I lost track of how long I knelt in the street. It was only Sun’s supportive arm pulling me from the ground that brought me back. Anyone who wasn’t caught up in the manic outpouring of shock and grief looked upon my friend with surprise. The leather ensemble, coupled with the full body tattoos was unusual, but not unheard of in Brighton.

“Come on,” she urged. “Time is running out. Your wargs were whining at the door.”

I met Amir’s eyes and gave him a weak wave. He looked just as lost as I felt, pumping on the chest of the dead man, with no help coming. Honey was furiously scratching at my front door as we reached the top of the stairs to my flat. Mrs Atkins had been waiting and opened the door for us.

“What’s all the commotion?” she asked, carefully shooing my dog away so her paws didn’t get caught.

“Someone was hurt,” Sun answered for me.

I allowed myself to be led to the sofa and took the mug of tea before sitting down, still in a daze. My mind had short circuited as I tried to imagine how many lives had been lost, and how many more would fall before we succeeded or failed. Bart had said there was a price to pay for respawning, and it turned out that was the theft of another’s lifeforce. How had it felt, I wondered. Sitting, or standing, or laying there one minute, then snap, lights out. Maybe that was exactly how it felt, like flipping a switch. Was it just their remaining days, or their very soul?

I shuddered, spilling hot tea on my lap that I didn’t even feel. Honey went to work, cleaning me up, but I just stared at the TV and the muted news. Marco was content to curl up at my feet, looking up at me periodically in the hope of a treat. The banner rolling along the bottom was picking up on the mysterious deaths, while the anchor’s mouth bobbed with unspoken speculation. The screen changed to car crashes, raging fires tearing through houses, bodies just laying where they had fallen. In the back of my mind, I recalled the flight bans that had been put in place worldwide following some attempted hijackings. Quite where the crazed passengers had hoped to flee to, I wasn’t sure. At least their grounding had possibly prevented tens, or hundreds of flights from just crashing into the land or ocean. As that thought played out, I considered trains, and buses, and my brain fizzed again, refusing to acknowledge the collateral damage that had taken place across the globe.

“So, dearie, where do you live?” Mrs Atkins asked Sun. “Are you a local girl?”

“No, not local,” replied my friend, who was staring at me with concern.

“How did you and Mark meet? I thought the American girl was enough, but you young folk these days get greedy. Polygon or something you call it?” Her hands tapped out a tune of clicking needles as the wool joined into a familiar pattern.

“You mean, polygamy, Mrs Atkins,” said a voice from my bedroom doorway.

I bounded from the chair, startling both my dog and the dog-sitter. “Cris, you’re up?” I blurted, hurrying over to her. “Come and sit down. I’ll make you a bad coffee.”

Mrs Atkins held up a thick arm in protest. “I’ll make her a good coffee. All milk, just the way my son loves them.” She dropped the knitting and bustled into the kitchen.

“I thought we might’ve lost you for a moment there,” I explained. “You were away with the fairies.”

“I was a bit overwhelmed that it was all over to be honest. Who’s this?” asked Cris as I sat her down.

“You don’t recognise her?”

Cris shook her head as she studied my barbarian companion.

“That’s Sunlith. She’s helping me in the worlds.” I sat next to Cris and took her hand which was trembling. “Do you remember what happened to you?”

“I…” her voice quavered. “I remember the tutorial. I remember the pain. Somehow I got through it, but I lost count of how many times…” she couldn’t finish and her eyes glazed over.

“It’s ok, I know what you mean. What happened when you were taken to the orc world?”

She took a steadying breath and continued. “I arrived in a village that was in the middle of a fight. The orcs were eating people.”

“You met Romund?” I asked.

Cris became aminated at the mention of the name. “Yeah, that’s their elder! We loaded up a load of grain and moved out. I ended up being chased off by some massive wolves, and then I just wandered for a while. I eventually came across a place of magic and freed the wizards within.”

“The Timeless Tower?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “You saw it too?”

“We went there. Did you fight the golem?”

She frowned in confusion. “Golem? I didn’t see a golem. The entrance sensed my magic and opened up for me. I found them all on the roof, just standing there. It was bizarre.”

“You freed Ilfred and the others?”

“I did. We joined together and went to war. It was utter chaos, fighting from town to town, then the wall, but eventually we took the mountain.”

“You killed Gutrender and Alwyn?”

She rubbed at her eyes, as if the memories were painful to see. “No, the army as a whole managed to take the goblin king down. It was a slaughter on both sides. As for Alwyn, her disappearance was a mystery. We thought the greenskins had taken her prisoner, but there was no sign of her in the caves. I was pulled out of the world before Ilfred could continue to search.”

My own head ached with the dual timelines and how wildly they had diverged. Alwyn was still free to carry out her nefarious schemes on Cris’s version of Kherrash. I had to hope that Ilfred and Milton would have her measure when she finally made her move. Moving on, I hadn’t missed her choice of fighting style. “You went spellcaster?”

