“No! No!”

  Krovane was thrown hard to the ground, struggling against the fierce bite of the two strange squirrels clamped onto his left wrist. He panicked and flung his arm wildly. He screamed, rolled, and grabbed one of them.

  Krovane pulled with all his strength, argh! A tearing pain ripped across his left arm and he knew he was hurt.

  He hurled the beast to the side.

  He then slammed the other one again and again until the grip on his wrist loosened, and he finally managed to break free.

  Both beasts let out a loud, piercing scream, their mouths open wide, showing rows of sharp teeth. Their leaf-like tails glowed green, slowly spinning like tiny helicopter blades.

  What are these creatures, argh!!!

  Krovane clutched his aching left wrist.

  He forced himself to back away, searching for footing, glancing in every direction to find a way to escape. He did not want to fight these beasts. But… where was he! He did not recognize this place at all.

  He was in the middle of a forest, completely unfamiliar. The last thing he remembered was his body being pulled into the mirror… and then being tossed through the void until he was thrown here.

  The two beasts screamed again as the glow on their tails brightened, and then they launched something. It happened so fast, a burst of green energy shot from their tails, and Krovane instinctively raised both arms.

  UGH! Krovane was blasted backward, his body rolling wildly across the rocky ground, pain spreading through every part of him as he tumbled again and again.

  Another impact hit nearby, not directly striking him, but spraying dust and gravel across his face, making it hard to see.

  Krovane fumbled, scrambling to get up. Whatever this was, he had to run. He tried to stand as the two beasts prepared to unleash another attack.

  Krovane forced himself to run, rushing backward as another attack shot toward him. He instinctively dove to the side, hitting the ground just as an explosion burst not far from where he had been.

  He needed to run now.

  The two beasts darted toward him again, ready to strike.

  Krovane scrambled to sit up, but one of the beasts already crawled fast toward his legs. He kicked one upward, but they clung on and lunged straight for his face.

  Krovane threw out his hand on instinct, swatting one away and sending it flying to the side.

  The other shot toward him, and Krovane grabbed it wildly, managing to grip its body before hurling it hard in front of him.

  But before he could stand, both beasts launched at him again, this time incredibly fast. Krovane could not react in time as the monsters closed in, right in front of his face!

  “NO!” he screamed.

  But something suddenly stopped them.

  Strong hands grabbed the beasts in midair, a figure standing right beside Krovane. Then the person threw both beasts with a powerful motion, sending them far into the distance. Such an incredibly strong throw.

  “You look terrified, just look at your face.”

  Krovane recognized that voice.

  He turned to his right and looked up, seeing that face clearly… a boy his age with smooth brown hair and… what was he wearing? A tight leather outfit with light protectors on his chest, shoulders, and elbows.

  “Hugo?” he said. “What… happened?”

  Hugo grabbed Krovane’s hand and pulled him to his feet. “Come on, little weirdo, run first, I will explain later.”

  He gripped Krovane’s right hand tightly and pointed behind them. “We run now, as fast as we can, do not look back, we need to get out of this forest.”

  Hugo moved quickly, signaling Krovane to follow. Krovane did not think much, still trying to recover from the shock of what just happened, his legs still a bit weak. But he started running, forcing all his focus on the things around him… the rocks, the fallen branches.

  Hugo ran with incredible agility, something Krovane had never seen from this boy. How? He jumped lightly between rocks, moving fast.

  From time to time, Hugo glanced back at him with a grin. “Tell me if you are about to faint, we are almost there,” he said.

  Krovane was gasping for breath, but he did exactly what Hugo told him: run, without thinking about anything else.

  They raced past trees on both sides. Here, the trees were not too dense, giving them enough room to move between large mossy stones, with sunlight filtering clearly through the leaves above.

  They kept running for what felt like a long time, Hugo never slowing even for a second… and Krovane finally saw brighter light ahead, the trees thinning.

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  They were close.

  Hugo dashed toward the opening, and Krovane followed, leaping out with him and squinting as a burst of bright, blinding light hit his eyes.

  After letting his vision adjust, still out of breath with sweat running down his forehead, Krovane straightened himself and looked up at Hugo’s face, that satisfied grin still there.

  “Where did you get those clothes? Where are we?”

  “You will not believe it, Krov!” Hugo answered.

  “Yes, but first…” he said, still panting. “Tell me what just happened.”

  Krovane forced himself to stand upright and looked around him. An open field, dry grass stretching far. This did not look like anything he had ever seen in his life.

  Then…

  “Hi, you Krovane, you finally arrived.”

  He heard another voice calling. Krovane turned toward it and froze.

  “Who…”

  A girl stood there wearing a brown robe over green clothes, a knee-length dress, and blonde hair tucked under the robe. She pulled back her hood, revealing a face Krovane knew very well.

  “Emily?”

  Now he was even more confused… Hugo and Emily looked as if they had already gotten used to this place, as if they had been here long enough to get new clothes.

