The conditions were perfect for the experiment. Every variable had been accounted for; every ritual, prepared. Quynn - self proclaimed royal scientist of the Viatori, presumably the people of his homeworld - had been practically humming with excitement. I’ll admit, the enthusiasm was contagious.
Raising my head as I finished gathering the required energy for my spells, my eyes were drawn to the graceful individual sweeping ethereally across the testing grounds, a living testament to my theories. This interdimensional interloper claimed to have done what had eluded me for many years now. They had come to me with outlandish promises of whole new worlds - universes even - and try as I might to remain incredulous, here we were, the experiment all but ready to begin.
It hadn’t taken long for the Viatori traveller to make waves in Gaia. Word spread quickly about the bronze-skinned stranger with eyes as black as void and a personality of equal gravitational pull, who claimed to have come from worlds unknown, trying to reach places unseen. They had charmed their way into many a social circle with exotic tales of their travels, and trinkets and baubles the likes of which would never be seen again in this world… all just to meet with me, a mage specialising in teleportation magic. Though they spoke of wanting to collaborate for the greater good of Gaia… even now, I couldn’t help but feel they were hiding something. I’d seen the look in their eyes, fleeting but real. Desperation.
The other mages in my field were wary of this newcomer, for indeed this was not the first time we had encountered strange and unknown entities claiming to herald from places unknown. Sadly as of yet, the claimants had been nothing more than snake oil merchants with tales of whimsy… but if true, this traveller could single-handedly alter the lives of Gaians everywhere. Needless to say, we were cautiously optimistic.
They requested little in return for sharing their knowledge. Merely some assistance in opening one of their so called ‘rifts’. Naturally I, and a few others, leapt at the chance to be the ones to help create history. Had we known what kind of history we were about to make however, perhaps we may not have been so eager.
Then again, perhaps we would have. The thirst for knowledge is its own kind of desperation.
We thought we had planned everything down to a meticulous degree... but there was one variable we had never accounted for. Ley lines. The magic channels crisscrossing the globe that modern spell-casting had all but ignored in the way one might consider a mountain relevant to marine biology.
We began our efforts to open a rift, unaware that our chosen location was at the nexus of multiple ley lines. We had not anticipated what followed. One rift turned into many, then multiplied twofold, and twofold again… All over the globe, rifts opened up along the ley lines in quick succession. Everything had gone terribly, terribly wrong. The rifts had grown too large in size and number to contain, and I could only watch in horror as Gaians were sucked into the rifts, perhaps never to be seen again. However I could only watch for so long before I too felt the pull of the void.
I remember the suffocating panic. I remember trying to run, clinging to whatever I could. I remember little else.
---
I awoke… here. Wherever that is.
It is bittersweet, to see first hand the results of years of academic theories come to life, only to be sucked into another dimension where those theories mean nothing.
Only now am I beginning to fully piece together what has occurred, how many Gaians we may have lost to worlds I may never know.
I can only hope that their journey has been as safe as mine.
I can only hope that, wherever they are, they find their way back home.
I know not where the traveller is now, nor do I particularly care. For now, I must focus my efforts on returning home - if I can at all.
I suspect I must hurry, I am plagued by a deep sense of unease about this world…
