by Mark Piggott

“We have to hurry! Dawn is less than an hour away!” Kira shouted urgently at her companions as the elf ranger took the lead. Her curly red hair peaked out from under the hood of her cloak as she kept her bow drawn and ready to strike. Her youthful exuberance made her light on her feet as she trudged along the rugged path.

“It’s much harder for someone like me to move up these mountain trails in full armor, carrying a hammer and shield, Kira. Not all of us are as agile as you,” Silvia replied. The paladin of the Holy Order of Crimson Fire tried to keep up with the elf, but her oversized armor weighed her down. Her crimson cloak fluttered in the mountain breeze as she used her massive war hammer as a walking stick. With her shield slung across her back, Silvia prayed to the god of fire to give her the strength and stamina she needed to reach the peak.

“At least you have a longer stride, paladin. I’m walking twice as many steps as you,” Magnus said as the dwarf kept a rapid pace behind her. His leather and metal ring mail was not as heavy as the full plate armor of his compatriot, but he was half her size. His axe, however, was not. The double-bladed battleaxe was larger than her war hammer, but he easily carried it over his shoulder. You could barely distinguish his features under the massive helm overflowing with bushy brown hair and a beard tumbling out from underneath.

“Keep moving, ñakari. We cannot miss the sunrise,” D’Lann said, pushing her staff into Graham. The drow elf sorceress wore a low-cut dress of woven dragon scales that did not seem appropriate for hiking in the mountains. Only a cape of white frost bear fur cloaked her ample assets. Her dark skin was offset by her stark white hair and multi-colored tattoos that covered her body—magical runes that offered her protection and power. Her staff was made of a black petrified wood that resembled a spear more than a staff, with the onyx crystal point embedded in the top. She poked it into Graham once more to keep him moving.

“Hey, Beyonce, I have a name. It’s Graham, not ñakari,” he snapped back at her. He wore the simple clothes of a peasant and carried no weapon. “You may have summoned me to your world, but I’m not your damn slave.”

“I have a name too, ñakari, and it’s D’Lann, not Beyonce.”

“You start calling me by my name, and I’ll start calling you by yours, OK?” he argued. “I only agreed to do this because you promised to make it worth my while, but for some reason, you won’t tell me exactly what I’m supposed to do.”

“Either you get us into the fortress, or we kill you, GRAHAM. It’s that simple,” she said, accentuating his name.

“I already died once before your magic brought me here, D’LANN,” he returned the sarcasm by sassing her name back at her. “I’m a United States Marine, and I’m not afraid to die.”

“Leave him alone, D’Lann. Without Graham’s help, we won’t get past the riddles to access the fortress,” Kira exclaimed. “Now, can you please stop threatening to kill him?”

“You never explained what a ‘United States Marine’ is, Graham. Where you a soldier of some sort?” Silvia inquired.

“Yes, a lot like you, Lady Silvia. We were trained to be the best, to fight and defend our nation against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

“And you died in battle?” Silvia wondered.

“Yes, I was killed by an IED.” When he said that, everyone looked at him, confused. “An Improvised Explosive Device. It’s like one of D’Lann’s fireball spells kept inside a container that explodes when you get too close to it.”

“Ah, a trap then,” Magnus said. “You should have had a good thief with you, boy. You might have survived.”

Graham laughed at the dwarf trying to reconcile an IED explosive with a medieval fantasy solution. The weary travelers trekked up the mountain until they finally reached the summit. The rock suddenly split from the mountainside, forming a small plateau near its peak. Sitting on top of the plateau was a massive fortress resembling shards of black glass.

Even in the twilight of dawn, the dark glass walls glistened in the morning light. The fortress reached toward the heavens as unknown mechanics whirled about in different parts. The fortress’ exterior constantly changed as the gears and pistons moved the panels about the structure. The walls were smooth, with no windows, balconies, or parapets. Something else was missing—no bridge or walkway. The only discerning feature was a large white jewel in the center of what looked like the only entrance into the building.

Graham stared in awe. He had seen many buildings in his lifetime—from the Freedom Tower in New York City to AT&T Stadium in his home of Arlington, Texas—but they could not compare to this. The only thing that worried him was how they would get in there.

