A few hours later, the mesmerizing sky began to dim as the sun descended towards the west. Janus was intrigued as to what kind of sunset would occur given the different hue of sky, but there were far more pressing matters at hand.
Though night was approaching, it was not yet fully dark. Janus, Derek, and Kent had been passing the time letting their bodies rest up a little.
There had been no major incidents during the past few hours. There were no signs of any sort of strange new life forms, like the creature in the grasses that Kent had startled upon their arrival. The only noises to be heard were that of the air sweeping through the high grasses, and the waters as they flowed through the channel of the river far behind them.
Growing tired with the inactivity, Janus stretched his limbs out and got to his feet slowly. Taking a deep breath, he walked well away from the others, until he was back at the river’s edge. He looked all about for any sign of the boat.
To his continued dismay, there was no clue as to what had become of the vessel, and he felt a lump in his throat as a growing anxiety gripped him. He gazed back to where the unbroken line of trees heralded the beginnings of the vast forest. As the light dimmed, the shadowy boundary looked ever more mysterious and foreboding.
It was becoming evident that sooner or later they would have to begin thinking about getting something to eat. The forest would likely serve as their most opportune place to search, perhaps offering some nuts or berries. The river before him could well be teeming with fish, but they had no poles or nets available.
There was a small victory to be had nonetheless, in that there was plenty of accessible fresh water to go around. Cupping his hands, he knelt down and scooped up some handfuls of the water and drank it. He imbibed the cool liquid with relish, even as some of it dribbled down the sides of his mouth and neck.
He took in rapid breaths after the long draughts of water, still amazed at the clean feeling of the air as it passed into his lungs. He concentrated on gathering his wits, which was the most important asset that he still had available to him in this extraordinary place. He knew that they could not sit around and wait forever, but they had absolutely no idea as to how to get back to the lake.
With a barely audible sigh, he spun about and walked back down to where Kent and Derek were still resting.
“Anything new?” Derek inquired, idly looking up into the blue-green sky.
A couple of large, black ravens flew by overhead.
“Not always the best harbinger,” Derek remarked with a rueful chuckle, watching the dark birds slowly fade into the distance.
“You mean the ravens?” Kent asked him.
“I’ll explain it sometime later,” Derek replied with a dismissive air.
Janus shook his head and frowned.
“What are you thinking about?” Derek asked him.
“Everything. Just what we do know,” Janus responded dourly. “Boat’s gone. There’s a strange forest nearby. We have no idea what has happened or how it happened. The sky is entirely different to us, and we’ve already seen an animal that is very different from anything we’ve known. My gut feeling is that none of it bodes very well.”
“We’ll have to head forth sometime and explore our surroundings. That much is obvious,” Derek declared. “We’ll look for some source of food too. Can’t assume we’ll be back home anytime soon.”
“Not far at all from what was running through my mind,” Janus said. “I wonder if there is anyone around this place, as far as people.”
Janus let his breath ebb out in a long, controlled exhalation. He stood with his hands resting on his hips, looking down at the swaying grasses caught in the early evening breezes.
Under the circumstances, the most simple of things appeared daunting.
“There are others,” a strong, deep voice intruded suddenly.
Janus whirled around, even as Derek jumped up immediately to his feet in a combative stance. Kent’s eyes snapped wide open, and he twirled around with a mien of renewed panic, as he scrambled up to his feet and stood close to Derek.
All of their eyes were fixed upon the speaker, who had somehow managed to approach them without any of them having heard or seen anything.
The one who had addressed them was a tall man of very advanced years, clothed in full-length, blue garments. A wide-brimmed hat with a low, rounded crown topped his head.
Thick white eyebrows, a mass of long white hair, and an extensive white beard were among the most prominent features of the peculiar stranger. His long, sharp nose poked out over the abundant growth of facial hair, and a lone blue eye gazed intently at the three of them. His left eye was hidden from view, fully covered by a patch.
The elderly man looked to be very calm, even amiable in manner. “I mean no harm to any of you,” he continued, before they had a chance to reply. “But there are others such as yourselves in these lands. In there!”
He extended his right arm, pointing to where the great forest began.
“There you will find others, who have gone through what you have gone through,” he proceeded. “It is where you must start.”
