Chris’s question hung in the air. It also hung in Luke’s mind.

  What was it? Where was it?

  Why was he waking up in an empty tool shed, lying on a military cot?

  Why was Chris still here—had he not slept for seventeen hours?

  Why did his body feel like he had been put through a grinder, then left to bake under the sun?

  Luke wasn’t used to this. Normally, he was good at answering questions, at making sense of situations before anyone else could. His mind was sharp, quick. But now, for the first time in a long time, he didn’t have a single answer.

  Because every question he thought of depended on five others he hadn’t answered yet.

  He hated this feeling.

  He rubbed his eyes, groaning. "I don’t know."

  Dawn exhaled sharply through her nose. "Neither do I." She shifted, running a hand through her hair before fixing her eyes on Chris. "What happened? After we—" She hesitated. "After we passed out?"

  Chris scratched his cheek. "Well, for starters? You glowed."

  Dawn’s eyebrows pulled together. "Excuse me?"

  Chris gestured vaguely at them. "Like, lit up. Bright as hell. And then—boom. Lights out. You both dropped like rocks." He leaned back in his chair, watching them carefully. "I thought you died for a second. But then Liam showed up, checked your pulses, and told me to help him move you guys in here."

  Dawn’s expression darkened. "Why here?"

  Chris shrugged. "Didn’t ask. He just said you’d be better off waking up here than anywhere else." He paused, then motioned at Luke. "Besides, I figured he’d wake up and do his whole brain thing, and he’d figure it out."

  Luke frowned. "Chris, my brain doesn’t always just work like that."

  Chris gave him a pointed look. "Yeah? Well, mine never does and I’m not seeing any other ideas right now, genius."

  Luke opened his mouth, then shut it.

  Fair.

  Instead, he sat up straighter, forcing his mind past the exhaustion, past the ache in his limbs. His thoughts needed to start making sense.

  He flexed his fingers.

  And then he noticed.

  The device.

  Gone.

  Luke stiffened, glancing at Dawn. Her eyes met his, and without a word, they both looked down at their hands empty. The device was gone.

  "Where the hell—"

  Chris raised a hand. "Oh. Right. Yeah. You mean the glowy things?"

  Luke’s gaze snapped to him. "Yes, Chris. The glowy things."

  Chris hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. "So, uh… how do I put this?" He exhaled. "You guys absorbed them."

  Dawn’s face blanked. "What?"

  Chris nodded. "Yep. Just—shoom—right into your bodies. Gone. Like they were eaten."

  Luke’s breath caught.

  Dawn shot out of bed. "The fuck do you mean, inside us?"

  "I mean inside you, Dawn!" Chris threw his hands up. "Like, literally vanished into thin air. One second they were glowing, the next poof."

  Luke stared down at his hands, flexing them again. He felt normal.

  Mostly.

  But something was… different.

  It wasn’t something he could see. It wasn’t even something he could fully grasp.

  But it was there.

  Like a whisper at the back of his mind.

  Dawn turned back to Chris, eyes narrowed. "And you didn’t think to wake us up immediately after that?"

  Chris scoffed. "Oh, sure! Let me just wake up the two unconscious, possibly magic-infused people and say, ‘Hey, guys, you ate a weird device, thoughts?’ Great idea, Dawn."

  Luke pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alright. We need answers." He inhaled sharply, forcing himself to focus. "Liam’s the only one who can give them to us."

  Dawn nodded. "Then let’s find him."

  Chris, however, didn’t look convinced. He crossed his arms, leaning back slightly. "I don’t know if that’s a good idea."

  Dawn turned to him. "Why not?"

  Chris hesitated. "Because he’s the one who put you in here."

  Luke frowned. "And?"

  Chris ran a hand through his hair. "I dunno, man. It just—it felt off. Like, he didn’t want you waking up in the house. Said it might be too much."

  Dawn’s brow furrowed. "Too much what?"

