As expected, Gromda’s screams and moans during the intense section with Silas had traveled all over the orc village, and they were going to face the consequences. Silas sensed it and got the notification from the system. He had to force himself to stop pouncing on her again and wear his clothes. There was no time for cleaning themselves. Besides, he had marked Gromda as his, and he had become her mate. She was going to be with him from now on. Maybe it sounded weird and immoral, but what do you know?

The first sign of trouble came from the system. A crimson notification flashed across Silas’s vision.

[WARNING!]

[Multiple Hostile Signatures Detected!]

[Estimated Arrival Time: 2 Minutes 17 Seconds]

[Recommendation: RUN!]

Silas didn’t need a second recommendation. The moment he looked at Gromda’s face, he knew she had sensed it too. The giant orc woman had gone pale, or at least as pale as an orc could become.

"They know," she whispered.

"Who?"

"My father."

Silas paused, then he remembered the giant who was holding the spoon, the one who looked capable of uprooting buildings for exercise.

"Wonderful."

The hut suddenly shook as a distant roar echoed across the village. It was so loud that dust fell from the ceiling.

"My father," Gromda visibly flinched.

Another roar followed. This one carried enough force to rattle Silas’s bones. Outside, chaos erupted. Orcs shouted, weapons clashed, and torches lit the darkness. The entire village was waking up. Silas immediately grabbed his belongings.

"Time to leave."

Gromda nodded. For the first time since meeting her, she looked genuinely nervous. The back wall of the hut didn’t survive long. Silas punched through the crude wooden structure, and the two slipped into the darkness beyond the village. They ran and kept running.

The night forest was enormous. Towering trees stretched hundreds of feet into the sky, strange glowing fungi illuminated portions of the ground, massive insects buzzed through the darkness, and unknown creatures growled from distant shadows. Every instinct Silas possessed screamed danger.

Unfortunately, the orcs were much worse. A howl echoed behind them, then dozens followed. Gromda’s expression darkened.

"They found our scent."

"What scent?"

She looked at him, and Silas immediately regretted asking.

"Never mind."

The howls grew louder, and Silas increased his speed. Branches whipped past him, roots threatened to trip him, while the forest became increasingly dense, yet the sounds behind them continued getting closer. Orcs possessed many advantages: Strength, durability, instinct, and smell.

One enormous orc appeared on a ridge, its nose twitching. It pointed directly at them.

"THERE!"

Silas didn’t hold up. He quickened his pace.

"Run faster!"

"I AM RUNNING FASTER!"

The chase intensified as more orcs joined. Ten became twenty. Twenty became fifty. Torches appeared throughout the forest, their orange lights moving through the darkness like hunting predators. Then the trees exploded.

BOOM!

A gigantic axe buried itself where Silas had been standing a fraction of a second earlier.

"What is wrong with these people?!"

"Father is angry."

"YOUR FATHER NEEDS A HOBBY!"

Another axe flew past. The chase continued. Hours seemed to pass, though in reality it had only been thirty minutes. Eventually, Silas spotted something unusual. A river. Well, it was not a normal river. This one glowed. Blue energy flowed through its waters while mist drifted across the surface. The entire area felt strange. The system immediately reacted.

[Environmental Anomaly Detected.]

[Danger Level: Unknown.]

Silas ignored it. Unknown was currently preferable to angry orcs.

"Jump!"

"What?!"

"JUMP!"

Without hesitation, Silas grabbed Gromda’s wrist, and the two leaped, and the glowing river swallowed them. It was extremely cold. The current immediately dragged them downstream as Silas fought to keep them above water. Behind them, the pursuing orcs reached the riverbank. The largest figure emerged last, and even from a distance, Silas recognized him.

Gromda’s father, the village chief. The giant stared across the river, his nostrils flaring, and his muscles bulging. His eyes burned with fury. For a moment, Silas thought the orc man would jump across, but the chief stopped.

Something had changed. The giant looked at the river, then at the darkness beyond it. He hesitated. That terrified Silas far more than the pursuit itself, because if something could make a monster like that hesitate, then whatever lay beyond the river was probably much worse.

The chief pointed toward Silas and slammed a fist against his chest. It was a challenge, a promise, and a threat. Silas perfectly understood the words that followed. The old orc wasn’t finished, not even close. The current pulled Silas and Gromda deeper into the unknown darkness beyond the river, uncaring about whatever bullshit the ugly orc chieftain was spilling.

***

Chloe’s arrival in the rift was significantly less dramatic than Silas’s. Unfortunately, that wasn’t saying much. One moment, she had stepped through the portal, the next, she was falling.

"Aaaaaah!"

Cold wind whipped past her face. Snow-covered mountains stretched endlessly beneath her. It was white everywhere. Her heart nearly stopped, not because of the height, but because she knew she couldn’t fly. Well, technically, they were related. Thankfully, fate wasn’t completely cruel. A thick slope of snow rushed up to meet her.

Chloe crashed into it feet first, and momentum carried her forward. She tumbled, rolled, spun, screamed, and ate snow. She finally came to a stop face-first inside a snowbank. For several seconds, she didn’t move.

Then a muffled voice emerged from the snow.

"I hate rifts."

Slowly, she pulled herself free. Snow clung to her hair, her clothes, and her face. The first thing she noticed was the cold. The second thing she noticed was that she was alone, completely alone. A sinking feeling appeared in her chest.

"Silas?" No answer. Of course, there wasn’t. The world around her was enormous. Towering mountains dominated the horizon, frozen forests stretched between valleys, while glaciers reflected pale sunlight. The sky itself appeared larger somehow. She had never seen anything like it. This wasn’t just another world. It felt ancient, wild, untamed, and very dangerous. And she was in it.