“Who are you?” were the first words out of Janus’ mouth.
It was pretty evident that the man represented no great threat. Janus and his companions were physically capable enough, and he knew that Derek was an exceptional fighter if a greater danger arose.
“I am… a friend… names would mean little to you now, and perhaps be more trouble than it is worth,” the old man replied. “Dire times indeed have struck this world, and there are very few that you can trust now. The violence across this world is great, and an unrivaled age begins. Everything is at stake. You must join the others who are here, who have come from your world.”
The old man’s remarks about two distinct worlds sent a deep feeling of unease rippling through Janus.
“Sounds absolutely wonderful. But perhaps you can tell us where the hell we are then,” Derek retorted sharply, agitation and sarcasm lacing his words.
The old man did not respond to Derek’s statement, nor did he seem to be offended by the curtness.
Instead, he calmly repeated his urging, “Go to the forest, and you shall find the others. I have matters of my own to attend to, but it is important that you know that others are nearby. Begin there.”
With no further instruction or comment, the old man turned casually and started to walk off in a direction parallel to the forest. Janus noticed how easy and supple his movements were for an old man, and how his robes flowed gracefully with each long stride.
Janus glanced over at Derek, and discovered that the other’s face was exhibiting the same utter confusion about the situation that he was feeling inside. Janus’ eyes reverted back towards the old man as he continued heading away from them.
Janus and Derek simultaneously shook their heads in disbelief. Janus rolled his eyes and broke into a swift trot, hurrying to catch back up to the old man.
Without breaking stride or turning, the old man snapped his right hand up as Janus neared. Janus came to an abrupt halt, as the old man stopped and turned to look at him again.
This time, the sunlight caught his right eye directly, revealing it to be a bright, sparkling blue.
“I know that you are filled with questions. But it is best to keep the questions that you have to yourself for now, as any answers I give will only multiply your questions. I assure you, in time you shall know more. And as I have indicated, in time you shall find that you also know less, as each piece of knowledge beckons to several more,” the old man told him.
The old man’s voice then took on a very purposeful, careful tone. “Here is some wisdom. You may find help from sources that you can see, and some help from sources that you cannot behold with the eyes that you see me with at this moment. See to your friends, and go find the others from your world. That is the best that you can do right now. I shall return to you soon enough.”
Janus was entirely confounded by the enigmatic words of the older man. He failed to ask the old man about the issue of worlds, which had been at the tip of his tongue when he had hastened to catch the mysterious stranger. For no explicable reason, and perhaps only because he did not know what else to do, he heeded the man’s words and pressed no further questions. He made no move to follow as the old man turned his back to Janus and resumed his walk.
A thousand questions were racing through his mind, but it was clear that the old man was not going to discuss anything further. With great reluctance, Janus turned and walked slowly back towards his two friends.
He knew that it was not a total loss. At the very least, they had encountered another person within this strange place, which was becoming more bizarre by the moment.
“I have no idea,” were the first words that he heard from Derek as he drew near to the other two.
Derek was shaking his head and looking down at the ground. When he looked back up, he had an expression of sheer bewilderment.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” Derek spat out. “Or even which way is up, or which way is down right now.”
His friend’s tremendous mystification matched his own. “I don’t either, Derek,” Janus replied. “The world is upside down.” He looked back in the direction that the old man had gone, only to find that the stranger was no longer in view. His brow furrowed for a moment, as he did not think that the old man had been walking quickly enough to travel entirely out of sight. The path that he had taken out in the open should have kept him in their sight for quite awhile.
“Who do you think that was?” Kent said, staring into the distance. Neither of the others answered him immediately.
“An old, bearded man in blue robes and a wide hat. That’s what we know. Here and gone already,” Janus finally replied, with an edge of tension to his words.
“So what did you find out? What did you ask him? Did you ask him where are we?” Kent asked.
“No closer to that answer,” Janus said with frustration. “You heard him, and know as much as I do. He warned us not to trust anyone, that things are violent here, and that there are others from our world in the forest.”
“And that we need to find them,” Derek added.
