All of their eyes were fixed upon the speaker, who had somehow managed to approach them without any of them having heard or seen anything.
The one who had addressed them was a tall man of very advanced years, clothed in full-length, blue garments. A wide-brimmed hat with a low, rounded crown topped his head.
Thick white eyebrows, a mass of long white hair, and an extensive white beard were among the most prominent features of the peculiar stranger. His long, sharp nose poked out over the abundant growth of facial hair, and a lone blue eye gazed intently at the three of them. His left eye was hidden from view, fully covered by a patch.
The elderly man looked to be very calm, even amiable in manner. “I mean no harm to any of you,” he continued, before they had a chance to reply. “But there are others such as yourselves in these lands. In there!”
He extended his right arm, pointing to where the great forest began.
“There you will find others, who have gone through what you have gone through,” he proceeded. “It is where you must start.”
“Who are you?” were the first words out of Janus’ mouth.
It was pretty evident that the man represented no great threat. Janus and his companions were physically capable enough, and he knew that Derek was an exceptional fighter if a greater danger arose.
“I am… a friend… names would mean little to you now, and perhaps be more trouble than it is worth,” the old man replied. “Dire times indeed have struck this world, and there are very few that you can trust now. The violence across this world is great, and an unrivaled age begins. Everything is at stake. You must join the others who are here, who have come from your world.”
The old man’s remarks about two distinct worlds sent a deep feeling of unease rippling through Janus.
“Sounds absolutely wonderful. But perhaps you can tell us where the hell we are then,” Derek retorted sharply, agitation and sarcasm lacing his words.
The old man did not respond to Derek’s statement, nor did he seem to be offended by the curtness.
Instead, he calmly repeated his urging, “Go to the forest, and you shall find the others. I have matters of my own to attend to, but it is important that you know that others are nearby. Begin there.”
With no further instruction or comment, the old man turned casually and started to walk off in a direction parallel to the forest. Janus noticed how easy and supple his movements were for an old man, and how his robes flowed gracefully with each long stride.
Janus glanced over at Derek, and discovered that the other’s face was exhibiting the same utter confusion about the situation that he was feeling inside. Janus’ eyes reverted back towards the old man as he continued heading away from them.
Janus and Derek simultaneously shook their heads in disbelief. Janus rolled his eyes and broke into a swift trot, hurrying to catch back up to the old man.
Without breaking stride or turning, the old man snapped his right hand up as Janus neared. Janus came to an abrupt halt, as the old man stopped and turned to look at him again.
This time, the sunlight caught his right eye directly, revealing it to be a bright, sparkling blue.
“I know that you are filled with questions. But it is best to keep the questions that you have to yourself for now, as any answers I give will only multiply your questions. I assure you, in time you shall know more. And as I have indicated, in time you shall find that you also know less, as each piece of knowledge beckons to several more,” the old man told him.
The old man’s voice then took on a very purposeful, careful tone. “Here is some wisdom. You may find help from sources that you can see, and some help from sources that you cannot behold with the eyes that you see me with at this moment. See to your friends, and go find the others from your world. That is the best that you can do right now. I shall return to you soon enough.”
Janus was entirely confounded by the enigmatic words of the older man. He failed to ask the old man about the issue of worlds, which had been at the tip of his tongue when he had hastened to catch the mysterious stranger. For no explicable reason, and perhaps only because he did not know what else to do, he heeded the man’s words and pressed no further questions. He made no move to follow as the old man turned his back to Janus and resumed his walk.
A thousand questions were racing through his mind, but it was clear that the old man was not going to discuss anything further. With great reluctance, Janus turned and walked slowly back towards his two friends.
He knew that it was not a total loss. At the very least, they had encountered another person within this strange place, which was becoming more bizarre by the moment.
“I have no idea,” were the first words that he heard from Derek as he drew near to the other two.
Derek was shaking his head and looking down at the ground. When he looked back up, he had an expression of sheer bewilderment.
“I don’t even know where to begin,” Derek spat out. “Or even which way is up, or which way is down right now.”
His friend’s tremendous mystification matched his own. “I don’t either, Derek,” Janus replied. “The world is upside down.” He looked back in the direction that the old man had gone, only to find that the stranger was no longer in view. His brow furrowed for a moment, as he did not think that the old man had been walking quickly enough to travel entirely out of sight. The path that he had taken out in the open should have kept him in their sight for quite awhile.
“Who do you think that was?” Kent said, staring into the distance. Neither of the others answered him immediately.
“An old, bearded man in blue robes and a wide hat. That’s what we know. Here and gone already,” Janus finally replied, with an edge of tension to his words.
“So what did you find out? What did you ask him? Did you ask him where are we?” Kent asked.
“No closer to that answer,” Janus said with frustration. “You heard him, and know as much as I do. He warned us not to trust anyone, that things are violent here, and that there are others from our world in the forest.”
“And that we need to find them,” Derek added.
“That explains a helluva lot,” Kent quipped in irritation. “And what’s the bit about ‘our world’? So, we are in another world, aren’t we? That’s for sure, I suppose, just looking up at that sky and seeing that lizard thing earlier. Well, then, maybe we shouldn’t stay out in the open for too much longer. Where do you all propose going?”
“What about the forest?” Janus inquired.
“What about it? How can we just trust that guy?” Derek asked. “Who knows what’s in there?”
“He’s the first sign of sentient life that we’ve seen in this place, and we’ve gotta move on sometime,” Janus rationalized. “The forest probably has our best hopes of finding something to eat. And if there was a threat involved with the old man, then don’t you think that it would have come upon us when we were idly sitting here, and were completely unaware of his approach to within a few feet of us? If an old man snuck up on us so easily, then anyone could have… or might yet, if we sit around here forever. That’s the way I see it.”
Derek immediately harmonized with Janus’ logic. “I’ve never been that oblivious before, having someone sneak up on me like that. You’re right, Janus, regarding your comments about the threat. But still, what reason do we have to trust him? Even he warned us not to trust anyone.”
“Maybe because we don’t know anything. And what if what he said turns out to be true? About this really being a different world? And about some others from our own world also being here, in the forest? If this unintended arrival in this world could happen to us, then it could have happened to others, right? Maybe there is a real reason why we are here,” Janus responded, though he found the sentiments incredible to fathom even as he spoke of them.