  But… they had just arrived here.

  “Yes, who else did you think I am?” she said with a wide, proud grin.

  Hugo stepped forward too, as if he was about to give Krovane the greatest explanation of the century. His wide grin showed all his teeth, and Emily had that proud look on her face as usual.

  “It is a long story, but the short version is,” Emily finally said. “When I arrived, I was alone, completely alone. I had no idea where I was, so I ran around looking for help until I met a group of merchants from the nearest city.”

  Krovane frowned at that. “That does not sound like something that happened in just a few minutes.”

  Emily continued. “They helped me, and I started learning about this world. I asked them to help search for my friends, that is what I told them. Then, exactly twenty-seven days later, Hugo arrived here too.”

  “Twenty-seven days?!” Krovane repeated in shock. “Like… you two have been here that long?”

  Hugo kept grinning and let out a small laugh. “Yeah, Krov, I know more than you, haha. You will need time to hear all of my stories.”

  “And… how many days after Hugo arrived until today?”

  “A month,” Hugo explained.

  Krovane swallowed hard. “So, Emily has been here for two months, and Hugo for one month. But can you tell me where we are? Like… is this still the same world we came from? Can we go home? Is there anyone we can ask for help?”

  Emily nodded slowly with that same proud smile. “Let’s talk about that in detail later. We should find a place to rest first,” she said, then turned behind her where something… unusual was waiting.

  Emily walked toward it, Hugo following, and Krovane trailing behind.

  It was a carriage made of hard wood reinforced with metal. And… wait… there was an animal pulling it. No, not a horse.

  It looked like a massive bull with thick brown fur and huge horns on both sides. Nothing like any animal Krovane had ever seen in his life.

  A man was sitting in the front driver’s seat, and he turned toward them. He looked like he was in his forties, with a thick beard and long brown hair.

  “Hi, you must be Krovane? My name is Davon.”

  Krovane hesitated, then raised his right hand. “Yeah, hi, my name is Krovane.”

  “Well, get in. I will take all of you to the city.”

  Hugo opened the carriage door, and Emily climbed inside. Then Krovane and Hugo followed, sitting side by side. The two of them sat together facing Emily, as the carriage had two long seats facing each other, enough to hold four to six people inside.

  After that… the carriage began to move, steady and surprisingly smooth. Krovane sat there still wrapped in curiosity.

  Emily picked up a folded piece of cloth beside her and handed it to him. “Take this. Wear it so we can blend in with the people here.”

  Krovane reached for it. It was a brown robe, looking very similar to the one Emily wore. He unfolded it and put it on with some hesitation. The fabric felt comfortable enough. Then he pulled the hood over his head.

  She then handed him a pair of shoes that looked very well made, crafted from dark leather. “Take this too.”

  Krovane took off his own worn-out white shoes, already half destroyed, and replaced them with the new pair she had given him.

  “So…” he said, looking at Emily’s face, which showed she was ready to explain something.

  But then… Krovane felt a sharp sting in his left wrist. He frowned, lifting his arm and gripping it with his right hand.

  “Ah, it hurts,” he said. But… something else shocked him, something he had not expected at all.

  His left hand…

  He stared as it darkened to a shade of black, and he could feel the skin from his fingers to his wrist growing harder.

  “What happened to my hand, am I poisoned?” he said, a little panicked.

  “No, you do not need to worry. Windtail is not a dangerous beast, and you are not poisoned,” Emily said.

  “Windtail?”

  “Yes, the green-furred beast with the glowing tail.”

  Hugo then grabbed Krovane’s left hand and pressed his fingernail against the hardened skin.

  “This looks cool. Can you shoot fire with this hand?”

  “What are you talking about?!” Krovane said, still confused by a conversation he could barely understand.

  Hugo let go of his hand, and Krovane kept staring at it, still feeling something strange beneath the skin.

  Emily then took something from her bag and showed it to him. It was a pair of leather gloves.

  “Wear these for now to hide it. I promise you, there is nothing to worry about.”

  Krovane followed her instructions, putting on the gloves while his head filled with questions he could not even begin to sort out.

  “So, Krovane,” Emily continued. “Now say Mission. You can use your mental command to call it.”

  “Mission?” he repeated.

  “Say it with purpose, like ‘show me the mission’,” she said.

  Krovane nodded, focused, and gave a firm thought: Mission!

  He leaned back in surprise when something appeared in front of him.

  Floating text took shape, forming letters on its own, a list writing itself in the air before him.

  He reached out to touch the transparent floating text, but nothing happened.

  “Only you can see it. Each of us has one,” Emily said.

  “This looks just like something from a video game,”

  “Exactly. Now read what is written there.”

  Krovane glanced at Emily’s serious expression, then at Hugo’s satisfied grin still plastered on his face.

  Then Krovane began to read the words floating in front of him.

  [The chosen ones… your path begins here. Find the one hidden in the shadows. A great reward waits at the far end of your journey…]