They walked in relative silence to the giant transporter room. As they got close, Jack felt that strange sensation that space mana seemed to emit, and he shivered slightly. Brandt noticed and nodded to himself.

  They entered the room, and Monty stepped up to a control panel. He motioned for Brandt to come over, and the two entered commands into the device, causing the room to light up. The platform on the other side of the protective glass started to spin, and the metallic runes in the multiple rings that made up its outer design whirred into motion. Reaching the correct configuration, they locked back into place with a heavy thud.

  Jack felt the space mana sensation increase. He assumed the device was warming up, finding the feeling strangely enticing and calming. It wasn't until he felt Turrel’s hand grip his shoulder that he heard the man speaking next to him.

  “Jack, Jack, come on. We are leaving.”

  Shaking his head as he came back to his senses, he nodded and started to walk towards Monty and Brandt, who were waiting by the door to the inner room. When he arrived, Monty patted him on the back and gave him a reassuring smile. The doors opened; they all walked through taking up positions in the middle of the centre ring.

  After a few moments, the transporter activated. A pulse of space mana flood the room. The sensation of falling momentarily assaulted him. In a flash, it was gone, and as he felt the mana receding from the circle below him, he shook his head and scanned his surroundings.

  It was very obvious he was in a different location. Gone was the metallic spaceship decor, replaced with an opulent, marble-stoned and gold-trimmed room. It felt like something out of a Roman Emperor's palace; there were intricate carvings and art pieces everywhere. Lining the walls were pillars, atop which stood statues of tall humanoid creatures. They all had long reptilian tails, clawed hands and feet, and elongated faces that ended in snouts. Jack hazarded a guess they were of the Zerraians.

  A massive hand land between his shoulder blades, knocking him forward slightly.

  “It’s a little gaudy for my taste, personally. But as I said, they have a strong sense of honour and pride here. They wanted to pay reverence to the Origin and the Centre, so they provided a building with a certain… grandeur.” Brandt patted Jack's back again as he started to move off the slightly raised platform. “Take it in as we move, Jack. Places to be, things to do. Let's get moving.”

  Turrel leaned in as Jack started to follow. “Just remember not to stare when we get outside. I am sure you will have plenty of time to meet and get used to the… unusualness of being the odd humanoid out for the first time.”

  “Roger that.” Jack nodded as he noticed glowing lights in the ceiling, trying to see if he could spot any electricity or mana circuits. He had no luck as they moved on, but he took in as much as he could.

  As they passed through the doors and into another equally lavish hall, he waited to meet another person. The hallway was empty, but as they followed it to the end there was a set of massive stone double doors that swung inwards. Brandt approached them and opened both with ease, and they passed into a much more energetic environment, sounds of chatter and movement pierced the silence.

  There were people of many different races walking around here, more than Jack had been expecting to see. A very small man whose skin was a strange silver colour rushed past, carrying a tablet in one hand and a small satchel in the other. Behind some sort of strange cylindrical counter there was a creature that was as large as Overseer Brandt, covered head to toe in thick shaggy hair. Jack was almost waiting for it to make the Wookiee call. The Wookiee person turned to look at him as if his stares alerted it to his presence. As it turned Jack saw a clean-shaven and very feminine face; rather than stare he did the mature thing and quickly glanced away.

  There were two seven-foot-tall lizardkin men standing near another set of intricately carved stone doors set with a colourful inlay that sparkled like gemstones. They were almost how he had pictured them, and looked very much like the statues from earlier but much taller. They were human-like in their stance, standing on two large, taloned feet. They had scales all over their bodies with different colours and patterns, lighter colours in seemingly sensitive spots. Their tails were long, stretching out from the base of their spines to easily reach the ground behind them.

  Their faces were elongated, ending in a lizard-like snout. One of them had ridges all over his face, reminding Jack of a thorny devil he used to have as a pet. The other had a smooth face but possessed slight horn nubs behind his ears. Their eyes were larger than he expected, but still had the same mana tint he had seen on most people so far; these two both had a silver sheen.

  A tug from Turrel and he shook his head, he stopped staring and kept moving with the group. None of his group had reacted like this was anything different from the norm, which Jack realised was actually true for them.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  The group kept moving swiftly, everyone turning away from their group and making space as soon as they saw Overseer Brandt. The doors the lizardkin were standing near opened swiftly as they approached, and Jack got his first glimpse of a new planet.

  Well, he thought he would. It turned out they were underground—or technically in a cave, as Brandt told him the city was partially carved into a mountain range. It was done to escape the heat and stay close to a source of water that ran down the mountains.

  They came towards the end of the tunnel, and Brandt stopped dramatically, using his massive bulk to block the exit.

