Rise of the Punch Monkey

Chapter 35

I made my way to the guard shack outside the dungeon entrance to find it was late in the afternoon. As I approached the guard nodded at me and I pushed over the ledger. I eyed him suspiciously and inspected the log. It was still on the same day, 18th of Holden, and my name was the last name entered.

I looked to the guard in visible confusion. "Um, excuse me," I said, the sleepy guard shuffling over to the window. "Is the logbook right? What day is it?

He looked at me in irritation, spun the log around, looking it over. "Tis the 18th of Holden. Log's right. You come here oft enough, boy, and there ain't never been a problem wit tha log," he grumbled. "Now is there somefin' I can help you wif?"

I leaned over the counter to looked over the log again and my mind began racing for answer.

"It's the 18th of Holden..." I said softly in disbelief.

The guard gave me a peculiar look then leaned forward and inspected the book again. "That's wot I said. Has been all day. Why?" he asked, looking between me and the pages, "Somefin' wrong with the log?"

"Uh, no," I said, "sorry to bug you." I quickly jotted my signature, signing out of the dungeon and noting the time. It had been 1532 when I had signed in, and the clock on the wall read 1706. One hour and thirty-four minutes. Only one hour thirty-four minutes had passed since I'd entered the dungeon, chased the rabbit through the rift and spent seven days in Keshuvinya. I walked off a bit confused as the guard gave me odd look as he watched me go.

"You sure ya ok, lad?" he called after me.

I waved at him as I kept walking, trying to make sense of what was going on. "Nylix?" I said, looking at the bird on my shoulder.

"Yes?"

"What is going on with the time?" I asked. "I was in The In Between with you for seven days, but it's only been a few hours here...how is that possible?"

"Time moves differently among the plains with the Plain of the Cycle typically moving the fastest among them," she said, tilting her bird head to look at me. "However, The In Between is different as it is not truly its own plain but comprised of the spaces between the Plains of Existence. Typically, the higher concentration of Aether a plain has, the slower time moves but because The In Between is a place made for traveling between the different plains, the Grand Creator made time move faster there so no time seemed to pass when traveling between the plains."

"That...makes sense, I guess," I said. "Do you know the speed differences between the plains?"

Her feathers ruffled and she shook herself. "From the plains beyond my realm, I am unsure, but from The In Between to the Plain of Cycle I believe it is roughly ten days to an hour more or less."

"Ten to an hour?!" I pinched the bridge of my nose. "So, am I a week older than I was roughly an hour ago?"

"Yes."

I swore loudly and group of passing students gave me odd looks as walked by and I realized how it must look, me talking to a bird on my shoulder. I quickened my pace and made my way back to my room in the student quarters. As I opened the door, Nylix took off into the room, landing on my bed post. I shouldered off my satchel with my void bag inside and hung it up on the backrest of the chair at my desk.

"Your accommodations are quite meager," she said as she moved from the bed post to my small bookcase next to the desk.

"Well," I said, sniffing my vest and grimacing a bit, "at least I have my own room. Some students have to share a room."