I awoke back in my bed, sweating and breathing heavily. I exhaled in relief and checked my ribs and left hand to confirm they were uninjured.

  Satisfied that I was unharmed, I noticed my shirt was torn. It was a shame because I had had it since college. I probably tore the old thing tossing and turning. I had not really slept well since getting back from downrange.

  The bracer remained on my wrist. That had been my wildest dream ever. A monster attacked me. A magic sword... why couldn't my dreams ever be me playing for the Braves or something.

  Vowing to avoid seasonal lattes and gas station beef jerky for a while, I got up, stretched, and looked outside my window. I opened it, letting the cool air flow in. The faint scent of candle wax mixed with the scent of rain, and I breathed in deeply.

  Outside, thunder rumbled, like distant drums. Morning was breaking under a heavy sky as dark gray clouds rolled over the Oklahoma plains.

  I centered myself, getting ready for the big day. I took off my torn shirt and looked it over; there was a tear that looked subspecialty like claw marks on it. It had to be a dream. What was the alternative? I was in another world last night.

  I changed, brushed my teeth and shook off my tiredness. Alice was already awake when I got downstairs, despite her panicked pacing and half-coherent shouting about the hospital bag being packed wrong. We made it out of the house in time.

  I stayed calm. Helping her down the steps, loaded her into the truck with military efficiency. The bracer was cool against my wrist, and when I looked at it, I swore I saw it glowed silver for just a second. I ignored it and drove us both to the hospital.

  I was helping her out of the truck when she asked me, "hey, what’s with that bracelet?"

  "First off, it’s a manly hunting bracer, not a bracelet. It’s some of Dad’s old hunting gear from the safe." She simply smiled and rolled her eyes.

  The baby came fast. Too fast for comfort, too slow for nerves.

  By 10:44 a.m., a healthy, screaming baby girl was on Alice’s chest. She named her Elizabeth Lynn Cross, and when she finally let me hold her, something in me cracked open and rearranged itself like an old compass snapping to true north after years of spinning.

  And I felt love for that beautiful baby girl. "I will always be there for you." Coincidentally, my eyes watered at that moment. I would maintain for many years into the future that I had not been crying. Despite whatever Alice told people.

  I held her gently as I could and quietly said, "Welcome to the world, little one," as I handed the little bundle back to her mother.

  I stayed all night on that torture contraption they called a couch. Towards the end of the next day, Alice convinced me to head back to the house and pick them up the next morning.

  I promised I’d be back with coffee and breakfast in the morning. She gave me a tired thumbs-up. "Bring me a pumpkin spice latte, like the ones you hide under your back seat." I paused in the doorway.

  "I have no idea what you're talking about; you're just tired."

  "Uh-huh... extra whipped cream, princess!" she called as I left.

  By the time I got back to the house, it was nearly midnight. The wind had picked up. Thunder grumbled low in the distance, but no rain had yet fallen.

  I was bone-tired from the day and was ready to grab a cold drink and hit the hay. I stepped inside, boots clicking softly on the entryway tile. The air held a mix of candle wax and fresh laundry, still lingering from earlier.

  The house was dark except for a single lamp left on in the living room, as if the place had been waiting for me. I grabbed a Coke from the fridge, cracked it open, and leaned against the counter, letting the first sip calm my nerves.

  Outside, the sky continued to stir with heavy gray clouds. A Storm coming. But for now, silence filled the house. I trudged upstairs to my old room and took a nice, long, hot shower.

  The bracer got wet, but I was too tired to care. I had tried getting it off several times throughout the day. It was a problem for tomorrow me.

  My posters were still there, welcoming me like old friends; Future Trunks was always my guy. I loved Goku, sure, but future Trunks didn’t mess around.

  I lay back in bed, arms behind my head, staring up into the dark. So much had changed today, and yet it hadn’t.

  I knew I was being selfish, but at that moment, I was glad Alice had decided to keep the place. Sleep took its sweet time, but when it finally came, I dreamed of a clock ticking down.

  The next morning, I awoke, got dressed, and stopped by Starbucks and got one pumpkin spiced latte for my sister and one black coffee for me.

  I wasn’t messing with that stuff anymore. No more weird dreams for me.

  When I got to the hospital, the nurses made us sit through some parenting videos for a while, and Alice sipped on her latte.

  I drank the bitter coffee and stared daggers at her while she just smirked, licking the whipped cream from her lips.

  I would have left if not for the baby. Liz was sweet and defenseless, asleep and waiting for me to get her home.

  Oh, Alice was lucky. After the “queen” finished her videos and her latte. It was time to go.

