Chapter 4

Dallas, Texas

2:30 PM

General Darius calmly assessed the situation as his now dead colleague was carried back through the doorway by his centurions. The rest of the dead were lined up on the bloodied grass, awaiting the same treatment. A damned shame, but at least there was no one too important amongst those bodies. Certainly not on par with their dead general and certainly none that could distract from their current conundrum. He analyzed the collected pile of enemy weapons, dried splotches of blood on them mirrored by the dried blood on the grass. With little regard for the carnage, he turned away from them and walked over to his other colleagues, one of the generals now screaming at both the soldiers and the magician.

"And you let the slaves get away?!" General Octavius both asked and accused the legionnaires. Darius internally praised their ability to remain stoic at the screaming officer, wholly unlike the pampered magician responsible for the entire mess.

No, that man was already quaking in his feet.

The legate who was in charge was quick to respond.

"The assailant was a threat, General! These… mages and their wands are far deadlier than any of the wizards back in Iberia. They couldn't have gone too far, so I believed that prioritizing the safety of the general was-"

"First of all, that mission failed! Second of all, Look around you, soldier! These people are rich and spoiled! They have built massive cities with no protective walls in sight, they cut and ran the moment they saw us mow down their soldiers. Even the Lepus put up more of a fight when faced with fierce surprise attacks!”

Only because of their nature, Octavius.

Darius kept the thought to himself, his mind mulling over what his colleague hadn’t considered yet.

“Find those civilians and bring them to me immediately! Their ebony skin is a rarity back home!"

General Atilla, ever the voice of reason, was the one to bring the conversation back around to more pressing matters as Darius stepped closer.

“More importantly, that man wasn’t a soldier or a mage yet he possessed one of these deadly weapons. Why were we not made aware of such destructive arms if they’re available to nonmilitary personnel?”

All eyes turned to the Magician.

The younger man only shook his head, saying “We did not ever see them, in reference or use. As if they were hidden from us. We did not know they existed, I swear it!”

Oh, this simply would not do!

Darius spoke up at this disgrace in a tone that drew all attention to him.

“Hidden! Oh, how convenient! Six months of you and your men monitoring the world through those damned windows and not once did you see these weapons used! If only someone had warned you buffoons of something like this-”

The Magician angrily cut him off, yelling “We were thorough! Even if our understanding of their language is limited, we would have gotten clues from people mentioning them! This whole operation was meticulously planned and you know it!”

Fool...

“Then how exactly did you miss these?” he half asked and half accused, motioning to the dark weapons on the ground.

The magician fell silent.

“Well, magician? Did you miss them at all or did you ignore them in favor of seeking glory for yourself?”

Instead of answering, the man yelled “Domitia, quickly now!”

The girl with wolf-like ears was pushed forward by the guards out of the doorway, her hands now bound by rope. An angry General Octavius shoved her to the ground as she grazed his arm. She crumbled with a yelp, falling close to where the enemy weapons had been gathered in a neat pile, and as she got up, the magician began yelling, pointing stiffly at the weapons, likely attempting to make up for his pathetic nature, not that Darius cared so much.

“Did you know about these?!”

The girl remained silent, staring without turning to look at anyone, her dark hair hiding her eyes from their gaze.

Darius sighed in frustration. Swiftly taking his blade and grabbing the girl’s hair, he pulled her up and said “Whether you knew or not doesn’t help us right now. The only question that matters now is whether the enemy is far superior to us. Answer that question.”

Silence.

“Alright.”

The magician screamed “Wait! If you kill her, we’ll be unable to close the doorway!”

Darius felt his jaw clench as if he were trying to bite through iron armor. He turned to the magician, ready to yell at him that his secrets had been the cause for the current situation, that if they had only refused to trust the beast with them they wouldn’t even be in the current situation, the current situation would have been entirely averted! He wanted to yell so many things at the weak man with colorful robes and expensive custom armor.

But he never got to say that as another voice cut in.

“It cannot be closed.”

All eyes turned to the slave.

Domitia had finally spoken, weakly, her voice small, despite the hint of darkness that shrouded the statement in a wave of dread that spread through their ranks like wildfire.

Hiding his shock, Darius calmly asked “What?”

