Netyir

The spirit world was in an uproar. Energy was high and pulsing, infinitely hot and devastatingly cold. Everything moved so fast that the air was pulsating. There was screaming and yelling, crying and animalistic snarling.

Now, I'd love to describe to you what this world is like, but I would have an easier time describing the colors that human eyes can't see. It would be like imaging a melody you've never heard. Tasting a food made of ingredients you've never had. Just know that it was hectic and insane, and try to keep up.

See, the spirit world had just broke off from the human world. All spirits phased out of the human world and disappeared, reappearing back in their home world, the Bicolor Abyss. An absurd name for an absurd place.

So it may not have seemed like a huge deal, no, all the spirits returning home, but to the spirits, who got their 'nutrients' from feeding off of human souls, it was huge. Now I know that sounds bad, but it's less harmful than donating blood to a human. Souls regenerate, but the power a spirit could give a human? You couldn't put a price on that. So the two species existed in happy harmony. Wielders could channel a spirits power into something that developed into the legend of magic. It's where we got our mythology, our religion. Our stories.

So, The spirits were in chaos, powerless, and they made the mistake of being caught off guard by whatever force it was that shoved them out of the human world. All but one. One spirit. His name was Talhukan, and he warned the others. He prepared for this by making portals. Hukan gates.

Hukan gates are powerful magic, but they're unstable, unreliable, and one-way. I could tell you more, I could go on all day about the spirit world, but it's better if you see for yourself. And this is where we start our story.

---

Dallon blinked his dry, sand filled eyes, his hand on his forehead to block out the raging dessert sun. It was hot, it was dry, and no matter how much water he drank his throat still felt like it was slowly turning to dust. On top of it all, Dallon didn't even want to be at this excavation site in the first place. He'd rather be home, in his air conditioned room, relaxing in his favorite bean bag chair while he played video games or sketched.

Instead, he was here, dying from the heat in this cursed wasteland of sand. Not to mention his tablet died hours ago and there wasn't any where to plug it in. He resolved to watch his dad dig excitedly while he sighed heavily out of boredom.

"Pottery!" His father shouted, a smile wide on his face. "Oh, just look at this, Dallon!" He held up a rock like thing, his hand barely reaching over the hole he had dug himself into.

"Fascinating, dad." Dallon practically moaned. "Would you look at that."

"Don't use that tone." Dallon's dad said, still quite happy. "This is a rare find."

"It's the hundredth you've found today." Dallon said, rolling his eyes as he pointed at a pile of the broken brown artifacts.

His father didn't seem to hear him. "Go fetch my brush, will you?" He asked, looking down at his find like it was a precious newborn baby.

Dallon wished he'd find something useful, like a cheeseburger. Or wifi.

He got up and wandered back to the truck. At least there was a bit of shade over there. The sand was hard to walk in and filing his shoes. It was hard, slow progress. And in the heat, unbearable.

Before he could reach the truck, Dallon tripped and fell, his mouth filling with sand as he scraped the skin off his palms. "Bluh!" He spit, muddy sand falling out of his dry mouth. As he tried to steady himself, his hand landed palm first on something cold and flat, metallic feeling. Suddenly, he wasn't feeling too well.

His head spun, his vision went dark. He held his palm to his head as his stomach lurched.

"Master? Master?" The words swam in his head. He groaned. Now he was hearing things as well.

"Master!" The words snapped him to attention. Dallon looked up a two tons of fur. His vision flickered, or more so, the thing in front of him did. It faded in and out, from color to grey. And it was huge, as tall as Dallon on all fours, at its back. It's BACK. ALL FOURS?

Horns. Legs. What? What!?

The more he tried to concentrate the more his vision swam. It was like fighting your way up out of quicksand. He gasped and squeezed his eyes shut again. No. Nope hallucinating.

But when he opened his eyes the thing was still there.

"No- no" he said, his eyes squeezed shut again. "No, no no." He kept saying, as his vision swam again, his hearing coming and going in waves. Dallon felt himself slipping away into unconsciousness.





