by Ian Rodgers
“No! No way! I refuse to-! They can’t-! Dora, the people trying to kill us are cheating!” Enrai shouted, his right eye twitching furiously at the sight of Bolgoros and Selquist emerging unharmed from his barrage of fiery javelins.
“Nooooo! Why would they ever do that?” Dora shot back sarcastically. She turned to the two Elemental Tails. “Okay, you two, get ready to take us away from this place! And preferably to a dimension slightly safer!”
The kits nodded their heads and waved their tails, ripping open another portal. They yipped cutely and dashed through, Dora hot on their heels.
“I thought for sure I was strong enough to slow them down…” Enrai pouted as he ran towards the trans-dimensional vortex.
“Maybe someday you will be,” Ain said comfortingly, patting the human on the shoulder. They both then leapt through, abandoning the Elemental Plane of Fire completely.
Selquist screamed in rage, which triggered the eruption of numerous volcanoes all around him and his brother. However, to the duo’s surprise, the jets of lava and boiling ash and smoke slammed into them as if actively targeting the Void spawn.
“Argh! She’s a Chosen One, alright! No other being would be able to get an entire plane of reality to fight for them!” Selquist seethed, vigorously wiping soot from his eyestalks.
“I’ve made a portal, brother! We can follow them now!” Bolgoros declared, pushing his deformed sibling towards the vortex and away from the angry volcanoes.
“Good work, Bol! With any luck, we’ll finally be able to end their miserable existences!” Selquist cackled as he darted into the hole in reality.
Chapter 16: Hopes and dreams come to an end
This place is certainly… unique,” Dora said as she took in the surroundings. The dimension the Elemental Tails had transported her and her friends to was without a doubt the strangest one she’d been in so far. And that was saying something, given how she’d been to the Abyss just recently.
‘Checkerboard’ was the first thought that came to her when she tried to comprehend the realm they’d ended up in. Everything was a mixture of black and white. The ground, the sky… everything!
Here and there, shapes of checkerboard colors dominated the landscape, as far as the eye could see. The shapes weren’t all squares, however, and ovals, circles, rectangles, trapezoids, and a slew of strange geometric forms littered the dimensional.
Each shape was variable in size as well. The black square Dora stood in was five foot by five foot. Right next to her, where Enrai and Ain dropped out, their white square was much larger, five times the size of hers!
No spot in the realm was unoccupied, either. Her square was covered in strange, stiff black grass that didn’t grow anywhere else, limited entirely to that one solitary spot. Her companion’s zone was made entirely of a cream-colored sand.
In the distance, a great black mountain stood right next to a white glacier, and an ivory tree rose up beside an ebony obelisk. A volcano spewed out white-hot lava into a giant gaping black hole right beside it, and a lake of bubbling tar sat rather close to a lake of cold milk. And every so often, a swirling grey vortex would appear randomly on the plane, linger for a bit, then vanish. Sometimes the portals would deposit an item into an empty plot of land, other times the portals would whisk something away.
Tilting her head back to stare up into the air, Dora marveled at the geometrically shaped white clouds which were set against the black sky… or were the clouds black, and the sky white? She blinked and rubbed her eyes, unable to handle the strange mind-numbing nature of the dimension’s heavens.
“At least there’s light,” Dora mused, glad she was able to see.
“Where are we?” Enrai asked, his own awe clear in the way he stared wide-eyed at everything.
“I have no idea,” she admitted. The half-orc looked down at the Elemental Tails who were busy panting and recovering from the efforts of creating yet another portal. “Do you guys know where we are?”
The two opal furred foxes began to act out a pantomime, one of them curling up and feigning sleep, while the other managed to pull of an amusing depiction of a person praying.
“Sleeping… and praying? No, no, not that… Dreams? Is it dreams and hope? Hopes and dreams! Is that it?” Dora asked, figuring out the charade and the two Elemental Tails bobbed their heads excitedly, yipping in pleasure that she’d solved their game.
“Then that means… we’re in Hyperio, the Elemental Plane of Dreams!” Ain gasped, taking in everything with a more cautious and critical eye. Dora’s own expression mimicked the Spellsword’s surprise.
