by Eddie Patin
When he had seized the tree trunk, Jason lowered himself to sit with his back to it. Then, he allowed himself a look down over one edge that just about made him dizzy. His heart revved up with a burst of cold fear, then was hammering in his chest and ears. He could see the clearing with the troll cave much better from up high. It was definitely like a gargantuan lane passing through a vast forest, and stretched off endlessly to the east and west. He saw that the black horizon was still to the south.
"Wrong universe, though," Jason said to himself. His voice was trembling.
God, he was so high! Being a hundred feet high in a gigantic tree with no branches below the one he sat on was scary as hell. He hoped that one of those black storms wouldn't pass through while he was up high...
In time, Jason relaxed himself enough to focus on his plan.
Going back to his OCS, Jason opened the rift to his first bookmark, 'Troll Cave'. He made sure that the temporal dimensions were selected, then flexed.
A vertical rift opened on the wide branch ahead of where he was sitting with his back to the trunk. It was bright and roared, and its orange sparks flew out over the edge of the bough and drifted down toward the boggy ground far below.
When the portal cleared, Jason was left looking at himself, slowly moving away from where he'd set the bookmark initially and lowering his OCS. Jason 934 saw the same scene as he remembered it—closer to the actual troll cave than the location of the second bookmark—and he saw all four Reality Rifters spread out, considering the watery hole.
There was no sound, of course. He wouldn't be able to hear anything going on from the other side without breaking the membrane of the portal.
And he wouldn't. He was only watching.
All Jason could hear as he watched was the roaring and sputtering of the rift on his side of things.
"That troll's in there, waiting and watching," he said to himself, sitting up in the tree and observing the over version of himself and his friends speak. Riley was looking around quickly, his Marlin 1895sbl lever action rifle shouldered and ready.
The other Jason looked around in concern. Jason saw his other self mouth the word 'shit'. Riley gestured for them to all move toward the cave, and they did. As Jason watched his other self look around, aiming his AK-47 all around, he saw something that he hadn't noticed at the time:
Morgana was watching him. As the playback continued, she moved to stand near Jason, awkwardly shouldering the AR that they'd taken from the necromancer's tower. She fidgeted with her right hand on the grip. Jason figured that she really wanted to just drop the rifle and pull out Dawnbringer, but she was looking to him for direction. She looked to Jason a lot like Gliath frequently looked to Riley.
Morgana respected him. She was following him.
The thought warmed Jason's heart. He smiled, even though he knew full-well what he was about to see and dreaded watching the scene again.
He saw his other self watching the watery troll hole with wide eyes and obvious fear, and he'd been right to be so afraid! That damned troll would be slinking out of there like a damned Xenomorph from Aliens at any moment; scary enough to make Jason piss himself!
Then the black storm came in.
Jason 934 was still able to see fairly well through his rift—as close to the action as he was—but the air inside his time-travel-movie became choked with jet-black vapors. He saw himself and his friends on the other side being tossed around and torn at by violent winds. They yelled at each other. Morgana drew in close to the Jason in the past and repeatedly grabbed his arm. Riley yelled at the others, gesturing forward with the muzzle of his big bore gun. Jason, watching, knew that Riley was pointing out the coming ettin attack.
Then, past-Jason was pointing in another direction, crying out in alarm. He and Morgana focused that way while Riley and Gliath fought the off-screen ettins.
The other Jason aimed his AK at something out of sight from Jason 934's rift, then Riley shouted something inaudible at him. He held his fire. They argued, then the Jason through the rift dropped his rifle onto its sling and drew his lightning gun.
As other Jason aimed his electron particle beam pistol at what Jason 934 knew was an incoming will-o-wisp, Morgana dropped her AR-15 onto its sling against her chest and pulled Dawnbringer out of thin air, flooding the black backdrop with golden light!
She yelled, gesturing for the past Jason to get back. He did, fidgeting with his hand.
