I inhaled atop that foggy hill city, where the giant was mid-plunge, and I exhaled somewhere else. The air was warm.

  I opened my eyes. I was standing, just as I had been moments prior, but I was elsewhere. Nessy was by my side, where she had been, now collapsed. Brax laid flat on his belly where he had been crawling. But he was no longer moving.

  The stone giant was gone and the world had gone along with it. The sky here was deep purple. The ground was brown. Not far away was a vast black sea.

  I fell to my knees. The ground was a strange chalky mix of sparkly dull colored clay, like putty or a clay tennis court.

  We were somewhere else. Somewhere very else. Had I put us here?

  Nessy coughed. She sounded close to death.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  She spit and groaned.

  “How are we here?” I asked.

  “You,” she coughed and turned her face towards me. She managed a devilish grin. I was relieved to see it.

  “Are we dead?” mumbled Brax.

  I looked over. He was laying face down still.

  Nessy nodded. “Yes.”

  We laid there for a time. I kept waking to check if they were still there. And each time, they were. I finally sat up, feeling somewhat rested. Brax was still face down, mid-crawl. Nessy was snoring. At least I knew she was alive.

  I managed to stand after a few failed attempts. My whole body ached, but my knee caps and shins hurt the most. Up ahead, near the coast, there was a splattering of black trees with white specks in their branches. Across from those trees was a steep hill.

  This place was surreal The sky was spiraling. There was no wind. It wasn’t like the other place. At least the other place had a semblance to Earth.

  I tried to wake Nessy, but it was no use. I walked over to Brax and gave him a nudge. He hopped to his feet, his handaxe in hand. He looked me over, then eyed the landscape.

  “You do this?” he asked.

  “I think so.”

  “Can you undo it?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “We don't want to be here.”

  “Where’s here?”

  “Darklands. Try to wake her. I'll take a look around.”

  Brax headed straight towards the hill near the trees. I walked over to Nessy and shook her until she came to. She sat up and got her bearings.

  “The dwarf,” she murmured.

  “He’s taking a look around.”

  “No. Where was he before he got up?”

  I turned and looked around, then pointed to the spot.

  Nessy stood up and turned to where I pointed, then turned herself away from it and pointed forward towards trees and hill. “This way.”

  “What’s that way?”

  “Think you can take us back?” she asked.

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  “I have no idea. I can try.”

  “Not here. You'll take us right back to the stone giant.”

  I noticed Brax was running back at full speed. We both turned to face him. He was waving his arms.

  “Crap,” Nessy muttered.

  As Brax got closer I realized he was ducking. I lowered myself closer to the ground. Nessy remained standing.

  “What is it?” Nessy whispered loudly. She had a way of shouting her whispers. It completely defeated the point.

  We waited as Brax made his way back to us. “Hellhounds,” he said upon his arrival, between breaths. He turned back and pointed. “Just over that hill.”

  “How many?” said Nessy.

  “Four.”

  “Anything else?”

  “They were alone.”

  “Structures? Any anything?”

  “No.”

  “Were they standing still or roaming?”

  “Still.”

  Nessy sighed. “They’d kill us. I don’t want to backtrack.”

  “We need you to shift us back, Charlie. A stone giant is a nice Sunday afternoon compared to the creatures of this realm.”

  “Let’s go that way,” Brax pointed to the peninsula between the forest and the sea. “An hour’s walk or two. Then we shift back. It’ll take us east of Black Sheep Wall. There’s a valley there. There’s bandit camps but we can deal with that. Better than the giant.”

  We walked towards the peninsula. The combination of the swirling purple sky and the absence of wind had me perpetually convinced we were indoors. But we were very much not.

  As we walked along the shore, we became diverted by a river turned swamp. Brax tried to keep his bearings, but as we contended with the inhospitable terrain, we found ourselves increasingly uncertain how our whereabouts correspond with the other side.