  Chris shrugged. "Hell if I know. I just know he was weirdly calm about the whole ‘two teenagers swallowed a glowing object’ thing. And now you want to go straight to him for answers?"

  Dawn crossed her arms. "Well, yeah. Who else do we ask? The tool shed?"

  Chris sighed, dragging a hand down his face. "Fine. Whatever. You’re right. After waking up from a magic coma, clearly the best next step is to confront the six-foot murder gardener. Why didn’t I think of that?"

  Luke was already moving toward the door.

  He reached for the handle—

  And it swung open before he could touch it.

  Liam stepped inside.

  The shed felt smaller the moment he did.

  He shut the door behind him with a quiet click.

  Luke tensed. Dawn stiffened beside him.

  Chris, however, just exhaled sharply. "Oh, well, that’s not ominous at all."

  Liam’s gaze swept over them. His expression remained unreadable. "Good. You’re awake."

  Luke squared his shoulders. "Yeah, we’re awake. Now what the hell is going on?"

  Liam didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he reached up, fingers tracing something into the dust of the doorframe. Symbols. Luke recognized them, even if he didn’t understand them.

  A whisper—too soft to catch—slipped past Liam’s lips.

  Then, he unlocked the door and pushed it open.

  The world beyond the threshold was wrong.

  Not the estate.

  Not the shed.

  Not Austin.

  Luke inhaled sharply. The air was different. Thicker.

  Liam turned back to them, his face as calm as ever.

  "I told you," he said. "I don’t have all the answers. I only have some of the answers."

  He stepped aside, gesturing toward the open door.

  "But if you want any of the answers, come with me."

  Luke hesitated. His fingers twitched at his sides. He could feel Dawn shifting beside him, Chris hovering uncertainly behind them.

  "Come with you where?" Luke asked.

  Liam’s lips twitched into a faint smile.

  "Well," he said, "your father called it the garden."

  Luke frowned. "The garden?"

  Liam tilted his head slightly. "Tell me, have you ever wondered why you have an on-staff, twenty-four-seven gardener…" He let the question hang. "…but no garden on your property?"

  Luke’s stomach twisted.

  He had wondered. It was one of those background thoughts that never fully mattered.

  Until now.

  Dawn narrowed her eyes. "Wait. This is the garden?"

  Liam gestured toward the vast, unfamiliar world beyond the shed.

  "This," he said, "is the garden."

  Dawn stepped forward cautiously. Something about this place felt familiar. Her eyes flicked to Luke, but he didn’t seem to notice anything strange—at least, not in the way she did.

  As she stepped out of the shed, her breath hitched.

  The sky stretched wide and endless above them, unlike anything she had seen before. The landscape was a clash of eras—massive Mesoamerican structures loomed in the distance, their stepped pyramids carved with intricate Norse runes. The air was thick with the scent of jungle and stone, warm but not oppressive. It was strange. It was impossible.

  And yet… she knew this place.

  Her dreams had painted landscapes like this before—visions she’d always dismissed as fleeting fantasies, meaningless fragments of imagination. But this wasn’t a dream.

  This was real.

  Liam, watching her carefully, tilted his head. “Do you remember this place, Dawn?”

  She hesitated before answering, her fingers curling at her sides. “Yes… and no.” Her voice was quieter than she intended. “I’ve dreamed of it. It feels familiar. But I don’t know why. Have I been here before?”

  Liam nodded once, solemn. “Yes. Before Owen passed, he used to bring both of you here. But I suspect Luke was too young to remember.”

  Luke casually shrugged. “Yeah, I definitely don’t recall any of this.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Me either,” Chris added.

  Everyone turned to him with a mix of confusion and disappointment.

  Chris frowned. “What? Just thought I’d make that clear.”

  Dawn exhaled sharply, shaking her head. Of course Chris hadn’t been here before. But she had. She just didn’t know why.

  And that unsettled her more than anything else.

