Miles off in the forest a bearlike beast slowly trudged through the vegetation. Its body was a hulking amalgam of muscle and fur, and atop it's back rested a muscled blonde man wearing jeans and a hoodie.
He didn't seem to have a care in the world as he rested atop the beast, his arms snugly behind his head and his legs crossed.
Every now or then a card would fall from the sky or be found lying in their path. Neither the man nor the beast acknowledged them, instead they continued walking steadily in one direction.
Towards the town where the beast could sense the presence of people.
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I followed closely behind Hugh. Night would be falling soon and I wasn't keen to be caught out in the open when the undead started to rise. Luckily he seemed to share my sentiment.
We moved quickly and quietly through the underbrush, careful not to make too much noise and stay hidden.
And not too much time passed before he came to a stop in front of me. We stood in a small ravine, stone walls on either side of us. I raised my spear defensively.
"Why'd we stop?"
He ran his fingers along the wall for a moment before leaning in and whispering something to it and turning to me.
"We're here."
The wall bubbled and popped as it began to split down the middle and move to either side.
I took a step back, "What is this thing?"
Hugh raised an eyebrow, "It's an illusion, have you never seen one?"
"No, I can't say I've ever seen anything use them. Most of what I've come across uses their teeth or claws to kill. Save for a few."
He eyed me for a moment, "Then you've been lucky."
We walked onwards through the narrow stone passage for about a mile before we came to a stone doorway with several guards standing in front of it.
They hailed us to stomp and a guard holding a clipboard walked out to meet us. He wore heavy metal armor and had a bored look on his face.
"Name?"
"Hugh."
"Code?"
"One, three, eight, nine, two."
The guard checked the clipboard, "Alright you're good. Now who's that behind you? It says you went out with Jerome today, and that definitely isn't him."
Hugh lowered his gaze, "He didn't make it. The Wendigos got him."
The guard sighed "My condolences."
"Thank you. This is Marcus, he saved me just before the Wendigos could finish me off."
The guard turned towards me with an inquisitive look, "And where exactly did you come from?"
I put on my best smile, "Well I've been lost in the woods for some time. I was just lucky enough to run into Hugh here."
The guard's eyes shifted between Hugh and me, "Uh huh. Hugh, a moment please."
"Sure."
The two of them walked through the door, leaving me standing there by myself with the remaining guards watching me warily. Which probably wasn't all that surprising. Suspicion of newcomers was a given in this kind of world. I'd hoped that having Hugh vouch for me would be enough, but it was beginning to look like that wasn't the case.
I idly poked the ground with my spear as I waited for them to get back to me. A simple precaution in case this went bad.
And after a couple minutes the gate opened a crack, allowing a small woman with long black hair to sneak on through. She wore leather armor that looked to be from one of the cat-scorpions, with a half dozen glowing gems embedded into the gloves.
"Allright what's the big deal here? The bars just opened and y'all call me away! This better be fucking important."
Well she had an attitude. It reminded me of some of my men back on earth. A rambunctious bunch, but good at the end of the day. For the most part at least.
I chuckled to myself, "You got a mouth on you, don't ya?"
She looked towards me for a moment before turning back to the guards, "Who's the geezer?"
"Geezer huh? I don't think I've ever been called that to my face."
A smile crossed my lips, "I respect that kind of brashness! You can call me Marcus."
The guard sighed, "He's why we called you here Evillyn. We need to make sure he's safe to let in."
He gestured towards me, "So if you would."
"Ugh, fine."
She walked up to me with a bored look plastered on face and held her hand up towards me. Glowing sigils began to form in front of her palm and after a short moment she put her hand back down by her side.
"Well he's human at the very least, but that spear he's holding is an artifact."
That got a reaction from the guards, with them standing up just a bit straighter and becoming many visibly unnerved.
One of them stepped closer to me.
"Where'd you get that from?"
I sighed, this was getting a bit uncomfortable.
"I earned it. I ripped it from the clutches of monsters and protected it from a greater one. Now can we move this along. I haven't bathed in quite some time, and I would really like to."
