From the Void

Chapter One

Hannah's career as a writer was over and she had decided to accept that, to be able to move on. But she didn't move on. Hannah was as stuck in her life as her novel was stuck in the middle, doomed to never being finished. This was not where she saw herself being at thirty, a washed up writer that worked part time jobs to make it in life. Being a writer was what she had always wanted to be, though she had done other things in her life.

She had served in the military for four years and had even gotten a degree in English at university. What good were those things now that she was a washed up writer. Her brother referred to her as a NEET, which is basically a nice way of saying a shut in, with no use to society, and not many friends. Though she had tried other careers none of them had stuck. Currently she had a part-time job and was able to pay her bills, mostly, but her life wasn't really going in any direction.

Was there any point to living? Hannah wasn't sure, but she kept doing it regardless. She wasn't about to put her family through losing another person. Her life was simple. Go to work, go home, go to work, go home, sleep, and repeat. There was no excitement, and that's what Hannah had come to expect from life.

*****

"Dav are you sure this is the place?" The two armor clad warriors stood in a strange new world looking at a rundown building. It was a building not made of any material either of them had seen. It had been a shock coming here. The strange noises, the metal carriages that were not drawn by any visible horse, and the crowds of people. Dav and Mari were not of this world and they had come to it through a portal that had been opened by the magic of their world.

They had been chosen for a mission of paramount importance, and they could not fail. Their entire world depended on it, and they had been chosen because they had been the best warriors that were in the entire land. Once they had their mission they would never allow it to go undone and they would not allow themselves to be distracted until they located their target.

"I'm sure this is the right place," Dav said taking in the sight of the building. "She's in there right now. I can sense her somehow."

"I can too, but I didn't think she would be found in a place such as this."

"Nor I, but she is in there. My hope is that she does not actually reside in such a building," Dav said. They stood there looking at the building for a little longer. Neither of them would ever admit that they were nervous, but it wasn't every day that one met their creator. Their target was the person that had breathed life into their world and given them purpose. They were the people they were today because of the woman they were sent here to find. They were under no delusions about how their story may sound to this woman.

In their brief moments in this world they had discovered that magic did not exist here as it did in their world. They could not feel it as they did when in their own land, neither could they use their personal magic. It was a strange feeling to not be able to call forth the elements as they would normally do. There did seem to be some kind of force, however, that moved the horseless carriages and clanging loud metal tubes that people moved around on, and there had been other wondrous things they had briefly seen as they were looking for the woman.

With the knowledge that magic did not exist in this world both had wondered silently if the woman would believe them. Why would she? But they had to convince her. It was convince her, or see all the people they love die and the world they loved fall to ruins before their eyes.

"What should we even say to her?" Dav asked. He was usually the stoic one and never allowed any feelings from showing, but Mari knew him better than that and could see the anxiety on the man's face.