“Alright. I’ll call you tomorrow after I’ve checked what’s what. After that, we can confirm our timelines.”
“Wait, Jamie, before you go... did you see the latest gnomish broadcast?”
“No, I haven’t. Why?”
“You gotta watch it. Their representative explained what the orcs, fiends, and svartalfars are up to.”
“What do you mean?” I asked curiously.
“Well, it appears that the destruction the fiends and svartalfar wreaked in Paris and Tokyo was not as senseless as it first seemed. The two races were securing the gate for their retrieval parties.”
“Retrieval parties?” I asked, confused now. “What are they retrieving?”
“Not what—who. The orcs, fiends, and svartalfar are hunting down potential magic users and forcibly abducting them. Even the gnomes and elves are aggressively recruiting, although in a more peaceful manner than their counterparts. Both the elvish and gnomish representatives have publicly offered generous rewards for any human with Magic Potential that will join their cause.”
“Why?” I asked, scratching at my beard. I had to shave, I reminded myself.
“How much of the Infopedia did you read?”
“Not much,” I admitted. “So far, I’ve only managed to get through the overviews.”
“Then you know a person’s Potential is fixed, right?”
“Sure, but what does that have to do with anything?”
“It has everything to do with it. You see, it seems magic is scarce in Overworld—rarer than a fish on dry land. All the Dominions are willing to go to war just for the chance of getting their hands on more mages. The overworlders are using this opportunity to increase their contingent of magic users by compelling humans with Magic Potential into their service.”
“How are they finding their subjects?”
“I don’t know,” said Eric. “The elves and gnomes weren’t clear on that part.”
“Alright,” I said, chewing my lips in thought. I understood as well as Eric what the implications were. If anyone of our friends had Potential for magic, it would improve our odds of survival in Overworld, but it would also paint a target on our backs.
Is there any way we can determine who has Magic Potential beforehand? I wondered, eyes narrowed in consideration. It was evident that I would need to spend far more time wading through the Trials Infopedia. If answers could be found anywhere, it was likely there.
Returning to the present, I said, “Thanks, Eric. I’ll make sure to watch the broadcast. Take care, my friend.”
“Bye, Jamie.”
Chapter 5
05 May: 12 days to Earth’s destruction
Sir. There have been 10,214 confirmed Overworld gate sightings worldwide. Of the gates identified, the orcs control approximately forty percent, the elves roughly thirty percent, and the gnomes less than five percent.
While the gnomes seem the least threatening of the alien species, judging by gate numbers, they also appear to be weaker than the elves. Our analysts are of the opinion that they will make for poor allies.
It is my department’s recommendation that an alliance be sought with the elves instead. —Classified intelligence report.
Firing up my laptop and setting a jug of coffee to boil, I set up shop in the kitchen and got to work. It did not take me long to find what I was looking for in the Infopedia.
The wiki was admirably well-indexed and sorted. However, the answer was disappointing. It seemed that all players in Overworld had a Technique called analyse that revealed another’s Potential to them. This, of course, was no help to me or any other human still on Earth. We would have to enter Overworld and undergo the Trials Initiation before we obtained the same Technique, and by then, presumably, we would already know our own Potentials.
Closing down the wiki page, I turned my efforts to my next most important task: figuring out how to get to a gnomish gate safely. This proved a more arduous endeavour than I expected.
The world, it seemed, had devolved into chaos.
After the attacks by the orcs, fiends, and svartalfar, Earth’s nations had declared war. All over the world, militaries had launched strikes against the Overworld gates. They had thrown everything they could at the artefacts, from small artillery fire to air strikes, and even a nuke in the case of one Chinese gate. All to no avail. The gates were impervious to humanity’s weaponry.
The militaries’ failures did not go unnoticed by Earth’s civilian populous.
When people realised their governments had no effective means of protecting them, mass hysteria and panic ensued. Airplanes were grounded, shopping malls were closed, highways were blocked off, shops were looted, and millions began to stampede away from the orcish, fiend, and svartalfar gates to the benign-by-comparison elvish and gnomish ones.
Given the state of anarchy reigning in the world at large, I concluded that travelling cross country was out of the question. Passage by air was impossible, and according to news reports traffic on the highways had come to a grinding halt. For me and Mum to hike a few hundred miles was also not an option.
I was left with no other choice but to search for an alternative gate to use.
Thankfully, digital communications had been left untouched by the chaos overturning the world, and I was able to pull up the location of all the overworlder gates in the vicinity.
I groaned in despair as I studied the information that came up. Mum and I had no luck, it seemed. Other than the orc gate in our town itself, there were no other gates within a day’s walking distance.
The next nearest gate—an elven one fortunately—was twenty miles away. At the rate Mum and I could walk that would take us at least two days, if not more. But there was no help for it. If we wanted to survive, we would make the journey.
Heaving a sigh, I walked over to the window and looked out. Everything was still relatively peaceful outside. Our rural town, isolated by distance, remained largely untouched by the anarchy afflicting the world. But I knew it wouldn’t last. In a few hours, or days, the panic running rampant everywhere else would come here too.
