We emerged from a dark antechamber into a large open room. Natural light filtered through the stained glass windows set high up in the walls, and candles rested in small sconces evenly spaced along the walls, casting a warm glow on everything.

  The room was large, though not nearly as large as the one with the goddess statue. There were paintings of various scenes on the walls, which I assumed were depictions of moments and stories important to the faith. I was immediately struck by the thought that I wasn't on Earth anymore.

  There were at least twenty desks arranged in four long rows. Each of them had a robed person sitting at them, quill in hand, scratching away at what looked like scrolls. I saw that Naya, who was dressed in blue and white robes today, floating from table to table, checking in with the various scribes, who were all dressed in the simple brown robes she had been wearing when I first met her.

  When my staff thumped against a chair, she looked up. Her face split into a broad smile. "Bonan matenon, Alex!" Her melodic voice echoed in the quiet hall.

  “Morning, Naya!” I waved back. When I saw a man’s head perk up in the center of the room. He glared. I shrank into myself. It felt like I broke library etiquette.

  The older priestess guiding us walked across the room to a desk on the far side of the room. Turning back to me, she beckoned for me to follow. It took me a while to get there, limping as I was between the narrow aisles between the twenty or so desks in the room, but I got there eventually. When I finally made it, the priestess patted me on the shoulder, offering a word of encouragement that I didn't understand but could totally feel. It was comforting.

  Looking down, I saw the man sitting at the desk staring at me. He was older, maybe around fifty, with long greying hair that he pulled back into a ponytail and a full beard. His skin was deeply tanned, and he was rather handsome, with a look that was shockingly similar to George Clooney.

  As I considered him, his eyes slowly broke away from me, back to the scroll on his desk. He scribbled a few sentences on the page as I watched. His handwriting was neat and efficient, and he wrote with practiced precision. It was impressive. I couldn't remember the last time I had handwritten much of anything, and here this guy was writing with a feather better than I ever had.

  When he finished, he placed his quill in a nearby holder, blew on the page, and rolled the scroll up. He placed the scroll into a sack hanging from a hook on the side of the desk, wiped his hands on a damp towel, and took a deep breath. Only then did he look back up at us.

  His eyes were brown, each of which had dark rings under them, but they sparkled with energy. A golden ring adorned his ring finger, and he had an amulet around his neck like the other priests and priestesses, though his stone was black. With a smile, he nodded his head and spoke. "Bonan matenon, patrino," the man said in a strong baritone.

  "Bonan matenon, Arden. ?i tiu virulo estas unu el la postvivantoj ni trovas. Mi volas, ke vi parolas kun li," the priestess said in her singsong accent.

  "Certe, patrino." The man stood up and walked around the desk. The priestess gave him my hand. The man took mine in his and shook it firmly. "Hello, friend. I'm Arden, a priest here at the temple. I'm pleased to meet you."

  I nodded. "I don't under... stand..." I didn't realize what I heard at first. However, the gears slowly clicked in place. "Wait, you speak English?" It had been a while since I heard someone speak anything I could understand. I wasn’t ready for it.

  "I do, though not as often as I'd like anymore, doubly so with a native speaker. It's amazing how fast our native language fades when we don't use it often." He smiled and shook his head. "I'm happy to have the opportunity to practice again with a native speaker."

  "Native? What do you mean?" A couple of the brown-robed people in the room lifted their heads and glared at us. I apologized with my eyes. I was never great in libraries.

  "I'll explain in a moment. First, let's get out of here and stop disturbing the others." He pointed to the far wall. "Come, my chambers are in the south wing. We can talk there." He turned to the priestess, bowed respectfully, and said, "Dankon, patrino. En la lumo." Then, he turned and walked to another door set into the far wall, opened it, and beckoned to me. I limped my way forward until I entered the doorway, which led to a long hallway identical to my own. We passed several doors on either side, then entered a door set into the left wall.

  The room was slightly larger than mine, with a large bookshelf on one side, a desk next to it under a small window, and a small bed along the opposite wall. There was a small table set against the wall that framed the hallway.

  "Sit," he pulled out one of its chairs. "Would you like anything to eat? Fruit? Nuts?"

  "No, thank you. I'm not hungry." I was, but it didn't feel comfortable enough to take the man's food. I didn't know how much food they got here in heaven.

  Arden smiled at me and brought several bowls of fruit and nuts to the table anyway. "So, I'm sure you have a million questions." He popped a round purple fruit into his mouth.

  I sat down and mindlessly pulled a few of the fruits off their vine. Popping one into my mouth, I savored its flavor. It was kind of like a grape, but less sweet. "Yeah, I do, but I don't really know where to begin." I thought for a while, but the words didn't come. Luckily, he was nice enough to wait while I figured my life out. "So, is this heaven or what? Because I got it in my head that that's where I ended up."