My night vision was on, Jason thought. I was blinded.
Then, the crackling, blue ball of light came in from stage left and Morgana immediately cut it in two with a mighty swing of her magical sword. It sparked and sputtered without a sound—it was like watching TV, but muted—and its pieces fell to the bog, leaving motes of blue light drifting in the air behind it.
Just like when he'd experienced everything the first time from a different angle, Jason thought that Morgana was freaking beautiful. She stood with her sword paused at the end of its arc, watching the pieces fall for a moment before moving again. Her long, dark hair whipped in the gusty wind.
Past Jason was aiming around with his lightning gun—no doubt aiming at the other distant will-o-wisps that he could recall now—and as the storm died down, Riley and Gliath were suddenly fighting on the right side of the blazing rift's perspective.
For a moment, Gliath was shoving ammo into his big shotgun, and huge rocks flew through the air, splatting into the mud around the Reality Rifters' feet. Other Jason looked at them with his eyes wide and obviously afraid, holstering his lightning gun and switching back to his AK-47. Riley and Gliath danced in and out of the right edge of the scene.
Jason 934 felt a growing dread inside—even from up in his safe seat, high in the tree—about what was about to happen in the portal.
Other Jason leapt in surprise as a boulder hit the mud near him.
There was more silent arguing between Jason and Riley, then the sky darkened again.
That's right, Jason thought. There were two storms...
As the past versions of him and Morgana stood close to each other, each shouldering their rifles and facing the unseen ettin threat with their eyes squinted against the driving rain, Riley and Gliath fought.
Jason 934 saw what had surprised him in the past—he saw it easily now from the vantage of the rift. That fucking troll peeked its head out of the watery hole—just its rubbery, green head, sodden with seaweed-like hair, and its long, hooked nose—smiling with almost comical malice as it regarded both other Jason and Morgana standing before it with their backs turned.
It looked like it was practically giggling inside, like a damned cartoon supervillain.
The monster slowly emerged from the watery hole. Water poured off of the green body and seaweed hair. Jason wanted to shout out at himself to turn around! The troll climbed up until its feet found footing outside of the cave, crouching low, then it slowly started to rise, unfolding its long, corded arms and terrible fingers and claws, no doubt intending to catch Morgana and the other Jason by surprise...
Just as Jason 934 remembered, his other self looked back just in that moment, then he spun—horror painted all over his face—as the troll grinned with long, skinny fangs and opened its black eyes wide in what might have been amusement. He could see the word form clearly on the other Jason's mouth, even though there was no sound other than the roaring of the rift:
"Troll!"
God, the thing was tall! Looking at it from another viewpoint, Jason 934 couldn't believe that he'd stood before that monster without dying from fright. Hell—he'd stood before two, didn't he? The troll towered over Jason and Morgana, all long, knobby limbs and claws and a demonic green face covered in rubbery points and brimming with hatred.
Then, Jason through the portal was shooting. With his eyes full of stark terror, he fired three times into the troll's chest. Then, Morgana was shooting at it. Other Jason was screaming. Jason 934 could see his other self's mouth formed into a big 'O' for 'troll'.
Th
e troll bent over, full of holes, lowered its head, and roared, showing its cavernous mouth full of terrible fangs. Then, Riley was shooting it, too.
Jason watched as the troll was shredded under the gunfire. He saw its shoulder explode. He watched in amazement as the monster fell back, caught itself on the cave, then just ate the damage. It struggled to stay on its feet then looked up again almost smiling, raising its arms to attack...
As Jason and Riley shot at the monster repeatedly, Morgana's glowing sword suddenly appeared again, filling the black sky with golden light. The troll swung at Jason with one hand—Jason 934 hadn't even noticed that before!—and Morgana caught its arm just below the shoulder with her blade, lopping off the limb. It fell to the ground.
Then, as quick as a snake, Morgana changed the sword's direction, swung upwards, and cut off the troll's head before it could react!