  “Welcome to Khas-Zera! The World Well, as the locals call it,” Brandt said with a flourish as he stepped out of the tunnel entrance.

  As they stepped out, Jack took a moment as the sheer size of the place gave him vertigo. It wasn't until this moment that it dawned on him what a tunnel in the mountains meant, but as he glanced down at least a hundred metres below him, he understood.

  The mountain formation was almost like a “C” shape, and they were standing at the centre of the curve, ring after ring of terraces filling the mountainside around them. He saw numerous entrances that seemed to have been hewn into the face of the mountain—like the one they had just exited—as well as many buildings that merged with the mountain itself. He glanced up and saw that the city continued above them for a number of tiers as well.

  There were uniform gardens and walkways all over, and as his eyes fell, he could trace stairwells all the way down to the centre of the area. In that space he could see a massive water source that must have been the well. The opening was over a hundred metres across and deeper than he could see. There was a canal-like channel cut into the well that ran in the opening of the “C” shape caused by the mountain's formation, obviously used to funnel any water that ran down into the depths.

  A number of the buildings had accented roofs, all the same strange grey-blue colour, while everything else was a sandstone hue that blended with the mountainside itself. It was a stark difference from what Jack thought of when he imagined a large populated city. Here, it seemed more like civilization had merged with nature rather than replacing it.

  There was much more greenery than he had expected for a world where water was supposedly sacred. Although, as he thought about it, he could grow a plant with just mana now; it probably shouldn't be as big of a surprise as it was.

  While Jack was busy taking in the architecture, Monty and Turrel had both fixed their attention on something just to the side of the massive well. Floating in the air in front of a section that had been obviously cleared out, floated a large rift portal spewing out snow and cold air.

  Ever since they had left the first building Jack had been feeling something in the air. It had gotten stronger the closer they had been getting but now it clicked; he had been feeling the ice mana in the air leaking through from the portal. The mana seemed to be having a similar effect as the death mana did and was affecting his mind slightly. It made him feel lethargic and slow, though what remained of his mana skin was lessening the effect.

  “Come, we can inspect the preparations and defences that they have set up for this portal. This is the second largest and not the one I am ‘allowed’ to deal with,” Brandt air-quoted as he started walking to a set of stairs. “It is being handled pretty well, and the Zerraians have managed to use the terrain and height to their advantage so far.” He seemed like he wanted to say more but waved a hand and continued walking.

  Jack kept staring at the people and buildings as they walked down a dozen flights of stairs into progressively lower rings. Most people simply ignored them; some stared after they had passed, but deciding to take the advice given, he tried not to stare back.

  As they came down to a slightly more open area, Jack felt a surge of mana from the direction of the portal. Turrel must have felt it too, as the man tensed slightly and quickened his pace to get a better vantage point. The others noticed his reaction and followed him to an overlooking platform.

  From the portal, a massive white furry, clawed foot stepped through. The foot hit the ground, and a loud roar of an alarm sounded throughout Khas-Zera. People around them rushed to action.

  Some of the Zerraians raced into buildings, seemingly to hide; others dropped what they were doing and ran to overlooking points all over the city. Jack could see a group of them nearby on a lower level sliding some sort of ballista-type device into view. They reacted with a practised purpose; no fear or panic as they went about their tasks.

  Jack’s eyes were pulled back to the portal as a clawed hand and arm pushed through. A moment later, its head followed, the creature seemingly having to duck slightly to fit. As it finally pulled the rest of its body free and stood to its full height, the beast was massive.

  It was hard to tell at this distance, but it had to be at least two or three storeys tall. Jack remembered they mentioned ursine but to him it looked much more yeti-like than bear, but this thing was all monster. The huge claws that accented its hands and feet stretched out much longer than they should, sharp and with a crystalline blue hue.

  The creature reared back its head and released a terrifying roar. As it did, Jack saw something fly towards it from one of the terraces below.

  The giant Yeti barely glanced at the object as it collided with its thick hide, bouncing off without leaving a visible mark. Jack felt a pulse of life mana; following it, he looked over at Monty, who was visibly shaking as he gripped the metal railing in front of him. Brandt placed a massive hand on Monty's shoulder as if to hold him in place.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone rush out of a building pulling a large cart bundled with massive, sharp-tipped bolts. They called out, and one of the Zerraians at the ballista turned to help them drag the cart the rest of the way.

  “Montarg, hold. This is not your place,” Brandt said into the tense silence. Monty didn't respond, but the metal railing in his hand groaned and twisted as he clenched his hand around it.

  I am starting to get back on top of writing again and should hopefully be able to get some bonus chapters out soon!