Mat awoke suddenly, finding himself staring up at a blue sky. Wind gently brushed past him, cooling his warm face down. He found a long white coat covering him, almost like a blanket. He started panicking when after looking around. Below him, far below him, was the ground. For some reason, he was in a tree branch. Near him, leaning against the trunk of the tree, was a pretty blonde girl. Her hair lightly swayed in the breeze, but she didn’t awake. A name came to mind as he saw her. Spring. The last thing he remembered was going to Evie’s room. After that, there was nothing. Slowing his breathing, he slowly took the coat off of himself and crawled toward the girl. She was wearing a cute blue top with a pair of shorts. The white coat likely belonged to her, although the heat made it unlikely that she wore it around often. He wondered for a moment where he currently was, but knew that was pointless to think about. He would find out until he spoke to somebody.

  “Excuse me.” He said, trying to get the girl’s attention. He worried for a moment that she might be injured, but she awoke seconds later.

  “You’re awake.” She stated obviously. “How do you feel?”

  “I’m fine.” Mat said. “Do I know you?”

  She gave him a comforting smile.

  “We met yesterday. You seemed a bit out of it though, so you probably won’t remember. My name’s Spring.”

  So, he was right. That left the big question.

  “I’m a bit unsure of where I am.” Mat said. “I think I may have blacked out yesterday because some stuff happened and I wasn’t thinking clearly. Could you tell me where London is?”

  She gave him a strange look.

  “I’ve never heard of London before.” She said. That was surprising to Mat. Not only because it was one of the most famous cities in the world, but also because he doubted he could have gotten that far from it. Maybe Spring was some hermit that was out of education? He doubted it, however. Instead, he asked the only question which might allow him to orient himself.

  “Where are we?”

  “The city of Destol is a couple of hours that way. If you’re talking about country, then you’re in Kandala.”

  Those were both made up names. Yet the girl was so convincing. Before he could make his thoughts known, she spoke again.

  “I have a theory about what happened to you, but I need to talk to somebody first.” She said. She smiled at him warmly. “Don’t worry! I won’t allow anything to happen to you.”

  Mat didn’t feel much better after that warning. She crouched on the tree trunk and got very close to Mat. She put her hands out in a carrying gesture and looked at him.

  “What are you doing?” Mat asked.

  “If you want to get down without dying you need me to carry you.” Spring said.

  “You’re joking.” Mat said.

  “Unless you want to climb down by yourself?”

  After looking back down, Mat decided against it.

  “How are you supposed to get either of us down if you’re carrying me?”

  “Trust me Mat. I can get you down safely.”

  Mat sighed but agreed, allowing her to pick him up. She must have been quite strong, as she didn’t even seem to strain under the full weight of a human man. Then she did something unexpected. She jumped.

  ***

  Spring enjoyed the rush of falling to the ground, but it only lasted a couple of seconds. Spring’s legs took all the impact, but it didn’t hurt in the slightest. Mat, who was lying in her arms, was screaming. Opening his eyes a moment later, he looked shocked to still be alive.

  “What the hell!”

  “Calm down.” Spring said. “I told you I would keep you safe.”

  Despite that, Mat looked fearful.

  “How did you survive that drop?” He asked.

  “I’ve advanced to Silver rank.”

  Mat looked at her blankly.

  “Look, let’s get to Destol, I’ll talk to my master, then I’ll explain everything to you. But I need to speak to him first.”

  “Fine.” Mat said.

  ***

  As they were walking, Mat felt his stomach drop as he heard the sound of footsteps behind him. He turned around, but nothing was there. Maybe he was just being needlessly paranoid. Hadn’t Tom said that about him the previous day? Mat was starting to think he might be right. Spring was chatting about her mum’s food and how great it was, when Mat heard it again. He turned around again but again nothing was there. Not wanting to seem like an idiot in front of Spring, he didn’t say anything. The noise came again a minute later; except this time Mat didn’t turn around. Instead, he just moved his eyes glancing behind him while barely moving his head. At the edge of his vision, he saw a hairy green creature sneaking up behind them.

  “WHAT THE HELL!” Mat screamed, turning around. Spring immediately sprang into action, diving behind Mat and blocking him from where he had seen the animal.

  “What was it?” She asked. Even though she couldn’t see anything, she appeared to take his cry seriously.

  “I don’t know! It was big and green. I only saw it in my peripheral vision.”

  “Crap.” She said. “Stay close to me. Like really close.”

  Mat heard the footsteps circling them now, like something was eyeing them up. Mat saw a bright flash and when he looked back to Spring he saw a fiery sword in her hands. She was clutching it tightly, her hands shaking slightly. Her dark purple eyes met his and Mat could see genuine fear in them. A sound came from the side, Spring pouncing on it instantly. Light shone from her flaming sword and she plunged it down. Blood spurted out from seemingly nothing, covering Spring’s face. If whatever it was felt pain though, it didn’t let it show. No screams came from it; rather they came from Spring. She was thrown onto the ground before Mat, deep gouges in her face. That didn’t stop her though, as she pushed herself back up. The sword was gone, but she hadn’t given up. Mat felt like he should help, but he didn’t know what he could do.

