Chapter 002: A Long Way Home

On an imposing dais, obscured by floating clouds, two Numen's thoughts have been piqued by an intrusion into their charge.

"This is interesting," said an angelic, beautiful woman on a large, decorative thrown. Her long hair was ringleted and dark as the moonless night. Her eyes opened, and she stared at her compeer sitting across from her.

"Yes, Mother. I thought you would be interested," said the other immortal woman. Her lovely allurement, equal to the dark-haired woman, sat up and opened a vision portal of a young boy hurtling through space toward their entrusted lower world. Her golden eyes looked back with delight. Her golden hair reflected light onto the clouds.

"Fate, has Thresh's savior finally come?" said the dark-haired woman as she stood up and looked into the vision.

"This is odd. I can't tell you. I can't see his fate," said Fate as she looked perplexed.

"Wonderful. That's a first for you. Maybe that is why you're excited for this trespasser."

"Nonsense, Mother, as soon as he enters our realm, I will be in charge of his fate, whether I can see it or not," said Fate with a smirk.

Mother watched the little boy with the long hair, and a deific notion appeared in her mind, and she pointed at Fate.

"No. I will tell you his fate, and you will direct him," said Mother.

"You think he can help you?" said Fate.

"There is something about this little person," said Mother as she looked towards some clouds with a thought.

Another woman emerged from the opaque clouds into the throne room, wearing a flowing red gown to match her shimmering red hair. The pillars surrounding the dais lit up with shards of red, reflecting off the newcomer's hair.

"Mother, you called?" genuflected the porcelain-faced beauty.

"Venus, my child. You will watch this boy for me and help him when needed. Do not interfere directly, but nudge him towards progression and generation," said Mother.

"Generation? Will he be up to procreation with your fawners?" said Venus.

"Yes. I will give him a lustful aptitude with a penchant for always getting into trouble," said Mother.

"That will make my job harder," said Fate as she glared at Mother.

"But my job will be easier," said Venus. She licked her lips as she watched the boy plummet towards Thresh. Lust started permeating the air around the three women.

"Tone it down, lustful Venus," said Fate as her face became flush with pleasure.

"Let her enjoy herself. This is what she does," said Mother as she approached Fate and caressed her face.

Venus walked over and placed her hand on the vision of the boy. She looked back at Fate and Mother, who were already kissing passionately. "What is his name, Mother?" asked Venus as she turned back and started massaging the boy's visage.

"Carter of Earth," said Mother between moans and kisses.

"Mother and I will take care of you, Carter of Earth," said Venus as her red gown slipped off her curvy body. "We'll take care of you well," she added. Two coins appeared in her hand, and she threw them down towards Thresh.

"Let these platinum and gold coins of Mother Nature and Venus guide you to your destiny. Let the shield of Fate allow you protection from the water's denizens," said Venus as she watched Tain expel Carter from her mirror. She shut the vision off and smiled as she turned around.

Mother and Fate were wonderfully intertwined in lust. Not wanting to waste her nudity, she joined in.

“Goodbye, Cow,” said a feminine voice as Carter opened his eyes. Two segmented eye stalks attached to a large, wavering mirror examined him as he reposed on the ground.

"Oh! Please don't be scared," voiced the bathroom fixture.

Pushing himself off the ground and crab-walking backward from the toothy mirror, he rested on a large rock propped against his back. He cocked his hand back, holding the pink stone in his hand, ready to throw it at any threatening movements of the mirror creature.

“No need for that, honey. I’m not going to hurt you," said Tain with a motherly look that reminded Carter of his mother in an odd way. Carter lowered his cocked hand.

"Cow wasn’t trying to hurt you, either. He’s simple if you know what I mean,” added Tain as she backed up and gave Carter more room.

Knowing that the mirror wasn't a threat, Carter scouted the area and realized he wasn't in the park anymore. “Ma'am, where am I?” asked Carter as he looked at his reflection in the mirror.

“Such a polite boy, such a shame,” said Tain as she shook her head, edging closer to Carter.

She turned, pointed her wooden finger to the west, and said, “There is the city of Dale to the west, across the straights of Cambia.”

“Pardon me, which direction did you point?” asked Carter.

“The direction I’m pointing to, silly child,” said Tain with a voice that show patience.

“You’re invisible; I can’t see where you’re pointing to, Ma'am,” said Carter.