“That explains a helluva lot,” Kent quipped in irritation. “And what’s the bit about ‘our world’? So, we are in another world, aren’t we? That’s for sure, I suppose, just looking up at that sky and seeing that lizard thing earlier. Well, then, maybe we shouldn’t stay out in the open for too much longer. Where do you all propose going?”
“What about the forest?” Janus inquired.
“What about it? How can we just trust that guy?” Derek asked. “Who knows what’s in there?”
“He’s the first sign of sentient life that we’ve seen in this place, and we’ve gotta move on sometime,” Janus rationalized. “The forest probably has our best hopes of finding something to eat. And if there was a threat involved with the old man, then don’t you think that it would have come upon us when we were idly sitting here, and were completely unaware of his approach to within a few feet of us? If an old man snuck up on us so easily, then anyone could have… or might yet, if we sit around here forever. That’s the way I see it.”
Derek immediately harmonized with Janus’ logic. “I’ve never been that oblivious before, having someone sneak up on me like that. You’re right, Janus, regarding your comments about the threat. But still, what reason do we have to trust him? Even he warned us not to trust anyone.”
“Maybe because we don’t know anything. And what if what he said turns out to be true? About this really being a different world? And about some others from our own world also being here, in the forest? If this unintended arrival in this world could happen to us, then it could have happened to others, right? Maybe there is a real reason why we are here,” Janus responded, though he found the sentiments incredible to fathom even as he spoke of them.
“Maybe there are others, and maybe there aren’t,” Kent interjected. “I, for one, sure as hell do not want to place my life into the hands of an old stranger… especially if this is another world.
“I don’t care if he’s the best older sneak in the universe, and could have crept up on us, and cut our throats in broad daylight, right in the middle of a barren desert plain, with us wide awake and sitting back to back looking out in every direction. You’re giving him way too much credit for trustworthiness, too soon… way too much.”
“Then I wouldn’t expect you to follow the suggestion,” Janus retorted in a more resolved tone, drawing upon a sudden dose of inspiration and willpower that rose within him. “I’ll test it out myself, and Derek can stay with you here. Right now we don’t have many, if any, options, and at some point we need to begin to understand this place.”
“And what if it is some kind of trap?” Kent asked with a trace of fear splayed upon his face.
“If it is, then those enemies would move on us sooner or later anyway. The old man got up to us without us catching a glimpse of him, like I said. We all know that. And like I said, it wouldn’t be too hard for others to do the same, I’m afraid, unless we get our heads on straight and figure some things out,” Janus stated.
“So what are you going to test out? You don’t seriously mean in there, do you?” Kent asked incredulously, gesturing towards the darkening boundary of the forest.
“I’m going to go on a little trek, just a very short one, and I will be back before nightfall,” Janus said. “I just want to get a better idea of what’s going on, and maybe even see if I can find something we can consider eating. Is that okay with you both?”
Derek nodded, and Janus was appreciative that he had heeded Janus’ unspoken wish. Janus knew that Derek understood that it would be foolhardy to even suggest leaving Kent alone, especially after the horrific trauma that he had been through in the moments when he had been trapped alone in this foreign place.
From the stoic look on Derek’s face, Janus knew that he had made solid, nearly irrefutable points to his friend.
Janus’ own appetite was just starting to nag at him, but he knew that food would not be the only need of theirs in the coming days. They would have to begin making some headway in several areas, and take some chances, if they were going to survive for very long in this strange new environment. To remain ensconced in indecision was accepting almost certain ruin.
Unless they suddenly woke up and found out that this was all some sort of unbelievable, shared dream, or were suddenly whisked back to their familiar grounds, they would have to begin facing the stark reality of their situation.
“I’ll return before nightfall, remember that,” Janus said, mustering as much confidence as he could into his voice as he started off.
Janus then turned his full attention on the scene ahead, increasing his stride until he was almost jogging. The riverside and his friends fell farther behind him, as the distant line of trees steadily rose up to greet him.
If this was indeed another world, he hoped that the progress of time, and the passage of day into night, went at a similar rate to that which he was used to.
He felt a mounting trepidation as he drew closer to the line of trees. His imagination started to unfurl as he wondered what manner of life might be within the shadows of the forest. The first animal that they had encountered seemed to indicate that there would indeed be some surprises, though the trees themselves looked to be normal enough.