“Amazing, so that’s the Fortress of Starless. What do we do now? There’s no way across?”

“Be patient, Graham. Things work differently in our world. We have to wait until the sun rises to find our way in,” Kira explained as the sunlight began to edge over the mountain behind them. “Once every ten yars, the sun hits that gem perfectly. It’s the only time the fortress can be entered.”

“So, how many times has this been tried before?” Graham asked.

“Once every ten yars for the last fifty mils,” D’Lann stated. “Fifty tries and fifty failures. I hope you’ll get us into the fortress, for your sake, ñakari.”

Graham took her threat seriously. They have been traveling to the fortress for several days from the Crestmoon Tower on Mount Badoon, where they conducted the summoning ritual. During that time, D’Lann clarified her feelings constantly—get them in or die trying. Graham was subjected to threats like that throughout his many deployments as a Marine. He knew when someone was bluffing or intended to carry out the threat. D’Lann would kill him if she had the chance.

“And what happened to the other fifty?” No one answered immediately, as the mismatched group looked to each other to respond. It was as if they feared it would scare Graham off by telling him the truth.

“Some died; others are living peaceful lives across Ghomehr,” Magnus said. “Some of those who perform the summoning are not always . . . reputable.”

“Why don’t you just take it by force? I don’t see many defense positions around it.”

“I see why you died in battle, Graham. You have no sense of strategic thinking,” D’Lann sassed. “The fortress has numerous hidden defenses that killed thousands. The bottom of this ravine is littered with the bones of the dead.”

“Sh-h-h, it’s happening!” Kira said as the sun finally hit the gemstone in the center of the door. The intense sunlight caused the gem to glow. From beneath the door, a panel opened, and a bridge extended out from the fortress across the gap to the edge of the mountain. Graham noticed it looked like an escalator platform as the mechanics made the floor move toward the castle.

“Let’s go, lad. It’s time to see if you’re the one to get us inside,” Magnus said as they stepped onto the moving platform, carrying them across the fissure to the fortress. Graham marveled at the bridge, amazed by its mechanics and engineering structure, but one thing still nagged him.

“You haven’t told me what’s inside the fortress? Treasure or something more substantial?”

“You don’t need to concern yourself with that,” D’Lann insisted. “The only thing you need to do is get us past the fortress’ inner defenses. The legends say only a ñakari off-worlder knows the answers to their riddles.”

Once they reached the other side, the five stood on a small balcony before the main door. Graham walked up to the door, and a panel suddenly appeared. It had a handprint on it with the fingers separated into a “V” shape. It reminded Graham of Mister Spock’s salute on Star Trek when he suddenly realized why they needed an off-worlder to get them inside.

“Place your hand on the pad and speak the words to gain entry,” a voice echoed behind the panel. Graham could not believe it, but he knew precisely what to do. He placed his hand on the panel and spoke loud and clear.

“Live long and prosper!” he said as the panel scanned his hand before it closed. He could hear the mechanics clicking and buzzing from within as the door slowly slid open. A rush of air puffed out the doorway as if it had not been opened in years. The others were impressed and happy that the other-worlder got them past the first line of defense.

“Well done, Graham. It appears you have the heart of a warrior for this task,” Silvia said as she led the group into the fortress. The room was dark except for the sunlight streaming in from the outside. Once inside, the door closed behind them, leaving the party in total darkness.

Suddenly, a light erupted from a small opening in the ceiling, illuminating the entire room. It was a round room with no visible doors or windows. In the center was a raised pedestal with what appeared to be a computer terminal. Graham walked up to the computer and began to look it over while the others stared at the light fixture in the ceiling. They wondered how a glass ball was emitting light without magic.

“What is giving off the light? There’s no flame?” Kira asked.

“Perhaps it’s a light crystal of some sort,” Magnus wondered. “What do you think, D’Lann?”

The sorceress looked at the light curiously, even more confused about its origins than the rest. “I don’t know, Magnus. It doesn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen before. Graham, can you explain this light?”

Graham glanced up at the light quickly before returning to the computer. “It’s a light bulb . . . electricity crossing two wires inside a glass tube filled with gas that creates light.”

“I see. Alchemy of some sort,” Silvia said, worried that it was some evil magic at work. “And what is that?”