  They stood in a vast stretch of grassland, the earth beneath them soft but firm. To the left, a sandy beach stretched toward an ocean that shimmered under an unfamiliar sky. A few tropical trees swayed lazily in the breeze, their leaves rustling like whispers. Ahead, a stone pathway led from the shed to a massive step pyramid, its silhouette looming against the horizon.

  Liam stepped forward, his voice steady but expectant. “Come with me.” Without waiting for a response, he started down the pathway.

  Dawn hesitated before following, her eyes scanning the landscape in quiet awe. In the distance, she spotted movement—figures too far to make out clearly, but creatures nonetheless. Animals? People? She couldn't tell.

  Then—

  A piercing screech split the air.

  Dawn’s instincts flared, and she snapped her head upward, expecting an attack. A shadow passed overhead, wings wide, a creature unlike anything she had ever seen. Her breath hitched. She locked eyes on it, muscles tensed—

  And then it happened.

  A rush of information slammed into her.

  Lights flickered in her vision, words and symbols she didn’t recognize flashing across her mind like a terminal on overdrive. She saw Phoenix—then numbers, abbreviations, attributes, things she couldn't process. Her head spun. It was too much, too fast—

  She yanked her gaze away, squeezing her eyes shut. The second she looked away, the overload vanished.

  Blinking rapidly, she forced herself to open her eyes again. Her vision had returned to normal. No numbers. No lights. No words.

  What the hell was that?

  She turned to Luke, expecting him to have noticed something—but he was caught up in a conversation with Chris, oblivious to everything around him.

  “Okay, so… if this is just a pocket dimension, how big is it? Like, a whole galaxy? Or is it just the area we can see? What happens if we sail across that ocean? Is it endless, or does it loop? Or—wait—is this technically a flat Earth situation?”

  Chris actually seemed to consider it. “Shit, dude, what if we are on Flat Earth? But not, like, our Earth, just this one?”

  Luke snapped his fingers. “Exactly! Like, if this place only exists in a contained space, then traveling far enough might just—”

  Dawn clenched her fists.

  Of course Luke wasn’t taking this seriously. He was distracted by the excitement of the situation, fascinated by the unknown, but Dawn?

  Dawn was starting to tremble.

  This wasn’t fun. This wasn’t some cool adventure.

  What were those devices they absorbed? Who was Liam, really? Were those gifts truly from their father? Sure, they’d always known they were meant to receive something from him one day—but how did they know this was it? And Liam—how much did they really know about him?

  Nothing.

  He watched them. He rarely spoke. He hated answering questions.

  Sure, he’d saved them from that woman—but what if that had been part of something bigger? What if he wasn’t their protector, but their captor?

  She needed to think.

  Our parents would never have wanted us here.

  The thought came fast, reflexive.

  But then—

  Her stomach twisted.

  Not parents. Parent.

  She swallowed hard.

  Her father was dead.

  The realization hit like a punch to the gut, stealing her breath, her vision blurring for just a second.

  And suddenly, the fear turned sharp.

  Their mother still had money. A lot of money.

  Was this about ransom?

  Was Liam leading them into captivity? Were they meant to be hostages?

  Uncle T.

  Was he in on it?

  Was he waiting for them on the other side of that temple door, ready to confirm the deal?

  Her stomach lurched, nausea rolling through her.

  Luke wasn’t even thinking about it. Chris wouldn’t know the difference. They were just following because Liam was a familiar adult.

  But this? This wasn’t some family trip.

  This wasn’t a game.

  Luke—her little brother—was still a child.

  But today, she wasn’t.

  Not anymore.

  Her fear solidified into something else.

  Resolve.

  Liam had grown larger before. He had a shape, shifting, magic and giant long sword, sure.

  But Dawn had a spear she assumed was the exact same kind of weapon.

  She could explain this to Luke later. She didn’t care if Chris agreed.

