The task complete, she peeled off her nitrile gloves with a snap and tossed them in the biohazard bin, then stripped off the disposable gown she'd worn over her light blue scrubs. The work was unglamorous—answering phones, taking payments, mopping up blood and fluid, restocking supplies, running instruments through the autoclave—but it let her be close to the animals without anyone questioning why she spent so much time near the kennels.
Every injured animal she saw now, she felt the urge to heal with her paladin powers. Every dog with stitches, every cat recovering from surgery, every bird with a broken wing. The temptation was constant, a low hum of guilt whenever she resisted the pull to do more. But she had to resist. Dr. Martinez was sharp, she'd notice if too many animals started miraculously recovering overnight. Questions would follow. None of them could afford that, especially not when they were still figuring out what being Paladins even meant in the real world that had no idea what was going on.
So, Eden quietly did what she could without getting caught. Small things—nudges really—a touch of Lay on Hands here, a whisper of Aquatic Healing there during a bath. Just enough to give an animal the edge in recovery without raising red flags. She told herself it was enough. Most days, she almost believed it.
Rubbing in hand sanitizer, she moved toward the recovery area. The kennels lined one wall, each with a chart hanging from a clipboard on the door. Eden had a good idea of what was wrong with each of them. Part of her front desk duties involved updating patient records and scheduling follow-ups.
The scruffy terrier mix in kennel three was named Biscuit. He'd come in two days ago with a badly fractured femur after being hit by a car. Dr. Martinez had pinned the bone, and Rowan had been monitoring his recovery closely. The prognosis was good, but the healing would be slow and painful. If everything didn’t go perfectly for Biscuit, it was possible he’d lose some mobility.
Eden knelt beside the kennel. She tucked a lose strand of black hair behind her ear, then checked over her shoulder to make sure she was alone. Licking her lips, Eden reached through the bars and rested her fingertips gently on Biscuit's side. His fur was coarse beneath her fingers, his breathing slow and even under the lingering effects of pain medication.
She closed her eyes and reached for the power inside her. Not her Aquatic Healing, which required submersion in water, but the less potent healing power from the Paladin tree, Lay on Hands. It was funny to her how closely the alien system’s power resembled their own gaming mythos on Earth in both naming and capability. Delta had said that had to do with a blend of aetheric bleed over into their world along with the Nexus actively translating the system into Earth idioms that the local Paladins would more readily understand.
Silvery-white light flared between around her fingers, but Eden did herself to shield the glow from the lone security camera with her body. With the ambient glow of the overhead lights, she knew from previous experience that the light would be nearly undetectable if you weren’t looking specifically for something strange. Warmth spread from her palm into Biscuit's body, knitting torn tissue and bone, easing inflammation, and dulling the ache in his leg. Careful of the flow of her power, she held the contact for fifteen seconds, maybe twenty, then pulled back. Biscuit's tail twitched. Still asleep, but somewhere in his doggy dreams, he felt better.
"Good boy," Eden whispered.
She moved to the next kennel. A tabby cat recovering from dental surgery. Then a beagle with an infected wound that was responding to too slowly antibiotics. A cockatiel with a respiratory infection. One by one, Eden touched them and healed them just a little. By the time she finished, her hands were trembling. Not from exhaustion—she still had plenty of Unaspected Aetheric Energy, UAE, in reserve—but from the emotional weight of holding back. Of knowing she could do so much more and choosing not to.
"Still making your rounds?"
Eden nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned to find Rowan leaning against the doorframe, a slight smile on his face. He'd changed out of his scrubs and into jeans and a faded flannel shirt over a Nirvana t-shirt. His dark hair was getting long on top, shorter on the sides—he'd mentioned wanting to grow it out more. A shadow of stubble darkened his jaw, and there was something about the set of his shoulders, the way he carried himself, that radiated quiet confidence.
Eden had known Rowan since high school, back when he was just starting to socially transition, testing out his name in safe spaces, and navigating the complicated waters of coming out. His family had been supportive, which she knew wasn’t always the case, and by senior year he'd been living fully as himself. She’d lost touch with Rowan after graduation, the way people do, but Eden had followed his journey peripherally through mutual friends and social media. When she'd started working at the clinic two months ago and realized Rowan was the senior vet tech, it had felt like a small miracle. Someone who knew her, but didn’t know her. Someone from before she became a Paladin, but after she'd stopped being just another twenty-three-year-old drifting through life.
"Just checking on them," Eden said, standing and brushing dog hair from her pants. "Making sure everyone's comfortable for the night."
"That's my job, you know." Rowan pushed off the doorframe and walked over, his movements easy and relaxed. He checked Biscuit's chart, then crouched down to peer into the kennel. "Though I appreciate the help. You've got a good instinct for this stuff."
"I just...I like animals."