Seeing it happen again was astounding.
The head fell to the ground and the body freaked out, reaching up with its remaining arm, frantically grabbing at where its head should have been. Jason didn't remember that, either. Then, the body fell backwards into the watery hole, immediately thrashing and spraying water all around.
They were shouting. Other Jason was calling for Riley. Then, Riley disappeared from the right side of the rift's perspective, and Gliath took his place. The leopardwere nimbly rushed past other Jason—who was still yelling at Riley—slipped the big metal case for the troll's head off of his back, then tossed it to the ground next to the head, which was a round, rubbery green thing from Jason 934's perspective, now.
Jason remembered that head, glaring and gnashing as if still thinking; still dangerous.
He watched himself throw the head into the case and shut it again. He watched himself kick against the troll's dismembered arm, which was still trying to come after him, clawing up his leg. His other self dropped his AK onto its sling and opened a rift; to home, of course. He called out to the others.
An important part was coming...
How the hell did the giant make his friends drop like he did?!
Jason 934 leaned forward against his knees—forgetting for a moment that he was on a tree branch a hundred feet in the air—and peered intently at the scene playing out before him, almost holding his breath.
He saw his other self swoon for a moment.
The others all dropped. Riley was out of scene, but Jason knew that he'd collapsed, too.
"Shit..." Jason muttered, feeling cold dread flood through him. It was like watching his friends die. It was terrible. He felt something weird and uncomfortable turning around in his belly. Watching it all play out closely through the flaring, whirling rift was giving him an odd feeling of tunnel vision. The roaring and sputtering of the portal was loud against his cybernetically-protected ears.
Other Jason stood, staring stupidly at his collapsed friends. He stared down at Morgana, then at Gliath, then looked ahead out of scene and gaped at Riley. The troll's arm pulled and squeezed at his boot...
Then, the Jason on the other side of the rift exploded into motion—panic livid on his face—pulling up his AK-47 and firing many times, very rapidly, at something out of scene to the right. Everything was lit up by the fiery orange rift that Jason knew would lead back to his garage. His other self hefted the case with the troll's head up and out of the mud with his left hand.
"Ettin number one," Jason 934 muttered, trying not to blink. "Then, ettin number two coming in..."
The second giant must have then charged, because other Jason freaked out, raising his rifle with only his right hand for a moment before dropping the case from his left to support it. He fired again several times, screaming and lit up by orange rift-fire all the while.
"Spear..." Jason said, massaging his now mostly-healed left thigh compulsively.
Then, that spear appeared with a shocking suddenness, landing in Jason's left leg. It pierced other Jason's thigh maybe three or four inches, bounced in his flesh, then sagged downward a little before his past self even seemed to notice it; eyes wide with terror and screaming a moment later with his mouth surprisingly wide.
Jason's other self stared down at the impaled weapon with horror for a second or two before looking up again at the charging ettins with naked fear playing across his grimacing face.
Other Jason then reached down, hefted up the case with the troll's head inside, then heaved it through his rift home. Then, still screaming and grimacing in obviously tremendous pain, other Jason closed that rift, opened another, and fell through.
As the rift inside the rift closed, Jason 934 watched as three huge ettins ran into scene, their big, fleshy bodies blocking his sight of his fallen friends for a moment. The ettins paused, changed direction, ran into Jason's perspective, then were gone.
Jason was left watching the area outside of the troll's cave. He watched the storm rage on, and could only barely see the bodies of Morgana and Gliath. Riley had to be out of sight, but lying still nonetheless. He sat forward, peering at Morgana, trying to see her face, but he couldn't. She was too far from his destination portal and the storm was too thick.
A minute or so passed.
Jason watched the troll's arm crawling back toward the cave, being pulled grotesquely by its flexing green hand and long gangly fingers and claws. The big body that had fallen against the watery hole had disappeared at some point; probably fled inside.
