Misplaced

Chapter 5

     My mind immediately went blank at the question. What was I even supposed to say? 

     Zeno was the first to respond. "Another world? That's a stretch even for you, Dimora."

     "It's a classic legend, not just some theory. There was a very powerful mage that was best known for her enchantments. Once, she enslaved an entire dwarven city using enchanted collars, that would explode if anyone tried to escape or get in the way. The dwarves were forced to use their knowledge of the crafts to build anything that she wanted. Obviously, there was eventually a rebellion on the rise despite the collars, and the mage knew it, so she set her sight on a new creation to aid in her escape. An enchanted item that could send a person to another world. There were only a couple of prototypes until she suddenly disappeared one day. Most say she is in hiding but some believe she successfully made the device." Dimora rambled on, "Besides, there are many other literary works that mention other worlds too. Personally, I believe she succeeded with her goal. I've personally read some of her work as a reward for a quest, and she was truly one of the best in the enchanting world."

     Zeno was as silent as I was, taking in the information we had just been told. 

     Dimora, of course, was the one to break the silence, "We can figure the rest of this out later, we need to report soon." 

     The sun was already high in the sky, beaming down onto us. Unfortunately, there was no time for any sword lessons, I had a little bit of knowledge about using weapons from martial arts classes, but nothing like a sword. Dimora and Zeno took charge of navigating us there. The walk was supposed to take a couple of hours, as it was an escort mission that we had to go to the base the client was staying at.

     As we walked, thoughts kept intruding their way into my mind. I couldn't help but feel guilty for not telling Dimora and Zeno everything yet. Even though they have done so much for me, I hadn't been fully honest. I needed to tell them, regardless of what they might say. 

     With a deep sigh, I explained everything from the World War, the compass artifact (this really piqued Dimora's interest), the jail, and the message boxes I had during the spell testing. 

     Dimora slapped me on the shoulder and laughed aloud, "Well Aspen, you're the first person in a while that has left me baffled like this. Everything lines up in a sense, but I have no clue how your father would get his hands on an artifact like that."

     "Aspen's attribute is lightning because the lightning spirit in his world was still present at his birth, isn't it?" Zeno questioned, looking at Dimora as he waited for a response.

     Dimora's face lit up with pride and she ruffled his hair, "Exactly, looks like some of my brains are rubbing off on you after all."

     Zeno rolled his eyes and turned away, picking up the pace. 

     After a while of more walking, more and more questions were filling my head about this world. I hadn't seen any humans and the tavern from my first night had mistaken me for an elf. 

     "Dimora, can I ask you an awkward question?" My curiosity couldn't hold out any longer. "Are you a dwarf?"

     Dimora burst into laughter and after a while of trying to catch her breath, sarcastically replied, "No, I'm just a 4 foot elf."

      Her laughter had echoed off the trees surrounding us, sending a flock of birds into the sky. 

     Zeno's pace finally slowed and he looked back to call out, "We're here."

     There was an old, wooden gate that stood about ten feet tall. The doors were swung widely open, but there were two guards on top of the frame, holding what looked to be longbows.