The Realm Hopper

Rumbling. There was a rumble beneath me. It was rhythmic, swaying, constant. I blearily opened my eyes, trying to look around. It was dim, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust. When they did, I glanced about, growing more confused by what I saw. Last I remember, I had been backpacking in the woods. I had just entered a cave that I had wanted to explore. I recall that I had found a source of light there, but I remember... nothing else. Now, I looked to be in a small room with two long, cushioned seats that faced each other, and cherry red paneling for walls. There were shelves of polished wood above both seats, and a soft, mossy colored carpet padded the floor. There was a door trimmed in silver to my left, and an ornate window of green stained glass was to my right. Outside the window, objects were blurring by, and quickly. I was in a moving vehicle of some sort. From the set up and the speed, I was probably in a train. But how did I end up on a train of all things? I had been in the middle of the woods!

I stood, barely feeling the rumble beneath my feet now. I took the time to stretch and get closer to the window. What I saw was... bizarre. Beyond the stained glass were swirling clouds of color, all of them glowing and swirling together in a sea of darkness. I would say it was night out, but I could not see any stars, or the moon. Actually, I could not make out any sort of landscape either. As far as I could tell, the train was not even on a set of tracks. All around was darkness and clouds of color that danced about the bottom of the train. With how dark it was, I was glad for the lights that kept my compartment lit. I glanced at the lights, which looked like oil lamps that produced from the walls. But the lights were almost more curious than the view outside. There was indeed fire behind cut crystal glass, but the fire in each lamp bounced playfully and shimmered with orange and yellow hues, floating in midair. There was no wick that the flames were connected to. The little balls of fire just seemed to float and turn in empty space within the glass. How was that possible? Where was I?!

I sat on the cushioned seat that felt like leather, rubbing my temples to try and make sense of how I had gotten here. While I racked my brain for an explanation, the doorknob to the compartment I was in jiggled. I stood quickly, panicking as I stared at the ornate bronze handle. Since I had no memory of how I got here, I certainly did not have a ticket with me to stay on the train. Would I be thrown out into the nothingness that lay beyond the window?

The door opened with a loud snap, and I found myself staring at a dark form. I blinked, and slowly looked up at the figure that was blocking the doorway. Before me stood this deformed… creature. It stood on long legs that were covered in curly black hair. Each foot was exposed and had gnarled blackened claws. The torso of the thing was wide and thin, and fist-sized yellowed spikes produced from the creature's ribs and abdomen. Each one of those spikes were pointed outward towards me. There were short arms covered in coarse midnight hair holding the door open, and the head… the head of this thing was bald, gray and had four eyes. Each of its four crimson eyes were staring right at me.

I backed up a bit and stared, unable to comprehend the thing that stood in the doorway. What was it?! The creature took a step further into the compartment, and the spikes on the creature's stomach suddenly moved. They didn’t just move, they flexed and seemed to rip away from the creature, creating a gaping hole in the creature’s stomach. It took me a moment to realize it, but the hole that was there was not just a dark crater - it was a mouth. Huge, yawning, and terrifying. Those spikes were not just there by accident - they were teeth. This thing was a creature of nightmares - and I had no way to get away from it.

The beast lurched forward and a guttural hiss came from its mouth. I scuttled backwards and stumbled, quaking as dread spread through my body. Did I somehow end up in hell? Was this just a horrifying dream? This felt real enough, but there was no way something like this could possibly exist! But as the creature came even closer, I could smell the rot that came from it, the putrid stink of something dead and decaying. This was real - too real.

As the varmint came closer to me, I instinctively crouched and clutched my arms to my chest. I opened my mouth to angrily tell the creature to back off - maybe being loud would make it pause? But what my vocal cords produced instead was a high pitched scream. The creature roared in response, treaded to come towards me - and then suddenly something flashed behind it. The beast was thrown into the side of the compartment, shattering the wood and making a large indent above the benches. I looked on with rounded eyes as what looked like a pale vine wrapped around the creature. As I inspected closer, I saw that it was not a vine that I saw, but bones. Bones of all shapes and sizes that looked melted together and had bony shards all down the length to make a deadly spiked weapon. These shards impaled the creature, and it screamed in anguish, the noise making my ears ring. Where the creature was pierced, black ooze leaked from the wounds, soaking into the mossy carpet. With a sudden motion, the bony whip yanked the creature backwards, dragging it to the ground. This gave me a clear view of the corridor outside the compartment.