Among the Eight Elements of Magic, Dream was the odd one out. It embodied illusions and mystery, but was the domain of unfulfilled wishes and unanswered prayers. The Element of Dream was all about intangibility, and ephemeral traits. The spells this domain of magic possessed were varied, and often dealt with the mind and soul directly.
Hyperio, the Elemental Plane of Dreams: a realm where nothing yet everything was real. It was a place where duality was at its most stark. It was vast, and full of potential, but devoid of native lifeforms. Nothing truly lived in this place. Yet everything and anything could exist here.
“This… this is perfect!” Dora cheered, rushing over to the Elemental Tails and scooping them up into a tight hug.
“Um, please enlighten those of us without a wider understanding of the Aether?” Enrai asked, glancing at Ain for assistance.
“The Elemental Plane of Dreams is known to be connected to all corners of Reality. From the Aether to the mortal worlds, it is theoretically possible to get to anywhere you want to from within Hyperio, so long as you know the way,” the Grand Elf explained.
“All we have to do is find a portal that links us to Erafore, and we’ll be home free!” Dora cheered happily. “We won’t have to run from those Typhon-guys anymore, and we won’t have to worry about demons chasing after us, or dealing with crazy Chosen One nonsense! We’ll be safe!”
“I do like the sound of that,” Enrai claimed, rubbing his chin and smiling eagerly. “How do we go about finding a portal that’ll take us back?”
“These guys will help!” Dora declared, holding out the Elemental Tails like they were the most amazing creatures in the universe. “They’re natural Planeswalkers! Besides being able to generate portals to pretty much anywhere they want, they can also detect portals to other dimensions!”
“So, what do you two say, can you do it?” Dora asked eagerly, looking at the two Elemental Tails with a pleading expression. In response, they yipped happily and licked her face before shoving their noses into her face, snuffling loudly.
“Whoa, whoa, wait, you two! Don’t sniff me, sniff them!” the half-orc cried, pointing her sniffer foxes at Ain and Enrai.
“Pardon?” Ain asked, confused as to why she was aiming the Elemental Tails at him and his friend.
“I probably smell like the Heavenly Realm or whatever because of being a Chosen One, and using all sorts of Light magic-based spells and artifacts recently. We don’t want to go to the Heavens. We want to go back to Erafore. Odds are, you two still have the strongest connection to our world, which hopefully these adorable fellows can use to take us back there!” Dora explained.
“Makes sense,” Enrai said with a slow nod as he thought it over. “Eh, what do we have to lose?”
The Monk walked over to the cute little opal furred foxes in Dora’s arms and held out his hand, palm up, so they could get a good whiff of his scent or taste or whatever it was they needed.
Ain didn’t hesitate either after that, and followed Enrai’s lead, letting the Elemental Tails get a grip on locating a portal back to Erafore.
The pair of fox-like creatures took their time sifting through the kaleidoscope of different Planar energy signatures that layered the duo. They’d been to quite a number of different locations in a very short amount of time, resulting in countless varying and often times opposing types of energy to cling to them, so locating their home di
mension necessitated a bit more work than usual.
To an outsider’s perspective, it looked like they were sniffing, and occasionally licking, the palms the elf and human had extended. To entities versed in extra-dimensional aura observation, it was clear that the Elemental Tails were carefully examining and sorting through the myriad energy signatures that had latched onto the mortals during their trip through the Aether. As mortals, the essence of extra-dimensional planes of reality would cling tightly due to them. Given that the Aether was almost 90% pure energy crafted into a semblance of various physical forms, sorting through could take a while.
After what felt like an hour, but was really only ten minutes, the Elemental Tails let out huffs in sync and hopped out of Dora’s arms.
‘Come on! Come on! This way! Follow us!’ the posture of the two Planeswalking creatures seemed to imply.
“Well, looks like they have the scent now!” Dora cheered. “Come on you two, let’s go find ourselves a portal home!”
With that, the group darted off into the bizarre black and white landscape of the Elemental Plane of Dreams, intent on tracking down a portal back to Erafore.
