world. In the capital, this would barely be fitting for even the poorest Gifted, and more likely a well-off Talent would stay in such a place.” She glanced around the room with a discerning eye. “Still, Head Ute has done a good job filling the space with decent pieces. Presumably from his family, if I don’t miss my guess.”

“Huh, something to look forward to,” he smiled, imagining what kinds of wonders this world had to offer.

“We should probably talk about what happened out there,” Dara said from her side of the table, a seriousness creeping into her voice. Her smile had disappeared, and she seemed overly focused as she stacked a few slices of meat on a thin piece of bread, making an open-faced sandwich.

He nodded soberly, images of the kneeling and bowing people and the two beaten guards suddenly sharp in his mind. Various reasons popped into his head, like his tiredness after no sleep, the nightmares he’d had, and the fact that he was in a new world where people kept trying to kill him or his friend.

He pushed such thoughts aside and met his friend’s eyes instead, trying to bow in apology like she’d shown him before. “I’m sorry. I said I’d let you handle it, and I screwed that up almost immediately. I let them get under my skin, and I didn’t give you a chance to step in. There are reasons I did what I did, but no excuse.” He picked up his drink and slumped a bit down in his chair, taking a sip while thinking back on the last handful of days. “This is your world, and I’m a bit lost. I reacted without a lot of thinking, which really pisses me off. I’ve dealt with enough shitheads like that over the years that I should know better. I don’t know why the people reacted like that, though, going full prostrate on me! It just shows me how different this world is.”

“Eli?” Hearing a different tone in her voice, he put his drink down and focused back on her with her shoulders slightly pulled in, no longer the brave, strong warrior he was used to seeing. “I understand what you’re saying, but it’s not only your mistake.” She looked down. “I also didn’t act well at the gate. I thought I was ready to take the lead and take on the voice of a junior Gifted. I couldn’t believe it when that ungifted tried to touch me; the sheer audacity seemed to shock me from crushing him as he deserved.” The sudden flash of anger in her eyes promised a different result if something like that ever happened again.

“Dara, it’s okay. ‘No harm, no foul,’ as we’d say back home. There’s another saying where I come from, ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.’” He laughed, thinking about who’d coined the phrase. “I can’t say I completely agree with that idea, but there’s a nugget of truth in there. So let’s get stronger now by learning from these mistakes. So how about you and I chat about what happened back there?”

“I will try," she said before her posture relaxed again. Picking up the sandwich she’d made, she folded it like a New York-style pizza slice and took a bite off one side. Her head tilted slightly to one side like when she was thinking of something crazy he’d said, but she finally nodded. “I agree that talking about it can only help. What happened is in the past, so there is no changing it. I will only train harder once we get home.”

“Right, agreed. I know I lost control of my aura, and I’m sorry again. I’ll be sure to practice my control more. That being said,” he trailed off, remembering the sight of dozens of people bowing or groveling in front of him. A sick feeling hit his stomach, but he couldn’t forget the rush of power he’d felt earlier and swallowed. “What happened back there, Dara? My aura exploded out over the city, and it felt like it covered that whole part of the town. It was strange that I could almost feel the buildings and the people nearby as it spread, but then everyone dropped to the ground. I’ve never seen anything like it.” He shook his head slightly, eyes distant, as he thought about it again.

“You issued your challenge,” Dara replied as if it was apparent. “I know you have said you do not have a god, which would mean you can’t be a Blessed, but I can feel your power even after our practice last night. I have been around other Blessed in the Capital and recognize it, and so have others. When you extended your aura to cover such a wide area, you showed your power, and by doing so, you challenged those nearby to respond. Everyone had a simple choice: show proper respect or be seen as challenging you, which would be begging for a swift end. The reasons for their actions are clear when you also consider that your aura seems to promise inevitable death.”

“You said something about my aura’s feeling before. Is mine that different from others?”

“Eli,” Dara said, putting down the remains of her sandwich and giving him a look. “I know you don’t seem to understand your power, and I’ve seen you try to minimize it. I don’t know what your world was like or how you are as powerful as you are, yet your strength is undeniable. The sooner you realize it, the better we’ll all likely be,” she finished and picked up her sandwich to take another bite.

