TWENTY YEARS AGO

  James ran as fast as he could. He knew the streets of his town better than anybody. By all rights, he should be able to outrun his pursuers.

  But he’d been running for a while, and his strength was fading. Shane and Dylan were older and bigger than he was, and each of their strides was worth two of his.

  James ran across the street and onto a park. If he could cut through the grass, he could make it to the library and —

  Shane tackled the younger boy to the ground. They rolled in the grass a few times, then Shane sat up and pumped his fist. “Got you!” he said. “You’re under arrest for all those bank robberies!”

  “Aw, man,” James cried.

  Dylan came huffing and puffing up the hill. “Did you” pant “get him?”

  “Sure did!” Shane crowed.

  Dylan nodded and collapsed beside the other two boys. He was always the slowest of the three, but Shane always picked him anyway as his partner.

  After a few minutes to catch their breath, James asked, “Can I be the cop this this?”

  Shane shook his head. “Sorry buddy. Dylan and I would make terrible robbers, so it has to be you.”

  James sighed, but there was nothing he could do. He’d tried before, but Shane’s word was law and if he didn’t want to change it up, nothing could convince him. It wouldn’t do any good for James to tell him that he was tired of always playing the bad guy. Once — just once! — he wanted to be the hero.

  PRESENT DAY

  James accepted the Hero class without question. The notification exploded in a shower of golden sparks, which then swirled around him in a beautiful vortex. The vortex tightened around him until the golden sparks touched his skin. They sank into him, and he felt the class become a part of him.

  He was a Hero. He felt it in his bones that his duty was to protect those around him and fight against evil wherever he might find it.

  Congratulations, Hero! The world needs you!

  [+] Quests

  The little girl looked up at him with wonder in her eyes. “Whoa,” she said. “Did you just level up?”

  “I got a class,” James answered. “I’m James, by the way. What’s your name?”

  “Hi James. I’m Desiree.” She stood tall as she introduced herself, and James saw that she was similarly dressed in ren faire attire. Her blouse hung loose on her thin shoulders. She had a short knife strapped to her hip and a series of pouches.

  “What are you doing out in the woods?” she asked.

  James laughed. “I was just about to ask you that!” he said. “I’m, uh. Traveling.”

  Desiree narrowed her eyes at him. She was definitely suspicious of that answer; maybe they didn’t get many travelers out here in the middle of the forest. But then she seemed to remember that he had saved her life, and she relaxed again.

  “Well, I’m out here because Mrs. Fitz needed wild fennel for one of her creepy potions and everyone else was busy. I was on my way back when that stupid bear found me.” She kicked at the bear, and her little foot was so small compared to the bear’s leg that she barely made an impact.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Let’s get you home, then,” James said. “Which way?”

  Desiree looked aghast. “Don’t you want to get the loot first?”

  “…loot?”

  She gave him another weird look, this time like she was wondering how he laced his own boots in the morning. “You killed the bear,” she said slowly. “Touch it and get the loot.”

  “Uh… alright.” James knelt and buried his fingers into the fur of the bear. It was surprisingly soft and thick, and he found himself wishing for a bearskin rug. He’d never been the hunting type. He’d never seen the appeal. But here, with the bearskin plush against his palm, he thought it might be a nice reminder of what he was capable of.

  The bear dissolved in a shower of black and brown sparks, and then on the ground in its place was a bearskin rug, exactly as James had pictured it.

  He reached out hesitantly, and when he held the rug in his hands another notification appeared.

  Add to Inventory? (yes) (no)

  James selected yes, and then the rug disappeared into the row of boxes beside the mana potions.

  Desiree’s jaw dropped open. “Oooh, you’re a Traveler!” she squealed. “Ooh, it worked, it worked, it worked!”

  James was startled by her sudden outburst. “What do you mean?” he asked. “What worked?”

  “The summoning!” she explained. “I told you I came out here for fennel, and I did! But I also came out to visit the three rings, which according to all the stories can summon a hero from another world, only it hasn’t been done in centuries, so nobody hardly even tries it anymore, but the Demon King is going to come and kill us any day now and so I thought it was at least worth a try —”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down. What’s a Demon King?”

  She stopped, stunned, then grinned widely. “Gods, you really don’t know! What’s your world like? Do you have birds?”

  “We’ve got birds,” he said, feeling a little lost. “Do you… not?”

  “Oh that’s so cool!” she squealed.

  James ran a hand over his face and took a deep breath. Desiree was clearly far too excited to give him any useful information — at least, not in an order that made sense. There was far too much for him to sift through already. He needed to learn how his character sheet worked, what it meant for him to level up, what his quests were, and apparently what the Demon King was all about.

  That last one, to be fair, was probably obvious. Big bad Dark Lord, hell bent on destroying all that’s good.

  “Why don’t we get you back home? You can fill me in on the way.”

  “Okay!” She skipped just slightly ahead of him, staying close enough to pepper him with questions. Did birds really live forever? Did they all have two legs, or were there some with four? Or none? Did any of them know how to swim? Were they intelligent? Could they talk?

  James wouldn’t have considered himself particularly knowledgeable about birds, and he was a bit baffled by her interest, but her questions were simple enough. He knew just enough about penguins to really blow her mind, to the extent that she accused him of messing with her.

  “If a bird can swim but not fly, is it even a bird anymore?”

  “Ah.” James tapped his nose. “Now you’re asking the right questions.”

  “What—? But— What does that even mean?” she spluttered.

  Fortunately, James was saved from trying to explain the core essence of bird-ness (because what was that, anyway? Why were penguins birds? Did they even have feathers? He’d never thought about it, and all he could remember were pictures of them looking round and smooth and a little bit shiny).

  The forest ended gradually. The trees shrank down to normal size, congesting at first and then thinning down into nothing. A wheat farm came into view, and beyond it James could see the rest of the village. Beyond that was a larger city, still far enough in the distance that all he could make out were the shapes of large buildings.

  Stark against the wheat field stood a woman leaning against a massive scythe. She came running at the sight of them, and when she approached James saw the resemblance between she and Desiree. The woman was at least a head taller than him. Her shoulders were broad and her arms crossed, which emphasized the bulge of her biceps. She glared at him.

  James swallowed. The term muscle mommy came to mind. She could break him in half, and he would like it.

  “Mom! It worked! I summoned a Traveler!”

  The woman blinked. “I told you to stay away from the rings.”

  Desiree bounced on the balls of her feet, too excited to be chastised. “James saved me from a bear! And he taught me all about birds! And he’s here in time to stop the Demon King and we might not all die!”

  H frown deepened as Desiree spoke. “Is this true?” she asked James.

  “Oh! Um, yeah,” he stammered. The way she looked at him made him feel like there was a spotlight on him, or like he was interviewing for a job that he really really wanted. “I’ll help out as much as I can.”

  Her glare finally softened, revealing the curiosity underneath. “Come on then, we’d better get you fed. You can tell me about birds over dinner.” She whirled around and strode back to the farmhouse, her long legs easily taking her across the wide field.

  James and Desiree followed after. “Um, yeah, sure! I’d also like to hear more about the Demon King if that’s alright. He sounds, ah, pretty important.”