His imagination starting to run amok, he silently admonished himself to regain his grip upon his fraying nerves. His steps crunched beneath him as his shoes met a higher concentration of twigs and fallen leaves. Before he knew it, the forest suddenly loomed right before him. With a deep breath as he girded his resolve, he stepped forward into the trees and was enveloped within just a few strides.
The trees of the forest were fairly well spaced apart, proud, older sentinels that had long since carved out their space and spread their branches wide above to secure it. The ground itself was carpeted by low growths of grasses, moss, and wildflowers, and pockets of more significant brush grew wherever adequate light was available through the foliage canopy.
Walking out of the clear, unobstructed daylight and abruptly entering into the dimmer forest environs jogged Janus’ senses. He decided to pause for a moment to let his eyes adjust to the shadowy depths around him.
He could perceive the thumping beat of his own heart, feeling much smaller as he tried to gaze through the assemblage of towering trees ahead of him. His mind started to play tricks with him again, cruelly reminding him that he was too far from his friends to get help if something truly unexpected and threatening did occur.
There was a discernible stillness to the air, an unsettling disquiet that made his pulse race a bit faster. Glancing around, Janus searched for something that could be used as a weapon. He conceded that anything he found might not be very effective against whatever might ultimately lurk within the depths of such a forest, but he knew that it would suffice to provide him some confidence.
Studying the trees, he saw that some of them had sturdy-looking lower branches that were not too big to be snapped off and utilized as a rough staff, or club-like weapon.
Without further delay, he walked over to the nearest tree and fixed his attention upon a suitable branch. As he set his hands upon the tree branch, readying to put his muscle and weight into bending it to break it off, his ears heard a strong male voice call out. “Excuse me!”
Janus whirled about, nearly falling over in his haste and panic. He faced the four strange people now a few short paces before him, three males and a female. Unlike the old man, they all wore familiar styles of clothes, and to all appearances looked like people of his own community.
Janus’ jaws clenched. His mind immediately set itself to analyzing possible options for defense, and for considering potential escape routes. He cautiously backed up a few steps in the direction of the forest’s edge. His muscles bunched in readiness to run at the slightest provocation.
“Let me guess… you were doing your own thing, in a world that made a lot more sense than this one. Then a fog came… and next you found yourself in this world, wondering what the hell happened… just like us,” a tall man with dark hair addressed him, the one that had first spoken.
Though he had a very stern countenance, and his words were firm, Janus did not sense any imminent threat from the speaker.
Janus must have looked quite puzzled, as one of the other males, a stockier Hispanic fellow, ventured, “I’m sure you have no idea of what this world is, and probably neither does anyone that might be with you. Am I right? You know what I am talking about? I bet you do know.”
It then crossed Janus’ mind that perhaps these were the individuals that the old man had so recently spoken of.
“Have you seen an old man near here, in blue, robe-like clothing, and with a long, white beard?” Janus queried cautiously.
To his disappointment, all of the others answered in the negative, a couple of them looking perplexed at his question.
“Then tell me something of your story,” Janus told them, darting his gaze behind him as he took another couple of slow steps backward.
The serious-looking male who had first addressed him proceeded to explain the details of their situation. He described taking a car ride with his friend, who was evidently the second speaker, and encountering a similar, impenetrable fog, then undergoing an inexplicable arrival into the new environment. He spoke of later meeting the woman and the other man while wandering within the woods.
The woman in the group then interjected at that point to relate the origins of their own escapade, which had evidently begun at the University of Lexington’s campus. The dark-haired man finished the story with a brief description of the things that they had since discovered about the forest, with a few comments added in by the woman.
In many ways, the stories carried great similarities to Janus and his friends’ recent experiences. He was incredibly relieved to see that they all appeared to come from the same town that he and his friends did.
He knew exactly where the grassy, tree-dotted haven that the woman had spoken of was, situated along one side of the student center at the University of Lexington. He knew the road by the mall that the dark-haired man and his friend had taken, when they had become immersed in the strange mist.
There was little doubt that they all shared some common origins. If they were to be believed, then the others were in the very same predicament as Janus, Derek, and Kent. The two pairs had come together randomly in the middle of the forest, just as Janus was meeting them now.