During their trek across Hyperio’s checkerboard surface, the group ran into a number of unusual looking items and objects, yet encountered not a single living thing other than oddly colored plants.
“This place feels lonely,” Ain said as he ran his fingers over the surface of a fence made of black wood. The fence itself was set up around a white octagonal patch of grass.
“No kidding… no birds, barely any wind, and the ambient lighting never dims,” Enrai mused as he examined a white dress hanging on a black coat rack. “This realm seems perfect at first glance, but the lack of inhabitants is unnerving.”
“You think these are edible?” Dora asked, looking up at a black tree that was growing pristine, white peaches from its branches.
“You’re the person who can detect poison and whatnot. You tell us,” the Monk responded. “Though I have to say, I really hope they are. Fresh fruit after nothing but dry rations? I bet they’d taste divine!”
Dora plucked one of the intriguing fruits from the tree and cast several spells onto it to check for any harmful effects it might have. When her magic showed no poisons, diseases, or parasites, she took a bit.
“Ooooh, soooo goooooood!” the Healer moaned, stuffing the rest of the peach into her mouth, letting the succulent juices dribble down her chin without a care.
“Save some for us!” Ain shouted, he and Enrai quickly jogging over to the half-orc’s side. The Elemental Tails also came over, though they were more annoyed at the fact the people they were supposed to be guiding were wasting time stuffing their faces.
“Hey, don’t give me those sad looks! We’ll be back on track after a quick snack!” the half-orc protested when she saw the disapproval looks the Elemental Tails were giving her.
“Why not take a break with us as well? Here you go!” Dora said, tossing the foxes a pair of peaches. They looked down at the fruits, then over to each other, before twitching their large, rainbow colored tails in a vague approximation of a shrug. The offered fruit was then scarfed down by the unique monsters, pits and all.
“Wooo! I feel full of energy! And my hunger’s been completely squashed!” Enrai said with a pleased burped. “Those were some tasty peaches!”
The Monk looked around at the wide expanses of randomness all around the party before stuffing the black pits he’d taken into his pockets. “I wonder if I can plant this back home in Qwan? Might need to look into contracting a Druid to see if they’ll grow properly.”
“Good thinking, Enrai!” Dora praised, putting the pits from her own devoured peaches into pockets. “If the peach tree can grow in this wacky realm, then they should be able to grow in the Cracked Land with no problem!”
“Eh, why not? Not like there’s a trash can or anything around here to toss ‘em into,” Ain said with a shrug, putting away his own pits somewhere in his clothes.
“Okay, we’re ready to get back on track! Onwards!” Dora declared, pointing forward valiantly.
The Elemental Tails huffed in amusement and then scampered off in a different direction. Dora blushed lightly as Ain and Enrai let out guffaws at her expense.
“Can you believe it? We’ll be home free soon!” Dora cheered, swiftly getting over her embarrassment.
“Yeah, I never thought I’d be so eager to see a normal sky that doesn’t have strange clouds or unearthly colors,” Enrai stated, bobbing his head in agreement with the blonde’s cheerful attitude.
“Being able to let our guards down would be nice as well,” Ain sighed wistfully. “Being tense all the time isn’t doing our health any good.”
“Oh, no argument there,” Dora agreed. “It’ll also be nice not to have to strain our bodies and magic anymore. Constantly chugging potions to heal and recover mana can be dangerous. Nothing beats actual rest, after all.”
“Hey, do you think that’s it?” Enrai asked. The Elemental Tails were yipping loudly as they pointed their tails towards a seemingly ordinary greyish portal. However, the way the fox-like Planeswalkers were acting, this particular hole in the fabric of Reality might be the one that’d take them back to Erafore!
“Based on the way they’re acting, it must be!” Dora exclaimed, eagerly rushing over.
The danger senses of Ain and Enrai suddenly exploded into overdrive, and the pair lunged forward towards the oblivious Healer.
Ain grabbed the back the Dora’s robe and yanked on it, causing her to topple backwards. At the same time, Enrai darted over and scooped up the two Elemental Tails into his arms, before hitting the ground and rolling for cover.