  We came upon a steep incline in the terrain on all sides. There was no option but to turn around or slowly scale the slope. Once at the top, we could see a great distance ahead. There appeared to be a settlement not too far ahead of us, off to the right along a river. I also spotted what looked like an active volcano far into the distance.

  “Trolls,” Brax whispered.

  “They aren’t nice, are they?” I asked.

  Nessy laughed.

  Brax glared at me.

  “Now what?” I asked.

  “I think we’re still within the Black Sheep Wall,” said Brax. “But if we can make it down this other side and half way to that city, then shift, we should be home free.

  “Risky,” Nessy said.

  “Or, we shift here, and just walk the inner perimeter of the wall until we find some wall walks up to the battlements.”

  “Then what? Jump down and die?”

  “I don’t know. Magic?” Brax looked at me and then her.

  “We’d fall and die,” Nessy said. “We need to dig out a bed. Somewhere with decent cover. And let him sleep.”

  “Sleep? I’m not tired,” I said.

  “My fear is he’s too psychotic,” Nessy said to Brax.

  “What?” I said.

  Nessy turned to me. “You casted Plane Shift on a whim, without pre-casting, without even knowing you could. It’s next to impossible. It’s impressive, but to ask you to do it again in a high pressure scenario is insane. And if we’re going to do it anyway, you need more rest first.”

  “I feel fine.”

  “You can’t go by that.”

  “No, look, I feel great”

  She raised a hand. “You can get stuck.”

  “The ground’s like clay here,” said Brax. “Can dig out a little hiding spot to rest. Half an hour tops if we all chip in.”

  “Dig?” I asked. “With what?”

  “Our hands,” Brax said. “Look.” He kneeled down and carved out a handful of clay.

  “What’s that,” said Nessy.

  I glanced over at her. Her eyes were fixed on the horizon up ahead.

  “What?” whispered Brax.

  “Get down!” she said, pushing us back.

  We rushed back down the slope and ducked down.

  “What is it?” I whispered.

  “A draconian. Flying straight at us.”

  “One?” Brax whispered.

  Nessy lifted her head to take a peek, then snapped it back. “Staff! He has a staff. Has to be magician or shaman.”

  “His staff have a golden tip?” asked Brax.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Think he saw us?”

  “He’s bearing down exactly on us.”

  Nessy turned to me.

  “Can’t you talk to him?” Brax asked Nessy.

  “And say what?”

  “Diplomatic words.”

  “There is no diplomacy between dark elves and draconians.”

  “Yet,” said Brax.

  “You’re wasting our time. He’s fast.”

  Now they both looked at me.

  “How long do I have?”

  Nessy stole another peek. She moved like lightning when she wanted to. “Literally straight at us. Five minutes and he’s on top of us.”

  “And if that happens?” I said.

  “A quick death,” said Nessy.

  I turned to Brax. I was curious his take too.

  Brax looked up at me and sighed. “We’re not meant to survive here. You gotta get us back to Midgrey.”

  “And now,” said Nessy.

  “Okay,” I said. I took a deep breath. I didn’t feel good about this. I felt sick, tired, and afraid. My mind was racing and restless. I tried to calm myself, but I only grew more anxious with each breath.

  “Go,” said Nessy. I’d never seen her so distressed looking.

  I rolled my eyes back and fell into myself.

  I stood in the center of a street in front of a house with many doors. I walked inside and ran through the familiar corridor. I found the room that I had entered before. I entered but exited out the same door. I went floor to floor. I could sense the creeping passage of time. I began trying doorknobs to anywhere. None turned. I came upon one doorknob that was cold. I ripped my hand away in pain and terror and gazed upon the door. It was no different than the next door. I heard a slam, turned, and saw a girl down the hall. She backed away, then turned, and ran. I didn’t pursue her. I was relieved she ran.

  “Please,” I spoke. “I need out.” I shook my head. “Don’t let me get stuck here too.” I sat down on the carpet. I took deep breaths. I cleared my head. The room slowly dimmed, and a distant door glowed. I ran. I saw light beaming through the edges of the door. I turned the knob and it opened.