Ugh…

Stan had to strain to wake up. He was cold, weak, and tired from being washed up on shore after falling into a river at the bottom of the precipice. When he did open his eyes, he sat bolt upright, whipping his head from side to side, scanning the land around him.

Trees, mountains, hills, a waterfall—a land Stan had never seen before. He got to his feet, a little wobbly because of his fall, and breathed deeply. The air was fresh and smelled of rainwater and leaves and mountain snow.

"What is this place?" Stan said to himself. Then he felt a searing pain. He flung a hand to his right arm and groaned. When he pulled his hand away, he saw blood on his mitten, and a cut above his wrist.

I must've hit something when I fell… But the mark was strange, almost in a crescent-moonlike shape, with a line connecting each edge and a dot sitting on the line. That's weird…

Clutching his wound gently, he began walking away from the river. As he went on, he marveled at the beautiful lands around him. Mountains, capped with snow, marked the horizon in shimmering white. Before the mountains came mesas and plateaus of redrock which surrounded the grasslands. The leaves of the trees were bright green, some of which were turning yellowish-orange with the coming of autumn.

"I don't think I'm in Colorado anymore…" he muttered.

"Damn right, you're not!" came a harsh voice.

Stan whirled around only to see a club come down on his head and knock him out.

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Stan woke up, but didn't open his eyes. He felt the roughness of ropes wound around his body, and a solid object behind him. Instead of trying to get free, he listened to the conversation of the voices around him.

"What is it?" asked one voice.

"It's a Human, stupid," said another. "But this one is not like the Great Warrior. He is shorter and his hair is not the same color."

Great Warrior, thought Stan. Who could that be?

"Where did this Human come from?" asked the first voice.

"We aren't sure. The soldiers found him in the field, mumbling about some place called Call-a-Radio. His origins are unknown. We'll interrogate him when he awakens."

The sound of footsteps approaching silenced the conversation. A third voice said, "Sir, the Great Warrior has been notified and is on his way here."

"Good. Hopefully he will know who this other Human is and if he is a spy for the Shadowlanders."

Who are they? And who are these people? Where the hell am I? So many questions filled Stan's head, and yet no answers for any of them. He didn't want to be interrogated, so he continued to pretend unconsciousness.

More footsteps, then the first voice said, "The Great One approaches! All hail the Warrior!"

Multiple voices chorused, "Hail!"

"O Great Warrior," said the first voice again. "We are humbled by your presence."

"Uh-huh… anyway, what's wrong?"

Something clicked in Stan's head. That voice, he thought, it's so familiar. It almost sounded like…

"Kyle?" Stan said suddenly, raising his head and opening his eyes for the first time since his capture. He was silenced immediately when he saw the beings surrounding him.

The creatures, whatever they were, had human bodies, but they had the muzzle and ears which resembled those of a wolf or coyote or some other kind of dog. And they were only a few inches shorter than Stan himself.

"The intruder has awakened!" said the dog-creature who appeared to be the leader.

Several spears were pointed at Stan's throat all at once.

"No!" cried Kyle.

"The Great One opposes?"

"I know this Human," Kyle told the leader. "He is my best friend, from the Distant Realm."

The leader thing paused, then said, "Do you wish for him to be released?"

Kyle simply nodded sternly.

The dog-leader snapped his fingers, and two other creatures came with knives and sliced the ropes that bound Stan.

Stan rubbed his arm, then turned to Kyle. "Dude, how did you get here? Where am I? What is going on--what are these things?!" he said, almost drunkenly as he looked around at the gathering of dog-humans.

The leader looked up at Kyle, who nodded.

"Follow me, Human," the dog-thing said, beckoning for Stan to follow. He led him through the gaping crowd of creatures and up a stone staircase into a brick temple. Once inside, Kyle and the dog-leader advanced to a large slab while Stan stayed a few feet away. The creature stepped forward and pointed to the stone, "Human Called Stan… you are in a land called Delvania…"