Joe’s entire body ached as if he’d been hit by a freight train. His head throbbed relentlessly, and when he tried to open his eyes, the world around him swirled in confusion. He felt disoriented, as though he’d woken from a deep, fevered dream. What the hell had happened?

  He pushed himself up on trembling arms, his hands sinking into damp, soft earth. His surroundings came into blurry focus, and the stark realization struck him: this wasn’t Kalmheim. Gone were the snowy peaks and frosty air of his home. Instead, he found himself in a dense, humid jungle teeming with colossal trees, their trunks towering skyward, disappearing into a canopy so thick it cast the forest floor in perpetual twilight.

  Yet, despite its overwhelming presence, the jungle was silent. Eerily so. No chirping birds, no buzzing insects, no rustling leaves stirred by the wind. The absence of sound was suffocating, unnerving. It was a jungle full of life that somehow felt utterly dead.

  Joe staggered to his feet, every joint screaming in protest as if his body had aged decades overnight. “What is this place?” he muttered aloud, his voice hoarse and barely above a whisper. As he scanned his surroundings, his gaze fell on a structure partially obscured by the towering trees—a temple, ancient and weathered, its stone fa?ade draped in vines and moss.

  The sight filled him with a mix of dread and hope. Perhaps the temple held answers. Maybe someone—or something—there could help him understand what was going on. But the absence of the portal that had brought him here gnawed at his thoughts. How had he arrived in this alien jungle? Was the portal even functional anymore?

  He swallowed hard, trying to tamp down the rising panic. “Okay, Joe,” he muttered to himself, “focus. One thing at a time. Figure out what’s going on first. Then, think about the awards and recognition—if you live long enough to claim them.”

  The humid air clung to his skin as he began making his way toward the temple. Each step was an effort, his legs heavy and sluggish. Strangely, the jungle seemed to react to his presence. The dense underbrush shifted, plants retreating slightly, as though recoiling from him. It was almost as if the forest recognized him as an intruder—a parasite that didn’t belong.

  Joe shivered, wiping sweat from his brow. The sensation unsettled him. Was the jungle alive in a way he couldn’t yet comprehend? It felt like the trees were watching, the vines whispering secrets he couldn’t quite hear.

  The temple grew clearer as he approached, its details emerging through the haze of the jungle. Carvings adorned its weathered stone, intricate patterns and symbols that seemed both ancient and otherworldly. The temple exuded an aura of mystery and power, as if it had been waiting for something—or someone—for centuries.

  Joe hesitated at the base of the temple steps. The silence of the jungle was oppressive here, and the air seemed even heavier. Up close, the carvings on the temple walls were more detailed, depicting scenes of strange, humanoid figures. Some held glowing orbs, while others appeared to channel energy from the sky. One carving, in particular, caught Joe’s eye: a depiction of a swirling portal eerily similar to the one he had stepped through back in the lab. But it was not green as his one had been but instead a vivid purple. What did that mean?

  A chill ran down his spine. These carvings were ancient, yet they showed technology that aligned with what he had seen in Dr. Mool’s research. What were the odds of this? Was it possible that someone—or something—had mastered portal technology here long before his team had even conceived of it?

  He climbed the steps cautiously, his heart pounding in his chest. Each step seemed to reverberate through the air, the sound amplified in the oppressive silence. At the top, a large stone doorway stood ajar, its heavy doors covered in intricate etchings. Joe hesitated for a moment, then pushed one of the doors open further, its weight groaning against the movement.

  The interior of the temple was cool, a stark contrast to the stifling heat outside. Shafts of light filtered through cracks in the ceiling, illuminating a vast chamber filled with stone columns and more carvings. The air here was thick with the scent of moss and damp stone, but there was something else—a faint, metallic tang that made Joe’s skin prickle.

  As he ventured further inside, he noticed the carvings on the walls told a story. The humanoid figures seemed to depict a civilization that thrived on the use of portals. One scene showed beings stepping through swirling gateways into lush landscapes and strange cities. Another depicted a catastrophic event—portals collapsing, consuming the beings in arcs of lightning and flame.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Joe’s pulse quickened as he studied the images. Was this a warning? Had this civilization destroyed itself through the very technology they had created?