“This is a computer . . . a machine humans use for complicated calculations and operations, like running this fortress. Whoever built this must be from my world if it is filled with these gadgets and devices.” He looked at the computer as the words HIT ANY KEY TO BEGIN flashed across the monitor. “So, is that it? Is that why I’m here?”

No one said anything, each one looking away, just like before, waiting for someone else to answer. Their utter silence irritated Graham even more. “Look, if you want me to do this, I need to know everything you can tell me. It will help me get you further in. Do you understand?”

The four looked at each other, nodding in agreement before D’Lann finally spoke. “The legends speak of the first ñakari summoned from your world to ours. The Grand Sorceress of Drakmoor wanted to use his knowledge in the war against Ghomehr, but the ñakari escaped and built the Fortress of Starless using the stolen power from our world to fill it with great power from yours. It was said that the only way into the fortress was to answer his riddles, and you need a ñakari off-worlder for that.”

“This has been tried many times, but no one has ever correctly answered all the questions,” Kira added. “Once you give an incorrect answer, you’re teleported outside, and the fortress resets for another year.”

“And what kind of questions are they? Does anyone know?” Graham wondered.

“Who shot J.R.?” Magnus said. “What is the real name of Santa Claus?” Graham laughed when he heard those questions. They were all “pop culture” references. Between that and the Star Trek reference to get into the fortress, this first off-worlder must have been an honest, nerdy individual.

“These things didn’t exist five hundred years ago in my world, maybe fifty. How is that possible?” Graham inquired.

“Time and space do not cross equally from one world to another, ñakari,” D’Lann said as she looked closely at the computer monitor. “What does it say? I can’t read that language.”

“It’s English, one of the languages from my world,” Graham answered as he touched the space bar to clear the screen. Suddenly, instructions began to scroll across the screen, and he read them out loud to let them know what was happening. “Welcome to the Fortress of Starless. This is the first of three challenges to accessing the secrets within. Your entire party will be teleported outside if you answer any question incorrectly. You have sixty seconds to answer each question. Press any key to begin.”

Graham took a deep breath and cocked his head, cracking his neck to psyche himself up for the challenge. He touched a key on the keyboard to start the challenge as the first questions appeared.

“What was Jenny’s phone number?” Graham said, laughing to himself. “So, that’s how it’s going to be?”

“Who is Jenny, and what is a phone number?” Magnus asked.

“Jenny is a trendy girl among the boys. She gives out her number so potential suitors can call and ask her for a date. It’s the line to a famous song.” Graham typed as he sang, “8-6-7-5-3-0-9,” giving the correct answer. As the quiz progressed, he quickly answered question after question.

“Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?”

“Name all the original colors worn by the Power Rangers.”

“Where did Dorothy go when she landed over the rainbow?”

“What is another name for New York City?”

Everyone was impressed with how easily Graham was getting through the riddles. “How do you know the answer to all these questions, Graham?” Kira wondered.

“In my family, we had a tradition of playing a ‘Trivia Pursuit’ game whenever our family got together. We were all very competitive, so you had to learn everything from books and movies to geography and history to win.”

Finally, the computer flashed FINAL QUESTION across the screen, but Graham did not know how to answer when it appeared. “You’ve got to be kidding me?” he professed.

“What is it? What’s the question?” D’Lann asked.

“Ginger or Mary Ann?” Graham read the question, but no one understood its meaning.

“What does that mean?” Silvia interrupted. “What is Ginger and Mary Ann?”

“Not what, who . . . It’s asking me to pick between two women on a popular television show. I guess you would consider it a stage performance or play. Ginger is a voluptuous redhead actress adored by all, while Mary Ann is an innocent, beautiful farm girl with a seductive charm. There’s no right answer, and it’s subjective to what kind of woman you’re attracted to.”

“Who would you pick?” Silvia asked. Graham thought about it as the timer ticked down.

“I mean, I’ve always been attracted to redheads myself,” he started to say, glancing over at Kira as the elf blushed. “But this guy’s preference could be different from mine.”

“I would pick the farm girl,” Magnus interjected. “Most men prefer an untouched virginal lass instead of someone who has been passed around.”  

“Magnus, that’s quite vulgar,” Silvia sassed in disgust.