And before it did, I had to get ready.
I hadn’t left the house in the last few days, and it was finally time I did. I walked over to my room and popped my head in. Mum was deeply engrossed in the Trials Infopedia. “Ma, I’m going to go the mall.”
She turned to face me. “What? Why? We don’t need anything.”
I briefly contemplated lying, but I realised the sooner she knew the truth the better. “The closest Overworld gate we can use is twenty miles away. We’re going to have to walk to get there. I have to go out and get the supplies we need.”
Before there is nothing left to buy, I thought, but left the words unsaid. Some truths were better left unspoken.
“Alright,” she said, though she seemed uncertain. “If you think it’s necessary.”
“I do,” I said. “Don’t worry, I won’t be long.”
✽✽✽
The town was quiet and subdued as I walked into it.
Remarkably, other than the local militia, no one else appeared disturbed by the happenings in the rest of the world. The militia captain, an aging veteran who had seen more than his fair share of warfare in his day, had set up a round-the-clock watch on the gate.
Captain Hicks didn’t have the men to cordon the gate off completely—not that I thought the mayor would have allowed it—but he did make sure the area was kept under guard.
The good captain had even managed to haul a battered armoured tank out of whatever junkheap it had been consigned to and return it to some semblance of service. Gods, I thought as I limped passed the ancient relic on the way to the mall, where did Captain Hicks get that thing? And does it even work?
Despite the militia’s vigilance though, everyone else in town seemed to believe what had happened elsewhere in the world could not happen here. I shook my head at their blind faith, and quietly went about
my own business.
Even though the orc gate was within the mall parking lot itself and I itched to explore it, I stayed well away. Now was not the time to take foolish risks or tempt fate. If an orc party unexpectedly exited the gate, I had no doubt they would execute anyone they found standing nearby.
Entering the mall, I bought everything I could think of, and quite possibly far more than Mum and I needed: camping gear, batteries, guns, and enough food for two weeks. We wouldn’t set off for the gate immediately—there was still lots of research I needed to do—and in the interim, I didn’t want us to run out of supplies.
I hoped I wouldn’t need to use the guns. The last thing Earth needed was more humans killing humans, but human nature being what it was, I did not doubt there would be those seeking to prey on the weak and unprepared. I was determined that would not be me and Mum.
When I returned home that night, I called Eric again. “Hi, mate,” I said. “I got bad news.”
“I know,” Eric replied. “I’ve been following the media reports. The world’s gone to shit. There is no way you gonna make your way cross-country to get here.” He fell silent for a moment. “What are you going to do?”
“There is an elvish gate twenty miles from here,” I said. “Mum and I will make for it.”
“That’s great,” said Eric, his voice beaming with happiness. “Better the elves than the fiends or orcs, or God forbid the svartalfar.”
“Yes,” I agreed.
“Did you manage to get rations and supplies? The shops here are gutted. Emma and I barely found enough food to get us through the week.”
“People in town are still in denial. I’ve managed to stock up. The store will deliver everything tomorrow. What news from the rest of the crew?”
“Not good, man,” replied Eric, the unhappiness in his voice clear. “Half of them can’t make it. They’re either too far away from a gate, or they have their own families to take care of.”
“Oh,” I said, sharing his disappointment. “And the other half?”
“I couldn’t reach most of them. The two that I did reach, Doug and Michael, will both join us with whatever friends and family they can rustle together.”
“That’s great,” I said, pleased Eric and Emma wouldn’t be alone. Not like Mum and me. After a moment’s silence, I asked, “When do you plan on leaving for the gate?”
“Not for a few days at least. I want to learn as much as I can from the wiki before we set out. Too bad the gates won’t let us transport anything but ourselves through, otherwise I would carry a stack of notes with me.”
“Yeah,” I said. According to the wiki, new players couldn’t take anything with them on their journey into the Trials. We would lose even the clothes on our back when we entered Overworld. I couldn’t help wondering though, how the overworlders were making the same trip with all their gear. It bore looking into.
“What about you?” asked Eric, interrupting my musing.
“Me? I’ve been thinking along the same lines as you. We’ll give it about a week and learn everything we can from the wiki before we set out. Who knows, maybe the world will return to some semblance of order before then.” Though I doubted it.
“I hope so too,” replied Eric before falling silent again. We both felt that in one sense this was goodbye. We might never see each other again. Our paths seemed to be diverging, and who knew how far apart we would find ourselves in Overworld once we entered our respective gates. “We need to find a way to communicate with each other, once we get there,” I said at last.
“Definitely,” said Eric. “I’ll make that a priority in my search of the wiki.”
“Me too,” I said. “Alright, then… good night, Eric. Take care of yourself.”
“You too, man,” he replied. “And Jamie… If I never see you again, just know—”
“I know, Eric,” I replied gently, hearing his choked-off sobs on the other end. “Thanks for everything. I will never forget everything you’ve done for me.”
“Me neither, my friend. Stay safe.”