“I did. It turned out to be a good choice as we magnified each other’s power in the world. I’m not sure we’d have won otherwise. There were so many of them.”

“Tens of thousands. It was just as hard in my world, but we got it done.” I envied her a little for having the power of magic at her fingertips, but then realised she would struggle to go toe to toe in melee combat. We both had our strengths and weaknesses.

“What class did you pick?” she asked.

“Paladin.”

“Armour clad righteous warrior,” she replied with a faint smile. “It suits you.”

Mrs Atkins returned with a mug of frothy coffee that reminded me of a latte. “There you go, dearie,” she said, handing it over.

Cris sipped at the froth, and her gaze strayed to the TV. I quickly turned it off. I didn’t want her dealing with the ramifications of her deaths in the worlds, especially when we were about to dive right back in.

I quickly changed the subject before she could ask questions. “What world did you pick for the second choice?”

“I picked the happy land again. It seemed the only sensible choice.”

“I picked it too. Let’s hope the others had the same thought.”

Sun tapped me on the shoulder. “Mark?”

I already knew what she was going to say. The timer was nearing two minutes, and I kicked myself that I’d spent most of the hour attending a self-pity party on the fucking tarmac. Honey and Marco were a frenzy of kisses and sniffs at all the people who were in their normally empty lounge. I gave them as much of a fussing as I could before the one minute mark.

“We’ve got to go now, Cris.” Turning to Mrs Atkins, I said, “Look after them. We won’t be long.”

“You do what you need to do, dearie. I won’t be going anywhere.”

I wouldn’t be so sure of that, I thought, wondering if there was a cosmic raffle taking place in the alien ship and when my neighbour’s name would crop up. I gave my dogs a peck on the head, then did the same with a giggling Mrs Atkins.

“What was that for?” she asked.

“Just a thank you for being a superstar. We won’t be long.”

“I’ll be right here,” she confirmed, starting a fresh row on my scarf.

“This world terrifies me,” Sun admitted when we climbed onto the bed. “Everything is so square and sterile. I don’t think I saw more than three trees in all the time I was looking outside.”

“There’s a whole park out back,” I replied. “I’ll show you next time we’re here. I’m hoping they give us more than a single poxy hour too. Wankers.”

“Yes, they are wankers. Where are we going?”

“Somewhere fun,” I said, settling my head to the pillow. Cris joined us and lay at my other side.

The seconds counted down, and everything faded to white.

**********

At first, I thought I’d woken up in a sauna. The air I breathed was so warm and thick with humidity that there was no other explanation. I looked up into the lush green cover of the trees above me, and then to the stunningly colourful ferns and wildflowers all around.

I was definitely not in a sauna.

Sitting up, the sweat that had already formed on my brow started to trickle into my eyes. I wiped it away with the back of my black adventurer shirt. The description of the fairy land gave no indication they were located in the tropics, so I opened up my quest log.

“No fucking way!” I gasped, and instantly chastised myself as the jungle around me rustled with covert movement. I checked my minimap, but all I could see were the yellow dots of neutral critters.

Quest – Uncover the secrets of the prehistoric outbreak and bring it to an end (World-Main)

Description – The dinosaurs have risen once again. They must be sent back to the depths of history or the people of this planet will be history instead.

Reward – Celestial Affinity

I refused to believe that of all the available worlds, the majority of my peers picked the one teeming with dinosaurs and god alone knew what else.

“Bart, are you there?” I whispered, standing up and checking all around me for signs of a trail. For anything at all other than colour and heat.

Unsurprisingly, he didn’t appear in the non-blue zone, but a voice erupted inside my head.

Mark, can you hear me?

I came close to crying out in fear as I whirled around, kicking up the moist. crushed vegetation with my feet.

“Bart?” I whispered again, realising he was in my head.

It’s me.

“How can you talk outside of a safe zone?”

Because they have broken the rules, I’m playing the same game now. I’m sorry I can’t come to you personally, but we’ll talk like this from now on. Or until they somehow put a stop to it.

“What’s going on?”

Things are a little fraught inside my home.

“What do you mean?” I asked, barely even a whisper this time.

They think I don’t know, but they faked your telepathic selections. I’m ninety-nine percent certain the majority of you picked Happy Happy Fun Land, with Prehistoric Pandemonium coming in almost dead last.

“Then why am I in a bloody jungle? Your bosses set the rules!”

Because they want to break you. They’ve picked one of the harder worlds for you, not that the others are easy, of course. They’ve seen what dinosaurs can do and want to put you in the thick of it. We barely managed to convince them to put you in at the start of the outbreak, rather than when the entire planet is under their control.

“How’s that possible? Why won’t your leaders do something?”

They aren’t as invested in your future as we are.

“Wankers,” I grumbled.