Standing there was a tall man, and he held the end of the whip in one hand, while he gripped a club in his other. As soon as the creature landed on the floor, the man sprung forward, and struck the creature upside the head with the club. He moved with such astounding speed and grace for someone so tall. I turned away from the sight, hearing the sickening thunk as the bones of the creature broke from the impacting force. I heard wind escape from the creature's mouth, and then, there was silence.

“This one almost got to you, sorry about that.”

I peeked at the man, relieved he was not another monster to replace the one on the ground. But the more details I took in, the less human he looked. I felt myself gasp as he moved into the compartment with me, inspecting the creature that was bloodied on the floor. This man had mahogany hair that fell to his shoulders and shadowed his forehead. He had round chocolate eyes, a large, hooked nose, and a wide mouth that was turned up at the corners in a perpetual smirk. His face looked normal enough, but it was the rest of his form that made me wary. Protruding from his elbows were bony spikes, curved out like deadly teeth. As I caught a glimpse of his back, I saw that there were more spikes of bone following the line of his spine. He was also adorned in armor made of bone, bronze metal and leather, giving him a barbarian look. But his most bizarre feature were the huge wings that produced from his shoulders, adorned with large, raven-black feathers that shone like oil spills. They were so large, that even folded, the bottom feathers dragged on the floor, dipping into the black liquid that was pooling from the creature he had felled.

“Wha-what are you?” I stammered, pressing myself up against the window of the compartment. Why hasn’t anything been normal since I first woke up here?

“Uh? What am I? I figured the giant feathered wings would make that an obvious answer. Which realm do you hail from?” The man replied, stretching his ebony wings out. The joints of the wings had bone spikes growing from the cartilage too.

“Obvious? Whatever you are, you are not human. What do you mean realm? Like, country? I need to get back to where I was, I need to go home,” I stuttered out, refusing to move from where I was. The man before me paused, and he cast his russet eyes on me, darkening under his thick brows.

“...human? Why would I, or any of us be human? Wait a darn moment. Are YOU human?” The guy asked, raising a single eyebrow. I started to laugh, almost to the point of being uncontrollable. I couldn't understand what was going on. I must be asleep, dreaming of this guy with wings and extra bones, and having a nightmare of monsters on a train in the middle of empty space. This had to all be in my imagination. Maybe I fell, hit my head and just have not recovered. I would have said that the man before me did not have a full grip on reality, but he had wings! I just had to wake up, get back to the reality that I was used to. In the midst of my laughter, the man before me released a long winded sigh.

“By all the gods and goddesses of the realms, you are human. I am so, so, SO not equipped to handle this. Jeez, where to even start?” He stood and started to pace, carefully stepping over the fallen creature as he did so.

“Okay, first thing’s first, what do you call yourself?” He asked, folding his arms and tousling his hair.

“Jenna,” I answered meekly, my laughter now pittering out.

“Great, human named Jenna. The name I use is Kyron. I am an immortal, of the immortal realms, which is everything that exists outside of your realm that I believe you call Earth. Follow so far?” Kyron said, now folding his arms across his chest. I simply stared, which seemed to agitate him.

“Oh BOY this is not fun. I have no idea how in the underworld others explain things to you humans, you know nothing! Okay, immortals, we live a very long time, and we have many different abilities all connected to the realms around us. There are many different realms, each with their own societies, special abilities and cultures. For a rather clear example, there exists the Realm of Ice, where the people there live in an icy and snowy environment, so they all have the ice ability, which helps them with their survival there. Is what I said easy enough to follow so far?” he explained.

“So... everyone who isn't on Earth has magical powers and lives a long time,” I said slowly, trying to wrap my head around the concept that there is more than just what I know beyond Earth.

“Yes. All humans on Earth, who are the disgrace of the immortal realms because you guys don't carry any elemental power You are not connected to the natural elements like the rest of us are. You are the minority in the universe. Which is why you guys live such short lives and why your world is so polluted and gross and suffocating, and well... you live there, you get it,” Kyron said matter-of-factly, “Anywho. I am a special type of immortal. I lived, have experienced death and was resurrected, and was revived as an angel. Hence the rather large wings on my back.” He fluttered his wings as he pointed his thumb at them. They barely made a whisper as they moved and seemed to engulf the compartment we were in.