"Clearly." He stood, and for a moment they were close enough that Eden could smell his cologne—something woodsy and clean. "You ever think about going back to school? Becoming a tech yourself? You'd be good at it."
"Maybe.” Eden's stomach did a small, confusing flip at his proximity. “I don't know. I put so much work into my sociology degree, but then I never really considered what I was going to do with it after."
"Yeah, I get that." Rowan's expression softened with something that looked like understanding. "Took me an extra year to finish my program because I changed tracks a few times."
There was a brief pause, comfortable but laced with something Eden couldn't quite name. She'd been feeling it more and more lately—a flutter of nervousness when Rowan smiled at her, a hyperawareness of where he was in a room, the way her pulse quickened when their hands accidentally brushed reaching for the same supply cabinet. She wasn't sure if it was one-sided. Rowan was friendly with everyone. Always professional, but in a gregarious way that magnetically drew people to him. Still, sometimes she caught him looking at her with an expression she couldn't quite read, and it made her wonder.
"Anyway," Rowan said, breaking the moment, "I need to finish up and head out. Got a date tonight."
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Oh?" Eden's heart sank slightly, though she tried to keep her expression neutral. "That's...great. Anyone special?"
"Maybe? Her name's Michelle. We matched on Hinge a couple weeks ago. She seems cool—works at the bookstore in St. Helena, likes hiking, has two cats." He grinned, a little self-conscious. "First date in a while, so I'm trying not to overthink it."
"You'll do great," Eden said, and meant it, even as something uncomfortable twisted in her chest. "Just be yourself."
"Thanks." Rowan grabbed his leather jacket from a hook by the door. "You heading out soon too?"
"Yeah, just need to grab my stuff from the front."
"Cool. I'll walk out with you once I'm done here. Just need to check on the post-ops one more time."
Eden nodded and headed toward the front desk, her mind a jumble of thoughts she didn't want to examine too closely. It didn't matter if she had feelings for Rowan—assuming that's even what this was. He was going on a date with someone else. And besides, she had bigger things to worry about. Like the fact that she was a secret galactic superhero trying to save the world from cosmic corruption.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket as she gathered her bag from under the front desk. It was a text.
Pablo: Dinner with Sasha went well. She laughed at my joke about Schr?dinger's bagel. Progress?
Over the last several weeks, it had finally stopped feeling weird to be giving Pablo coaching on his fledgling relationship with Sasha. Her former high school crush and her new roommate—both of whom were also Paladins with her—dating hadn’t been entirely unexpected. They’d both been awkwardly stumbling through things ever since getting back from the lake. While, Warren, Zoe, and Eden had all had a good laugh at those first couple of cringe-filled weeks, watching them struggle and potentially screw up something special had eventually become too much for Eden. She’d been quietly trying to nudge and coax them into harmony ever since. Aside from seeing two of her closest friends be happy together, it meant the team was working better to. Now if only they could figure out what to do about Zoe. Eden shoved that thought aside for the moment, smiled despite herself, and typed a reply.
Eden: That's definitely progress. Just relax and be yourself. Stop over thinking things!
She was slinging her bag over her shoulder when her phone buzzed again. This time it wasn't a text—it was a call from Delta. Despite having access to all of the internet, the prickly alien AI, got lonely and preferred talking to the only humans that knew his true identity. Unfortunately, Delta’s desired topics of conversation could range from trivial human pop culture to examinations of current events to deep dive musings on multi-dimensional physics. More than once, Eden had fallen asleep while listening to Delta ramble on for hours.
Still Eden answered immediately. If she didn’t Delta was likely to force a connection and turn on her speaker phone to get her attention. "What's up?"
"Paladin Eden." Delta's voice was unusually clipped, urgent. She hadn’t heard him sound like that since…
“What’s wrong?” she asked in a hushed whisper.
"I am detecting an anomalous energy signature near your location. Preliminary analysis suggests spatial distortion. I recommend that you investigate but with extreme caution."
"Where exactly?" Eden asked, already moving toward the back exit.
"Approximately fifteen meters South of your current position.” She knew that Delta would have preferred to give the measurements out to several decimal places, but had learned to restrain his impulse for exacting precision when dealing with his human Paladins. “The signature is growing in strength. I am attempting to classify it now."
“You can’t—”
“—I’m trying,” Delta snapped peevishly. “I know my capabilities seem mind boggling amazing to you primitive children, but I’m still working on a fraction of my intended operational capacity. Held together by the metaphorical equivalent of duct tape, bailing wire, and positive thoughts!”
“Right, I know. I’m sorry, Delta,” she said in a placating tone. Now wasn’t the moment to lecture him on his manners. “Please just tell me everything you can.”
