The light of a single candle waved as it was blown by the wind. Next to it, a soldier wrote a letter to his family, not knowing if it would ever reach them.
It has been three years since we entered the portal that led to this world, and we have been forced to face dangers that would and have driven men insane.
Last night we faced a snake the size of a mountain. I am not exaggerating, the cursed thing was no beast but a devil that somehow escaped hell. The vile thing was not alone, there were more snakes that weren't as big but were still giant feasted on a giant ape and its young.
To think that an army of forty thousand men would be reduced to a few hundred in so short a time would have been laughable, but this is no joke and the danger is real.
I am both ashamed and relieved to say that those who call these strange lands home have agreed to help us, under the condition that neither we nor anyone from Rome will try to enslave them.
Do not be mistaken, they do not fear us. Truth be told they have no reason to. The strongest of them has the power to tear the walls of a fortress with his bare hands and the children despite their size are as strong as a trained man.
There are no savages or at least none that we have seen and while our new allies claim that they exist, they warn us not to anger them for they never fight alone.
I asked them for more details, but our allies have said that to ever mention such creatures is to invite them into your home. I fear the day that we must face those things, for if these men fear such things, then they must be demons in the flesh.
The lands beyond the portal are fruitful, and truth be told if it was not for the monsters that call this world home, they would be perfect. The ground seems blessed, as crops have not failed once, and the cattle of our allies are both larger in size and number than our own.
I want to write more to you and tell you about the fortress that we now call home or the beautiful women who live with our allies. I want to laugh, but I can't because while some, if not all, of the men would gladly take one of the women to bed, the women don't look at them in the same way.
Needless to say, no one has tried to take one by force. I know that because there haven't been any men with broken bones.
Tomorrow I will speak to the rulers here and ask for their aid in expanding our territory. While it may be unusual, I have become aware that we can't hold onto any land without their help.
][][]
The voices of the merchants loudly announcing their merchandise mixed with the noise of the carts and the cries of the animals. She folded the letter her husband had sent and couldn't help but laugh.
The letter had arrived days before the second one.
He said that the men of the other world agreed to help them grow their hold of the new world. The men of the new world had agreed under the condition that no one, not the senate, not any soldier or Centurion and not even Cesar himself could ever hold any power within that world.
The reason was simple, they couldn't survive.
It wasn't an insult, far from it. The reason was that everything no matter how small it was could kill them and death was a mercy if her husband's letters were true.
The voices of soldiers ordering everyone to be silent cut through the peace that she had created inside her mind so that she could focus on reading the letters.
She held her breath in fear that she might breathe too loudly and draw the men's attention to her. She couldn't help but feel her heartbeat as a wave of excitement and fear swept over her.
The Senate had agreed to the world's demands and declared that criminals, beggars, and even slaves who were willing to go to the new world would be allowed to go.
She tightened her grip on the letters and had they not been made of so strong material she would have riped them with her fingers.
The crier was saying that any soldier who had lost their fortunes could travel to the new world and receive lands there. Taxes would be collected as they always were, but they weren't expected until a sufficiently large settlement was created.
The sound of someone knocking on the door made her jump and when she turned to look at the wooden door, she swallowed what little spit she had left.
Her mouth had become dry and every step made her want to faint, things were happening too fast and she could barely process what was going on, but she feared that she would be sent to that horrible place.
She reached for the door her hands shaking with each passing second and when she finally managed to open it, she found a soldier waiting patiently outside.
He didn't say anything beyond "This is for you." before handing her a scroll. She opened it and and fell to her knees crying.
Her fears had been proven real. Her home had been taken from her, and the military would pay her travel expenses, but once she reached the new world she would be on her own.
The world and days passed by her in a blur. She didn't know when she had packed everything she owned onto a cart that was pulled by an ox, or when she joined the caravan.
She just knew that she had lost everything.
"Hey wake up." she hears someone say to her before something hits her on the back of the head.
She blinks and finds herself surrounded by strangers, there are people from everywhere some are dressed in expensive silks and she can swear that there is a woman wearing something purple in the distance.
She looks around and sees that there are people who are filthy and only have rags covering their intimate areas, while others are completely naked.
There are soldiers wearing outdated armor, she knows this because her husband would laugh when he spoke about how the medal weapons that he uses could piers the strongest of them.
'To think that tomorrow we will reach the new world." she hears a young woman say to her before a man next to the girl tells her to stop.
"Where am I?" she asks them before the two look at her with shock-filled eyes.
'You finally came back." the girl says to her.
She feels something hit the back of her head and when she turns she finds that the ox hit her with its head while it used its tongue to clean its neck.
"Onwe questions, were you ordered to leave because your husband is on the other side?' the man asks her.
She nods before hearing him grunt. "That explains it." she hears him say.
"Don't mind him, but you aren't the only one who is in shock." the girl says to her as she waves her hands around. "A lot of women were acting the same way, but at least you woke up before we crossed." the girl says to her.
"Crossed?" she asks the girl.
"Look over there." the girl says to her while pointing at something in the distance, but she can only see the light of a torch.
"They are letting us cross in groups and tomorrow is our turn." she hears the girl say to her with an excited voice.