The guard looked uncomfortable, but after a moment relented.
"Very well, but I'll need you to report to the head of the town. Although he's rather busy at the moment, he probably won't be able to see you for an hour or so. In the meantime, Evillyn, can you please keep an eye on him?"
She cut her eyes towards the guard, "Why do I gotta do it?"
The guard walked over to her and began to frantically whisper to her. After about thirty seconds she relented.
"Fine, I get it! But you guys owe me for this."
With that she grabbed my arm and pulled me through the large stone door. On the other side a thick stone bridge stretched off into the distance, and a casym laid beneath.
I peered over the edge and saw countless burning feathers adoring the walls and floating wistfully through the air.
"What's going on down there?"
She glanced over the edge, "Oh, the feathers? Those things come from the phoenixes that live down there. The undead can't touch them without disintegrating, and this pit itself is nearly bottomless so it's a decent enough defense against them."
"Creative."
"They can do more, but I'm not about to spoon feed you everything about this place. Where'd you even come from anyways?"
"Pardon?"
"Oh come off it, I know you aren't some kind of vagabond wandering through the forests. Nobody can do that for too long. There's just too much room for error. So where'd you actually come from?"
I grinned, "Would you believe me if I told you I did survive out there for months?"
"Ugh fine, don't tell me, but expect my enthusiasm for this tour to wane significantly."
"Aw, and you seemed so excited."
"Oh, fuck off. Anyways, we're here."
She waved her hand and the illusion of an endless bridge faded, revealing the thriving town that was hidden underneath.
People filled the street, and magic filled the buildings. Runes and sigils were carved into just about every structure I could see, and glowing orbs of light lit the large enclosed space. People bustled between stalls and buildings alike. Aside from the magic it wasn't too dissimilar from some places on earth.
"There's more people here than I would've thought."
Evillyn chuckled to herself, "All you country bumkins are the same. This is actually one of the smaller settlements. You haven't even seen a real city yet, have you? It'd blow you away!"
"I'm sure it would."
"Well anyways, anything in particular you wanted to see?"
I smiled, "Is there a place that sells maps here?"
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Within a well-furnished office sat a desk and two men. The first was one of great stature. He looked old, but nobody could say he looked weak. Muscles bulged beneath dragon scale armor and a sword lay at his side, and on the other side of the table sat Hugh who was looking just a bit shell shocked.
His body shook ever so slightly and he kept his eyes staring towards the ground as the old man's fingers lightly tapped on the desk.
Suddenly the door opened and a guard poked his head in.
"He's a human, but he's from earth and he's carrying an artifact."
The old man rubbed the bridge of his nose for a moment before addressing the guard, "Thank you Desmond, now leave us."
The guard quickly shut the door and the old man stood up with a sigh, his chair creaking from the weight of the armor leaving it.
"Hugh, was it?"
"Y-Yes sir!"
"Do you know why this little town of mine still stands while so many others fell?"
Hugh's eyes remained on the floor, "No sir."
"That would be thanks to my grandfather, and the rules he enforced. I'm sure you know them well."
Hugh's eyes widened and he quickly threw himself from his chair and onto the ground in front of the old man's feet.
"Please my lord, have mercy!"
"Tsk, tsk. It would appear you really don't remember. The reason this town's still here is because we don't tolerate mistakes like this. You knew the risks for stepping out of the walls, and instead of living with your mistakes and accepting an easy death. You've led a monster right to our doorstep."
The old man got down on a knee next to the now crying Hugh.
"You may not know what he truly is, but you did choose to ignore the chance he was a shifter, or perhaps an illusionist. You had no way to check, all you cared about was making it home alive."
He placed his hand atop Hugh's head.
"And that's the kind of selfishness I can't tolerate."
"Plea–"
Black energy manifested beneath the old man's hand as he swiped it downwards and Hugh disappeared from the room, leaving no evidence he'd ever been there.
With that done the old man stood. He had a monster to deal with.