Timeless

Devon

It was dark and he was moving fast. He glanced into each break between the buildings, hoping to find somewhere to hide. Finally, a space large enough to squeeze into appeared.

Devon rushed into the shadowed alley and pressed back against the cool red brick wall to catch his breath. No streetlights illuminated this space.

Did I lose her? He thought, hoping she was far enough behind.

After a few moments of silence, he relaxed against the bricks and sighed, “Okay, when can I call the date over?”

As he pulled his phone out to text the individual responsible for this catastrophe of a night out, he hears “Devooon…” in a very shrill, feminine voice.

“Oh, shit!” he breathed.

As he leaned forward to see where the owner of the voice was, a small hand reached from behind him and covered his mouth before he could scream. At nearly the same time a second hand grabbed his arm and both jerked him backwards as his phone slipped from his hands.                             
…………………

As the world around him stopped spinning, Devon opened his eyes. He found himself in a large room with a ceiling that looked like it had either roots or vines across it. Roots, Devon decides. Following a rather large root down the wall, he sat up.

Behind him he hears “I think you pulled the wrong one, Flint. He fainted before he got all the way through.”

“This is the one you pointed out, May. It's not my fault he can't handle the transition,” answered the small man standing next to the root Devon had been looking at.

The man, Flint?, was small, maybe three feet tall, and he was standing in front of what appeared to be a mirror. It took Devon a moment to notice the mirror, mainly due to the distraction of the guy being completely naked.

The fuck? As Devon began recovering from the shock of finding himself in a strange room with naked people, (He had looked behind him and found she was as scantily clad as the guy.) he became aware of noises coming from various doorways throughout the surprisingly large room.

Devon began reddening as he realized what the sounds were. Panic set in as the girl said, “Look Flint, you made him embarrassed.” Apparently she didn't realize the real reason for Devon's redness.

“Maybe he will be fun to play with,” murmured the one called Flint as he began approaching Devon.

Before either of the now advancing people reached him, Devon jumped up and held up his hands in a back-off gesture, moving further away. “Whoa! What do you mean ‘play with’? If it's what I think it is, no.”

“Come on, it'll be fun. We will make sure you enjoy it,” pouted May, who never paused in her advance.

Thankfully, a voice from one of the doorways stopped both of the tiny naked people with, “How many times must I remind you Gahe that pulling people through the portals for your personal fun is forbidden?”

Both Flint and May immediately moved away and began a series of apologies, some of which included sexual favors. They even began denying knowing what was so wrong with what they had done.

Devon just stayed where he was, unsure of what to do. Should I make a run for it? Or profess some sort of gratitude and undying devotion?

Still contemplating, Devon studied the one who had reprimanded the strange people. It was an old man with white hair and a long white beard. The door he had entered from was hidden behind some of the leafier vines. The man appeared to be near 60 and carried a walking stick.

“Gandalf much,” Devon said in a nearly inaudible voice.

Looking up from across the room, the man said with a small smile, “Actually my name is Corvinus, not Gandalf.” To the little people, “I'm taking your new mistake with me.”

There was a sudden chorus of “Aww, you're no fun” and “Why” from the people.

“What're you doing calling me a mistake? And who said I wanted to go with you?” Devon spluttered, horrified the guy could hear him from so far away.

Raising his eyebrow, Corvinus just said, “That must mean you want to stay with your new friends.” Then he turned towards a different doorway and began going through it.

The excitement from Devon's abductors and the knowledge of what they could be planning in his mind, Devon ran after the old man. “Wait! I changed my mind. I wanna go with you.”

Catching up, Devon asked, “Corvinus, right? What did you call those people?”

“Gahe. Or sprites. They are nature beings that guard a portal to another world. Actually, the portal you just came from.”

As they walked, Devon looked into each room as they passed. In every one, some sort of erotic fantasy was being played out. Some rooms had just one gender, others had a mix of genders. In this one there was 4 or 5 people who were around yet another.

How can a woman bend like that? As he realized that everyone in the room was male, Devon's eyes widened and he decided not to pay attention to any more of the rooms.

“How big is this place?” Devon asked Corvinus, trying in vain to stop thinking about that last room.

“No one knows. This place is enchanted to adjust its size. Here we are.”

They had reached the end of a hallway. Devon could make out an outline of a door. As they went through, they came out on a hillside surrounded by mountains.

So we were underground.

Looking around, Devon realized they had stepped out of an enormous red wood tree. When Corvinus closed the door, the outline was barely visible, similar to the inside. Besides the tree and mountains, there wasn't much else on the hillside that sloped towards a valley.

Stunned by the sight, Devon was slow to ask, “So where do we go now?”

When there was no answer, Devon turned and realized Corvinus was not where he thought the old man would be. Spinning around, he spotted him rounding some rocks and disappearing from sight. “Hey!” Devon shouted and raced after him.

Catching up for the second time, Devon demanded, “What the hell? Why'd you leave me? Wouldn't I be able to go home through that portal the sprites guard?”

Corvinus just hushed him and continued walking with the reminder to keep up.

“Dude, I was just abducted from my world, transported to some kind of sex dungeon, and now you're saying I can't ask questions and get answers?”

“Be quiet until we get to our destination.” was the gruff admonishment.

“No.” Devon said petulantly and began to sing the loudest rendition of ‘The Song That Never ends’ that his lungs were capable of.

Turning to face Devon, Corvinus demanded, “Do you have a death wish? There are creatures around that would enjoy you as a snack.”

“Actually, it has been a dream of mine to be eaten by wild creatures, but if you insist, I will make an exception this time.” Devon had no idea where he was, or how exactly he'd gotten there. Maybe I'm dead? he thinks to himself.        

******

After walking in silence through the mountains for what had to be hours to Devon's mind, he couldn't stand not knowing where the hell they were going.
   
“Are we there yet?” When Corvinus didn't answer, he asked, “How much longer? Where are we going?”
   
With a sigh, Corvinus said, “To an orphanage just beyond the mountains, which we need to get out of before dark. It'll take about an hour.”
   
Surprised he got a real answer about where they were going, Devon stayed quiet for the rest of the hike.