1
Rises in the East
Sammy
“Hi! I’m Sammy, a twenty-six year old gamer from…Earth.” I sighed at the sunflower that served as a recording device. “This is ridiculous.”
My sweet little florin friend—who I’d taken to calling Berry, since their kind didn’t seem to have names—chirped at me in protest. Berry’s species were inter-dimensional empaths that could travel between realms, or so it’d been explained to me. Their three soft pink tails, shaped like a fox’s, swirled behind them. They motioned with their cute white paws for me to continue.
I rolled my eyes, but indulged them. “If anyone in Havenlore receives this message, I’m currently in the central village. And I’m searching for my friends.” Pausing, I realized I hadn’t specifiedmyspecies. Guess, I’d have to get used to it now that I was living amongst all types of, well, creatures? Beings? I wasn’t sure what the preferred term was. “They’re human, and it’spossible, they were transported here too. If anyone sees them, please tell them to alert…”
I stopped for a moment. Who should be alerted? The ruling council of the village had treated me well. They’d even made me a citizen, but I wasn’t sure they were the right ones to notify in this situation. I hummed quietly, searching for an answer. I settled for, “Sheriff Stoneclaw.” As Guruk’s friend—well, a friend of sorts, anyway—I’d put my faith in him. Besides, the gargoyle was nothing if not dedicated to his job; and as the chief security officer here, I knew he would do everything in his power to bring my friends to safety.
I nearly crushed the sunflower as anxiety took hold of me for the umpteenth time. “If we ever find them.” Tears gathered behind my eyelids, threatening to fall. Ever since the florin had discovered that my friends weren’t back on Earth, we’d been searching for them. When I had touched Inara’s horn, as part of the mission that I’d been tasked with during our RPG game back home, she’d heard me across realms and granted my heart’s greatest wish.
“Who desires to live in a fantasy world with her besties?” Little five-year-old me would be proud, but adult me? Ugh. It wouldn’t be so bad if they had been transported to the village with me. But no matter how far we searched, it didn’t seem like they’d been brought here. And if they weren’t on Earth, and they weren’t in the village?—
“Tweak, tweak, chitter, chitter,” Berry interrupted my thoughts, their noises a cross between a hamster and a squirrel. Yet, with their empathetic abilities, and some practice on my part, I had learned to understand them. Mostly.
“You’re right. I can’t lose hope.” Steeling my nerves and squeezing my hands into fists at my sides, I summoned my courage. “What would Raine say if she saw me freaking out?” I put on my best gamer face and mimicked her no-nonsense voice, “Suck it up, buttercup, we’ve got a mission to accomplish.”
I laughed and swiped at my eyes. My frenemy had a way with turning a phrase that was for sure. As my biggest rival in the gaming world, she and I had come to a mutual respect and understanding. And well, I missed her.
“I miss all of them.” I crouched to the florin’s level to rub my chin against the soft fur at the top of their head. They hummed for me, sending waves of love crashing through me. I touched my finger to the side of their cheek, sharing a part of my energy with them. It was how their kind survived, taking willing transfers of small amounts of energy from others. In truth, the florins gave far more than they took. Even now Berry was projecting comfort and strength into me.
Heavy steps suddenly came down the hall and saved me from dissolving into a puddle, despite the florin’s best efforts.
I swiped at my eyes with the back of my wrist and straightened up. Berry gave a small, encouraging trill and settled into the chair shaped like a beanbag, resting in front of the fire. It had quickly become my favorite reading spot, and the florin loved to cuddle with me—or snag it for themselves when I wasn’t occupying the space.
I caught the smell of something burning as my orc appeared in the door frame.
“I may have miscalculated the ratio,” Guruk said, his deep voice sending a delicious thrill through me. He was holding a platewith what had, at some point in its life, been a waffle? A pancake? It was hard to tell, now appearing closer to a very flat piece of charcoal. He regarded it with the dignified expression of someone who would absolutely not be admitting defeat.
“Is that for me or the fire?” I bit back a giggle, motioning to the stone fireplace.
He set it on the side table with great ceremony. “It is simply a first attempt.”
I couldn’t help poking at the flat lump. “It’s a frisbee.”
“It is practice.” He waved at the air with a flourish, the corner of his mouth twitching. “And what is a frisbee, my little human?”
“Nothing important.” I headed for my favorite chair, and Berry scooted to the back of it, allowing me room to sit.
Guruk crossed the space between us in two steps and knelt to meet my gaze. He rested his hand on my shoulder, his large thumb grazing my collarbone in a gentle caress.
I bit down hard on my back teeth to keep from letting all my feelings free. But one quick hiccup escaped.
“Everything about you and your world is important to me, Samantha.” His tone dropped, a thick honey pouring over my soul at the use of my full first name. “You may tell me anything.”
“I know.” The words came out smaller than I intended.
He hummed his agreement but didn’t push further. It was one of my favorite qualities about Guruk. He never pushed. He just stayed close and waited, patient as a mountain, until I was ready to speak.
Berry chose that moment to launch off the chair and land directly in the center of the ruined breakfast. They sniffed it, stared at Guruk, and delivered a verdict in a stream of rapid-fire chittering.
I laughed at the florin’s antics.
“Now see here, it is not the hue nor scent of mud,” Guruk said, turning and pointing a meaty finger at the unrepentant florin.