  Arden laughed. "No, we are not currently in heaven. This world is generally called Reial by its inhabitants, though the different races, before adopting common, used other names. Part of what I do here is translate their words for posterity."

  "This world? Like, we aren't on Earth anymore?" I had a feeling already. It wasn't terribly surprising considering all the weirdness I'd experienced over the past few days, but it was still felt a little comforting to hear it. I wasn't crazy.

  "Yes, as far as anyone is aware, the world we are on is not Earth." He paused and popped a large grape thing into his mouth, clearly enjoying the flavor. "But, there are some things here that are the same. Many animals are the same, or similar, like the goats that I'm sure you've seen outside your window. Many plants are the same, and the sky is nearly the same color blue. In many ways, one could be mistaken for thinking this is Earth at first glance."

  "Is there a reason why that is?"

  "The dominant theory is that it isn't just humans and the like that get called here." He paused to eat another grape, then continued. "Plants and animals seem to be called as well. There are plants and animals in Reial from the many worlds the various races once called home."

  "Races? Like dwarves and elves?"

  "Exactly. However, there are many, many differences. Chief among them being the stars are different, and there isn't a sun."

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  "Wait, what?" I said, choking on a nut that looked and tasted a lot like a Brazil nut.

  "Yes. From your reaction, I can assume you haven't seen it yet, but there's a tower in the center of this land. On top of it is an orb that is the source of light in this world. Every day, it alternates between glowing brightly during the day and going out at night. I'm sure you'll see it soon. It's in the center of the continent. You can't miss it."

  "Wild."

  "As you noted, there are many races other than humans here too. Many of them would be familiar to you since they frequent the legends and stories back on Earth."

  "Okay, so Naya really is an elf? And is Renard a dwarf?"

  "In the common tongue, yes."

  A thought occurred to me. "Naya was embarrassed about her ears. What was that about?"

  "She's normally good about keeping them covered, but she and Tristan often treat you at night. She must have forgotten to cover them."

  I blushed at the memory. "Yeah, about that. What did I do wrong?"

  Arden laughed, then answered, "The elven empire of Nolei is to the far east, past the nation of Deneir in the center of the continent. Our kingdom, Istaera, has been in a... cold war, I guess you can call it, with them for a few hundred years. There is a lot of prejudice on both sides, but the prejudice toward elves is strongest here since we are closest to their lands. What's worse is, for elves like Naya, her people have retreated deep into the forests and have little power anymore. In fact, an entire faction of elves left the lands of light in the past few centuries. As a consequence, elves are often taken advantage of, and she has a history. Thus, she covers her ears."

  "I had no idea." That sounded a little too much like home. I felt bad for Naya.

  "You wouldn't know. It's simply part of life here." He paused and ate a few more grapes, giving me time to process things.

  "What started it?"

  "Well, there are at least two stories. One is that Nolei attacked Istaera when the Noleian Empress Alaida eloped with King Hendry in 5E 54 under the pretense of a diplomatic gathering. The other is that Hendry captured the Empress during said meeting and forced her to sire his children. Either way, she died in childbirth, and Emperor Elauthin never recovered. Hendry died of unknown causes, his children disappeared, and today, the heirs to both Nolei and Istaera are lost."

  "Damn, that's a lot." History was always one of my favorite subjects. It was my minor before kicking some guy's ass for touching a drunk girl at a party. If I really was in a new place, there'd be a lot more history to learn.

  "What else would you like to know?"

  "Okay, so I'm on another planet—"

  "World. It is unclear if Reial is a planet, but the evidence points to it being flat."

  "So I'm in a different world. With different physics. And a different language."

  "And monsters."

  "And monsters. Wait, what?"

  "Monsters. They form from stagnant mana. It's a major job in this world to keep that from happening. If we don't, the sun will go out."

  "Stop it." What the shit.

  "Yep. The Sun Orb, and the other eight smaller towers that form a ring along Land's Edge, or the Reach as some people call it, rely on the free flow of mana to function. There's a big wall that acts as a boundary between the known world and the Wilds. The whole system is fueled by the world's mana. If it gets choked up, the orb goes out. It happened once. Wasn't good, apparently, but that was early in the fourth era, when a being who called himself the 'Dark Lord' formed. Not many people know about it though."

  A glimmer of a thought floated into my head. "So is that what the eight-pointed star represents?"

  "Yes! The goddess descended in the first age and tasked the elves to build the towers to bring light to the world. In doing so, she gave the people here hope, or so the story goes."

  "Don't you believe it?"

  He paused for a second before popping a few nuts into his mouth. He chewed slowly, obviously thinking. "I don't really know if it matters. Either way, what is, is, and I'm here to record it."

  "Aren't you a priest?"