“Bye, Eric.”
“Bye, Jamie.”
Chapter 6
06 May: 11 days to Earth’s destruction
Sir. All attempts to establish contact with the svartalfar have failed. They slaughter our envoys on sight. We have been forced to conclude negotiations, with the overworlder race impossible, and recommend discontinuing this line of investigation. —Military report.
The next few days went by in a blur.
To my great relief, all the goods I ordered were delivered the next day, in full and without any surprises. After making sure I understood how all the equipment worked, and packing and storing away both Mum and my backpacks so we could leave at a moment’s notice, I dove into the Trials Infopedia and only ventured up for air when I needed to eat or attend to other needs.
I spent days learning about Overworld and its history. It seemed there were far more sentient races on Overworld than the five who had created gates to Earth. The others were races whose Dominions were too far from wherever the Human Dominion had been founded, or who had played no part in assimilating Earth.
There was one bit of Overworld lore that caught my attention in particular. It was a reference to the Elders, the beings supposedly responsible for the creation of Overworld and the Trials themselves.
The gnomes called them dragons.
And from everything I could gather from the Trials Infopedia, the Overworld dragons bore a striking resemblance to the dragons of human folklore. Earth’s earliest dragon tales, I knew, dated back thousands of years.
It seemed impossible that the gnomes had been tinkering with human myths for that long. Were the Overworld dragons and Earth dragons one and the same? And if so, how could that be?
Answers to the mystery would not be easy to find on Overworld either, it seemed. According to the wiki, the Elders were long gone, vanished millennia ago. It was still an intriguing bit of lore, and one that quickened my interest in Overworld and its history.
Mum, to my great delight and secret relief, seemed as captivated by Overworld as I was. She dove into the Trials Infopedia with great relish. Every day, she seemed a trifle more confident, a touch steadier, and by the middle of the week, she appeared to have left her anxieties behind her.
My own studies of the Trials Infopedia advanced steadily, if slowly. By the end of the first day, I already knew that there was no way I would manage to internalise even half its information, not in the time available. Because of that, I was forced to prioritise.
Regardless, as the week advanced, my confidence grew. Assuming Mum and I managed a decent start, we could survive Overworld. I was sure of it.
But even as she and I stayed cooped up at home, things in the world outside went from bad to worse. Abductions by the evil overworlder civilisations, as I had come to think of the orcs, fiends, and svartalfar, continued unabated. Every day, there was a new story of another human taken prisoner, another home destroyed, or another military defeat.
And a few days into the week, news from our own scientists painted an even bleaker picture. In what seemed a coordinated release, researchers from around the world unveiled a flurry of papers whose data, to the dismay of many, supported Duskar’s predictions: the world was coming to an end.
Earth’s seismic and volcanic activity had spiked. It was so severe that geologists predicted, less than ten days from now, the world could expect to experience natural disasters on an unprecedented scale. Human scientists were unable to pinpoint the cause of the instability, but all agreed that some unknown force was manipulating the Earth’s core.
The news, understandably, sent shockwaves across the world, and hastened humanity’s exodus through the many overworlder gates scattered across the planet. Some did not even bother distinguishing between the overworlder races, and entered whichever gate was nearest.
The news, while disturbing, was not catastrophic.
I
t did not affect my timeline. Mum and I could still enter Overworld with time to spare. We planned on setting off for the elvish gate in two days, which by my calculations still left us four whole days to make the trip before Duskar’s ordained end of the world occurred. Four days, I felt, gave us a comfortable margin of security.
But a day before we were due to leave, as Mum and I were wrapping up our preparations, disaster struck.
✽✽✽
I was in my room, staring fixedly at my screen, and trying to ignore the glare of the morning sun peeking through my curtains, when Mum’s shout broke through my thoughts. “Jamie!”
“What is it, Ma?” I called, deep in the study of a particularly obtuse paragraph on the workings of dungeons in Overworld, and hesitant to leave my chair.
“It’s the gate, its opening!” she exclaimed.
“Oh?” I asked in a disinterested tone. “Again? How many orcs came through this time?” I added, thinking she was watching the news again.
There was a moment of shocked silence as Mum processed my response. “No, Jamie, not the one on the telly! The one in town!” she exclaimed.
What?! I bolted upright in my chair. I raced—well, quickly limped—to the lounge. Since its appearance, the portal in our town had never opened from the Overworld side, and everyone in the town had begun to think it never would. A few braver souls had entered its depths and not reappeared, evidence enough that the gate worked.
But no orcs had visited Earth through our town gate. Proof, the town gossips said proudly, that our town was too small for even the outworlders to bother with.
I stepped up to Mum’s stiff form at the window and peered outside. Most of the town was still asleep. But the few people out and about were running away from the gate. Captain Hicks’ troops were in turmoil too. Dashing for cover, they were unshouldering and readying their weapons. I swallowed nervously. All this activity seemed proof enough, but I searched on.
Overworld (Dragon Mage Saga Book 1): A fantasy post-apocalyptic story Page 4
