BOOK 1 - CHAPTER 15

CHAPTER 15

“That’s a lot to take in.” Johnny muttered.

Things back home are bad and now I’m supposed to help these people too? How!? Johnny pulled his hair in frustration and got up from the bed. The cell door was still locked, and he was starting to feel claustrophobic in the cell, trapped with in his head with all the problems of not one but two worlds on his shoulders.

He banged against the metal bars, rattling them just as he opened his mouth to yell— except he didn’t, he heard something from the hallway. It sounded like— footsteps! “Hey! Hey! I’m still in here you guys, and I’m hungry!”

The footsteps hurried his way and Johnny let out a sigh of relief, one that quickly turned into a shared gasp as a slim woman with lioness-like features, wearing white and golden robes and a clipboard of some sort in her hands. Her jaw dropped as she locked eyes with Johnny and stuttered in an unintelligible language.

“Hey, could I- huh? Where are you going? Wait! Wait!” Johnny yelled after her, his face pressed between the bars of the cell as her figure disappeared into the light down the hallway.

Johnny could only blink wondering what just happened. Seconds later the footsteps and voices multiplied as they came up the hallway towards his cell.

The lioness-lady was accompanied by three more figures. Two obviously guards, while the remaining figure towered over the others. It was the Dragon man Johnny had seen fighting in the canyon, still dressed in his armor. Johnny took a generous step back away from the bars, suddenly grateful they stood between them.

The dragon man smirked and chuckled at Johnny, his eyes aglow with a playful mischief. He grumbled an order to the guards, and they began to unlock the cell while he retrieved a small stone tab from a pocket in his regal white-gold cloak.

He stepped in as soon as the bars swung open and before Johnny could so much as yelp, he pressed the stone now aglow with runic symbols and an energy that felt all too familiar yet new against his forehead. A flare of pain hissed through Johnny’s skull, he winced and let out a curse just as the Dragon man stepped back to give him space.

“Can you understand me?” The dragon man asked Johnny as he regained his focus.

Johnny stared at the dragon man in shock, “Uhm, yes, I can…how..why…” Johnny stuttered, awestruck and partly relieved to speak to someone other than Albert and Cole.

“Good, I don’t want bad blood between us, Johnny Victoris. I am Orion. I'm a member of a universal faction called the Radiant Alliance.” Orion then looked over his shoulder at the guards and dismissed them with a turn of his head. They bowed deep and excused themselves.

Johnny looked at him wide eyed. “How did you know my name?”

Orion raised his brow. “You are the Champion. At the very least, since you are new, you would be known to all high ranking members of the Alliance.”

Johnny nodded slowly, keeping a wary eye on the colossal Dragon man. He swallowed hard, still struggling to comprehend the existence of such a creature—let alone the fact that he was now locked in a cell with him.

No way I’m getting past him. His gaze flicked to the cell bars, now hanging slightly ajar.

This didn’t seem to go unnoticed as the Dragon man— Orion, said, “Honestly, the cell was more for your protection and our safety. There was no clue how you would respond once you woke up, especially without understanding us.” He offered a smile that came off more as a toothy grin, “Also, the Devouring Darkness is certain to be after you, as the Radiant One’s Champion you are the only one that can bring this nightmare of chaos to an end.”

Orion had a point. He'd be more wary if he couldn't speak to anyone. Besides, so far, everything he’d said fell in line with what the Goddess from his dreams told him. Johnny let out a breath and nodded, “Okay, I understand.”

Orion gave an unrestrained smile, a grin which at first sent Johnny’s heart into palpitating rhythms before he began to speak again, “I know you have a ton of questions, and I'll answer what I can with what time I have. We aren’t exactly in the best position militarily, so I’m needed everywhere.”

“The goddess told me a good amount of detail of what is at stake…my world, this world…all worlds.” Johnny inhaled deeply; his eyes refocused from the brief reverie of Earth. “But she didn’t explain much in the way of who this enemy is or why they want to destroy so much or even how I’m supposed to fight them!”

Johnny caught himself, shut his eyes and muttered an apology to Orion who looked surprised but quite sympathetic at his reaction. “I’m sorry, this is…has been…a lot. So, can you tell me what my purpose is here?”

“Short version is we need someone with special abilities or talents with certain backgrounds to do the impossible. From what the Radiant One told us, with the help of that fancy vehicle of yours we would have better odds of being able to track and destroy world void portals.”

“Finding them is key to keeping a world from being consumed. Once a portal's corruption power has hit one hundred percent. It is over for the world.” Orion said with a dangerous finality and a fear in his eyes that told Johnny he wasn’t overstating any of it.

“I guess that would make sense. Magmasphere doesn’t seem to have anything more advanced than horse drawn carts, much less something as powerful as the Voyager.” Johnny replied with a thoughtful hum.

Orion squinted, a confused look furrowing his scaly features, “I’m sorry, what is Magmasphere? Is that what you’ve been calling our world?”

“Oh, yes, I just thought it up on the spot. What’s the true name?”

Orion smiled as he shook his head, “This planet is called Nsukka.”

Nsukka…huh. Not for the first and perhaps not the last time, it dawned on Johnny that he was truly exploring an alien world, connecting with an alien civilization. It may be nothing he expected what with all the monster animals, cultists and insects, but it was indeed a world alien to the one and only he’s experienced.

A buzzing sound came from Orion’s arm and a voice crackled through the moment he touched a glowing finger to it—

“Orion, we have a problem.” A strong feminine voice greeted, “ I was able to track down the champion. We tried to get him to come with us but he put up a stubborn fight even when we subdued him. The Devouring Darkness seems to have found him though, we tried fighting their horde off but…he got lost…no, he escaped in the chaos of our battle. We were outnumbered and had to flee but we’re picking up on his faint Radiant trail now, we’re going after him.”

