A teenager dressed in an aegean blue robe with a pointed hat of the same shade appears to have been behind you. It looked as if he was attempting to pass of as a wizard with his stereotypical getup. However, his clothing aside, you’re surprised at his appearance for a multitude of reasons.
One: You were certain you had been alone while searching for clothing through the dilapidated temple. Not once had anyone showed up to the temple throughout the duration of your search.
Two: You never heard him approach you and believe that he should have at least made some noise from the old and creaking wooden floorboards of the temple. You feel almost as if he had instantly teleported behind you to explain him entering without a single sound.
And…
Three: You were surprised to see another human. Sure, it was a young adult in a Halloween costume who had suddenly showed up behind you with no logical explanation…but at least he was human and not an orc. Better yet, it seemed as if he wasn’t afraid of you and trying to help.
“Oh am I happy to see you. I was worried I wouldn’t see another human for ages!” You happily exclaim, although it’s kinda hard to tell with your deeper and rougher voice.
“Well I am human… but I’m also a wizard,” the teen responds nonchalantly.
“Wait… a wizard? What are you talking about?”
“Listen I don’t think you have much time for me explain. Luckily there’s a spell I know that can grant me an extra minute.” The boy pulls out a long wooden staff, with a blue gem attached to the top, from his robe. Bewildered on how such a long item fit in his pocket, the teen waves the staff and mutters a few strange words.
The gem turns a dark shade of green before you feel a strange aura exhibit from the staff. The sensation spreads throughout the temple and continues outward as the spell finishes successfully.
“So what did you just do?” You feel nervous, starting to believe his wizard story slightly.
“Why not take a look outside and see for yourself?” He says with a grin.
You place the loincloth on a nearby table and walk over to a broken dusty window and crouch so you can look through to see the village. It looks the same. Still full of orcs and bustling with activity. Wait. Hadn’t they been in the same position for too long?
“Did you just stop time?” You’re shocked as you come to the realization.
“Yep. But it’s not that impressive. I’m still in training so the spell can only last for a minute.”
“A minute!” You bellow.
Fuck! You were hoping he could freeze time long enough for you to leave the village unnoticed.
“Sorry but I just started training to be a wizard. I didn’t discover my hidden powers til a few years ago and just kinda postponed getting an official apprenticeship for a while.” He says with a carefree shrug.
“Wait a minute!” The gears begin running in your head. “If you’re a wizard maybe you can turn me back to normal!”
“No can do.” He instantly shoots down the idea.
“Wait why not?” you growl angrily, your voice coming out much more threatening than you intended.
The wizard isn’t bothered in the slightest by your tone and simple continues as if you spoke normally. “Not only do I not know any magic on changing appearances but I can’t break the enchantment on you.”
“Enchantment? Isn’t that just a spell?”
“Sorta. See humans from your world aren’t supposed to visit Castrumiel since our town’s located in a different realm.” The teen explains. “And if they do visit then they automatically have to become one of the existing races within our realm.”
The news comes to you hard as you try make sense of his words and logic. “Did all of this technically classify as lore and world-building?” you contemplate.
“So I turned into an orc because I’m not from this world?” you ask and he nods. “Then to turn back don’t I simply have to return to my realm?”
He shakes his head. “It’s not that simple for two reasons. First, the bridge between our worlds only opens on the day of a full moon, hence why it appeared yesterday. Usually we have a wizard’s apprentice on guard to prevent any humans from accidentally stumbling into our realm.”
“But how come nobody stopped me?” you question him.
“About that,” he awkwardly chuckles, “See wizard apprentices are chosen to guard entrances to our world to practice focus and mindfulness. But I always found it super boring. So whenever I was given guard duty, I would disguise myself and hang around the human world before returning. After all, the portal doesn’t close until daybreak. Once the full moon is completely hidden.”
“So I got trapped here as an orc… because of you!” you yell angrily and feel a sudden wave of rage course through your body. Your body bulges with a newfound sense of power and strength as anger consumes you. It takes a lot of willpower to control yourself from grabbing the wizard and pummeling him into oblivion.
This careless teen was the reason you were here in the first place!
“Listen I’m sorry! Please calms down!” he begs you, grasping his hands and looking into your eyes with deep sorrow. “Humans from your world never come in contact with ours. The entrances to our world are very hidden that not many often find a path here. It’s actually a rare phenomenon.”
“Yet I found one,” you grumble darkly.
“Yes you did. And I know I’m responsible for what happened to you since I was supposed to be guarding. But there was a good reason I had to leave yesterday.”
“What?” you doubt the wizard could provide a acceptable reason to placate you.
“Look! I wanted to get one of your electronic boxes.” The teen wizard pulls out a mobile phone from his robe. “I saw many of your humans using these on my visits and wanted to see what the commotion was.”
You’re at a loss as you stare at him in disbelief. HE WENT TO GET A PHONE?
“And after accessing something called Weefee and unlocking the Interweb I found myself talking to random and invisible strangers my age. They even gave me some of your world’s incantations.” He says and shows you his phone. A long list of text messages are displayed from the multiple conversations he had. There was a high abundance of lol’s and other acronyms scattered throughout the texts.
You can’t quite fathom the idea of a real wizard becoming engrossed with the internet and feel your anger disappearing and replaced with amusement as you let out a boisterous laugh.
The wizard returns his phone to its previous location before continuing what he was saying.
“And the second reason is that the enchantment doesn’t break even if you return to your world.”
You stop laughing as your blood runs cold. Taking the weight of his words and their impact. You can feel your heart rapidly beating in your chest as you take a deep gulp.
“S-s-so am I stuck like this?” you ask nervously.
He looks at you before answering.