  I escorted the girls to the truck. Elizabeth nestled safely inside the car seat I had installed. Alice sat next to her.

  I drove with a quiet intensity, heart full and my thoughts distant. The road hummed beneath the tires as the Oklahoma landscape rolled by, wide, quiet, still… Home.

  We returned to the farmhouse with the baby sleeping soundly, the weight of new beginnings settling around us like morning dew.

  Later that afternoon, Alice napped on the couch and the baby dozed in her cradle in the living room.

  Tired of wearing the damn bracer, I walked to the pool room to see if there was a special tool or something in the safe to help me get it off.

  I quietly closed the door to avoid waking Alice and the baby. I opened the safe and looked through everything, but there was nothing to help me remove it.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  I looked at the bracer and sighed. "Guess I'll have to cut you off after all."

  I had just raised the bracer to my eyes to inspect the leather for a potential crease to cut along when I suddenly felt something touch my shoulder.

  Startled, I reacted with a high-pitched, "Oh shit!" I turned to see Alice holding the baby, laughing her ass off at me. "Where did you come from?" I asked indignantly, clutching at my heart.

  "What do you mean" she cackled, half laughing, half groaning in pain.

  "Serves you right," I said.

  "Where did I come from? She said, smirking. I called your name three times, when you opened the safe, while you stared at it, and again when you closed it. You just ignored me."

  I held out my wrist to her. "Are you sure you’ve never seen Dad with this thing?"

  "Nope, he never wore it that I know of."

  I leaned over to look at the baby. She was sleeping soundly as Alice held her, rocking her gently.

  Alice suddenly looked up. “What the hell is that?” she whispered.

  Before I could answer, the room shifted, then the bracer began to shine with silver light. The air thickened like syrup. Lights sputtered, then a voice, crystal-clear and emotionless, rang out from the bracer.

  “Nope, Alice screamed. NOT TODAY, Satan.” And tried to turn and run. But it was too late. A pulse of energy burst from below, wrapping the room in light.

  My body and, to my horror, hers lifted off the ground, weightless, as the walls and floors bent inward and began to collapse, and what could only be described as a dimensional tear, dark and terrifying, emerged from the floor. White noise, like that from an old television, permeated the room.

  The tear had white glowing edges, resembling torn paper. It kept ripping the fabric of reality as it drew them in. I reached out, grabbing Alice’s hand and bringing her and the baby to me.

  The world shattered around us, and we fell. "Hang on," I yelled as we plummeted down through the Void.

  The wind howled across the open heights of The Stone, where nothing broke the sun’s searing glare. It stank of monster corpses and decay, blowing dust across the land in ceaseless, gritty waves. Nothing stayed clean for long here.

  There were no clouds in the sky, and you could see the twin moons as clear as the sun. Despite the danger of the area, a man crouched in wait, motionless beneath a magical cloak.

  Even though he was level 15, Balt’s legs ached from hours of staying low. He didn’t dare shift; roaming monster squads patrolled The Stone constantly. His back ached, but he refused to move under the camouflage cloak, a single-use item that had cost him half his savings.

  And now, the enchantment was already starting to flicker. One wrong movement, and he’d be exposed for the whole damn floor to see. He’d worn his brown concealment robe underneath just to be safe, and now, with the cloak already flickering, he was damn glad he had. Twelve-hour enchantment, my black ass, he thought.

  Still, the investment felt justified. The System quest that went out yesterday was a once in a lifetime opportunity. He’d jumped on it the moment it was given to him.

  If he didn’t progress past the soft cap of level 15, he would be another system memory.

  Old Balt was due some luck, and the great system had to know that. Bless that wonderful, omnipotent machine.

  He re-read the quest for the hundredth time:

  He’d never had a gimme quest before. Everything he’d earned came from grinding: daily quests, shit work, the kind of slow crawl most people gave up on.

  Balt had clawed his way to level 15, the hard way.

  If he didn’t break past the soft cap soon, he’d be forgotten by the System like all the other guides and crafters who couldn’t keep up. But this powerhouse Outlier? This quest? It could be a breakthrough. The Outlier must be something special for the system to hand out a quest like that.

  Maybe all those years of sweating for scraps were finally about to pay off. Bless the System. Soon, he’d be relaxing with fine ale and some pleasurable company. All he had to do was wait. He grinned, wondering if Melinda at the Rusty Hump was working this weekend.

  Then the air cracked.

  A sound like thunder made Balt flinch, and in one motion he dove flat to the ground. His camouflage cloak shimmered and broke. The Outlier had arrived. Balt blinked and looked up at the portal, heart hammering. From the swirling light, a man tumbled forward, shielding two smaller forms with his body.

  Was that... a baby?!