Resilience Run

Chapter 1

A long time ago, when I was expelled from high school for beating the crap out of the jerk that was harassing my sister, my dad took me aside after I started pursuing my GED.

"You did the right thing, Riley," he had said, "Don't let anyone ever tell you different. Sometimes, people aren't going to like it when you do the right thing, but you should always do it anyway."

My dad was always a smart man. My mother told me that he hadn't even finished high school, shortly after my father dropped dead in the garage he worked in from a brain aneurysm, and that was incredibly shocking to me. I would have never expected him to be a high school dropout.

His words were coming back to me now, as things in my life had taken a shocking turn, so far just for the worse. Everyone around me always said college was going to be a whole new adventure, but my college adventure had resulted in me getting abducted from my whole universe, ending up in some medieval magical universe, and forced to be the offering in a twisted fight for my life against several magical creatures called the Runners, who were being forced to participate, and I had to free them.

It had been a long, tough, and harrowing adventure, and none of us had made it out in one piece. I myself had lost the index finger on my left hand, I'd been knocked around, and even had other pieces of my body ripped off.

My companion, a tall and beautiful-looking transgender orc named Rhys, was breathing heavily, a lasting effect from her crying over us having to leave behind the woman who had been protecting her for so long. She still had some scars on her arms and cheeks from our fights with the Runners, and she was constantly looking around as we moved along the footpath, keeping her only visible eye out for any kind of trouble that could accost us.

"I feel like if the emperor's goons knew where we were, they probably would have attacked us by now." I said, trying to placate Rhys even though it was probably a fruitless endeavor.

"I don't want to take any chances," said Rhys, "The absolute last thing we need right now is to get jumped when we just got away from the castle."

"Alright, you do you." I said.

"Hey, moor-acu?" asked Felice, my soul-bonded companion and former empress of Xeastea before she was killed by her own husband, using the nickname she'd been using since we first met, "I have another question about that cell phone of yours."

"Oh god." I groaned, still fully regretting my decision to show off my cell phone - technology that didn't exist in this magical world - since Felice could not stop asking every single question that had come to her mind ever since.

"Is the communication feature usable across the whole country?" Felice asked, "I mean, could one person from one side of the country call a person on the other side of the country, and hold a completely casual conversation with them?"

"You asked me that already Felice," I said, "And I told you, the answer is yes."

Felice squealed. It took me by surprise that she would be so interested in the stuff that my world had to provide, especially thanks to the magic that prevailed in Xeastea, but I wasn't one to judge. It wasn't like there was much else for us to do until we made it to the village.

Speaking of which, I pointed at the smoke in the distance - the only sign of civilization we had seen since the sight of the castle behind us had finally left our vision.

"This must be that village from the map," said Rhys, "Craven Mill, right?"

"That's the place." I said, "Wait, hold on."

I stopped dead in my tracks.

"What if someone in that town recognizes me? Isn't that going to be a problem?"