Orion sat up straight and swallowed, staring intently at Johnny as both listened in confusion. “Uh, Chloe, I am with the Champion right now and yes, I am sure its him. He has the blessing of the Radiant One all over him so…who was that?”

Johnny squirmed against the edge of the bed, an exhausted groan escaping his lips and he quickly put the pieces together. Brandon…the Shadow Wolf lives. He shook his head, wondering how Brandon would’ve managed to survive Magma— Nsukka without the aid of things like Albert, the Voyager and the Creation Core. The more Johnny thought about it the more the knot in his stomach tightened.

“That’s why I’m calling. There might have been two Radiant auras the stones locked on or perhaps one split into two somehow, I don’t know. I thought you would.” Chloe, Orion's subordinate, said, exasperation clear in her otherwise respectable toned voice.

Johnny smiled sheepishly and nodded at Orion, not wanting to interrupt his call he gestured and hand signaled the fact that he’d arrived with another, with Brandon.

Orion inhaled deeply upon translating Johnny’s slew of gestures. He nodded to himself before giving his subordinate a response, “I’ll head there right after I’m done with the one Champion in front of me.”

He lifted the glowing finger off the stone and the voice on the other end disappered. Johnny didn’t wait for him to ask, he shrugged and delivered the truth of his arrival, “Brandon tagged along. He wasn’t meant to be here.”

“Oh that’s right, he’s not. It shouldn’t be possible for there to be two Champions.”

“No, I mean, he threw himself into the Voyager and when it got transported here…he came along for the ride too. He really wasn’t meant to be here.” Johnny said, massaging the point between his brows.

Orion’s reptilian eyes widen in realization, he nodded and said, “Very well then, that does explain somethings but not everything. Looks like I'm still needed.” He turned, ready to leave. “The two guards outside will escort you wherever you wish to go in the settlement, you are free to roam, Johnny but I wouldn’t advise leaving until either I or my subordinate returns. I’ve already called for Julia and her team, she will manage you moving forward.”

Another series of beeps and buzzes came from the stone. Orion ignored them and said, “Jana will satisfy any other needs you may have.” He grinned at Johnny as Jana— the lioness-lady— entered the room with a wide tray and the deep scent of food that made his stomach churn with excitment and impatience, “Welcome to Nsukka, Johnny, this world is grateful to have you.”

Johnny wanted to ask who exactly Julia was, but his attention had long shifted to the tantalizing scents wafting from the tray the lioness-lady held up with a welcoming smile. He barely ever noticed the large Dragon man leave.

“Shall I check over your injuries while you eat?” Jana playfully growled.

***

"That should do it.” Jana said after changing new bandages with salve over bug bites Johnny had gotten.

“Be thankful the bugs that were biting you don't carry diseases and just left you with skin irritation” She said, the warm orange glow that soothed across Johnny’s wounds fading out as she took her hands away. “That ward spell should deal with any more pesky insects and you’ll be fine.”

“I never thought something like this would be possible, but I'm honestly not surprised anymore. This day could still be some kind of poison hallucination as far as I know.” Johnny said with a mouth half full of sauced steak. The meat was unlike anything he’d tasted in his life, and he would demand more for every second of everyday if he could.

“It’s a miracle you survived that poison as long as you did. It’s a quick acting and lethal one, a staple of the Poison Moon cult.” She shuddered at the utterance of their name, “A normal person’s flesh would have warped over a short time until they were...something else but alive. The blessings given by the Radiant One, that you are her Champion, it must be why you survived and didn't turn into a walking abomination.”

Johnny grimaced at the description but ultimately shrugged as he lapped up the final piece of steak and sauce off his plate, “What are the Poison Moon anyway? What kind of cult has such a poison?” he asked, recalling the madness he’d gone through just to survive. It was nearly nothing compared to what he’d experienced in the Convar war back on Earth but it was still an uncomfortably close call with death.

“The Poison Moon are a cut off faction of the Shadow Moon elves. They used to be peaceful, nomadic folk people but…a lot of things change, corrupt when they come in contact with the Devouring Darkness. Their poison…its a special kind. It can either kill you or turn you into a mindless abomination that lives to follow orders and die.”

Johnny swallowed thickly, the palpable look of fear in her eyes as she described and possibly relived a memory of one such mindless abomination made him feel awkward for stuffing his face so shamelessly. He wiped his mouth and hurriedly asked, “Uh, so, what do they want exactly? Just chaos?”

Jana shrugged and began gathering the plates, “No one really has any idea, most people just want to stay alive after encountering them. All I know for sure is that they have been causing more chaos lately than even Rift Eaters.”

“What are rift eaters?” Johnny asked, raising brow “Rift Eaters?”, wondering what they could be. "Oh, Rift Eaters. They are the worst of the Devouring Darkness’ minions. Only weapons blessed by the Radiant One can harm them and…only the wardens ever truly survive an encounter with them. I’ve only seen them from afar but if I were to describe them, I’d say they’re wolves of melting shadow.” Jana shivered, her eyes once again drifting into a far off memory.

She doesn’t look…well. Johnny thought. He knew trauma symptoms when he saw them, post traumatic stress and anxiety were written all over Jana even as she served and healed him. It ached to think of all the horrors she’d seen before being saved by the Alliance and now…Now the Alliance needs me of all people to save it. No pressure.

“Anyways, I think that should do it all. I have other duties I need to attend to but talk to the guard if you need me and he’ll find me.” She said, brightening up considerably with a smile.

As she walked out of the cell, Johnny wondered just what else this world has been through and what its people had suffered just to survive.