“Yes, but accurate,” D’Lann added. “I say go with this ‘Mary Ann’ person.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, you’re probably right,” Silvia insisted.

Graham could not help but agree with their consensus, so he typed “Mary Ann” and hit the ENTER button. The screen went blank as they wondered if their guess was correct, but suddenly, a door opened across the room, leading to a staircase rising further into the fortress.

“Well, I guess that was the right answer,” Graham said as they headed up the stairs to the next floor. The stairs led them to another room like the last one, as a light went on in the center of the ceiling. The door closed, sealing them in this room, just like before.

The room had a pedestal just as below, but only a computer monitor and a single object bathed in the light sitting in front of the screen—a Rubik’s Cube. The cube with multi-colored squares looked relatively simple to everyone there except Graham. He stared at it in disbelief.

“Damn,” was all Graham could muster as he stared at the cube. “What the Hell is a Rubik’s cube doing here?”

“What is it? A puzzle?” Kira asked.

“Yes, and one of the most devious ones ever designed. You turn the squares until all the colors match on each side of the cube.”

“Seems simple enough,” D’Lann interjected.

“Under a minute?” Graham said. “That’s what the instructions say.” He pointed to the words scrolling across the monitor. “I can pick up the cube and examine it without turning any squares. Once I pick it up again, I have sixty seconds, or sens of your world, to solve the puzzle.”

“Have you ever finished a Rubik’s Cube before?” Silvia wondered.

“No, never. I’ve tried to solve them before, but not successfully. Some people in my world can do this in under ten seconds.” Graham thought for a minute, trying to come up with a solution. “Are there any spells that would increase my intelligence or strategic thinking?”

D’Lann shook her head, as nothing she could cast would do either. “Why do you say strategy, Graham?” Silvia inquired.

“Well, it’s a puzzle, so it involves strategy in determining how to solve it. Why? Do you know of something?”

“There is a spell we paladins can use. It’s called the Wisdom of Monmas. We use it in battle if and when the tide begins to turn. It gives the bearer the wisdom of the archangels to find the path to victory.”

“That sounds like a possibility. Will it work on me?”

“It may, but it will only last a few minutes at most, and it will be rather draining on both of us.”

“It’s worth a shot. Go ahead and cast your spell, Silvia. I’ve only got one chance at solving this.” Graham stood before the pedestal and stared at the cube, bracing himself. He’d seen magic several times since his arrival in this world and knew how powerful it could be. Sylvia handed her war hammer to Magnus before she stepped behind Graham.

“Open your mind, Graham, and let the magic flow through you,” she warned before placing her hands on either side of his head. Her hands glowed with the power of the angels. “From God’s light, I pray you lower the heavenly sword and sound the horn of triumph. Show me the path to victory!” Graham felt his mind open as a myriad of images flooded his mind. He could see hundreds of possibilities for how to solve the puzzle.

When Sylvia released him, he nearly fell to the floor. Kira hung tightly to his arm, helping him back to his feet while D’Lann helped Silvia stay upright. Graham breathed heavily, huffing and puffing as he tried to calm the storm inside his mind. “I’m OK. I got this,” he said as he picked up the cube and examined it. He looked it over as the various combinations swirled through his mind. He set it down, took a deep breath, then picked it up again.

The cube spun wildly in his hands as he turned it violently, trying to solve the puzzle. He changed it back and forth, left and right, circling the sides repeatedly. The seconds counted down on the monitor until he finally set it down. His breathing was labored, but he’d done it. He solved the Rubik’s cube.

Graham nearly collapsed from the intensity of the spell still working through his mind as he dropped to one knee. Kira went to help him, but he waved her off. “I’m all right, just a little dizzy.” He laughed a little before turning toward Silvia. “That’s a helluva rush, Lady Silvia. I don’t know how you can handle all that information during a fight.”

“You did fine, Graham, a true Marine of your world. Most initiates collapse on the first try.”

Before he could say anything, a new message scrolled across the screen. Graham read it, and he was stunned into silence. “What does it say, Graham?” Kira asked.

He slowly got to his feet before answering. “Uh, it says ‘Congratulations! You are one step away from the secrets of the fortress.’” As soon as he said that, another door slid open on the other side of the room with stairs leading up. D’Lann and Magnus led the way, charging into the fortress while Kira helped Graham and Silvia up the stairs.