Masturbators, indeed. They’re also preparing to upscale the difficulty so you don’t just tear through each of the later worlds.

“Why?”

I don’t know exactly. They just don’t want you becoming, how do you say it on your world? Overpowered?

“That’s just in games. They do realise the types of things we’re going against, don’t they? I’m pretty sure a T-Rex or a fucking Lich-King will be just fine without them messing around with things. I had good skills and spells on the orc world and look how much I still struggled.”

I know, Mark, believe me. We’re still trying to wrest control of the narrative from the other faction. They have the ear of the leaders at the moment.

“If they’re in control, how are you speaking to me?”

Our technology is beyond your understanding, remember. It’s not just matter and time we can play with. We are masters of telepathy.

“So they’ll be listening in on you?”

No. They chose in person briefings before because they could monitor us. This way is secret. Our minds are our own.

“Was it you I spoke to once Gutrender was dead?”

No. That was a copy of me, communicating a message from my competition. They snared a few more withdrawals by pulling that stunt.

“I was nearly one of them,” I admitted. “Why are they trying so hard to kill us off? Did we not do as you asked? Didn’t we save Kherrash?”

You did. As to the why, I can’t give you an answer as I don’t have one. They never wanted you spared in the first place, so it’s not as if much has really changed on their side. I think they’re a little worried that, even after this, you’ll still wipe out half the galaxy.

I had to give them that. “They’re probably right. But if that’s really the case, why not just teleport back to our timeline and pop our world before we blast off? You’re godlike beings, for fuck’s sake.”

We are, but even we have rules to abide by. Our intervention can be ordered only once.

“Bart, that is the most convenient of all god powers I’ve ever heard of. It sounds like something that would belong in a shitty game-lit book.”

I can only tell you the rules of our intervention, not how or why they exist.

Another thought occurred to me. One that I was nervous to receive an answer to. “Bart, am I in danger from your competition?”

Not that I’m aware of. Not directly, at least. As long as you stay the course, you should be outside of their reach.

“Should is not very certain, mate. I was hoping for a straight no.”

Keep on fighting with the same heart you’ve already shown. Sway them to your side. Few of us could’ve dreamed of the bravery you and the others have already shown.

“It sounds like an uphill battle, if I’m being honest. What if they’re never satisfied with what we do?”

I could feel the psychic reflection taking place a whole universe away.

They will be. I’ll make sure of it.

This was getting us nowhere “Ok, Bart. Any advice?”

Follow the markers and follow your gut. It hasn’t steered you wrong so far.

“And what about my gear? I assume this is a modern world? Do you know how stupid I’m going to look clomping around in a set of full plate?”

The armour will adapt to the world. Some of your weapons won’t.

“Ok, at least I won’t look completely ridiculous. Where’s Sun? She volunteered to stay with me.”

I felt the same hesitation.

“What is it?”

They’ve locked her behind a quest. I don’t know which one or when you’ll get it, but she’s in limbo, waiting.

“This is fucking bullshit!” I hissed. “Are you fuckers always going to be throwing obstacles in our way? If so, what’s the point of even trying?”

I understand your frustration, believe me. I’m doing all I can to undo all their tricks and bullpoop at my end.

I rubbed at my sweat soaked face and sighed. It wasn’t Bart’s fault. In fact, the only reason we were still a species was because he had taken a chance on us. In reality, Sun coming with me hadn’t been guaranteed anyway. It was only her loyalty toward me that dragged her from her world in the first place. If I’d taken a different path and not asked for her assistance from Randulf, she would still be the dungeon master, or, more likely, lying dead in the ruins of Pitchhollow.

“I’ll keep on keeping on, mate. It’s just frustrating to have the goalposts moved every ten minutes.”

I know. One other thing that I have managed to secure will have you a little happier.

“I’m all ears.”

Cris will be joining your party. When it was explained that they were going to make the worlds harder, I fought to have a joining function added. The others will need to pick at random, but you have the advantage of already knowing her.

I was stunned. “Holy shit! Thanks.”

You’ve still got a long way to go. A friendly face was the least I could do.

“Why’s she not here with me right now?”

I’m not sure. I’ll go and investigate. The option was supposed to be implemented upon arrival.

“It’s a massive relief, Bart. Having someone who understands what I’m going through will be amazing. You’re not so bad for a world killing alien.”

I do try. Stay the course, Mark. You’re already a hero on one world. Now make it two.

I felt the psychic equivalent of a phone handset being dropped back into its cradle as he withdrew. I actually felt far more confident now that I could call on him whenever I wanted to. He was my godlike, old-man-skin-wearing, genocidal, comfort blanket.

The previously dense jungle seemed to retreat a little as my stress level reduced marginally. I had the overarching quest to complete. Now I needed to compartmentalise that into small chunks.

“I’m only stopping a dinosaur invasion,” I said to the trees. “Piece of cake.”