The Nextworld Invasion and the Death of Magic - 21. Chapter 21 - Coming Together

Dorjin, the Human from Nextworld, was still on the beach. She had stopped sobbing, and she was focused. She was using the slimy innards of the crab she had killed to cast a spell. It was a simple window charm, and she expected it to merely grant her a glimpse of those onboard the ship and maybe give her a bearing of where they were. She knew they were out to sea, and she was on land, but she did not have any other idea of what she could do.

However, as her magic activated, it flared with far more power than the spell should have had, and an entire doorway through reality opened right in front of her. The gateway did not lead to the ship that she had been trying to find, and instead, it led to somewhere on land. On the other side of the doorway was a group of very startled-looking people from the three different races of Earthians. They could see her.

“It’s you!” the green-skinned man with purple eyes cried out; he was one of the people Dorjin had been watching on the ship.

She was speechless. This was not what her spell was supposed to do, and she suddenly felt exposed and vulnerable. Dorjin watched as several of the people’s surprise shifted to rage. One of the short, stocky men rushed at the opening and grabbed her by the collar, pulling her through the eldritch doorway. He was far stronger and rougher than she expected, and even though Dorjin was over a foot taller than the man, he yanked her sideways, and she fell to the black rocks of the volcanic island.

“Wait!” the green man yelled. “She’s the one who warned us almost a week ago that the Humans were closing in on the rebels. I think she’s been trying to help.” He placed a hand on the shoulder of the aggressive man who had attacked her, and he fixed his purple eyes on hers. “I’m Tigath.” He reached out, and she took his green hand. He helped her to her feet.

“I’m sorry,” Dorjin said before she could stop herself, “for what Kalthrin has done to Earth and your people.”

“Kalthrin is apparently the name of the Humans’ military or something like that,” added the long-limbed captain of the ship Dorjin had been trying to find with her spell. “Remind me your name, kid.”

“It’s Dorjin,” she replied weakly.

“I’m Kilial.” Her eyes moved to the magicked doorway. “How did you do this? My people use magic, but it’s nothing like this.”

“We’ve been studying elf magic for decades,” Dorjin replied.

The others were confused.

“What magic?” Kilial asked.

“Elf magic,” Dorjin repeated, and she added, “the magic of your people,” as if that clarified.

“What on Earth is elf magic?” Kilial replied. “Oh wait, I see. Do you mean earthmagic? Because that’s what we call it.”

“I know this realm is called Earth,” Dorjin stated, “but we refer to the magic we do as being based on your people, elfs.”

Kilial scrunched up her exaggerated features. “Why on Earth do you call us that? It’s not our name. We are the Rothian people. What does elf even mean?”

Dorjin was surprised. “But that’s what we call you, elfs. You’re an elf.”

Kilial frowned. “I’m a Rothian. Don’t call me elf again.”

“But it’s what we call your people.”

Tigath interjected, “Why did you make up a name for the Rothians?”

Dorjin turned to him. “I didn’t know they were called Rothians.”

“You said you have different names for the cities,” Kilial pressed, “so does that mean Humans just make up stupid names for everything that already has a name? How on Earth did your people start calling us elfs?”

Dorjin did not know the answer to Kilial’s question.

“Don’t suppose you’ve got a weird name for us too,” the more muscular green man said from behind Tigath.

Dorjin furrowed her brow in concern. “We call you orcs.”

“Elfs and orcs?” Kilial repeated. “And what about our Noktar friends here?” She waved at the several stocky, hairy folks.

“We call them dwarfs.”

Tigath, Othri, Kilial, Lestralin, and the gathered rebels did not know what to make of the trivial information they were receiving.

“Alright, so yes,” Kilial said with a snarl, “Humans make up stupid names for everything.”

“I didn’t know,” Dorjin pleaded. “I didn’t make up these names, and I didn’t know the right name for things on Earth; I only know our Human words for things.”

Tigath took one of Dorjin’s pale hands in his green ones. “Okay, so now that you’re here with us, what’s your plan?”

“This wasn’t my plan,” she replied. “I’ve been doing what I can from Nextworld, but I was forced to go on another mission here to Earth. I killed my ship’s pilot and ditched. The ship crashed, and I cast a charm that was only supposed to let me see your group on the boat, but for some reason, the spell opened this doorway, and not to the boat, but to all of you instead.”

“Why were you trying to find the boat?” Tigath asked.

“If I had crashed in Nextworld, I would have reached out to people I know there, but here on Earth, I know no one. Your group was the only people I could think of trying to find. I thought my spell was just going to let me see you. I wanted to make sure you were okay. I don’t know why the charm became a stronger spell, and I don’t know why it focused here rather than the ship.”

Dorjin noticed one of the people she thought of as a dwarf pull another of their fellow Noktar aside, and despite their whispering, everyone around them heard their words and focused on them.

“There are people here who would kill a Human if they found her.”

“How are we supposed to hide her? Humans are so ugly.”

“They’re about the same height as Urcai, so maybe we can disguise her.”

“But Human skin isn’t green.”

“Maybe we could smuggle her away from here.”

“Who among us would spare a ship to get rid of her? I’m not sacrificing mine.”

“Nor will I.”

Tigath turned to the long-limbed captain of the Mermonster. “Kilial, if Dorjin can’t stay here, maybe we should bring her with us.”

The other green man was angry. “Tigath, we’re here to find a way to kill Humans, and now we’re talking about saving one? Maybe she should just leave and fend for herself.”

“But she’ll die for sure,” Tigath replied.

“Yeah,” agreed one of the Noktar, “Humans can’t even survive on Earth.”

Dorjin frowned. “That’s not true. My people originally came from Earth.”

The angry green man scowled. “Why do you keep saying that? Humans are invading Earth. You’re killing us, the inhabitants of Earth. This is our home, not yours.”

“You’re wrong,” Dorjin replied, doubling down. “Your people banished my ancestors.”

“That’s absurd!”

Tigath now took the more muscular man’s hands instead. “Othri, what if she’s right? What if all of our peoples, including Humans, originally came from Earth?”

The man called Othri focused on Dorjin. “There is no mention in any of our histories of Humans on Earth. Our people have documented our lives for over twelve-thousand years. Never in all that time is there a single mention where Humans were part of life on Earth. What… are we supposed to believe that before recorded history, your people lived in harmony with us? You can’t even live in harmony with yourselves or Nextworld. All our stories talk about the wickedness of Humans and how you corrupt nature. Humans are the antithesis of nature, inharmonious.”

“But we can use magic!” Dorjin declared.

“What does that have to do with harmony?” Othri asked.

Dorjin looked to each of the unique individuals in front of her and asked them, “Isn’t magic directly related to being in harmony with nature? We use life to do magic.” She waved at the ethereal doorway that was still hovering behind her and the dead crab’s remains that were visible through it.

Tigath winced. “You use life?”

Kilial spoke up again. “Rothian earthmagic is about healing and bringing life. Your magic requires death?”

Dorjin’s heart again hurt for the slaughtered animal, and she said quietly, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Kalthrin’s actions are wrong, and I just wanted to help your people. I’m sorry,” she repeated.

“Well, she can’t stay here,” one of the Noktar stated.

“Fine,” Kilial conceded, turning to Dorjin, “we’ll take you to the Mermonster.”