  They weren’t taking another step until she knew what was going on.

  And that was the last thought she had before she moved.

  Her spear was in her pocket, secured there before the flight to keep it from slipping out of her hair. A magic weapon. A secret. One she hadn’t drawn since Rome.

  Luke and Chris were still behind her.

  She stopped walking, letting Liam gain a few steps ahead—just enough distance to create a safe gap. Then, with controlled precision, she raised her hand slightly in front of her, fingers subtly shifting into an old signal their security had drilled into them as kids.

  A game at the time.

  A lesson in reality.

  Fall back.

  Luke would remember it.

  And to her surprise, both Luke and Chris reacted instinctively, stepping back without hesitation.

  She didn’t waste time figuring out why it worked.

  She was just glad it did.

  Now for the fun part.

  She was going to beat Liam like a damn answer pi?ata.

  Dawn took another step forward, creating more space between them and locking herself into position. In one swift motion, she reached into her pocket, gripping the tiny hairpin-sized spear, and willed it to extend.

  Nothing.

  Liam was already turning.

  Her pulse hammered. What did I do last time?

  She stared at the small pin in her palm, willing it to do something—anything.

  Then—

  A flicker. A pop-up, translucent and hovering in her vision, like an ad on her holo-phone but somehow inside her head.

  Activate? Y/N

  The text moved when she moved her eyes, unsettling and unnatural, like it was tracking her thoughts.

  Her breath caught.

  She focused hard on Y.

  Nothing.

  She gritted her teeth. Come on, come on!

  "YES!" she shouted.

  The word had left her lips, a desperate command rather than a thought, and suddenly, the world changed.

  Her spear flared to life, golden light bursting from the tiny hairpin as it expanded to its full size in her grip. She had no time to question it. No time to think.

  Focus.

  The moment she forced her mind into combat, something shifted inside her.

  A sharp ping rang in her head, then a computerized voice: [Valkyrie Rage Activated]

  Dawn’s pulse surged. Her body felt weightless, powerful. A golden haze rimmed her vision, making everything sharper, brighter, clearer. She wasn’t just moving faster—she could predict his movements.

  Liam hadn’t turned yet. He was still mid-motion, about to face her.

  She had the advantage.

  Dawn struck.

  The spear cut through the air with a roar of power, the sheer force bending the grass beneath her feet. He wouldn’t be able to dodge—

  CLANG.

  Liam’s sword was already there, his blade intercepting hers with impossible speed. Sparks scattered between them, and the impact jarred her bones, but she didn’t stop. She twisted, bringing the spear back in a fluid arc aimed at his ribs—

  Miss.

  Liam had already moved.

  Dawn didn’t hesitate. Attack, attack, attack.

  Her body moved on instinct, a flurry of thrusts and swings, each one guided by something beyond her own skill—but none of them landed. Liam was simply gone before the strike could reach him, stepping aside, shifting back, avoiding her every move with the kind of ease that made her stomach twist.

  She was faster, stronger than ever before. So why couldn’t she hit him?

  Her breathing turned ragged, frustration burning through her veins. She clenched her teeth and lunged again, her spear slicing through empty air as Liam sidestepped effortlessly.

  “Who are you?” she snapped, spinning into another strike.

  Liam parried with ease, his expression unreadable.

  Dawn grit her teeth. “Are you really working for our father?” Another thrust. Blocked. “Or is this a trap?”

  Liam sighed, dodging another wild swing. “You’re asking the wrong questions, Dawn.”

  She nearly growled, her heart hammering. “Then answer the right ones! Where did this device come from? Did our father really send it? Or is this something you did to us?”

  Liam stepped back, avoiding her entirely. “This isn’t the time for this. You’re burning through your energy too fast. Let’s stop, and I’ll take you to the temple—”

  “Shut up!”

  Her voice cracked through the air, raw and furious.

