The Vortex - A Fictional Short Story About Displacement Between Worlds

I never believed in magic until I saw it happening before my very eyes. It happened one night as I was walking down the streets of Los Angeles after all the bars closed. I had been drinking a bit too much, so at some point I had to stop in a random alleyway to unload. As I was doing my business, though, I saw a faint pulsating blue glow further down in the alley. It was a perplexing sight, so curiosity got the best of me in my drunken state and I decided to go check it out.

When I got up close to it, I saw that the glow was actually coming from around the corner, so I turned the corner and finally saw what was causing it. Before my eyes was a blue swirling vortex of energy, shrinking and growing as if it had a pulse. As I went to get a closer look, I started to feel something pulling me closer to it. There was this literally irresistible force drawing me into the vortex, and as hard as I tried to save myself from being dragged in, there was nothing I could do. I inched closer and closer to the vortex, and as I entered it there was a blinding white flash for a moment, and then everything went dark.

Next thing I know, I'm waking up outdoors in a clearing in what appeared to be a forest, and it's daytime. I had never seen the place before, but all I knew was that I wasn't in LA anymore. Before I could get the lay of the land, a monstrous shadow appeared overhead. I looked up, and I was frozen in fear over what I saw. Towering over me was an enormous scaly blue dragon. I instinctively ducked for cover, even though the dragon was flying way overhead. As I continued to watch the dragon, I noticed that there appeared to be someone riding on its back and steering it.

The woman suddenly turned around and locked eyes with me. I watched as she steered her dragon around and headed straight for me. I ducked for cover once more as the towering behemoth landed in front of me and sent ripples through the forest. The woman approached. She had pale skin and bright green eyes, so bright they almost looked like they were glowing. Her hair looked like a fiery river was flowing from her head down into her chest. She was covered in what appeared to be a skintight armor of some sort. It looked like she was dressed in scales. "You're not supposed to be here," she said as she extended her arm and pointed at me.

"Here?" I asked. "Where is here? I don't even know how I got here! I was just taking a piss and I saw this blue light in the distance and next thing I know I'm being sucked into some portal thing!"

She let her arm down as her facial expression shifted from caution to concern. "But if you came through an open portal...then that means there is another one who came through before you. Where is he?"

"I don't know, lady, you and your dragon are the only other living creatures I've seen since I got here. Again, where is here?"

"You are in Azoria, in the Kingdom of Luthan. My name is Yisthenia. I am a Dragoon of the Fifth Pillar, and this is my dragon, Lapiz."

"Azoria? Luthan? Dragoon? I still don't get it. What happened to my world? How do I get back?"

Yisthenia sighed and frowned at me. "Unfortunately, there is no way back. None that we know of, anyway. The portals seem to just open up randomly. We think that someone might be opening them and traveling between the worlds, but we have no idea who is doing it, or what their intentions are."

"So then..." My heart sank. "You're telling me that there's no possible way for me to get home? I'll just have to wait until another portal appears, if one ever does?"

"No. Even if another portal opens up, there's no way of knowing where it's connected to. You could end up in the heart of a volcano, for all we know. I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry."

The possibility hit me, that I would never again get to see my beautiful fluffy white Siberian Husky pup. Who would take care of it now that I'm gone? How will it survive on its own? Is it just going to starve to death while waiting on me to get home? What about my family and friends? Will they just think that I disappeared, or that I died? "I need to get home."

"You can come with me to the palace and we will get you sorted out. We will make sure you feel right at home here. This will be your new home."

"But I need to get to my home! I have a dog who is waiting for me to get home, I have family and friends who will be worried sick wondering what happened to me!"

"I'm sorry, there's nothing I, or anyone here, can do about that. Please believe me. We would help you get home if we knew how. For now, please, come with me and take shelter in the palace. You will be our esteemed guest." She reached her arm out to me again, but this time with an open hand, beckoning me to take it.

I grabbed her hand and she pulled me up. Even as I stood there, she still towered over me by at least a full head. "Come," she said as she walked over to the back of her dragon. I followed behind her and watched as she leapt into the air and mounted the beast, landing perfectly onto the same exact spot she was riding on it before it landed.

"Uhhhh...." I began. "How, exactly, am I going to get up there?"

Yisthenia laughed. "Oh, I forgot. You're not a Dragoon so you have no idea how to mount a dragon! Here, hold on, let me take care of that for you." She closed her eyes for a moment and made some interesting combination of motions with her hand as they started to glow a deep blue. "Palantia."

As soon as she uttered that word, the blue glow left her hands and encompassed my body. I felt myself being lifted off the ground and I watched as I rose up into the air and was positioned directly behind Yisthenia. The blue glow stayed with me even after I had taken my seat behind her. "What is the blue glowing field that's still surrounding me?"

"You have no riding experience at all, so you'd probably fall right off of Lapiz when he takes off. I cast a spell to keep you anchored onto his body no matter what, so don't worry about falling off. No matter how bumpy the ride is, you'll be here with me. Just relax and enjoy the view!" Without saying anything further to me, she turned back around, leaned into her dragon, and yelled, "Lapiz, Renla!"

The dragon started to come alive again as it extended its colossal wings and got onto all fours. It started to run through the forest, and then finally it leapt up and began to flap its wings as we ascended high up over the trees. It was from there that I saw the true scope of the Kingdom of Luthan. Directly under us was a vast forest, the one that I first found myself in. Off to the west was an ocean, a beach. Its waters were like nothing I had ever seen before. They reflected the sunlight in such a way that produced a magical glow over the area. Off to the south there was a vast desert. Smack-dab in the center of it all, amidst the sand dunes, was an oasis. I could see some people resting for shade underneath the palms. In the east was a mountain range sprawled out as far as my eyes could see. Some of the mountains even had a dusting of snow on top.

Out in the distance, in front of us, I could see the palace. Its towering spires shot high up into the sky, overlooking a village below. As we approached, I noticed several outcroppings that looked like platforms sticking out of its front face. The outcroppings were wide and long and behind them were huge open doorways. As we made our final approach into the palace, I saw other dragons flying in, also with people riding on their backs. Lapiz began to descend , and we landed, this time much more gracefully than it had landed when they first met me in the forest.

Yisthenia yelled over to the other Dragoons. "I picked up a strange visitor on my patrol! He claims he's not from this world. I've brought him to speak to King Delgan so that we can figure out what to do with him." She hopped off of Lapiz, and began to make motions with her hands again. "Festa." The blue force field surrounding me began to glow brighter again, and I was lifted off the back of the dragon and safely placed on the ground next to Yisthenia. Lapiz went into the huge doorway and lay down. Yisthenia looked at me and put her hand on my shoulder. "Welcome, uhh....I just realized I never got your name."

"Oh!" I laughed. "It's Jacob."

"Jacob, huh? That's an interesting name."

"You're one to talk, Yisthenia."

"My name is a symbol of nobility. Only freshborns who have the potential to become Dragoons are named Yisthenia. Anyway, Jacob, welcome to the Azure Palace, home of King Delgan and the Royal Family of the Kingdom of Luthan. Home to the Dragoons as well as our companion dragons. And now, until we can figure something else out, home to you, too."