“What the…?!” Dora exclaimed, but before she could even finish her sentence, a beam of crackling darkness swept past her, tearing up the ground as it passed. Had she still been standing in her previous spot, the beam would have blasted her into two! Not to mention, the beam would have bisected the Elemental Tails, killing them as well if the Monk hadn’t dived to pick them up!
“Missed!” an all too familiar voice hissed in annoyance, accompanied by a loud finger snap. Two figures faded into view: Selquist and Bolgoros, standing on either side of the portal back to Erafore.
“You again!” Dora snarled, getting back to her feet in a rush of anger. “Get out of the way!”
Despite her bluster, the Healer couldn’t help but send a worried look to the Elemental Tails Enrai was guarding. They hadn’t fully recovered their magic yet, and due to their young age, the repeated jumps through time and space had left their ability to Planeswalk terribly drained. She doubted that even with some more potions they’d recover enough to let them flee. Her eyes alighted on the portal being guarded by the Void spawn. It was their last means of egress!
“Not a chance, girlie! This is your only ticket out of here, and we’re not going to let you or your friends escape the Aether alive!” Selquist sneered, his oversized finger-stalks waving menacingly.
“Hungry…” Bolgoros snarled, great quantities of drool oozing from his lips as he stared at the party.
“Oh, yes, and elder brother is starving as well. Thanks to wasting time chasing you, he hasn’t had his after-breakfast-snack, his pre-lunch-snack, or his lunch,” Selquist warned, one of his eyestalks giving the obese entity a wary look. “Just surrender, and it’ll be over quick. He’s so hungry he won’t bother drawing out your suffering as he devours you.”
“Not a chance!” Dora scoffed, and the Elemental Tails growled in unison, baring fangs towards the Void abominations.
“Your funeral,” the hand-shaped entity sighed, before sliding back. “They’re all yours, Bol. Go nuts.”
With a frenzied, delight-filled roar, Bolgoros hurled himself at the quintet, jaws opened unnaturally wide, intent on murder and feasting, and not necessarily in that order!
“Scatter!” Enrai shouted, and the group split up, evading the ballistic missile that was the Flesh of Typhon, and just in the
nick of time, too, for when the oversized man struck the ground, it exploded, a massive crater appeared beneath his bulk.
“Huh, neat. The checkerboard effect even extends below the ground,” Dora mused absent-mindedly when she saw the unique black and white pattern inside the crater itself.
“Be impressed later!” Ain shouted as he swung his saber in wipe, sweeping arcs, unleashing wave after wave of lightning at Bolgoros.
The fat man didn’t bother to evade the attacks, and when they came closer, the electrical energy gathered around the bone spikes all over his body before zooming right back at the elf.
“Oh, that’s not good,” the Spellsword muttered in worry as he countered his own reflected spells. “Could he do that before? I think that’s a new ability.”
“Well, if Lightning magic doesn’t work, then how about FIRE?!” Enrai shouted, and he aimed both palms at Bolgoros. From them, a torrent of blue flames surged forth, swallowing up the bulk of the child of Typhon, who was still standing in his crater.
A whistling sound pierced through the air, and to the shock of the group, every last spark was sucked up into the gaping maw of Bolgoros, who proceeded to burp out a cloud of sparks and smoke. Despite the large, fiery hot meal he’d just consumed, the bloated being had an expression of abject sorrow on his face.
“Not enough,” he moaned pitifully, clutching at his stomach. “Not. ENOUGH!”
With a scream that shattered the ground around him, enlarging the already impressively sized crater, Bolgoros began to rip and tear at his flesh, removing huge chunks of skin and meat from his own body before stuffing them into his mouth.
The horror did not stop there, however, as with every handful of his own flesh he cannibalized, steaming blobs of black ichor spurted forth from the wounds, staining the ground of Hyperio. From these puddles of Void tainted gore unholy things began to emerge.
They were nothing but beasts made of stark white teeth and blackened lips and tongue, with crude, deformed limbs the color and consistency of tar that served one purpose: to propel the monstrosities towards prey.