It did not take Janus long at all to recognize that a group of seven would have a much better chance of success within this foreign territory than one group of three, and another of four. The temptation of increased numbers put a tremendous pressure on Janus to accept their story at its face value.
He carefully regarded them as various thoughts and emotions pulled inside of him.
At last, he stated, “Here’s my own situation.”
The other four listened attentively as he spoke of his own ordeal. He detailed the boat trip, coming to the shore in the fog, and the recent visit of the old man.
When he had finished, the woman among the quartet, a tall beauty with flowing black hair and expressive dark eyes, said, “Maybe that old man you talked about did know something. Maybe he was speaking about us specifically.
“But I know one thing for certain, I think that we had all better stick together, for our own sakes at the least. I think that it is pretty clear by now that this isn’t a place that any of us are familiar with. Maybe not even our world, the more I see of it. None of us can argue that by now. And if we are to go much further, then we’d better get introductions taken care of.”
Janus paused for an extended moment, held back by some last vestiges of extreme caution. He looked into each of their eyes, one by one.
“Agreed,” Janus finally answered, trusting to his impulses. He offered them a smile. “My name is Janus Roland.”
Janus shook each of their hands, as each of them gave him their names in turn.
The attractive woman’s name was Erika Laesig, and the dark-haired man with the austere countenance was called Logan Danner. The stoutly built male was Antonio Guerrero. The shorter, lean male with a darker complexion, who looked to be of Middle Eastern descent, was named Mershad Shahab.
“I need to go back to my friends, as they need to know of this right away. They won’t exactly be expecting this, so you might as well come along with me,” Janus indicated, as they finished their introductions with each other.
The quartet of new acquaintances followed behind, keeping a little distance between themselves and Janus. Seeing their own caution was a reassurance to Janus as he settled into a brisk stride, leading them back out of the forest and into the open.
Janus called out, waving to get Derek and Kent’s attention as soon as they emerged from the cover of the woods.
Derek and Kent saw them right away, standing quietly and awaiting their approach. Both looked very attentive, sizing up the four individuals coming in Janus’ wake. After watching them approach for a few moments, Derek started forward, breaking into a jog as he moved away from Kent to intercept the others.
“Janus!” he called, his eyes fixed upon the other four. “What’s up?”
Janus replied, as he slowed down to meet Derek’s approach. “The old man appears to have been right. These people with me are all from Lexington, and have been through the same kind of thing as us, with the fog and everything else. They’re in the same mess as we are.”
Derek’s eyes looked over the foursome that was now drawing close, resting his evaluating gaze upon each one of them. The careful, appraising look in his eye gave away the fact that he was even less inclined towards trust than Janus had been.
Janus could tell that his friend was fully on his guard, watching very alertly for any sudden moves or other troubling indications.
Janus turned to look at the others, as they drew to within a few paces of him and came to a stop themselves.
“This is my friend Derek Decker, and over there is Kent McNeeley,” Janus told them.
He then proceeded to introduce the four to Derek, who still kept his own distance from them. Kent had strolled over in the interim, and was now standing by Derek’s side.
Janus found that he was even more convinced about the other four at that moment. In his mind, he knew that if they bore any ill will towards Janus and his friends, it was definitely not to their advantage to allow the three men to come together in a group.
“Probably best if you tell your story in your own words to them,” Janus said to the quartet.
“I understand,” Erika replied with a nod, glancing towards Derek and Kent.
The stories were then shared again, which helped to break the tension a little with Derek. He asked them a few pointed questions regarding some elements of what they had seen in the forest, clearly looking to gather useful insights about their new environment.
Following the retelling of the stories, they all came to agreement that they would remain together from that point onward. With the light around them continuing to ebb towards their first night in this region, it was abundantly clear that some kind of plans had to be made.
The group of seven slowly made their way back to the edge of the forest. Dividing tasks up, they set about to building a shelter for the night, as well as looking around for any source of food that they could find.
The shelter that they erected was crude, but would likely suffice even if some rain fell during the night. It was arranged as a rough, semi-circular lean-to around the massive diameter of an ancient oak tree. Gathered brush and foliage were arranged to form layers atop a lattice of thin branches harvested from the nearby trees.