  He was avoiding it. Dodging her questions like he dodged her attacks. Like none of this mattered, like he wasn’t the one leading them in circles. Like they were just supposed to trust him because he said so.

  No.

  No more blind trust.

  If he wasn’t going to give her answers—

  Then she’d take them from him.

  Her grip on the spear tightened. Fine. If she couldn’t outmaneuver him, she’d overwhelm him.

  She launched forward, her body moving faster than her thoughts. Every muscle screamed as she poured everything into one decisive, brutal strike—

  He caught it.

  With one hand.

  Dawn’s eyes widened in shock.

  Liam didn’t move, didn’t flinch. He simply held the glowing spear in his grasp, his expression unreadable.

  "You fight like a mortal," he said, voice steady.

  Dawn gritted her teeth, twisting her body, trying to pull away—but his grip was unbreakable. He wrenched the spear from her hands like she was a child, spinning it in his grasp before sending it flying.

  She barely had time to react before his palm came up.

  A wall of force slammed into her chest.

  She hit the ground hard, rolling twice before skidding to a stop in the dirt, gasping for breath. The golden haze flickered at the edges of her vision, but she forced herself up, planting a hand against the earth to steady herself.

  A warning flashed across her vision.

  [Ond: Low]

  She shook it off, pushing forward. She wouldn’t stop. Couldn’t stop.

  Liam watched her rise, unimpressed. "Still standing?"

  Dawn wiped the blood from her lip and spat to the side. "Try harder."

  She sprinted toward him, forcing everything into her next attack. Feint high, strike low—she twisted, aiming for his legs this time.

  Liam sidestepped with ease, but she adjusted mid-motion, spinning into another strike. Her fist lashed out, a wild but forceful hit meant to test his reaction.

  Another block.

  He moved so effortlessly, reading her every move like an open book. He wasn’t just faster—he knew what she was doing before she did it.

  Her frustration flared, and with it, another ping.

  [Ond: Critical]

  She ignored it.

  Dawn ducked low, shifting her weight onto her back foot, readying for another push—

  A sudden pulse of energy rippled through her body.

  [Energy-saving mode activated Valkyrie rage deactivated.]

  The words were in Norwegian, sudden and foreign in her mind. The moment she registered them, her limbs slowed, her strength faltering as if something had drained out of her in an instant and her glow diminished.

  She staggered.

  Liam took advantage of the hesitation, stepping in and catching her wrist before she could react.

  Dawn barely processed the motion before she was airborne. The world tilted, and she slammed into the ground again, the impact jarring every bone in her body.

  Her vision blurred.

  She heard footsteps—quick, heavy.

  Luke and Chris moved at the same time.

  Luke didn’t think. His body moved before his mind could catch up, instincts overriding reason.

  Dawn was on the ground. Dawn never lost. Not like this.

  Chris was already ahead of him, charging forward without hesitation, fists clenched.

  Liam sighed. “And here we go.”

  Chris swung first, aiming a wild, furious punch straight at Liam’s face.

  It didn’t land.

  Liam wasn’t there anymore.

  Chris stumbled, his momentum throwing him off balance, but before he could hit the ground, Liam reappeared beside him, placing a hand on his shoulder—then flipping him over effortlessly.

  Chris hit the dirt hard, groaning. “What the hell…”

  Luke pulled Dawn to her feet. She saw the world in slow motion, her vision still swimming. Distantly, she heard him say, "You're down, not out," the same words their old fighting coach used to drill into them.

  Her training kicked in. He was right. She forced her vision to focus, the world stabilizing around her. She shifted into an unarmed stance. Luke stood to her right, Chris moving in on her left.

  Liam sighed and, with a flick of his wrist, turned the weapons in his hands into two training sticks—mostly nonlethal, Dawn thought.

  They moved in.

  Dawn took a step forward, but her legs buckled beneath her, exhaustion crashing over her like a tidal wave. Liam shifted, prepared to react, but she waved the boys on, forcing herself to stay conscious.