She glanced at him, smiled slightly, and said “It’s true. It did its job. It connects our worlds. How do you think it will be closed, exactly?”

The magician stammered out a worried “The same way you opened it. We... we discussed this, it-”

“Did you truly believe I would be able t-?”

She yelped as Darius threw her to the ground again, the girl hitting her head on one of the weapons, blood already beginning to trickle from the bruise.

Darius was running out of patience. The slave’s insubordination was an insult, but the magician’s dumbfounded expression made it clear the blame was entirely on her. The lesser man attempted to speak then, visibly shaken.

“N-no... that... we were so kind to you.”

Darius only said “This is precisely why you cannot have beasts like this in the Imperial Military. Atilla!”

“Yes?”

“We have to figure out a way to close this doorway. It is wide open and if the enemy is beyond us, then we must close it immediately. And we need her to do it.”

“Why can’t you fools believe the truth when- ah!”

Darius kicked her side, hearing bones crack as the frail demi-human screamed in pain now, her breath catching in her throat when she was unable to scream further as another kick sent even more pain up her already broken body and prevented her from vocalizing further.

“You lied before. Why should we believe you at all? All I know is that you opened this, therefore you can close it.”

The girl forced herself to open her auburn eyes and meet his, then she shakily said “Even if I could somehow close it... I wouldn’t... your Empire will fall, all because your arrogance got the better of you all.”

“And your people will suffer for it if that ever happens!” Darius said, attempting to regain some control over the slave.

“I don’t care. I’ll live comfortably regardless of what happens to them.”

“Pardon?”

A cruel smile manifested on her lips, causing anger to flare within the older general. Such defiance was to be expected, but this... Oh, this was too damned far. He gripped the hilt of his blade, preparing to strike her head this time.

“You damned-”

A thunderous crash cut him off.

Darius glanced up at the sky and winced as he saw a dragon rider, his mount torn in two as it plummeted to the ground. It hit a nearby building before crashing onto the ground not too far away, its rider somehow surviving the fall as he staggered away from his dead beast and got back on his feet, seemingly unhurt as he attempted to pick up his spear.

"Soldier! What attacked you?" Darius yelled.

"I do not know, sir! My beast and my partner… simply burst into bloody pieces!"

A terrible screeching drew their attention upwards, suddenly seeing large birds move faster than any dragon they had ever seen before speed past them, an eerie roar following after it as it vanished from sight.

W-what sort of magic is-?

Footsteps approached him then.

Domitia’s smile returned as if some cruel plan was finally coming to fruition.

“Close it...” he whispered, almost pleading.

The magician near her quietly begged “Domitia, please. After all, we did for you... you betray us?”

She said nothing, her uncaring smile remaining as a different soldier ran over.

"General! We are being driven back! The enemy, they have horrible chariots that cannot be stopped! They crush our cavalry like ants, sire!"

It took but a second for the information to sink in as Darius only stared at the wolf girl. It wasn’t a jest. She wanted everything he knew and loved destroyed and even if he killed her, it wouldn’t stop the enemy, not if they responded so quickly. If they responded so quickly, then they may not even get the chance to attempt establishing diplomatic relations.

They had been fooled into a terrible trap.

Darius turned to the legionnaire, barking orders.

"Send messages to regroup around the doorway! We need to establish proper defenses if the enemy is counterattacking with such efficiency! Rush to the center of that road there and block it with whatever you can!" Then, he turned to Atilla, yelling “You and Octavius go back and warn the rest of the legions! If the enemy doesn’t follow through, begin preparing a barricade and inform Emperor Traianus. Defense is now our top priority!”

Octavius was apparently stunned into immobility, but Atilla quickly saluted, and grabbed the man’s shoulder, wordlessly pushing him as loud and rapid thunderclaps sounded in the distance followed by screams that could have only been envisioned by men’s worst nightmares.

Darius whirled around, staring at the magician and yelling “Wind magic, right?”

“I... a little...”

“Try shielding yourself and drag this whore back! You must force her to close it, otherwise-”

Domitia slowly stood up as he spoke, quickly interrupting him. A hateful glare met his eyes as the wolf-girl shakily growled “You’ll have to kill me if you intend to take me back there.”