  ***

  Spring fought through the pain, getting to her feet again to continue the fight. Giving up wasn’t an option; less so now, since she had somebody to defend. Mat would be helpless without her. The Garnlax would take great pleasure in toying with him before slaughtering him. And it would be a slaughter. Pain shot through every inch of her body with each movement, but she had to ignore it. She stumbled toward the Garnlax, shooting daggers at its new position. Her senses hadn’t been dulled, and she could hear its breathing. How had she let it creep up on her like that? All but one of her four dagger hit home, but the Garnlax didn’t make a noise other than a slight grunt. Spring knew, no matter how hard she fought, she wouldn’t win this fight. A Garnlax would be a challenge for a strong Emerald ranker on the cusp of advancing to Ruby. She was still at Silver. They were dead. She manifested her Sword of Eternal Flame as the Garnlax charged at her. If she was lucky, it would impale itself on the sword, which might wound it enough to make it flee. When the sword was knocked to the side, she knew it wasn’t to be. Looking around, she saw Mat was missing. He’d taken the distraction to flee. Spring couldn’t blame him; he would be terrified. All she could hope was that he would make it to Destol. Without a guide it seemed unlikely unfortunately. Her last hope, as the monster strangled the life out of her, was that Mat would somehow make it. Then her death would mean something, instead of being a stupid, reckless decision made by a stupid girl who thought herself more powerful than she was. Eritandellion would be disappointed when he learned of her death. The world then went black

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  ***

  Mat watched from behind a tree as the animal strangled Spring. She looked like she had accepted it. If she couldn’t fight it off with whatever that sword was, what chance did Mat have? None, he knew, and yet here he was, about to let himself be killed. Taking a deep breath, he clutched the rock in his hand tightly before sneaking up to where the back of the creature should be. When he felt like he was right by it, he raised the stone and slammed it into the body. The rock shattered on impact, and Spring’s body was dropped. He heard footsteps running around near him. They didn’t get further away; rather it felt like it was circling him like a shark would. Mat ran over to Spring, seeing she was still breathing. He searched her body but couldn’t find the sword on her. He was defenceless, and the creature knew that. Looking around frantically, he saw the slight ruffle of a plant as whatever it was ran through it. Running was useless, he knew, and fighting would be even more useless. He didn’t do either. Instead, he curled his body around Spring, hoping that she might survive this. Maybe, if he looked defenceless and scared, which he was, the creature would let him go.

  “Please save me.” Mat whispered. “Oh God please save me.”

  Warm breath slid down the back of his neck as death approached him. Funny, Mat thought, I don’t feel scared anymore. Strange how accepting one could become when death came for them, no matter how afraid they had been beforehand. He still feared death but accepted his fate. As he curled his body more around Spring, he felt something sharp. Slowly moving his hand, he felt what could have been a knife. He slowly grabbed it and wrapped his fist around it. His acceptance of death vanished instantly, and all he wanted to do was live. He turned and it one fluid motion rammed the dagger into the creature. He remembered how futile it was when the creature seemed to almost laugh. A huge, clawed hand ran down Mat’s chest, ripping into it.

  “Spring.” He pleaded, praying the young woman would get up. She didn’t. He threw himself over Spring as the dagger was ripped out and thrown in her direction. Instead of hitting Spring, it shot directly into Mat’s back. Why had he done that? He was almost certain that wound would kill him.

  The creature grabbed his back and pulled him backward. Suddenly, the invisibility stopped and the creature looked at him. It reminded Mat a bit of the Gruffalo, except with green fur and the purple spikes were black. Its teeth were sharp and shiny, and its face was grinning maliciously at him. Sweat ran down Mat’s face, dripping onto the floor. The creature’s breath stunk like death itself. Given how it likely hunted for food, that wasn’t a crazy assumption.

  As it was about to kill Mat, a fireball shot out of a nearby tree, hitting the creature in the head. It dropped Mat instantly, turning to face the origin of the fireball. Backing up, Mat saw that the green fur on its face was now smoking black. Stopping when he reached Spring, Mat made sure she was still breathing. She was, although blood was pouring out of several wounds on her body. Debating what to do, he decided to rip part of his shirt off wrap the wound up in it. After multiple rips, his shirt in tatters now, the blood had stopped flowing out. As he looked back at the creature, he saw a man holding a sword, cutting its head clean off. The man was wearing a black cloak, which was now stained red, and his face looked… old. Shockingly old given how agile he was. The man walked toward them, scanning Mat with his eyes. Pain in Mat’s back flared up from where the knife still sat. Falling to the ground, he no longer found the strength to keep himself going. The last thing he saw was the man bending down to look at him as the world turned dark.