Only a few sour tasting berries were turned up in the search for food, unripe versions of a wild berry that Derek was familiar with. To help offset the worsening hunger pangs, all of the group members had to settle for drinking copious amounts of cool water from a stream that was located near to the site of the shelter.
The most obvious concerns were gradually voiced by more than one member of the newly formed group. Very soon, unless they uncovered a few naturally growing, edible sources, they would have to turn to other options for food. It would likely mean trying to hunt some of the local fauna, or perhaps figure out a workable method for fishing in the streams.
Of their group, only Derek and Kent had hunted before, but even that was not a full assurance of success. Their hunting had been done with guns, and the group currently had no firearms with them, or even bows.
Just as the shelter was finished, the night finally settled in around them with a sharp drop in temperature. As cooler winds coursed throughout the trees around them, bringing a steady rustling to the teeming leaves, Janus’ eyes were attracted to every break in the branch canopy overhead.
The glittering spectacle that was unfolding in the skies above them was an experience that he would not soon forget. It was yet another piece of evidence that they were indeed in a strange new world, but it was nonetheless incredible to behold.
There were a great many more stars visible in the deep sky above than there ever were in the skies of Janus’ own world. They were also arranged into unfamiliar patterns, a bevy of new and strange constellations.
Similar to his world, a circular orb rose resolutely up into the sky as the night marched forward. Nearly a full circle, its light provided a fair amount of illumination as it reached down to break up the deep shadows beneath the trees.
Unlike in his world, however, a second orb soon came into view, smaller than the first, but most certainly another moon.
Janus sat awestruck at the development, not believing his own eyes. He heard the gasp of one of the others as they took note of the undeniable presence of a second, gleaming moon.
“I think that confirms it,” Janus heard Erika saying to one of the others.
Several members of the group talked for a long time about the presence of the second moon and what it heralded. Janus had nothing to add to their discussion, and sat quietly as he continued to stare above in amazement and awe.
The blue-green sky had been no anomaly, and the strange creatures that had been witnessed were not merely undiscovered species. They were truly within a foreign world, a concept that Janus found to be utterly staggering.
Even Derek had grown very quiet and pensive, and Janus knew that fear’s chilly touch had not spared his stalwart and undeniably tough friend.
A thousand more questions were rising up within him, and it was all that he could do to suppress his spreading anxieties.
Each of the others dealt with the reality in their own way. Kent and Antonio gave voice to their laments, while Erika and Logan tried to instill some courage in the others, though Janus could still sense the nervousness behind their words. Mershad’s reaction was much like Janus and Derek, as he dwelled upon the revelation in a contemplative silence.
The chirping of insects droned on steadily in the background, as Janus watched the two moons slowly crossing the sky overhead with a feeling of wonder and trepidation. He tucked his knees up to his chest, clasping his hands together.
The old man had been right. The answer that they were in a new world stoked the fires of new inquiries, and Janus saw the wisdom in keeping things to their most basic element.
Dawn would bring with it a host of new worries and pressing matters, and Janus could only hope that the old man would return to them. If this was a world that was entering a violent age, and most could not be trusted, then Janus was not eager to have too many random encounters before they knew the lay of the land.
In due time, the full weight of the day finally caught up to each of the seven. They were all emotionally drained, and the four that Janus had met in the woods had already hiked a considerable distance, and were physically very weary. The seven were unified in their exhaustion, and despite the troubling certainty that this was indeed a foreign world, their bodies’ demands for rest finally became irresistible.
Before their focus faded completely, they quickly organized watch shifts for the night, with Derek and Erika taking the first one together. Janus had been ready to endure the challenge, but drew the second shift. He was quietly relieved that he was spared the early task and could get a little immediate rest.
He crawled into the shelter of branches and brush. He kept to one of the two open ends of the semicircular lean-to, so that he did not disturb Mershad and Kent when he was roused for his designated watch.
As he cushioned his head upon his tucked arm, he found that the hard ground was unforgiving, and that the air was thicker in the confined space. Yet neither discomfort proved to be an impediment to sleep as his weariness became irrepressible.
Listening with fading awareness to the litany of trees and insects, Janus finally drifted off into the arms of a deep and abiding sleep.
Section IV