The magician was quick to push her ahead of him, throwing her to the floor near the doorway, turning to Darius, saying “Understood. I swear I will find a way to shut the doorway forever!”

“Good. We’ll slow them down. You take my men. Find my wife. Tell her-”

Both men paused as a somewhat louder explosion was heard down the strangely paved road. It was, of course, a simple road not entirely unlike the ones in the Empire. But instead of stone or dirt, it was paved with an oddly smooth material that the men had grown as curious of as the magicians. It would have been good to examine it further.

But now…

Darius felt his eyes widen as the beast emerged from under the strange bridge.

The Orc was missing its right arm as it awkwardly limped towards them; its left leg barely attached given the chunk of flesh that had been ripped away by some form of explosion, puddles of red blood trailing after each half step as it dripped from his legs and other injuries in its body. It limped as though it had won a tough battle, and just wanted to rest.

But they all knew it hadn’t won anything.

It managed a pitiful moan and was then torn to bloody bits by the lightning-quick fireflies that were spat from a barking snake in the distance that appeared suddenly as it turned the corner, the creature riding a horseless carriage and was followed by the enemy they had angered. Furious screams of men in olive-green clothes with dark staffs managed to rise over the sudden number of explosions that filled the air around him, one louder than the others, and even without understanding their language he understood perfectly well its meaning as he had heard it every single time men craved vengeance even in war.

"Kill those sons of bitches!"

The strange language that was being shouted all over the place got his attention and he whirled around, seeing more men appear from the rear. His legionnaires, those still in formation attempted to charge and meet the enemy head-on, but he saw how the staffs spat smoke and fire, causing his men, his experienced soldiers, victors of the empire, the men who had never wavered in battle once, to crumble like blades of wheat under a scythe, their swords and spears falling uselessly to the ground as the enemy soldiers charged ahead, slaughtering anyone they saw.

Darius remembered the magician, gripping his blade tighter he shouted “Go! Run!”

He hadn’t noticed, but the magician, the one technically at fault for it all, now lay dead on the grass behind him. A chunk of his skull missing, his hand still uselessly raised to try and defend from the enemy assault.

Darius never got to notice or say any other final words as he took a step forward, hoping to close the distance between himself and this new enemy with even deadlier weapons.

Then several 7.62-millimeter rounds pierced him, and despite all having the chance to have been instantly fatal, the one that pierced his chest killed him before the others. His lifeless body remained standing for a brief second after as the momentum he’d had charging and the momentum of the bullets briefly created an equilibrium that allowed his dead body to briefly remain standing for an instant, as though still alive, and then, just as quickly, crumbled like anyone else would after such wounds.

Domitia remained on the bloody grass, staring at the scene, shaking, ears lowered, her hands still bound in chains only able to shield one ear and not the other from the thunderous explosions, her cruel smile gone, replaced with fright and a pained whine as her ears wouldn’t stop ringing despite the explosions having stopped. Her body ached, even areas that remained unharmed from the earlier assault were in pain, and she doubted she could stand up as footsteps sounded all around her. Slowly she lifted her gaze to see the men wearing green clothing.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph...” were the first words she heard.

She blinked, looking at the soldiers surrounding her, most pale, all appearing in a state of shock, none making any moves towards her, at least one that she could see was keeping his weapon trained on her. She slowly raised her bound hands, showing the chains, which did seem to work to calm him down as the man lowered the weapon.

Another man, an older one by the voice, broke through their ranks and yelled “What is it? What-?”

He froze when he saw her.

Domitia wondered if she looked remotely appealing to them. She could feel blood, her own and not, dripping from her face. She felt sickly and more than likely looked the part. Her dark hair, a mess.

But the older man yelled “Step back! She could be diseased! Cover your mouths with something! Radio! Get a radio over here now!”

Domitia lowered her head as she continued to eye the soldiers, not caring one bit about the corpses that surrounded her at the moment, innocent or not. She was more fascinated now that she could actually speak to these men from another world, and to her surprise, many appeared to just be kids with their helmets and guns. Young, inexperienced.

More than happy to please, ideally.

Calmly she raised her hands further, and in as vulnerable a voice as she could muster, quietly spoke the words she had memorized for this moment.

“Can you... help me?”