At the top of the stairs was another circular room with twin staircases ascending along the sides to a balcony leading to another area. In the center of the room was a giant glass orb suspended by electrical cables. Beneath it was a stone table with crystals arranged in a circular pattern. Each one fired off a bolt of lightning, one at a time, constantly feeding energy into the orb.

Graham looked at it curiously until he realized what it was, but he had some questions first. “Those crystals, what are they?”

“Those are thunder crystals, elemental stones from the storm fields in Drakmoor,” Kira explained. “Wizards use magical crystals like them to power wands, staffs, or enhance spells. But, what is this device, Graham?”

“In the simplest terms, I think it’s a battery. All the technology within this fortress runs on electricity generated by your thunder crystals. This ñakari off-worlder combined magic with technology to create a power source to keep all his devices running—the lights, the computer, the bridge—Hell, even the fortress itself.”

“But why does it need all this power? There are enough thunder crystals here to destroy an entire army,” Magnus wondered.

“Technology in my world requires constant energy to operate,” Graham explained. “Come on. There’s one more puzzle to get us inside.”

Graham went up the stairs to the next level, and the others followed him on the curved staircase. A small balcony overlooked the magical battery, and he stepped into a dark corridor that ended in a dark glass door. The entire door began to glow like a computer monitor as more words flashed across it.

Graham slowly read it out loud. “This is your final task. Identify the images on this screen by speaking their name, and the secrets of the Fortress of Starless will be yours.”

“Seems simple enough, but just in case, be quiet. Let Graham handle this one,” Kira said as a countdown began, and the images flashed on the door. Graham observed each image and said the name aloud.

“President Bill Clinton . . . the Great Wall of China . . . Tom Cruise . . . Pikachu . . . Marylin Monroe . . . the pyramids of Egypt . . . Queen Elizabeth . . .” The list was random, from actors and politicians to cartoons and places of interest. Many images ran on for over twenty pictures until the last one appeared. It was a nuclear explosion.

“An atomic bomb,” Graham said as the four looked in awe at the fiery blast.

“What in Zerif Thall’s name was that?” D’Lann asked, her voice quivering in fear.

“An atomic bomb—a weapon used to destroy an entire city.” Graham’s explanation shook them to the core. “Think of it as a fireball magnified by a thousand-fold. It’s the most powerful weapon in my world.”

“Why would your people create a weapon like that?” Silvia wondered, as even the paladin could not fathom such a device in honorable warfare.

“Long ago, we were involved in a world war that was going on for years. My government used the atomic bomb on two cities, killing over a hundred thousand people. It ended the war and saved us from a prolonged conflict,” Graham concluded as the doors went black before they slid open. The fortress was theirs.

“Sove D’walt Tinium!” Graham stepped forward to walk in and see what the fuss was all about, but he never made it inside. D’Lann touched Graham on the back of his head with her staff. He immediately became groggy and dozed off, falling forward on the ground. He was fast asleep, thanks to the spell cast on him.

“D’Lann, I thought we would wait to subdue Graham after we were sure we didn’t need him anymore?” Silvia yelled.

“Which is why I only put him to sleep,” D’Lann explained. “Did you see that weapon? Barbarians, the whole lot of them!”

“You can’t blame one human for the faults of his race,” Kira argued as she knelt next to Graham to ensure he wasn’t hurt from the fall.

“But his knowledge of that so-called ‘tech-no-lo-gee’ makes him a liability,” Magnus interjected. “He’s the first ñakari off-worlder to breach the fortress in over five hundred years. We can’t let him near the secrets lurking inside.”

“It’s a bit late for that,” Graham said as he sat up, startling everyone that he was awake and alert. “Execute Order Sixty-Six!” The four were held in place and scanned instantly by light beams projected from within the fortress, unsure of what was happening as Graham got to his feet. It took seconds to complete, and the four of them were released. “Just a warning: the fortress has identified you as a threat. If any of you attack me again, you will be killed instantly.”

“No one threatens Magnus Hahn König, ñakari filth!” Mangus yelled as he charged, swinging his axe to kill Graham. Before he connected, the dwarf was reduced to ash in a flash of light. His axe clanged off the stone floor as it was all that remained of him.