When Dallon came to he was in his room. It was in the attic of his house, a bed in between two walls lined with bookshelves. It seemed normal. His posters, his big screen TV, his gaming chair. Normal. He sat up, closing his eyes as his head spun.

"Oh man. I must have been pretty dehydrated." He said, palming his forehead.

"No, master was plenty hydrated. I believe it was the toll I took on your soul when you pulled me into your world." Said a matter of fact voice.

Dallon looked around the room. Nothing. No one. Was he hearing things? Definitely not. No one hears whole answers to their questions.

"W-who are you? Where are you? Show yourself." Dallon said, standing slowly and reaching for a baseball bat beside his bed.

But before his hand wrapped around the handle, his vision went out in a flash. In its place was a beast. It went by so fast he barely made out the figure, but there it was. A beast. It was the thing from the desert! The thing- the-

It was green, like faded moss. On its back was strange speckles, orange and yellow dotting him like wild flowers in a field. He stood tall on four thick legs, but curled up, right behind his forelegs, was a smaller pair of legs, folded a bit like wings at his side. He was barrel chested, a big thing, like the cross between a bear and a buffalo and a lion. Just huge. His neck extended into his head, but over his face was a mask. It was shaped like a shield, fairly plain, with dents where the eyes and mouth would be. It shined like pure bronze. Behind the mask was a pair of horns, long thick ones, almost like moose antlers but... Different. A small pair of ears twitched as he looked down at Dallon, his head cocked like a confused animal.

When he pulled his eyes open with a gasp, he was alone in his room again. Things were almost normal. But after a few seconds the voice sounded again.

"Master, your heart rate is elevated. Are you in peril?"

"No, I'm- yes? Who are you? What are you!? What's going on?" The last question came out like a sob as Dallon collapsed against his bed, hands over his eyes.

"I would prefer to explain on the way. I am aware of the physical and emotional toll I have taken on your mind and body, but we are pressed for time. Other gates are opening because of my appearance in your world. We must tend to them before the dark one does."

"Oh god this is so confusing." Dallon swung himself off the bed, head still in his hands, just in time for his father to burst in the door.

Darren Hicks wore the beaming expression that Dallon thought he'd only see at his high school graduation, and even then, probably only on the off chance he got valedictorian. In his hands was a shimmering bronze thing that made Dallon's blood run cold. The mask that- that the thing wore. The one in his vision. The one in his mind.

"Oh son! I knew you had the gift!" He said, booking it to where Dallon tried to steady himself against his bed.

"The gift?" He asked, holding his head in one hand and the bed frame with the other, staring at the bronze shield in his father's hands. He didn't seem to notice his son's distress at all.

"By far the best find of the day. Look at how intact it is! I've never seen metal like this dating back so far it's positively- it's-" he began tearing up, his eyes watering and threatening to spill over.

"Oh no." Dallon groaned. "Dad don't- oh my gosh." He rolled his eyes, then steeled and expression of false excitement.

"Now, I could get in trouble for this, but I want you to keep it. Hang it up in your room! Your first big break through, your first astounding archeological find! One of. Many, I'm sure! Oh son, you were so excited you fainted. I've done the same on many an occasion..."

Dallon's fake smile almost faltered as he tuned the rest of what his fa Her said out. First, Dad never broke the rules. The fact that he was going to just give this strange, astounding shield to him for his room was sounding sirens. He doubted that even if he begged him, would Darren let him have any of the useless pottery he found. Second... Gosh. When was he going to get it through his head that Dallon had absolutely no interest in archeology? Not when there was way more riveting careers like video game development or graphic design or... Honestly watching paint dry. He HATED archeology.

"I have to go! I'm so excited though! At dinner you must tell me all about how you found it." He said, as he thrust the shield into Dallon's hands and skid-daddled out.

More alarms. One time he asked his father about a rock when he was eight and his father ended up in a long winded lecture about the tectonic plates. Now, for the first time in his life, Dallon was interested in the career that Darren had picked out for him, and his dad had nothing to say? Strange.

But soon he was alone in his room with the bronze disk again. The inside was dark, and Dallon was almost tempted to put the mask to his face.

