Taken to a New World

Another restless night, another night down in the kitchen snacking. Despite my exhaustion, my body refused to sleep for the third night in a row. So, here I was in our tiny kitchen snacking on a box of crackers, which was paired with a tall glass of milk.

I sighed, wondering if maybe there was something wrong with me. Junior year hadn't been very stressful so far, the classes were easy and my friends hadn't caused me any trouble either. Stress didn't seem to be the answer to my restlessness and I definitely wasn't sick.

I wondered how long it would be before the stairs would creak, signaling Dad's trek downstairs to go to work. Working the early AM shifts at the local convenience store wasn't ideal but it had been the only work he could find. Dad had been irritated when he saw me awake at two AM roughly twenty four hours ago, launching into a full lecture about all my "unruly behavior".

I had attempted to explain that I couldn't sleep but he didn't want to hear any of it. He questioned how I was supposed to do well in school if I wasn't sleeping. I pointed out that my grades were just fine, as they always were. He sent me back to my room to try and get what little sleep was left before I had to go to school, leaving us both in sour moods.

A few years ago I would have argued with him, I would have become boiling mad and blamed something irrelevant on my inability to sleep. A few years ago would have been before Mom passed away and before I felt as if arguing had no point to it. A lot had changed in the past few years, life always seemed to remind me of that.

I put away the box of crackers and finished my glass of milk. It was right about the time that Dad would get up, meaning I needed to get back to my bed before he caught me. I slowly trudged out of the small kitchen and into the slightly larger living room. Just as I was about to head up the stairs, a bright blue light flickered at the edge of my vision.

I frowned and turned my head to find nothing, making me even more curious. A quick look through the window revealed nothing outside that could have caused a flash of bright blue light. Had I imagined it? No, I wasn't that sleep deprived and no other lights were on in the house, I was certain I had seen a blue light.

*BANG *BANG

I jumped, the loud bangs coming from something knocking on the front door aggressively. I stayed rooted in place, at a loss for who could be at the door at this time. Was it the police or some homeless guy? Maybe the blue light had been a police car but then again I hadn't seen a red flash or a siren. There wasn't a reason for the police to be here anyways.

*BANG *CRACK *BANG

I stumbled back as the door was hit so violently it began to tear off its hinges. Was our house being robbed? If so, why had they knocked in the first place before proceeding to tear the door down? I hurriedly rushed to go upstairs but my foot caught on the edge of the couch, causing me to crash to the ground.

*SMASH

The front door soared through the air and slammed violently into the staircase, breaking into three separate pieces. What in the world could have hit the door with so much force to cause it to do that? If I hadn't fallen I could have been seriously injured or even killed by the door flying through the air with such force.

The floor creaked behind me as someone stepped heavily on the old wood floor of the living room. I scrambled to my knees and whipped my head around to find a massive figure standing in the doorway, with a glowing blue light pouring in the doorway behind the figure.

In all honesty, the figure looked like he was wearing an old-fashioned diving suit. The person's face was completely hidden by a spherical metal helmet with a small opaque window where their face should be. Not a single inch of the figure's body wasn't hidden by the suit, which included thick gloves and boots that were all plated in some kind of black metal.

"What the hell are you? What do you want," I blurted out loudly.

The figure ignored my questions, trudging slowly forward. A scratching sound brought my attention to a long cord attached to the suit which was dragging behind him. It reminded me of an oxygen tube but this cord was very thick and glowed with blue energy, unlike anything I had ever seen before. The cord went out the door and into the blinding blue light, which was so bright I couldn't stare directly into it.

I scrambled to get away but the diving suit clad figure was surprisingly quick for what his apparel was. The figure reached down with lightning-quick speed and grabbed my wrist on my right arm. Pain jolted through my arm as his grip tightened with impossible force, causing me to cry out in pain. There was no way it was humanly possible to have a grip that strong, what the hell was this guy?

The figure turned and began to drag me toward the door where the blue light was spilling through. I struggled and kicked at him but to no avail, my attacks were futile. The figure dragged me out the door and onto our small wooden porch, which I could barely see due to the blinding blue light coming from just beyond the stairs that led down to the sidewalk.

My vision blurred suddenly and my whole body was pulled off the ground entirely. The figure had lifted me into the air by my arm. Shooting pain snaked down my arm from the sudden and violent motion. I looked at the diving suit-clad figure to find it was only using one of its arms to lift me. Its arm wasn't shaking at all, there was no sign of it struggling to hold my entire weight with a single arm. What the hell was this monster, how was it so strong?

"Your life is about to change Outlander. The Upholders of Prophecy have chosen you to save Iyoria," rumbled a deep voice from within the suit.