Tain turned towards Carter and said, ‘I’m sorry. I forget about my concealment magic sometimes. It’s been centuries since I talked to anyone that wasn't screaming and running away.”


“That’s alright,” said Carter with a smile as he stood up. He lifted himself off the ground and brushed the dirt off his butt and pants.

“Such a dear boy,” said Tain.

“The Cambian Castle city of Dale is that way. You will need to swim across the straights,” said Tain as she pointed west again. This time, Carter could see her long index finger.

“I’ve read hundreds of books on geography, but I never heard of Dale, except in a fictional book,” said Carter as he squinted his eyes towards the west.

Tain looked away, momentarily disappearing, to collect herself as she was beginning to cherish this young man.

“Dear, I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you the nature of your visit here. I’ll explain on the way to the west shore,” said Tain as she flickered into existence for a moment and then disappeared again.

“That would be appreciated, Ma'am,” said Carter as he started heading west, hopefully behind his imperceptible mirror friend.

Carter could hear the mirror monster’s footsteps but couldn’t see how far she was in front of him in this brush. His gait was a little too fast, and he ran into the back of his guide and fell backward.

“Ma'am, I’m sorry, but you're still invisible,” said Carter as he pushed himself off the ground and looked around.

A voice that was yards away said, “Pardon?”

Tain turned towards Carter again and reappeared.

“You turned invisible again,” said Carter, pointing towards her. She hadn't felt him hit her.

“Force of habit,” said Tain as she pulled out a red cloak and threw it over her back. She turned forward again, becoming invisible, but Carter could still see the red cloak.

“Is this better?” asked Tain.

“Yes, that will do fine, Ma'am,” said Carter as he ran fast to catch up to her. She had already started walking and was not waiting for him.

“You are in Thresh, my boy. A world that is different than Earth. I’m unsure if Thresh is in the same universe as yours or another parallel universe, so don't ask. My counterpart, Cow, was sent out thousands of years ago by magic transport by a high wizard and Mother Nature's help to find more people for this world,” said Tain.

“Oh? You abduct Earthlings to repopulate your planet?” asked Carter.

“Not exactly, repopulate, more like integrate. Hundreds of thousands of immortal people are already here, but their numbers aren't increasing,” said Tain.

“Immortal? Does that mean I'll live forever, too?” asked Carter. Tain turned around and looked at Carter.

“Some, um, Earthlings, you call them? They adapt to this world and live a long time,” said Tain with a slight twitch in her left eye.

“Not me, though?” said Carter, noticing her twitch.

“It’s a little bit more complicated for Earthling and indigenous males,” said Tain with sorrow.

“Males on Thresh usually don’t live for very long. Whether you are Human, Cambian, or Elf, the males succumb to nature’s curse of death given to Thresh during the Great War. Only a few hundred males are alive on Thresh; none are human,” added Tain.

Carter looked around at the landscape. It looked just like Earth. He heard what the female mirror monster said about him not probably living past the ripe old age of twelve, but there was nothing he could do about it, so why worry?

“What does integrate mean to the people you kidnap from Earth then?” said Carter as he tossed his pink rock up and down in his hand.
"Kidnap? That's such a harsh word. We need new genetic material in Thresh's lineage to theoretically allow males to flourish in this world," said Tain, hoping it wasn't too difficult for the boy to understand.

"Has the introduction of this genetic material helped?" asked Carter.

"I'm afraid not yet. But it might take a few generations to work," said Tain, impressed with the boy's knowledge.

"This world's men are compatible with Earth's women?" said Carter.

"The Weakmen have the strongest chance of success," said Tain.

"Weakmen?" said Carter.

"Humankind. The Cambians and other indigenous people living here on Thresh," said Tain.

He didn't like being called a Weakman. It denoted that the other inhabitants of Thresh were much stronger than him. He decided to change the subject.

“How many Earthlings live here on Thresh?” asked Carter.

“About thirty females live here,” said Tain.

“Your portal to this world must not open that frequently,” said Carter.

“Very smart of you! Yes. Once every ten of your years,” said Tain, once again impressed by his mind.