“Alright, I guess I can see that,” he said. Thinking about Dara’s assertions, he turned the idea over in his head. He already recognized that he had some particular blinders in this world. Whether that was his ego or some other form of Earth-centric thinking, he hadn’t thought of things from the local perspective, but he was here, not on Earth, and this was his new reality. “I’ll admit that I’m still surprised by my capabilities, but I’m the odd person out in this scenario, so I’ll shut up about it. Maybe being around more people will teach me something about how things work here, and I won’t go around being shocked all the time. That would be stupid.”

He sighed, counting the days he’d been here, but was surprised when he only got to four. Well, five if he included a day for Lugh. “So, what’s the next step?” he asked. “You said your father’s place is a day from here?”

“Yes,” she said with the hint of a smile. “It is west of Herria, up the only road into the foothills. The road should be safe with the traffic it gets. That’s the only way to get to some hunting grounds where many rich resources are in the northern foothills and forests. We should make it home before sunset if we leave early in the morning.”

***

He woke slowly to a bright light and beeping sound that was really annoying in its high-pitched monotonous tone. Even with his eyes closed, the light hurt his eyes, and he tried to move away, but his body felt sluggish to respond. Eli opened his eyes slowly, almost painfully, as they started watering from the pain. On his right, a big square window let in the offending bright light that sent splinters of pain into the back of his retinas. The pain contrasted sharply with the peaceful view of a small grassy hill with scattered trees under white puffy clouds that kept each other company in an otherwise bright blue sky.

“Oh, thank god, he’s waking up! Eli, can you hear me? Are you in pain? Doctor?”

Startled by the strangely familiar masculine voice that intruded on his pain, he tried to turn his head towards the sound, but his body ignored him. He struggled to move, but he was again a prisoner within his dreams and trapped inside a fleshy vehicle with no way to steer. Looking out from his own eyes, he could only watch as the scene unfolded.

“Grandpa? Where am I?” he heard his voice say and couldn’t help the swell of emotion that erupted at his grandfather’s presence, even trapped as he was. Papa looked the same as he remembered, down to the perpetual fuzzy whiskers and the familiar kind smile as his grandpa took a seat beside his bed.

“Shhhh, Eli. It’s okay.” His grandpa patted Eli’s hand on the bed. He was in an unknown hospital room hooked up to some device that kept beeping, but he’d never been in a hospital room like this. It could have been pulled out of an old movie, complete with an old TV playing some show on mute in the background. “You had us worried for a bit. That was quite a scare you gave us. How’re you feeling?”

He looked down at his body, or what he could see with the blanket pulled up, but there wasn’t much to see. His feet formed two small bumps in the covers, but they looked strange, barely halfway down the bed. His grandpa patted his hand again, which looked strange – his grandpa’s hand was much larger.

A couple of adults rushed into the room and looked excited as they checked his vitals, futzing around with the machines. An older woman in an old-fashioned white nurse’s uniform said something to a man in a white lab coat, but it became difficult to follow. His head felt strange, like someone had stuffed it with cotton, their words shifting to sound more like the adults from an old Charlie Brown cartoon. With no help there, he looked back at his grandpa’s eyes, his face – a face he hadn’t seen in decades.

You look just like I remember. I thought I’d forgotten what you really looked like. I know that pictures are pictures, but they don’t capture you. Not really. The life in your eyes. The way your forehead does that crinkling thing when you’re worried. I’ve missed you so much. I want to hug you. Why can’t I move?

Struck by the life in his grandpa’s eyes, little details he’d forgotten were revealed, like how his forehead wrinkled when he was worried or the smell of his cologne that Eli had always associated with safety. He struggled to open his mouth, to move, if only to tell his Papa how much he’d missed him. There was so much to say and so many questions to ask. He wanted to feel safe just one more time, but he was trapped, unable to even cry at the ache in his heart.

“It’s okay,” his grandpa continued, absently patting Eli’s hand. “Don’t worry, you’ll be okay. Your mom, dad, and Abi are waiting for you outside, and we’ll be here when you wake up.”

They’re all dead. This isn’t real. Who is doing this to me? I can’t do this. I have to get away!

Straining, he imagined lifting his arms, curling his toes, or even blinking his eyes – anything to move, but he might as well have been a disembodied mind with how little he could affect the world around him.

The light dimmed as if a cloud had passed before the sun outside, and his eyes grew immensely heavy. He tried to fight against the darkness as the hospital room shifted into a slowly shrinking tunnel but was pulled under again.