I didn't even have time to process what the figure had just said before I was sent flying through the air, straight into the blue light. A massive pressure suddenly was brought down on my entire body, as if an elephant had just sat on me. My senses were bombarded with feelings, smells, sounds, and extreme pain. All sense of time and thought vanished from my mind, replaced by agony. My vision began to rapidly fade to black, my mind slipping into unconsciousness.

--------------------------------------------

"When are we going to wake him up? I didn't sacrifice one of my greatest warriors for us to let the Outlander sleep," growled a coarse voice.

My head throbbed, the gritty taste of sand filled my mouth, and my whole body ached. My senses came flooding back to me, bombarding me with aches, sensations, smells, and other feelings. Never before had I felt such vivid pain or feelings, it was as if someone had turned up my senses from low to high definition. A vise-like grip clamped down on my left shoulder, yanking me off the ground and onto my feet. I let out a groan as my pain spiked even further from the violent movement.

"It seems the Outlander fared worse than expected Commander Verno, perhaps it would be best to handle him gently," cautioned a soft female voice behind me.

Instead of the grip on my shoulder loosening, it tightened even further, causing me to cry out in pain as my shoulder was engulfed in agony. I forced my eyes open to see who my captors were but what I saw made my blood run cold.

The thing holding me up by my shoulder was hardly human in any way other than its shape. The creature stood on two legs and had two arms just like a human's but was slightly more hunched in it's posture. It's skin was scaly and green like a lizard and its hands sported jagged claws instead of finger nails. I could see a long tail stretching out behind it, it also seemed quite muscular by human standards. A row of jagged fins ran from the end of his tail to his forehead, further adding to his menacing appearance. The creature was also clad in light leather armor and had what looked to be a crude dagger and whip at his hip. Finally, I looked to it's face, where it lost any resemblance to a human.

The only thing I could link the creature's face to was a scaled down dragon head, it had a snout, golden eyes that had slits for irises, and a large mouth full of razor sharp teeth. It unsettled me greatly as I watched it's freaky eyes look me over in what seemed like the disgust, if I was the monster instead of him.

I took a quick moment to survey my surroundings, finding myself in a dimly lit room that's walls resembled that of a a medieval dungeon. Rusty chains hug on the wall next to torches that barely gave enough light to see the whole room. The floor of the room was covered in sand, with pieces of rubble scattered around. Whatever this place was had definitely seen better days, it looked to be falling apart.

"The Outlander is fine, Raek on the other hand is not. He emerged unharmed from the other two incursions, but your suit failed him after retrieving this worthless child. This is not what you promised Prophetess," snarled the creature that I assumed was the Commander Verno the woman behind me had referenced. I wasn't sure why they kept calling me an Outlander but I could only assume it had something to do with me being thrown through the portal. I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach that I was very far from home.

Nothing similar to this lizard-like creature existed on Earth and glowing magic portals definitely weren't the normal. I needed to find a way out of here, and fast. There was no way this nasty Commander Verno or this prophetess behind me had brought me here for a good reason.

"Raek knew the risks commander, his sacrifice to the Undeniable Prophecy will not go forgotten when history is written of our endeavors," replied the women. I couldn't see her, but this woman spoke with such power and conviction that it unsettled me. The Undeniable Prophecy sounded especially worrying, mainly because it probably had something to do with me being brought here.

My vision suddenly lurched and I was sent flying through the air, hitting the sandy ground hard and rolling a few feet. I grimaced and began to pick myself up when a putrid smell assaulted my nostrils, causing me to cough and scramble to get away from it.

I covered my nose with my shirt to try and shield myself from the scent when a rough hand grabbed my head from behind. It forced my head up painfully, its grip on my head so fierce I felt as if my head would pop like a balloon.

"Open both your eyes and nose to the price of bringing you here, you Outlander filth," snarled Commander Verno.

Worried that not complying would cause further pain, I opened my eyes wide. Only a few feet in front of me laid a smoking pile of what looked like hot tar. A closer look revealed pieces of all too familiar black metal plating, accompanied by a horrible deformed helmet that looked like that of a diving suit. My stomach twisted and I suddenly felt sick. I could only imagine how much suffering Raek went through in his final moments.

"That is enough Commander," commanded a piercing voice of authority from the Prophetess. The woman's voice had completely changed from one of neutrality to one of forbidding menace. The tight grip on my head immediately vanished. I looked behind me to see the lizard man was now kneeling, his back turned to me. Directly in front of him stood a woman who I assumed to be the Prophetess, her hands politely clasped and a bone chilling smile on her face. She wore clothes that closely resembled a nun but were mainly white instead of black. Her gown and veil had purple styling to them and matching curly purple hair spilled neatly from her headpiece. The woman looked to be quite younger, probably in her early twenties, with not a single wrinkle or mark of imperfection on her pale skin.

