** Tracy's Arrival **
After riding for only a few minutes she decided that she would rather walk the bike to better enjoy the night. Hopping down she switched over to the other side of the road where she would be walking facing the traffic. Soon she was away from the lights of the town and feeling the cool breeze against her face. As she walked she listened to the crickets making their whirring sounds and the crunching sounds her shoes made. The stars were standing out bright and hard for her to look and marvel at. Happily she pushed her bike along and thought over the night. She had fun, it had turned out to be a good night. A slight mist was starting to form in the fields that lined this section of the road. At this time it was just a wisp here and there but she knew that in a bit it would thicken up. Then she could pretend that she was walking the English Moors alone and for the fun of it she may even throw in a werewolf. She laughed at herself and thought, I have got to get some professional help. That thought just made her laugh even more.
She noticed after she quit laughing that all the crickets had gone silent. 'Oh goody, my laughter has scared all the crickets'. Then without a warning a sharp pain got her in the ribs. "Ahhh uhhh." Was about all the sound that she could manage as it was hard to get her breath. Staggering she got herself a bit more off the road so she would not be laying in the road in case she passed out. It sure felt like she was fixing to. A strong vertigo sensation hit her forcing her to let go of her bike and drop to her knees. Her bike fell over with a crashing sound but she never heard it. Her eyes had already closed and she had already faded into dimness, then nothing at all.
Tracy slowly partially opened her eyes. Sunlight filtered in through her dark lashes. Oh no she thought! Daytime! Mom is gonna be worried about me and pissed to boot! With a bolt she sat up and immediately regretted it. With her head swimming she quickly laid back down. After a few seconds the dizziness went away and she slowly sat up. Confusion poured over her as she looked around. She was definitely not where she had been last night. In fact she had no idea where she was. Nothing looked familiar at all. With panic setting in she looked around for her bike, it was nowhere in sight. Standing so she could get a better look she saw something in the grass beside where she had been. It was a bow, it was beautiful. Bending down she picked it up and marveled at its light weight. It was made of some kind of wood she had never seen before. Well at least it looked sorta like wood. Sort of... It was an odd color that was kind of dark with a slight green tint to it. The bow string itself was black and she had no idea what it was made of. Giving it a test draw, it pulled medium and smooth. She liked that feeling and the bow felt balanced and well made. Then she noticed etching that looked like fancy scrollwork running down each side of the bow - beautiful. That was when the quiver full of arrows caught her sight. The quiver looked to be made of hand-smoothed leather and it had a strap made of the same so it could be slung over her shoulder. Pulling out an arrow she saw that it was made of the same stuff the bow was made of. The feathers it sported from the nocked end were brilliant in color. One red, one green, and one a deep purple. With her mind firmly off her situation she could not resist. Nocking an arrow she drew and let fly. WOW, look at it go! With not much of an angle the arrow flew true to about a hundred yards before coming to rest. No way, she thought. But she had seen it with her own eyes.
Then reality hit again. She still had no clue as to where she was or how to get home. Slinging the quiver over her shoulder she took a better look at her surroundings. Soft rolling green hills met her sight along with a beautiful blue sky. She noticed that the blue coloring was slightly off from what she was used to and butterflies alit in her stomach. Ignoring them and pushing them away she set off to get the arrow she had released. It was as good a direction as any plus she saw a slightly bluish haze in that direction that may be a lake or something.
Chapter 4: RASHNAR
** Phillip and the Krones **
Phillip had been walking for a few hours admiring the beauty of the place he had come to. He knew that he would need food, water, and shelter if he was going to live and get by. Every once in a while he would hear shuffling sounds close by. A few times he even caught sight of the source of the sounds but it was just quick glimpses. He was being followed, and it was more than one person that was following him. Taking a careful look around to be sure no one was looking he removed the staff from his pouch and triggered it. Now at its full length he began using it as a walking stick. It gave him comfort to know that now he was prepared to defend himself if the natives were hostile. As he walked he knew the mostly unseen persons were getting braver and closer but he chose to ignore them. As the sounds became louder Phillip found himself breaking into a light sweat, more from nervousness than from the warmth of the sun shining above. As he came into a small lea between all the hills he heard a shout and the tumult of running feet. Spinning to his right Phillip saw three creatures rushing directly at him waving their furry arms. Fear and dread shot through his heart. He was under attack! Quickly noting that they were much shorter than him he decided just to keep them at a distance to where they would be unable to get to him. Maybe if he could just drive them off they would leave him alone. As the lead one closed the distance Phillip stuck his staff out and jabbed it into the stomach of the creature, then side stepping let its own momentum carry it to his right. Quickly with drawing the staff from his first parry he spun and put the staff into the second ones gut while catching the third along side its head. Pulling back a few feet to add some more distance for safety Phillip set up in a defensive stance. He had no idea what these things were but it was obvious that they were angry now. They were only about Four and a half foot tall, but they looked stout and strong. Plus the fact that there were three of them, Phillip hoped he would not have to get to rough, as they were not armed. Uncoordinated charges kept coming as they kept rushing him one at a time. In each case Phillip just kept jabbing them and side stepping. He was starting to tire so he decided to start using more force to try and deter the creatures and bring this to an end. With the next rush Phillip swung the staff into the gut of the attacking creature and was greeted with the sound of a grunt and air being forcefully expelled. The short little critter doubled over in apparent pain. Phillip taking advantage went on a brief attack and took out the other two in similar fashion with the same results. Breathing a little heavy he leaned on his staff for some support, while watching them to see what they would do next. It did not take long as one spoke in a strange language to the other two in a harsh sounding voice. They separated encircling Phillip and then charged!