Eden pushed through the hallway, her heart pounding. She could hear Rowan in the recovery area, talking softly to one of the animals. She didn't want to alarm him, didn't want to drag him into this. How could she—
"Eden?" Rowan appeared at the far end of the hallway, concern creasing his features. "You, okay? You look—"
"I'm fine," she said quickly and pressed the phone to her chest. "It’s just...Pablo. He thinks he messed things up with Sasha again. Gotta talk him through it. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
“Classic, Pabs.” Rowan rolled his eyes and gave her a little smile. “Tell him I said, ‘sup,’ alright?”
“Yeah, of course.” Eden plastered on a beaming smile.
“Have a good night.”
“You too. Good luck with…Michelle.” Eden held her breath as Rowan made his way down the hall and out the back door into the parking lot. She let out a long, relieved breath as the door swung shut behind him. “Alright, Delta—”
“What are you doing?” Delta shrieked. “What part of extreme caution did you not understand?”
“What?”
“Your civilian colleague is heading directly towards the anomaly!”
She couldn’t find the words to reply, but her legs were already moving. She shoved through the back door and into the small parking lot at a run, her breath misting in the cool night air. Overhead, a single security light cast harsh shadows across the pavement. The lot was nearly empty—just her aging Honda Civic, Rowan's Subaru, and Sam's truck. She frowned. Sam, the kennel tech, had left a hour ago.
Eden scanned the area, her senses prickling. The air felt wrong; heavy and charged with energy, like the atmosphere before a storm. A pressure was building behind her eyes.
"Delta," she said into her phone. "Talk to me. What am I looking for?"
"Behind the waste receptacles," Delta said. "The distortion is stabilizing into a fixed aperture. Preliminary classification is that it’s a wild dungeon entrance."
Eden's blood ran cold. She crossed the lot quickly, rounding the dumpsters, and stopped. There was a void in the air. It wasn't a black spot, more like the absence of light, a wound in reality itself. The edges flickered and pulsed with a sickly iridescence, like oil on water. It hovered about two inches off the ground, roughly circular, maybe six feet in diameter.
On the ground nearby lay an overturned trash bag, its contents scattered across the pavement. A half-eaten sandwich. Coffee cups. Crumpled papers. Sam had taken out the trash when he was leaving. Then she saw Rowan's jacket, the one he'd had slung over his shoulder just seconds ago, lay in a crumpled heap.
"No," Eden whispered. "No, no, no—"
"Paladin Eden." Delta's voice was steady but urgent in her ear. "I am detecting residual human biomarkers beyond the aperture threshold. Someone has entered the dungeon. Possibly multiple individuals."
"It's Rowan," Eden said, her voice shaking. "And probably Sam too. He was taking out the trash maybe half an hour ago. Delta, they don’t have powers or armor or anything. They’re just…humans."
Eden stared at the void, her hand tightening around her phone. Delta had lectured them about Nexus generated dungeons three weeks ago. It had been a two hour-long presentation with slides that looked like something from a corporate training seminar, complete with a pop quiz at the end that Warren had failed spectacularly.
Dungeons were pocket dimensions within the aetheric realm. Monster-filled spaces that could take countless forms; forests, cities, labyrinths, even abstract conceptual spaces that defied normal physics. On Nexus-integrated worlds, powerful organizations controlled and sculpted their dungeons, turning them into renewable resources for training and harvesting aetheric energy.
On a non-integrated world like Earth, with its threadbare connection to the Nexus, wild dungeons could spawn spontaneously. They were drawn to concentrations of aetheric power—specifically, Nexus-registered individuals, like the Paladins.
Delta had assured them it would be months, maybe years, before they were powerful enough to trigger a dungeon manifestation. Their aetheric signatures were still too weak, too diffuse. Except Eden had been coming to this clinic five days a week for months. Using her powers on dozens of animals. She’d let her power flow, again and again, in the same location…
Oh God. Did I do this? Did I cause this to appear?
Her stomach churned with guilt. Rowan and Sam were in danger because she'd been careless. Because she'd been using her powers without thinking about the consequences. Because she'd needed to feel like she was making a difference and now—
Without Nexus integration, Sam and Rowan were defenseless. Every second she wasted, the odds of getting them out alive dropped. She thought of Biscuit, of the tabby cat, of all the animals she'd nudged toward survival because she was too afraid to do more. She thought of Mark, dead because she’d waited too long to take her Oath.
Not this time.
"I am already contacting the other Paladins. Estimated arrival time for Paladin Zoe is nineteen minutes. Paladins Pablo and Sasha are en route from their current position, estimated under ten minutes."
"Tell them to hurry," Eden said. “I’m going in.”
“Paladin—!” Delta began to stringently object.
She hung up the call. Even as it began to ring with another call from Delta, Eden dismissed her phone to her Inventory, summoned Tidal into her hand, and stepped into the void.