Into the Rift

“Alright. The time has come.” Nona smiled, raising the Anomaly Detector high in the air. “I’m going to activate it!”

A murmur of anticipation spread through the crowd gathered at the exit of The Evergreen, around Nona and her group. It was not yet dawn, so magic lanterns floated in the air, brightening the area.

“Fingers crossed, everyone,” Adish whispered as Nona lowered the detector and turned it over. “Orealgard and I estimated that there is a 30% chance that the detector fails.”

“Are you ever going to stop being so pessimistic?” Vesper softly admonished as Nona turned the artifact over once again. “That means that there is 70% of success.”

“It better work,” Lorian said with a worried tone. “Wise Orelgard is getting on in years and I doubt he takes such a failure well–Nona, why are you shaking the artifact like that?!”

“Ah, well, when I was a kid I used to do this with toys that didn’t work, and it usually helped–.”

“For fuck’s sake, press that button, you dummy!”

“...AH! I thought it was a decoration!”

Adish, Lorian and Thorny were still facepalming when Nona pressed the Anomaly Detector.

Nothing happened.

The crowd waited with too imperturbable expressions as an awkward silence filled The Evergreen.

But finally, just when Nona was about to tap the detector to prompt it to work, the artifact illuminated, and a translucent compass appeared right over it.

The crowd let out a sigh of relief and a few dry, polite claps were heard.

“Gosh, pointy-ears surely lack enthusiasm,” Thorny muttered, and Adish and Vesper quickly hushed him.

“Do you insist on accompanying them, son?” the current leader of the clan said, approaching the group together with his wife. “I am certain that your companions are very capable to handle this mission on their own. There is no need to put yourself at risk–”

“We have already talked about this, Kyeren,” Lorian’s mother said patiently, smiling at her son with resignation. “Your son has made up his mind. And he takes after me in stubbornness, so there is nothing we can say to dissuade him.”

Kyeren sighed in defeat, shaking his head. “Our kids had already inherited your beauty and intelligence, Seliel. They could have certainly left it at that.”

Lorian smiled and bowed towards his parents. “Mother, father, thank you so much for your understanding. Rest assured: we will make sure to avoid any unnecessary risks in the Rift.”

“HAH! Good joke.” Thorny ruffled Nona’s curls. “Risk should be our leader’s last name.”

“Hey, after you disappeared, I became way more prudent! Vesper can confirm it, right?”

“...”

“...Vesper?”

“I-I mean, I want to support you, Nona, but the first day we arrived at the Depths–”

“OK, aside from that incident with the gigantic worm baby that seemed lost, I behaved.”

“And the first time we went to the mines–”

“B-But those bats looked quite friendly! It was impossible to know that giving them berries was like the biggest offense to them–wait, why are you pushing me, Lorian?”

“If I didn’t know you better I would believe you really want me out of the team,” Lorian hissed, forcing a reassuring smile to his paler parents.

Adish smirked teasingly as they hurried towards the exit.

“Well, if it’s any consolation, they looked more worried when you rejected that marriage proposal–”

“Adish!! Wait for me!! We still have a pending conversation!!”

It was Lorian’s turn to smirk when that feminine voice shouted from behind them, causing Adish to curse with mortification.

“Shit! She was supposed to be in the main city, what is she doing here?!” he snapped, quickly using Vesper’s taller figure as an improvised hideout.

“Don’t worry, it seems like Lorian’s parents have managed to stop her,” Vesper reassured as Nona took a peek behind, catching a glimpse of Lorian’s twin sister struggling to break free from her parents’ hold, causing a fuss when she didn’t succeed.

“Well, now that you mention marriage, mage, I wonder if you will eventually stop feigning disinterest and accept Larien’s proposal–”

“I already turned her down! I told her I have NO interest in romance but she does NOT give up!”

“Awww, four-eyes is a heart-breaker in disguise!”

“Shut up, you former playboy, it’s not funny!”

A few minutes later they had left The Evergreen behind, and Adish was able to relax again.

Orelgard already warned them several times that The Dawn Rift could appear anywhere. Nona secretly hoped that it would lead them to the ocean, preferably somewhere deep that required the help of sea creatures. Like merfolks.

So, she was a bit disappointed when the compass led them to the Highlands.

“Damn, we have to go up there?” Thorny whistled, looking up at the towering mountains. “It’s going to take ages–”

“Vesper, would you like to do the honors this time?” Nona asked with anticipation. Vesper smiled and nodded.

“What the hell is that thing?” Thorny asked with confusion when Vesper extracted an ocarine from her bag.

“No, not again…” Adish whimpered, pinching the bridge of his nose as Lorian went as far as patting the mage’s back in silent support.

Thorny was about to ask again when Vesper brought the ocarine to her lips and played a few notes.

A thunderous roar sounded in the sky.

Thorny shrieked and hid behind Nona as she waved towards a familiar burgundy dragon that had emerged from the clouds. The beast heavily landed next to the group, causing the entire ground to tremble.

“Hi Red! It’s been a while!”

“WHAT?! You have a pet dragon now?!” Thorny shouted in disbelief when Nona approached the beast and started scratching the top of his scaled head. The dragon closed his eyes and thrummed in content, purring.