"I am sorry for my rash actions Prophetess Lilith. I have known Raek since I was a mere hatchling, he and I have suffered many pains together," said Verno bitterly.

Lilith unclasped her hands and extended her left hand. She then began to gently run her hand down the side of Verno's face, starting at his snout and making her way toward his right shoulder. Verno began to shake right as Lilith's hand reached his shoulder, where it stopped. I simply sat there in the sand, totally transfixed. What could a dainty little woman like Lilith be doing to make a monstrous lizard man shake like a leaf in the wind?

Lilith's arm suddenly began to glow a dark purple, the glow seemingly traveling through her veins down to her left palm. I had never seen anything like this before, what kind of trick was this? A chill went down my spine, as a realization hit me. Could it be magic?

*CRACK

Verno let out a horrible scream as the shoulder Lilith was touching suddenly twisted itself backwards. My jaw dropped in horror, the lizad man's arm twisted even further until it began to coil up into a circle, all while the sound of bones snapping and Verno's cries of agony echoed throughout the room. Lilith simply stood there with an emotionless smile, her arm staying firmly planted on Verno's shoulder until his arm was nothing more than a shredded piece of bloody tissue and bone.

Amazingly, Verno didn't move an inch from his kneeling position throughout the entire ordeal. Even now, the only sound he made was that of labored pants, no crying or screaming. I could barely look at his mangled arm, it didn't even resemble what it had once been.

"Let this be a firm reminder to you Commander Verno," said Lilith softly, with a chilling lack of emotion, "That you and your tribe serve at the leisure of not just the Upholders of the Undeniable Prophecy. To be specific the will of the Truthspeaker, Lady Zavaris. As one of her Sixteen Hands, I voice her wishes and guide those who question our purpose."

*CRACK *POP

Lilith's hand glowed purple again but this time Verno's arm began to expand instead of shrink. Slowly but surely, bones reconnected and flesh knitted itself back together until his scaly arm was whole again, as if it had never been mashed into a paste mere moments ago. I looked down to find both my hands were shaking, I could barely think straight. What kind of power was that? How was it possible to turn an arm to shreds and then make it look as if it never happened?

"Excuses and disobedience have no place in Lady Zavaris's prophecy, do not make me question your loyalties again," Lililith said calmly as she removed her hand from his shoulder.

"I will be your loyal servant, as I have always been," muttered Verno. His voice was much shakier than before, he was definitely rattled.

Verno was a monstrous lizard man, he had a dagger and a whip within grasp, and he easily towered over Lilith. Yet, he had kneeled there and complacently watched as his arm was turned into ground meat and then back again without a single act of self defense. Just what kind of organization was this Upholders of Undeniable Prophecy, and why did it inspire such unwavering devotion?

"I'm sorry that you had to witness such a unsavory act, I do try to limit myself but I couldn't have him killing you Outlander. No, if you are to be one of our Harbingers, then you must be healthy enough to complete the initiation," said Lilith.

I pulled myself hastily from my thoughts to find that she was standing right in front of me, looking down on me. A thousand thoughts raced through my mind as I stared at her cold grey eyes. This woman was a monster, there wasn't a single doubt in my mind that she could kill me right now. Every part of me wanted to run, but I was frozen in fear on the ground, shaking horribly and waiting for what she might do.

"You seem to be in shock Outlander. The same happened with the other two of your kind when we brought them through, it might be best if you get your bearings here. If I put you through the initiation now, your body might not be able to cope with all of the stress. Better if we give you some time," said Lilith, her smile not vanishing once while she talked. She turned her gaze back to Verno and snapped her fingers.

Verno lurched to his feet and quickly made his way over to where I sat on the ground. My body finally began to move a little and I slowly tried to back away from the lizard man but it was no use. He grabbed me firmly and hoisted me over his shoulder, where I struggled but failed to escape his grasp. His scaly green skin rubbed up against mine, it's roughness causing me to wind in pain.

"Put him in the cells with the other Outlanders and then begin preparations to start initiating them. We cannot remain here for long, otherwise we risk discovery by the foul beasts that lurk this region," Lilith said. Verno nodded his head and began to walk away when Lilith suddenly snapped her fingers again, causing him to lurch to a halt.

"I almost forgot to ask you Outlander, what is your name," she asked curiously.

"Grayson Monroe," I croaked out in reply

A broad smile stretched across her face and her eyes suddenly glowed purple.

"You'll do quite nicely."