The beaten path they were following was starting to incline up a hill. Carter noticed some of the rocks were different colors than those on Earth. A few pink stones littered the ground next to the path, catching Carter's attention. Tain noticed them, too, and left the trail. Disappearing occasionally, except for her red cloak, she bent over and grabbed a few of the pink stones. She threw them into her mirror mouth; the mirror part of her body oscillated between reflective and opaque as she chewed them. “Cow always loved the pink ones,” she said with a forlorn noise.

“Cow?” said Carter.

“The clumsy oaf that accidentally swallowed you on Earth. My lover and life partner. Our holes are intertwined," said Tain.

"A little too much information," thought Carter.

"The first thing he saw when he appeared on Earth was a four-legged bovine called a cow. He talked to it for days before realizing it wasn’t very intelligent. I told you, he was simple. When he found out the animal's name, he liked it so much he decided to give himself the Earth name Cow,” said Tain.

“Will you get to see him again?” asked Carter.

She smiled at Carter, as much as a mirror monster can, and said, “Nice of you to ask, such a nice boy. Yes, he has two more centuries there, and then he can take his own portal back."

“You’re a nice mirror lady who loves him a lot. He probably misses you a lot, too,” said Carter.

Tain started crying and then turned sideways so Carter couldn’t see her. “Such a shame. This world could use someone like you,” whispered Tain to herself.

“Is Earth the only planet you take people from?” asked Carter, trying to change the subject.

“No, there are more transference speculum, our kind, all over the universe. I don’t get to talk to them that much, but I hear rumors occasionally,” said Tain.

“Who do they steal? Humans? Aliens?” asked Carter.

“Such a harsh word, Steal. No,” said Tain with a little pause.

“They are of humankind, but they have beastial qualities. The beast females are compatible with the Cambian's physiology so that they can produce offspring, too,” said Tain.

“Beasts? Do you mean animals? Do they have tails?” said Carter with a smile and a weak laugh. His feet were starting to get tired from the climb.

“Not beasts, little one. They're more like Weakmen than beasts. They do have tails and fluffy ears,” said Tain. She let out a little laugh, hearing Carter’s infectious laugh.

Tain and Carter reached the apex of the hill. Carter looked down the hill and saw the large body of water separating this island from the mainland. He could barely make out the City of Dale from the top of the hill.

“There is your City of Dale. Can't say much about it; I've never been invited,” said Tain with wide, blinking eyes.

Carter squinted and noticed a large wall with a tall castle and luxurious houses surrounding it.

“Castles? Not buildings?” questioned Carter, coming from one of the biggest cities on Earth.

“Isn’t a Castle a building?” asked Tain.

Carter smiled and didn’t answer.

He gazed downward at the vast, placid water that separated Carter from the city of Dale.

“Are there any monsters going to eat me in the water?” asked Carter as he tried to squint and see under the water.

“Perhaps,” answered Tain with a funny look on her face.

“Any way of sending me back to Earth?” asked Carter as he looked back at Tain with one eye still squinting. His long hair covered the other eye.

“Not at least for a decade,” said Tain.

“It can only be used once, and the priority is bringing people here,” she added.

“Thank you for all your help, Tain. See you later?” asked Carter.

“I’m afraid I might,” said Tain with a little laugh.

Carter took off, running down the hill. He had two years of swimming practice and wanted to see if he remembered those lessons. There are few places to swim in a big city, only small pools, fountains, or shallow ponds. He came up to the shore and looked down at his naked feet.

“Oh yeah, I left those on Earth,” said Carter. It was starting to hit him that he was no longer on Earth, and he was stuck here on Thresh. Two noises, sounding like a stone hitting the ground, averted his attention. Two shiny objects glittered in the sun, surrounded by wet sand. He reached down and grabbed the gold and silver-colored coins. Each one had a bust of a beautiful-looking woman on it. He looked back towards Tain, but nobody was there.

"Money for this world?" said Carter, placing them in his pockets.

"Thank you, Tain!" said Carter loudly.

Carter closed his eyes, ran towards the straights, and jumped into the water. It was oddly warm and soothing. This wasn't too bad.

Viewing from the sky, a small figure is swimming in a large body of water, surrounded by an invisible field. Large creatures swim against it, trying to eat Carter as an easy meal. Something or someone is preventing the creatures from feeding upon the small human named Carter.

Oblivious to the mortal dangers, Carter pulls himself out of the water and flops onto the sandy beach. His eyes closed slowly as he fell asleep on the warm sand.