“It’s not a pet, but a friend,” Vesper corrected, also approaching the dragon to softly run a hand through his back. “We ran into him again when we were in the South Continent. Thanks to him we’ve been able to travel really fast between continents.”

“Tsk, portals are safer and faster to use,” Adish muttered. The dragon seemed to hear him, because he frowned and puffed air in the mage’s direction, clouding his glasses.

“Portals? We have portals now?” Thorny groaned in exasperation. “I thought last night you told me everything!”

“Let’s go, everyone!” Nona jumped on the dragon with agility, and gestured towards the others. “The sun is about to rise, so let’s see if we can catch The Dawn Rift in time!”

Once everyone was riding the dragon, Nona softly patted the top of his head. The beast pushed off the ground with a powerful motion, and less than a second later they were half-way up the mountain.

“I hope your grip is strong enough this time, mage,” Lorian teased Adish, who was with his eyes tightly closed, holding onto Vesper for dear life. “Last time you were about to fall, remember–?”

“SHUT UP! HOW CAN YOU ALL ENJOY THIS?!” Adish shouted hysterically, though his cries were muffled by Nona, Vesper and Thorny’s excited ‘Whooho’s.

In no time they were flying above the mountains. The Anomaly Detector compass was clearer than ever, but Nona didn’t need to follow it anymore.

It had already dawned, and in the horizon, she could clearly see a fracture slowly opening, tearing the sky apart.

The Dawn Rift.

“We found it,” Nona muttered with a mix of disbelief and pride looking at Thorny on his shoulder. “Thorny, it’s there! We did it!”

Thorny snorted, but he was grinning. “Of course you did, dummy leader. There’s no one more stubborn than you.”

“Do you think it’s safe that Red enters it?” Vesper asked, concerned.

“Oh, good point, Vesper. We shouldn’t take the risk.” Nona patted the side of the dragon’s neck. “Red, can you get us a bit closer, please? We will jump from there.”

“Wait, JUMP?!”

Adish was still shouting when the dragon flew as close as he could to the rift. Energy was pouring through it, causing strong wind gusts that forced the dragon to maneuver to stay more or less stable.

“OK, guys, get ready.” Despite the dragon’s continuous movements, Nona easily stood up on the beast’s back, having no trouble keeping balance. Her companions struggled more, so she promptly helped them to straighten their position - especially Adish, who was cursing nonstop with his eyes closed. “To the count of three, we jump! One…”

“Wait a second! I need to check that I have the bestiary with me!”

“VESPER, DON’T LET MY ARM GO!”

“Two…”

“Will you allow me to take a quick draft of you, mage? I’m pretty sure that Larien’s crush on you will not survive if she sees you like this.”

“SHUT UP, ELF! BUT DON’T LET MY OTHER ARM GO!”

“Dummy leader, I think the Rift won’t be open much longer!”

“Three! Everyone, GO!”

They managed to jump through it right when the fracture started to slowly close.

* * *

What waited for them on the other side was difficult to describe. If Nona had to put it into words, it would be a brighter, wilder and emptier version of the world she had known and lived in until then.

Both the grass and the trees were more abundant and leafier. The lakes that could be seen in the distance looked as large as a mid-sized city. The mountains that surrounded the area were imposingly high, with their peaks getting lost in the pinkish clouds that covered the clearest sky that Nona had ever seen.

There were no other people in sight, only beasts with mythical appearances that looked extracted right out of the fairy tales that Nona loved so much.

Nona was a bit overwhelmed while admiring the beautiful landscape in front of her…

“Gurukul! ”

…And then Adish threw up a couple of meters away from her, breaking the magic of the moment.

“Damn, it’s the last time I’ll ride a dragon…” the mage whimpered, still crouching on the grass while cleaning his mouth with the back of his hand.

“I hope not to run out of space to document all these creatures,” Vesper said in awe, writing furiously on her bestiary.

“Tsk, the pages are not big enough to cover all the details,” Lorian said with disappointment, drawing furiously on his notebook.

“OK, the good news is that all those monsters’ stats are super high, but suck in comparison to our leader’s.” Thorny kept shading his eyes with his hand, looking afar. Suddenly, he clicked his tongue. “The bad news is that I just saw our prey. And it’s going to be a pain in the ass to catch it.”

“What?! How can you tell it apart so quickly?” Nona stared at Thorny with admiration. “Could it be that you recovered extra godly powers when you were in that other dimension?

“Tsk, I wish, but nope. I’m pretty sure you can also recognize the Goddess’ pet.”

Nona frowned in concentration, focusing on the creatures ahead.

“Ah, is that hippogriff resting by the lake?!”

“Cold.”

“Mm, is that flying snake that is going after those birds?”

“Nope.”

“Oh no, don’t tell me it’s that enormous plant with tentacles and a giant mouth that looks super poisonous–”

“BZZZZT. Wrong again!”

“Argh, Thorny, I give up. Which is it?!”

“Hint: you are focusing on too big creatures.”

Nona blinked with confusion before squinting her eyes, taking a better look.

And then, her eyes widened in disbelief.

Because in that dimension, where all those amazing, impossible to believe creatures prowled free, there was one that stood out:

A super tiny chihuahua wearing a pink ribbon almost as big as him around his neck, which was insistently barking at any monster that dared to pass by his side.

“...Poop.”