  Luke was shaken. He hadn’t expected a fight—much less for Dawn to look so helpless against anyone. Liam had called her mortal. What did that make him?

  But when Dawn fell, his mind cleared. He stepped toward her instinctively, but she waved him off.

  That meant one thing.

  She needed him to handle this.

  If Dawn was relying on him, then he would handle it.

  Liam had seen him slack off in class, but this wasn’t school. This wasn’t some drill. He might have coasted through theory, but he loved to wrestle. And fighting? That was just another game of positioning.

  They were still closing the gap. At incredible speed, neither he, Liam, nor Chris had even taken a full step.

  That’s it.

  Luke adjusted his stance—intentionally bad, something half-resembling Muay Thai. Let Liam think he was arrogant enough to try a style he barely remembered. Let him assume he was going for something foolish.

  But at the last second—when Chris had him tied up—Luke would strike.

  He was good at groundwork.

  The moment the plan clicked in his mind, a robotic voice echoed through his skull.

  "Enemy analyzed. Allfather’s Sight now available."

  His breath hitched.

  Then, immediately—

  "Allfather’s Sight activated."

  A pinpoint of light appeared in his vision.

  It hovered just slightly lower than where he’d originally planned to strike. He adjusted, trusting it over his own instinct. But then, five more dots appeared, shifting and disappearing in sequence. First one. Then two. Then another—

  His brain struggled to keep up with the shifting predictions.

  Then he saw something else—Chris had one.

  His own hand had one.

  Liam and Chris clashed. Chris stayed standing—but just barely. Liam flicked his wrist, striking Chris across the knuckles like a misbehaving schoolkid.

  Luke gritted his teeth, shutting off the interface—

  The second he did, a massive headache exploded behind his eyes.

  Luke’s head felt like it had been cracked open. His vision blurred, his skull throbbed like someone was drilling into it, and every breath felt heavier than it should have. His body was drained, his limbs leaden, exhaustion hitting him harder than he’d ever felt before.

  Liam sighed, glancing between them. “Are you guys done?”

  Luke shot him a glare through the pounding in his skull. “No.” His voice came out rough, breathless.

  Dawn straightened, still shaky but holding herself together. “We’ve got questions.” She gestured between herself and Luke, her expression hardening. “You gotta answer them before we trust you again. Too much has happened. We trusted you, and things only got worse—weirder. And now you want us to keep following you blindly?”

  Liam exhaled through his nose, not looking particularly moved.

  Dawn wasn’t having it. “No more dodging. Who are you really? You called me a mortal—what the hell does that make you?”

  Luke wiped a hand down his face, still fighting through the exhaustion. “She’s right. And I’m embarrassed it wasn’t me who noticed first—we don’t know anything about you.”

  Chris, still catching his breath, let out a low whistle. “Yeah, no offense, man, but we just got our asses kicked by a gardener with a magic sword.”

  Liam’s lips twitched in an amused smile. “No offense taken.”

  Then he met their gazes, his amusement fading. For the first time, something weighty settled behind his eyes—something ancient, heavy.

  “You want answers?” His voice was even, but it carried something deeper beneath the surface. “Then follow me.”

  He turned toward the temple.

  Dawn didn’t move. “Not good enough. Talk now.”

  Liam stopped but didn’t turn back.

  “I am Heimdall.” His voice wasn’t loud, but the name settled into the air with an unshakable weight. “Watcher of worlds. Guardian of the Bifr?st. And for the last several years, your father’s last line of defense.”

  Silence.

  Dawn’s fingers twitched at her side. Luke tried to process what he’d just heard, but his head was still fogged from the interface shutdown.

  Chris blinked. “Okay. That...is not what I expected.”

  Dawn swallowed hard, trying to keep her voice steady. “You’re saying you’re a god?”

  Liam’s expression didn’t change.

  “Not exactly.”