  A sudden noise broke the oppressive silence, a faint shuffling sound that echoed through the chamber. Joe froze, his breath catching in his throat. “Hello?” he called out, his voice trembling.

  The shuffling grew louder, coming from deeper within the temple. Joe’s instincts screamed at him to run, but his legs refused to move. Instead, he turned toward the sound, his heart hammering in his chest.

  A figure emerged from the shadows, humanoid but unmistakably alien. Its skin was pale and translucent, its eyes large and unblinking. The being carried itself with an air of grace, yet there was something unnerving about its movements—too fluid, too deliberate.

  Joe took a step back, his hands raised in a gesture of surrender. “I don’t mean any harm,” he said quickly.

  The being tilted its head, studying him with an intensity that made Joe’s skin crawl. Then, it spoke—not in words, but in a voice that resonated in Joe’s mind.

  “Joe, finally we were waiting for you.”

  Joe’s eyes widened. The being’s voice was calm, almost soothing, but the implication of its words was anything but. “You know my name?” he said. “I came through a portal. I… I don’t know how I got here.”

  The being regarded him silently for a moment before responding. “Your kind has touched powers it does not understand. You do not belong here, yet you need to be here. We were waiting for centuries for you.”

  Joe felt a surge of indignation, but he forced himself to stay calm. “I didn’t choose to come here. The portal… it brought me here by accident. What do you mean that you waited here for me and how is we?”

  The being’s gaze remained fixed on him, unyielding. “There are no accidents. The portal is a bridge, and bridges are built for a purpose. You are the key, you are the source, and you are the one. The one of the many, the one not being part of the one.”

  Joe hesitated, unsure how to answer. He had no idea why the portal had brought him here, but the being’s words suggested there was more at play than he realized. “I don’t know,” he said finally. “But if you can help me, I’d like to figure it out—and find a way back.”

  The being seemed to consider this, its unblinking eyes studying him intently. Then, it turned and began walking deeper into the temple, but it didn’t walk; it seemed to vanish. “Come,” it said, the command resonating in Joe’s mind. “There is much you must see.”

  Joe followed hesitantly, his senses on high alert. A strange urge led him through a series of winding corridors, the air growing cooler and heavier with each step. Eventually, they entered a vast chamber, its walls covered in glowing symbols that pulsed with an inner light.

  At the center of the room stood a massive structure—another portal, but this one dormant. Its frame was made of a dark, metallic material that seemed to hum faintly, and the air around it shimmered with an otherworldly energy.

  Joe’s breath caught. This was it. This was the key to understanding everything. On every wall of the temple was a portal. Yet every one of those four portals was different. One green, one red, one violet, and one blue. Around all of them were those strange creatures.

  The being gestured toward the portal. “Your arrival has awakened it. But it is unstable, as is your presence here. If you wish to survive, you must restore balance.”

  Joe stepped closer to the portal, his mind racing. “Restore balance? How?”

  The being extended a hand, and an orb of light materialized within its palm. It held the orb out to Joe, and it fused into his hand, hurting for a short moment like an injection. “Take this. It is part of the many, of the one. It will guide you.”

  Joe hesitated, completely confused by what was happening. The orb was warm to the touch, and as his fingers closed around it, a surge of energy coursed through him. Visions flashed before his eyes—glimpses of the civilization that had built the portals, their triumphs, their downfall. Yet it didn’t make sense to him. In the end, he saw Leafheim, destroyed with many people crying out in pain. What did this mean?

  When the visions subsided, Joe was left breathless. The being spoke again. “You carry the key. Now, you must decide: will you use it to return to your world and restore the balance, or do you want to die?”

  Joe stared at the room, the weight of the decision pressing down on him. The portal had brought him here for a reason, but what that reason was, he couldn’t yet fully grasp. So now he had to go back and do what exactly? This felt so strange, so unreal, like a dream.

  Joe took a deep breath, his resolve hardening. “I’ll do what I can to help,” he said. “But I need to understand more about this place, about the portals, about what went wrong.”

  The being nodded. “Then your path is clear. You will learn when you are with your kind, yet not your kind anymore, as you are the one, the many.”

  With that, the portal started to open in green light, and the creature seemed to have left. He couldn’t go back the way he came from; the door was closed. He could only go back through the portal.

  He didn’t know what challenges lay ahead, but one thing was certain: his journey had only just begun.