"Don't!" A loud voice demanded. Fog started to leak from the back of the mask, flowing and falling to the floor, washing over Dallon's arms.

Dallon squealed and dropped the mask, but instead of falling to the floor it hovered. The smoke swirled and solidified, and standing in front of him was the six legged green beast. His fur was shaggy and he barely fit in the room, being almost the size of Dallon's bed.

"I thought For sure that I would never get him to leave. He is very determined, a hard will to sway." The beast said.

"Dude, what the HELL are you?" Dallon asked, backing up against the wall.

"I told you, master-"

"Stop calling me that." Dallon cried out.

"I told you, sir- that I would explain along the way. However we must go now-" the words came out clear, despite the fact that they should be muffled by the mask. But Dallon kept interrupting.

"I'm not going anywhere with you until- hey!" The beast began moving closer. "Stay back!" But he bore down on Dallon, slow long strides as he was trapped against the wall. The beast leaned down, pressing the cold top of his mask to Dallon's forehead.

For a brief second there was nothing. And then.

Dallon's mind exploded. Colors so cold and sounds so hot that it hurt, but it was incredible. Like he was seeing for the first time.

He saw men and women, some at war, some at peace. Some would study and some would fight, but they radiated. Power. He saw a man with a great sword and the ability to control the waves, a woman who could convince an army to follow her into battle.

"Long ago, spirits and humans lived in peace. We helped build pyramids, kept kingdoms safe from evil and helped bring colonies to new continents. Humanity lived in cold caves until a spirit made a bond with a human and showed them fire. We were the backbone of your species. We are what brought you to life, separated you from animals. Gifted you with consciousness."

"Then why have I never heard of you before?" Dallon asked. The words didn't come from his mouth exactly, they floated in the space that he shared with the big green spirit as soon as he thought them.

"We were banished long ago. Centuries for you, years for us. Our world was plunged into chaos as we were forced back. Many spirits fed only on the humans they shared their power with. But no longer having access to that source, some turned to cannibalism. Ingesting other spirits had been forbidden for years, as with each spirit you ate, the more you lost your grip on reality.

Being able to interact with humans was beneficial to both of us. We got our powers from the energy that humans radiated, your soul. We blessed you with abilities and powers and clarity. You gave us the ability to change from animalistic beings to more intelligent, solid creatures."

"But?" Dallon asked.

The beast seemed to smile. "But something forced us out. From what I've learned, that's when your kind lost control. Societies fell. What do you call them? The pyramids? The underwater city?" He showed the cities to Dallon, a gold filled ancient Egypt, a society with statues erected to the gods, and an island that elevated like stairs with great marble pillars. He showed him beautiful hanging gardens and a library that was bigger than his whole neighborhood, in each one, humans stood beside beasts.

"Atlantis?" Dallon gasped.

"Yes."

"And the Babylon? The greeks?" He stuttered, shocked.

"If that is what they are called." He answered, with sad indifference.

"So why are you here?"

"You brought me back." He said, plainly.

"I did?" Dallon asked, unsure.

"Yes. The moment you touched the Hukan Gate. It's a fail safe made by Talhukan, who was untrusting of humans. Before, spirits has to be brought into the world by a human. Invited. Talhukan made portals, but Hukan gates aren't perfect. You can't just get any spirit, only the spirit that is most akin to your soul will come through. Some humans and spirits can form a perfect bond, matching each other perfectly. Humans and spirits with perfect links can perform much more amazing tasks than any others. Most humans can't even even summon a spirit with the Hukan gates. That was a fail safe, only humans with perfect spirit matches can use them."

"We're... A match?" Dallon asked.

"Soul mates, basically. The gate will try to find its match. The magic is strong, it brought me to you. I think my gate was the first, but the other will begin trying much harder to open. I fear some maybe have already begun."

---

Cam strolled the museum looking for the exhibit she had wanted to see ever since the commercial. She lied to her parents, walking straight to the museum after school instead of soccer practice. The pull was just too strong. She HAD to see it.