Two worlds collide

Chapter 1. The portal.

Zera Hamilton tapped the Steering wheel, tap, tap, tap... tap tappity tap. A series of rhythmic taps she used to keep herself alert. Her windows were wound down, allowing the cold night air to fill the car. For the umpteenth time that night, she regretted not booking a hotel. She was tired, her 12-hour flight had wiped her out. She yawned. It was no good, she needed to stop and wake herself up.

The road was dark, lit only by the cats eyes in the road reflecting her head lights back at her. she travelled this road quite often, so she knew there was a point to pull over not to far away. As she reached it her headlights fell upon the familiar strip of road lit by a single streetlamp. It cast a bright orange glow over the layby. Hamilton pulled of the road and stopped the car. Leaving the head lights on and the door open, she left her jacket on the passenger seat and stepped outside. She resisted the urge to grab her phone and reached for the now very cold coffee that she had brought at the airport.

"Ten miles," she said out loud. "Then I can sleep in my own bed." She smiled at the thought. Although she had stayed in a very lavish hotel and slept on some of the finest bedding in the world, she still preferred her own bed. She thought of her friend's reaction when she saw what she had brought back for her and smirked. she leaned back against her car and took a large swallow from her paper cup. She was grateful for buying it now. Looking about her, she could see some lights in the distance, one orange, one green and one white, a long blue light turned on and off in rhythmic pattern before they turned off completely. Zera recognised these lights as they belonged to the restaurant that was a few miles from her home.

Hmm, must be Ten o clock, she thought Idly, She looked up at the sky hoping to observe the stars and the moon, but that was a bust, as patchy clouds covered the night sky. A cold breeze stirred the dust and dried leaves around her feet. She shuddered. Feeling her sleepy haze fade a little, this of course had been her intention, even though her home was only a short distance away she still didn't want to fall asleep at the wheel. Her boss would have had her head if he found out as he had offered to have a driver waiting for her. She regretted that decision to. But she didn't want to many people knowing where she lived. Work and personal life were separate for a reason. She pulled her arms around herself and rubbed her bare arms, the temperature was dropping. Her breath fogged before her.

Just a few more minutes she thought.

The breeze had now picked up considerably. The leaves and dust now forming small eddies that drifted across the concrete. Hamilton felt the hairs on her arms stand up, then the hair on the back of her neck. She could feel static in the air. Were they due a storm? Nothing had been forecast on her weather app. Something felt extremely off. she shrugged, dismissing the uneasy feeling due to her tired state. Zera placed her hand on the door and froze. What she saw made her question her own sanity. Eight feet away from her the detritus that had littered the ground now rose from the ground and began to swirl upwards until it formed a round archway, bands of red, orange, and brown streaked through it. The layby was suddenly plunged into darkness as The street light shattered with a bang, scattering shards of glass, which joined the dust, leaves and twigs. She shook herself,

wow I must be tired to be seeing shit like this! she thought, She continued to watch the thing as it swirled, transfixed. Suddenly, she saw movement. Her instincts to run, over rode by her training and curiosity. She did, however, flip the leather strap on her gun holster for easy access should she need to use it.

Out of the oscillating cloud came a booted foot, followed by a leather clad leg, an arm brandishing a huge sword, another arm and the other leg, Hamiltons eyes opened wide as the rest of the figure came through, it was a man, A tall man with dirty bone white hair. He was dressed in studded leather armour. Zera stared at him as he stood there.
"Who the fuck..." her words stilled on her tongue as the man returned her stare. His eyes were yellow, cat like almost. They opened in surprise. He raised the sword so he was standing in an attack stance sword ready to strike. But before he could finish the action, he staggered, suddenly unsteady on his feet. He dropped to his knees, the sword fell slack in his grip.
"Fuck..." he muttered, just as his eyes rolled to the back of his head, he fell forward hitting the ground with a dull thud. The dust cloud disappeared, leaving a pile of rubbish it is wake, the silence it left behind, now deafening.

Hamilton was now, very much, awake. She stared at the figure laying face down on the dirty ground, a fine layer of debris covered his body. he did not move. She tentatively poked him with her foot. Nothing. She prodded a bit harder, still nothing.

Dropping the empty cup Zera reached in to her car, rummaging through the glove box she grabbed a torch. Then returned to the man. She remained next to the car and shone the torch over him. With the better light she could see the blood that marked his left eye. Slowly she moved the light down, inspecting him from the safety of the car. Glass dust and shards glittered in the light, road dust hung lazily in light beams. The hand holding the torch stopped when she saw the damp patch that Had begun to form beneath Him. At this point her training kicked in. He was injured, and seriously by the look of it. She held the torch in her mouth, placing two fingers on his neck. His pulse was strong. There was no way she could access the full extent of his injuries here, nor did she want to take his Armour of to look. Most people should have called for an ambulance, but Zera Hamilton wasn't most people. She returned the torch to the passenger seat and angled it to give herself some light.

"Ok big guy." She said, walking to the back of the car, she opened the boot and grabbed a blanket. "I can't leave you here, someone is definitely going to rob you if I do." she proceeded to open both back doors and lay the blanket over the back seats.

"I hope this isn't going to be a bad idea," she said softly. She breathed in deeply preparing herself. He looked heavy. She knelt by his chest and pushed him over onto his back, instantly she felt slick on her hands, if this was blood as she suspected, he was going to need attention when she got back. Positioning herself for the best leverage she slipped her hands under his arm pits and dragged him to her car. The woman was by no means weak, but he was heavy and it took some considerable effort on her part to drag him into the back of the car.

Hamilton sat panting as she belted herself in. The cold now forgotten as she caught her breath. After a moment she started the car and drove the ten miles to her remote home in the middle of nowhere.

Forty minutes later, Zera sat on her bedroom floor, panting heavily she had dragged the white-haired man from her car, Into her house and up a flight of wooden stairs. She had almost dropped him at the top but regained her balance Just in time.

She calmed her breathing and stood. The man now lay on his back on her bed. "Ok big guy. I need to get you out of that armour and clean you up."

He didn't respond. She hadn't expected him to. She observed the man, contemplating how to go about her task.

The man was large, she was going to have to sit on him to get that armour off. Sighing loudly, she climbed on to the bed. The armour was a little complicated, she had disarmed him in the car before dragging him into the house, so that was one less concern, but She still needed to remove his sword scabbards before she could start on the leather encasing his body. It took her a while to figure out how the clasps worked, eventually she had him naked. His spaulders came away easily, his chest piece, however, was considerably harder to remove. This, she had accidentally dropped. it was much heavier than she had expected. The hard part now over, the trousers came off easily. She had to roll him on his side and back again to get them off, but it was far easier than the rest. she couldn't help but notice he had a nice-looking backside, she shook herself and continued with her task. The boots came off with little effort and she winced at the smell. His feet were sweaty.

Now she could tend to his injuries. Again, she found herself checking him out. He was muscular, with firm well defined abs. Scars Criss crossed his chest. Come on girl, she chastised herself, stop staring! A thin gash marked his left side, She was not a medical professional, but she knew enough from her own experiences to deduce that it looked superficial, and not life threatening. He probably needed a stitch or two, but other than that he'd probably be ok. Probably. she checked the man over before retrieving the medical box that had been discarded. she was thankful for slinging it around his neck before dragging him upstairs.