** Jack, Phillip, and the Krones **
The sun appeared to be normal and seemed to follow the same path and time frame that he had known for seventeen years. All that made Jack feel much better. The water that Jack saw turned out to be a small lake. By the time he reached it he had been walking for a couple of hours with the lake disappearing from time to time as he went up and down the hills that were growing much smaller in size. Upon reaching the small lake he looked at it dubiously trying to make up his mind if he should he drink from it or not. He was pretty thirsty after his hike. Just as he made up his mind to brave the water some sounds caught his ears. Turning to hear better he determined the source of the sounds to be coming from behind a small grassy knoll near him that had an embankment. Crouching low and holding the scabbard against his body with his left hand he hurried toward the sound. The sounds became louder and clearer and it sounded as if a fight was taking place as he could hear smacks followed by grunts of pain.
When Jack was able to get a clear look he was surprised by the scene that greeted his eyes. There appeared to be a teenage boy with a long silver stick holding off three odd looking creatures. They looked kind of human but short and stout. The arms were a bit longer than a regular person's arms would be. They were also a bit on the hairy side, not ape hairy, but hairier than people should be. All three were dressed identical in shades of brown. Every time one of the creatures r
an at the young man the silver stick would flash with incredible speed and strike the creature. Jack saw that was what was producing the sounds he heard with the creatures doing all the grunting. Standing there he witnessed a charge by all three from different directions at the same time. To Jack's amazement the other young man planted the end of the pole on the ground and smoothly vaulted over the surprised man things heads and landed safely outside their circle causing them to run into each other and fall in a tangle of body parts.
When Jack recovered from the sight of that smooth move he broke into laughter because it was awful funny looking. Hearing the laughter the dark haired youth spun in Jacks direction and crouched low while tucking the silver pole under his right arm and holding out his left arm. At the same instant the little men untangled themselves and crawled crab style a short distance away.
"WOW." Jack said while raising his hand in a wave. "That was awesome!"
The dark haired youth cautiously straightened up and relaxed a bit, but warily eyed the sword at Jacks side.
Now to late, Jack realized that he did not know anybody from Adam in this place. He gently laid his hand on the hilt of his sword but did not draw it. "Hey, that was quite a show you put on there. Nice moves. What are those things that you were fighting with anyway?" Jack asked cautiously trying to size up the situation.
With a motion that happened so fast Jack could not even begin to follow it the long silver pole vanished and in its place was just a small silver thing that the young man tucked into a leather pouch that he was wearing.
Staying where he was the youth said, "My name is Phillip. I have no idea what those things are. If it makes you feel better, they started it. They had been following me for a few hours, then all the sudden they rushed me and tried to take my pouch. All I was doing was defending myself and trying not to hurt them too badly. You know, just trying to make them give up and leave me alone."
"We are the Krone," a voice from beside the boys said. Startled the boys turned quickly to realize that all three of the beings were standing only a few feet away from them. "We were not attacking you. Well, not at first. But you struck us! You left us no choice but to strike back. We knew that you are a stranger to our lands and we did not want you to injure yourself. We were rushing to aid you."
Phillip looked curiously at the Krones and asked, "Injure myself on what? Aid me from what? You're not making sense. I was just walking along and you three started it."
"Permit us to show you." The Krone then turned as one and walked toward a small dark green plant with bright red heart shaped flowers. Pointing at the plant the Krone explained, "This here is the Danga plant. If you get close enough it will shoot small thorns at you. If even a single thorn strikes you it can kill you. But for one of your size it may just make you very sick for a few days. It is very poisonous. They are rare but they do kill unfortunate ones every year. They are more common on Rashnar where we are now. But the plant can be found all over Kantura. So you see we were not trying to rob you, but lead you to safety."
Humbled and abashed Phillip replied, "Uh... Thanks. I'm sorry I hit you all. I just thought... well you know what I thought. It just looked like you were trying to grab my pouch."
Curious Jack asked, "What is Rashnar and Kantura?"
"Our apologies, we forgot you are not from here. Kantura is this world; Rashnar is the largest land on Kantura. Krae, which you are not on right now is the second largest land on Kantura." the Krone explained.
Abruptly turning his back to Phillip and Jack, the speaking Krone addressed the other two. "This is good, this one looks to have great fighting skills and the other one looks to be a warrior. We were unarmed but I do not think that would have made much of a difference in the outcome. Though we saw no magic this time it does not mean there is none. We shall wait, we shall see." Turning back to face the boys he gazed up at them. "You need to be on your way now. There is another that you need to meet here in Rashnar and time is growing shorter. Urgency is not in the air as of yet, but the time is nearing. Please be off."