D’Lann and the others looked on, unsure what had happened to Magnus and what to do about Graham. He stood there and stared at them, defiant of the three women. “How are you not asleep? My spell was foolproof.”

“I don’t know myself, but I think the fortress protected me. After clearing the Rubik’s cube, the computer warned me that my life was in danger and that it would protect me from harm from that point forward. It even gave me the password to activate the self-defense mechanism. I didn’t think I would need it, but you proved me wrong.”

“That was this ‘Order Sixty-Six,’ yes?” Silvia asked. “So you lied about the words on that com-pu-ter. You have dishonored your United States Marine Corps with your lies, Graham.”

“Look who’s talking, Lady Silvia. For a paladin, you have a funny way of showing it. You were going to kill me, weren’t you? That’s what’s happened to all the ñakari off-worlders you summoned in the past. They’re not living a life of luxury. They’re dead, aren’t they?”

No one answered right away until Kira finally spoke up, but not before putting her bow away so she did not appear aggressive like Magnus. “Yes, Graham, they’re all dead, but we had no choice. It was written into the pact between Drakmoor and Ghomehr regarding the fortress. Each country selects individuals to participate in the ritual summoning. Lady Silvia and I are from Ghomehr, D’Lann, and Magnus are . . . I mean, they were from Drakmoor.

“The teams are combined and head off to the various locations to perform the ritual, and whoever’s successful attempts to breach the fortress,” Kira continued. “No matter the result, the ñakari off-worlder is to be executed immediately not to contaminate our world like the original progenitor.”

“Contaminate? I’m not some disease, Kira! I’m a human being.”

“Oh yes, you are!” D’Lann fumed. “Ñakari only knows death and destruction. You have no soul . . .”

“And you do? You’ve wanted to kill me from the moment we met, D’Lann, but you don’t even know a thing about me,” Graham argued. “I don’t even know why we’re here. What is it you want?”

“They want the fortress itself,” a voice echoed in the next room. “In here, please, ladies and gentlemen.” No one realized someone else was with them in the fortress as the four moved out of the corridor and into the next room.

It was an octagon-shaped room with a domed ceiling high above them. The dome was made of glass panels, allowing light to illuminate the room. Centered in the top of the dome was a large purple gemstone, sparkling like a star in the sunlight. Around the room, carved into the stone, were magical runes and incantations. Everyone noticed that they looked like the ones used in a summoning spell. D’Lann recognized the gemstone instantly, a relic of her homeland.

“The Crystal of the Void,” she muttered softly. “It is here.”

Standing in the middle of the room was the projection of a young man, somewhat see-through as the light flickered off and on from beneath the floor. He appeared to be a young Asian male wearing glasses, his hair rather messy, wearing a thick robe, pajamas, and slippers. Graham laughed to himself at the sight of the projection. He was precisely as Graham had imagined him.

“What’s your name?” it asked.

“D’Lann Boudiboi—”

“I wasn’t asking you, drow witch. I was asking him,” the projection interrupted, staring down the sorceress. “Your full name, please, and where are you from?” Graham hesitated for a moment before he answered.

“Matthias Walter Prescott from Arlington, Texas.”

“You said your name was Graham? Another lie?” Sylvia insinuated.

“Graham is a nickname I got when I was a kid. My mama used to give me graham crackers to keep me quiet, so everyone started calling me Graham. Besides, I prefer it to Matthias or Walter.”

“But Matthias is your real name, yes?” Kira wondered.

“Only my me-maw calls me Matthias. Can we get back to the situation at hand? You know my name, pajama boy. You want to tell me yours?”

“Sorry about that, Graham, but I needed you to do that for the system to recognize you formally. My name is Bryce Summers, and I hereby transfer control of the Fortress of Starless to you. You now have complete authority over this entire facility.”

“And I take it you’re dead,” Graham stated. “Let me try to work things out. You found a way to combine magic with technology, but it took a toll on your body. So you used magic to transfer your consciousness into your computer’s main frame. You turned yourself into this world’s equivalent of artificial intelligence.”