“You are an angel?” I repeated in disbelief. I narrowed my eyes at him, taking in his rugged, barbaric appearance again. He had wings, but that was about the only thing that was angelic about him.

“What are you questioning that fact for? Yes, I am an angel. An avenger angel to be more precise. I am part of a group of angels that are warriors, and we go out to bring the end of evil, which is a pretty awesome job,” he smirked.

“A warrior angel. Okay.... and what do you fight? Demons?” I asked sarcastically. He had to be joking. Of course I fell right into some biblical nightmare.

“Yes! Like this thing at my feet here. They all look pretty different, but demons happen to be our main targets. It’s our job to make sure they do not spread across the elemental realms. Like this one tried to do,” Kyron knelt by the creature that he had bludgeoned, and he poked at it similar to a kid poking a stick at a frog.

“That’s a demon? Is it... unconscious?” I asked timidly, glancing nervously in its direction.

“What else would you think it is? But no, no no, I brained him. He's very dead,” Kyron replied cheerily, now standing and stretching. I felt bile rise to my throat, keeping my gaze away from the thing before me.

“Okay... Everything you are trying to explain to me is so… it's a lot to take in. Please tell me where I am. Are we in a different realm?” I pleaded. I just wanted to get home. Others might find this whole experience groundbreaking, be awestruck and happy for there to be more past our world. But I was overwhelmed and I felt a little sick.

“No, we are in-between realms. This machine we are on is called the Realm Hopper. It was designed by a few different domains to give immortals the ability to jump from one place to another. Angels like me can use bridges into corridors between the realms, and we can travel realm to realm very easily because of it. But otherwise, immortals needed another way to travel. So this thing was built for any immortal to get to one realm from another with ease. All you need is a ticket that reads where you have been, and this ticket also allows the Realm Hopper to know where you need to go. It’s also SUPPOSED to be safe from demons, but clearly, something went wrong there. Which brings me to you - where is your ticket and how did you get your hands on one?” Kyron now walked up to me, and I could feel his gaze travel the length of my body from my shoes all the way to my face.

“I... I don't have a ticket,” I muttered, looking away from him.

“Then how, and I mean HOW in the realms did you end up on this train? I hear that humans sometimes accidentally find themselves in one of our realms, but without a ticket, you shouldn’t be here. Unless…” Kyron paused, now tapping his chin with a single finger.

“Unless what? I want to know how I got here so that I don’t make the same mistake twice,” I urged.

“I wonder if the demons infiltrated the train from Earth, which accidently sucked you onto the Realm Hopper too,” Kyron mused. I shrugged at the suggestion. I didn’t remember seeing anything in the cave or the forest around me. The thought of demons on Earth made me shudder too.

“Well, you picked one hell of a time to suddenly discover that there is more than you in this universe. Look Jenna, I don't have too much time. I was called here to stop the demons on the train. Something happened to allow them to enter here, and now the locomotive is overrun. This is supposed to be a safe haven for immortals and half-immortals to travel, and now anyone on here will be slaughtered. I have been separated from my teammates, and we have to get to the heart of the train to make sure that this rig doesn't just keep running rampant with demons on board. So it's been nice chatting with ya’, but I have to dash,” Kyron relayed, turning to leave the compartment. As he did, I saw a long bony tail twitch behind him, the tip of it shaved down to a deadly point. He was a walking arsenal of bones.

“W-wait!” I called, taking a few steps after him. He turned his head briefly to glance at me. “Let me come with you. Please. I don't want to be left alone if there is another one of those... demons around. Maybe I can find a way back to my home if I come with you,” I reasoned, now careful to step around the dead demon that was on the floor. Kyron cocked his head to the side, almost looking deep in thought.

“You are only human. What can you do once I run into demons? Besides, you still need a ticket to have this train travel back to Earth. Without one, you have the potential of being thrown out too. Wouldn't it be better to stay here until I can clear this mess and see if I can help you then?” Kyron questioned, now folding his hands behind his head.

“Well, humans are surprisingly resilient, so you never know how I can help. I don't know what I expect to find, but I'm certainly not going to find any answers on how to make my way back home from this part of the train. I really rather not be alone, what if you forget to come back to help me?” I replied, trying to sound as sure and brave as I could. It took all of my will power to keep my limbs from quaking.

Kyron gave a wide grin and chuckle, “Fine. Follow if you want. Let’s see if we can get you off of the Realm Hopper without you being killed off.”