The three Krones walked away as one not even appearing to notice the boys hail of questions.
** Jack and Phillip Meet Tracy **
Realizing that no more of their questions were going to be answered Jack and Phillip fell silent as they watched the Krones move out of sight around the hillock. Curiously they sized each other up.
"Rashnar? Never heard of it. Have you?" Jack asked Phillip.
"Nope, not me. I take it you are not from around here either? Uh... I mean you did not know what those things were either. By the way what's your name since you know mine now?" Phillip asked.
A troubled look brushed his features and Jack replied, "I'm Jack, and no I am not from around here. I keep expecting to wake up and find that this has all been a dream."
With dawning realization Phillip, who had already begun to add things up asked Jack, "Did you uh... by any chance keep hearing a voice telling you that we need you before you woke up here?"
Ducking the question Jack responded, "You know there is a lake just back there. I am thirsty as anything and could use a drink; you look like you might need one to. Want to see the lake?"
Letting the question go for now Phillip decided not to push it since Jack seemed uncomfortable with it. "Sure, lead the way my man."
Jack turned and started walking back the way he had come being careful to skirt well away from the Danga plant. Phillip followed behind him. As they cleared the mound and looked toward the water both saw that they had more company. From this distance they could not make out what their company was so they decided that stealth was prudent. As they drew nearer, walking softly they were able to tell that whoever it was, was human. They were also very thirsty because they were busy scooping water from the lake with their hands and drinking it. Jack stopped and looked at Phillip and pointed to the right and motioned that he was circling left. Phillip nodded that he understood and crept off in the indicated direction. Jack debated whether he should draw his sword or not and decided against it just in case the person was friendly. Even though both he and Phillip had noted the bow and arrows the person had with them. What happened next was a surprise and a blur. They had both made the mistake of thinking that the person was not aware of them. Before either one of them could react and go for their weapons the figure sprang up with bow in hand and had an arrow already drawn. The point of the arrow kept dancing back and forth between Jack and Phillip. Startled they both now saw that it was a girl and she was a beauty. Dismayed, though, they both realized that she had the drop on them with a deadly weapon and it looked like she knew how to use it.
"Your a girl!" Jack blurted out.
He was rewarded with a look that by all rights should have vaporized him on the spot.
Sheepishly Jack slowly raised his hands in the air and an embarrassed Phillip followed suit.
In a soft voice Phillip said, "We mean you no harm. Do you speak English? Are you from anywhere around here?"
Letting the tension ease from the bow and slightly lowering it, but keeping the arrow in place, the girl replied, "Yes, I speak English, but no I am not from around here. Are you guys from around here?"
Relaxing a bit from no longer being aimed at Phillip slowly let his hands down and answered, "Well, my name is Phillip. Neither one of us are from here either. I mean before I woke up here the last thing I remember was being sick to my stomach and passing out in the woods of California."
Jack also relaxing and dropping his hands put in, "I was jogging in the park near my home in Florida, I got a bad cramp and got sick to my stomach. Then I guess I passed out. When I came to I was here." Jack then eyed the lake thirstily. "Hey, did the water taste all right?"
Feeling much more at ease Tracy placed the arrow back in her quiver and reslung her bow. "Well hey there Jack and Phillip, I am Tracy, and it looks like we are definitely not in Kansas anymore. Me, I'm from Maine. I was walking my bike home from the movies last night, and then I got real dizzy, m
y stomach cramped up, then I passed out. Now here I am. I have been pretty much walking around all day spooking myself with thoughts of dragons, ogres, and all sorts of nasty monsters. So when I was drinking and heard you two, well... let's just say I am glad you two do not look like trolls. I am also very happy to meet you both!" With that Tracy held out her hand in friendship. "Oh, and in answer about the water even though I am a mere girl it tasted just fine, yes that sarcasm is directed at you Jack."
Grinning and relieved both Jack and Phillip walked over to Tracy to shake her hand. Jack grabbed Tracy's hand, it felt soft, warm, and she had a firm hand shake. Nice. Before Tracy broke the contact Phillip's hand joined in. The contact between the three of them felt much like a very powerful jolt of static electricity.
"Ow!"
"Hey!"
"What the...?"
Mixed comments issued from all of them at once and they quickly pulled away from each other.
Off in the distance unseen by the three teens the Krone stood on a small hill top looking on. "It has begun." The one in the middle simply says...
** The Shandaha **
"Oh my..." Tracy said softly.
She was looking at a point behind Jack and Phillip. The look on her face told the boys that she was not looking at the hills that they had all come through. Turning around to see what she was looking at they, at first, could see nothing. Then as they looked closer they could now see a shimmering area in mid air. It was approaching them. Jack drew his sword halfway out of the sheath while Phillip reached into his bag and pulled his staff but did not trigger it. For some odd reason they did not really feel threatened. The shimmering air came to a stop about five feet in front of them. As close as they could describe it, it would be like looking at one of those heat mirages that you see near the surface of a road on a hot day. But this one was upright and you could see through it. The bottom of it was about 6 inches above the grass with the top ending up close to seven feet. It was shaped kind of like a very thin stretched out oval.