Then, there was a bright blue light fading in from the right. It grew brighter, paused, then a gargantuan foot appeared. It was turquoise-blue, wearing a clean sandal, and seemed to be glowing as if lit from the inside. As the titan moved toward Gliath, Jason could now see up to Voro's waist. The glowing giant bent down and scooped up sleeping Gliath like a child picking up his toys. Voro already had Riley, unconscious in the crook of one elbow. Then, the primordial giant approached Morgana. Strange sprites of multicolored flame encircled his entire body, running up and down and around his legs and waist, visible all over his skin. Voro reached down and lifted up Morgana by her waist. She flopped around like a doll. Her AR-15 hung from her on its sling. Her hair tossed around in the wind. Jason saw her face calm and blank.
After that, the giant stole them all away.
Jason felt cold fear sweeping through him. His limbs started buzzing.
He had to do something.
Don't save them, he thought. Once you go through, those aren't them anymore.
If Jason managed to save his friends for real, then there were also infinite other versions of him that succeeded as well. Hopefully, these versions of his friends will be saved, too.
"Just follow," Jason said to himself, his voice barely audible over the roar of the rift.
Seconds after Voro silently strode off stage with his friends, Jason stood, being careful not to lose his balance even though his knees were buzzing with adrenaline and he was terrified at what he was about to do. Jason mentally reminded himself that he was still standing on a tree branch a hundred feet above the swamp.
He forced himself to wait. He couldn't just jump straight out there or Voro would surely notice him.
Just throw him in lava, Jason thought. The primordial giant was huge and scary as hell, but he was still a physical being. Jason could still rift the giant into lava world ... assuming that Voro didn't kill him first.
But why hadn't Jason fallen unconscious like the rest of them?
He looked off of his branch down in the unknown universe where he was up in the tree. He spotted the giant's strange footsteps down below in the clearing. They were four feet long and easy to see, dry and pale against the mud of the bog, leading away from the troll cave down the clearing to the east as far as he could see.
With his mind spinning and his heart pounding, Jason centered himself, unslung his rifle, and took several careful, shaky steps on the wide branch toward his roaring portal.
Hoping that he'd waited long enough—but not so long that he'd lose the giant—Jason stepped through.
He walked through
his rift to follow Voro the broken god...
Chapter 23
The instant Jason's boots hit the muddy ground outside the troll's cave surrounded by bones and dead two-headed giants, he knew that he'd have to stay focused on Voro if he didn't want to lose him. Already, the primordial giant had moved away and around the back of the mound and was out of sight. The blue glow of the huge creature's body was hidden within the dwindling black storm, somewhere to the east, hopefully.
The giant was fast.
Jason caught a quick glimpse of the troll's dismembered arm worming its way back to the watery hole. He looked up the clearing toward where he knew that this universe's version of him should be passed out from the poison a hundred yards up and toward the forest.
There was his past version of himself, holding the gleaming lightning gun and staring at him from a hundred yards away. Jason saw his other self's pale face stand out among the grey and red bog and swirling dark vapors of the fleeing maelstrom.
Then his other self passed out, falling out of sight.
Jason released his portal and was thrust into the violent storm and the dread of knowing that he was all alone and that the powerful titan wasn't far ahead of him.
He didn't bother scanning the smoking ettin bodies to confirm that he was in an alternate, unknown universe. That past version of him seeing Jason down by the troll cave coming out of a rift had clinched it. Since Jason didn't personally remember seeing the same thing in his own past on u1243, then that meant that he was now somewhere else.
Jason squinted his eyes against the stinging wind, gripped his AK-47, and ran. He leapt over Riley's dropped Marlin—forgotten in the mud—and wondered whether or not Morgana had been able to keep her sword. He hadn't found it left behind before. Had she somehow dropped it back into the 'space between space' pocket dimension of her Smuggler's ring?
Dodging between the stinking bodies of the ettins that he and Riley had killed, Jason rounded the mound then slowed himself, crouching low.