  Mat awoke sometime later, lying in a bed. It had all been a dream. Of course it had been; monsters didn’t exist. He was confused, however, that the room wasn’t his. It didn’t belong to anybody he knew, in fact. As he looked around, he saw Spring, the girl from his dream, reading a book on the other side of the room. How could she be here? She wasn’t real. When she glanced up and saw that Mat was awake, she shot to his side.

  “You’re okay!” She said. “I was so worried about you.”

  Mat looked around, checking if anybody else was in the room, but they were alone. Why had she been worried about him? She barely knew him.

  “You were?” Mat asked.

  “Of course. My master said that you were badly injured and might not make it. I’ve spent the last two days fretting over what would happen to you.”

  It didn’t sound like she was lying.

  “I guess I was quite hurt.” Mat admitted. “I thought I might be able to help.”

  “I know. My master told me. He said that while he was fighting the Garnlax, you tended to my injuries.”

  “Well, I guess. But that’s just what everybody would do.”

  “Why were you still there though? You could have tried to escape while it killed me.”

  She was right. Mat had known that at the time.

  “I couldn’t leave you to die.”

  Spring gave him a warm smile as she gently touched his hand with hers. Her hand was soft and nice.

  “Will you tell me what happened before my master arrived?”

  So that cloaked man had been her master. That was something to remember. Mat agreed and told her everything from his perspective. She listened silently, keeping her hand on his. When he finished, she sat silently for a moment.

  “Thank you.” She said eventually. “You saved my life several times. I… I should go and get my master. He can explain the situation to you. I think you’ll like him. Maybe when you’re better, we could hang out together?”

  “That sounds nice.” Mat said, smiling weakly.

  A few minutes later, the same old man walked in, though he was no longer wearing his black cloak. He was now wearing a suit, although without a blazer, with a waistcoat. Spring didn’t follow him in, which Mat found himself a bit sad about.

  “Good afternoon. My name is Eritandellion.” The man said. Now that he was standing in the light, Mat could make out his face. He was much older than Mat had assumed, looking to be at least in his eighties, with a short well-trimmed beard and purple eyes. Like Spring’s eyes. Eritandellion’s looked much more aware however, taking in everything around him in seconds.

  “I’m Mat.” He thought it only polite to introduce himself.

  “I’m aware.” He said. There was a long pause as Eritandellion walked slowly toward him, sitting on the chair by the bed. Mat sat fully upright, trying to seem respectful. Eventually, Spring’s master spoke again.

  “You did a very brave thing. Most would have run for the hills if given the chance, even if somebody would die. Spring wouldn’t have blamed you. Instead, you almost killed yourself to save my student. I owe you for that. If you hadn’t, then she would have died long before I arrived.”

  “I was only doing what was right.”

  Eritandellion glanced at him but didn’t comment.

  “I have some explanations to make. The first will be the most shocking, I’m sure. You’re not from this world.”

  Mat would have laughed if he hadn’t already experienced several things that were impossible where he came from. Animals couldn’t go invisible, and humans couldn’t create flaming swords out of nowhere. Humans also couldn’t survive falling at least fifty feet out of a huge tree. None of it could make sense of Earth.

  “How do I get back home?”

  Eritandellion sighed.

  “You can’t. There’s no way that we know of to get you back. Whatever brought you here wasn’t from this world.”

  “Well it wasn’t from mine.”

  “It could have been some type of accident. Maybe the multiverse has blips like that. Still though, it’s suspicious.”

  Mat thought for a moment about his predicament. How sad was he about this really? His life back home was miserable. Nobody other than his close siblings cared about him. University was difficult, and his grades had dropped slightly. He wanted to get home to let his family know he was okay, but other than that he had nothing to live for there.

  “What can I do then?” Mat asked. “I can’t just go back to my studies.”

  “You could try and get into a field of studying, like the academy of Toh.” Eritandellion said.

  “Toh?”

  “I should explain. I assume everybody was the same back home?”

  “Well not the same but -”

  “But you’ve never seen a Sword of Eternal Flame before, eh?” The old man chuckled, coming off less like a beast of destruction and more like a grandfather. It was scary how he could be like this, and also chop an animals head off.

  “In this world – and in most, in fact – there is a thing called Toh. Well, we call it Toh here, others call it magic or mana but it’s all the same.”

  Mat recognised those two words.

  “How you use it is cycling it through your body and the atmosphere around you. That allows you to use your powers, which are determined by your family, your personality and the environment around you. By cycling consistently, training your abilities and fighting monsters, you can advance, making you more powerful. That’s you’re only way home. If you advance to a high enough rank, you will be able to travel across the multiverse.”

  “I don’t come from a magical world though.” Mat said. “Am I just powerless?”

  “No. The only thing you’re missing is the family aspect. Your personality, the environment and the mana in the air will grant you something. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was rather unconventional, given your trip through the multiverse.”

  They sat in silence for a while before Eritandellion spoke again.

  “I understand this is a lot to take in. I’ll leave you to think.” Eritandellion turned and walked through the door. Before closing, he poked his head in once more.

  “One more thing,” He said, “Since I owe you one, I suppose I could train you, if that is your choice.” Then he was gone.