  "Well, sure, but faith doesn't have much impact on what I do. Our magic works with or without faith, and faith has no bearing on my ability to copy old texts. I suppose I'd like to believe, at least because that means I'm here for some reason and not by chance. Thinking that way makes losing my wife and kids a little easier to bear."

  That took me aback. That sounded horrible. "I'm so sorry."

  "Don't be. It's been many years, and I've found a new life. I recommend you do the same."

  I nodded. "I'll try. But what about me being here? Could that be chance?"

  "I have no idea. Humans aren't native to this world. Well, few races are. Even the elves have stories about their original world. However, every year, more people arrive from other worlds. Those people are called travelers."

  "Does everyone have a... dramatic entrance like I did?"

  "Some do, some do. Usually, people arrive after accidents or near-death experiences, at least for us humans. The other races seem to have different experiences when they are called. If people aren't found and helped, most will die again, but some survive, like you and me. That's part of what the church does. We receive visions when people are called, and we do our best to find them."

  I paused for a while, trying to arrange my thoughts. "So, what do we do here? What's the point?"

  He laughed, then simply said, "That's the question, isn't it? My opinion is that it's simple. We survive. Just like back home. I assume you were American by your accent?"

  "Yeah. Midwest. You?"

  "Michigan."

  Holy hell. "My man."

  He laughed. "You know how back in America there was the idea that you could be or do anything if you tried hard enough?"

  "Yeah, that myth of meritocracy bullshit. Totally."

  "Exactly. It was bullshit there, but it's somewhat true here." He fingered the amulet around his neck.

  "Explain."

  "Well, you can become much stronger here than back home. More skilled. More knowledgeable. Whatever you might want, if it's a thing that aligns with your nature, there are ways to pursue your interests. That isn't to say there isn't the same bullshit, and in some ways, the hierarchy is more strict here since some people are stronger than others. But, the hierarchy is based on things other than only wealth, which is a plus. Stuff gets shaken up more."

  "So what, can we become superheroes here or something?"

  He shook his head. "Yes and no. It's kind of like this game I played before I went to the army. You fight monsters, do stuff that relates to your classes, and complete quests, and you get stronger. But it's not just fighting. In fact, most people don't really focus on adventuring or monsters or any of that. Some people master trade skills, while others focus on status and wealth. It varies. You just have to do something to impress the system, and it decides what you'd be best at by giving you a class. That's the hardest part. And since we aren't from here, we aren't born with racial classes, so we get the distinct pleasure of starting at zero."

  "Damn." This was crazy. "So, how did you end up here?"

  "The church found me, just like they found you three months ago—broken and face down at the side of a road, vultures eying me like a holiday meal. Mother Varga brought me back here, healed me up, and gave me the choice of where I'd go next. I felt like I owed her, so I stuck around. Learned the language through interacting with them, began copying their books to learn more, then fell in love with this world and its history. I felt like I finally found my purpose, and I still feel that way today, even if I still think about my family from time to time." He smiled as he spoke. "The Goddess saw my efforts and rewarded me with the scholar class."

  "That's awesome, man. I'm happy for you. Except for your family, that's terrible. But... good?" I stumbled over my words. How the hell do you navigate this kind of information? Then his words hit me... "Three months?! No wonder I look like shit!"

  "Yeah. Healing superficial and fresh injuries is relatively easy, but you'd been lying in the road for at least three days before Tristan found you. You were nearly dead." His perpetual smile faded a bit. "If it weren't for Renard, Varga, and Naya's strength and Tristan's diligence, you'd be dead twice."

  "Holy shit." I thought about what he said, then asked, "Who is this person that Tristan saved me?"

  He smiled. "My star pupil. Sulky, but has a big heart. The Goddess spoke, and Tristan answered the call. You'll meet soon, I'm sure. If it weren't for them, I don't think we'd be talking right now."

  "What about you? How were you when you were found?"

  "Back then, Varga was a junior priestess like Tristan is now. She found me in a ditch in Llyn, the closest city to Light's Hope Temple. She carried me here on her back and personally healed me. I wasn't so bad off as you, but I wasn't in great shape either. Took me a few months to recover."

  I let all of it sink in for a moment. Another question popped into my head, and I couldn't help but ask. "What happened to you? Back home, I mean."

  His mouth twisted, and a distant look crossed his eyes. "I was a marine in Desert Storm. A bridge collapsed. The last thing I remember is falling into a river. You?"

  "I got struck by lightning. Twice."

  He laughed. "That can't be all. I mean, not that that isn't enough, but you were so torn up when Tristan found you."

  "Well, a tree I was hiding under exploded. And my Pathfinder sank."

  We continued talking and laughing, steering to lighter topics, like how a tree exploded with me next to it and if America was still in the Gulf War.