“Excellent analysis; we must watch the same TV shows. I had to ensure the fortress didn’t fall into the wrong hands. Besides, I always wanted to live forever, and now I can, inside something I built. Besides, it took me decades to bring everything I needed from our world here. I wasn’t about to let it go to waste.”

“That’s not possible. You can only traverse between worlds once every ten cycles when a lunar conjunction takes place, even with the void crystal,” D’Lann argued.

“That’s why I made this,” Bryce said as the floor spun, realigning the spell while the glass-domed ceiling adjusted too. “It changes to the alignment requirement for the ritual. With it, I could travel between this world and my own whenever possible. However, using it as often as I did caused damage to my body, so much that I had no choice but to transfer my mind into the void crystal.”

He pointed up toward the powerful magic item situated in the dome. “From there, I control the operation of the entire fortress.” D’Lann was left dumbfounded that this human could figure all that out, and Bryce relished in her confusion. “Next time you see the Grand Dame of Drakmoor, remind her never to let a prodigy with an eidetic memory free access to her library.”

“The only thing you haven’t answered, Bryce, is why?” Graham interrupted. “You could have gone home and forgotten about this world.”

“Yes, and the humans of this world would have been crushed into dust,” Bryce said. “Elves, dwarves, drow, and Nephilim think humans or ñakari are beneath them. We are their slaves, their servants, the pets of the magical races of this world.”

Graham thought for a moment until he had a sudden epiphany. “Ñakari, it doesn’t mean human, does it? It means something worse, like so many racial slurs used in the history of our world. You have such contempt for the human race that you can’t even call us by our name.”

“To call us human would be too dignified, even for them,” Bryce explained. “Ñakari translates as ‘under a dog’ or something like that.”

“That’s not true! It’s just that ñakari—I mean humans—don’t have the capacity for magic,” Kira explained. “We have tried for several decas with no success.”

“And yet this ñakari learned magic in less than a year,” Bryce said. “Tell the truth. You don’t want humans evolving higher. You NEED us beneath you, as your slaves. That’s why I stayed behind and built this fortress. Using the power of the void crystal, I brought the necessary technology here to lift humanity out of the gutter, but I can’t do it alone anymore. I need someone to carry on my mission. I hope that person is you, Graham.” Graham thought about it momentarily, looking at the three women intently before moving next to Bryce’s hologram.

D’Lann scowled at him angrily, wishing she would have killed him as soon as he solved the last puzzle. “You will regret this, Matthias Walter Prescott. We will bring the full might of our nations against you.”

“That’ll be hard to do,” Bryce answered. “You see, as soon as Graham initiated the failsafe self-defense code, I teleported a bomb into the middle of the storm fields using fire gems to augment the blast. That little corner of Drakmoor should be nothing but a crater by now.”

D’Lann could not believe that a significant power source of their world was gone. “Since you consider us under a dog, it reminds me of a similar word from our world—underdog,” Bryce continued. “Humans from our world find strength as underdogs. We rise to the occasion and fight with the tenacity of a Vorsela Death Slime. That’s something we will teach the humans of this world.”

“In other words, Beyonce, to quote the great philosopher Clint Eastwood . . . ‘Go ahead, make my day!’ Don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.”

“Graham, please, it doesn’t have to be this way,” Kira pleaded, attempting to be a voice of reason. Graham looked at her and saw the sincerity in her face, while the others looked at him with disgust and anger.

“My grandpa always told me to be ready to talk peace but have the biggest gun ready, just in case. I’ll be open to listening, Kira, but violence begets violence. Any attacks on this fortress or lashing out against humans will result in immediate retaliation.”

Bryce appeared to snap his fingers, and the three were teleported out of the fortress. Graham breathed a sigh of relief that the ordeal was over, but now he had a new one to contend with.

“So, before you give me the grand tour, Bryce, do you have anything to eat? Those dragon skewers they fed me tasted like stinky tofu.”

“I take it you were stationed in Japan during your service in the Marine Corps?” For artificial intelligence, Bryce knew the ins and outs of Graham’s life back on Earth. “Well, I’ve got a great kitchen, fully stocked with beer and soda, energy drinks, beef jerky, chocolate bars, snack cakes, potato chips, and ramen.”

“Well, that’s a start. You lead the way, B-Man. After all, we’ve got the human race to save.”

THE END