Enoch wiped the last of dinner from his mouth, embarrassed by the spectacle he’d made of himself. Ripley tried to hide his amusement, but Enoch just felt worse for it. It was the most familiar-tasting thing he’d eaten yet: a hamburger.

  Enoch just sighed and leaned back in his seat, “Wow… I would have never guessed a fantastical world like this would have burgers. I guess you have cows then?”

  Ripley nodded, “Aye. They are the second biggest food animal on the continent.”

  Enoch squinted, “The first wouldn’t happen to be chicken, would it?”

  “No. They’re third. The first is sky serpent.”

  Enoch frowned, “What?” He leaned in, “Tell me you’re joking. No way you eat snakes. Also, what do you mean serpent?’”

  Ripley stood up and beckoned Enoch to follow, “Yes, we eat snakes. It is really good and quite abundant.”

  Enoch caught up to Ripley, “Okay?...” He looked at Ripley expectantly. Ripley just stared back at him. “Well, why are they called sky serpents?”

  Ripley smirked, “They have big wings they use to glide from sky island to sky island. When they need to go up, those wings help them climb the waterises.”

  Enoch shook his head, “Snakes are just flying about and you act like it's normal. And what’s a waterise?”

  “It normal here, and a waterise is the opposite of a waterfall. Obviously.”

  Enoch shook his head, abandoning the topic. He’d learned that his definition of common sense was in dire need of an update for this new world. Waterises? Why not. Flying snakes? Sure.

  When they stepped out the front door, Enoch felt stifled. He was about to go to Velocity with Ripley to chat with a few of his friends to see if he could get a job to start out in. Enoch felt nervous.

  Ripley noticed and set a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. I can’t really imagine what you’re going through, but I do know that it will end well for you if you put in effort. I have good friends down in velocity, and they’ll make sure that you get a good opportunity. It's up to you to try and grasp it.”

  Enoch nodded, “Yeah… Sorry, I don’t mean to sound like a moocher, but I don’t really want to leave here until I just know everything. I know that will never happen, but I would at least like to know what logic this world runs on. But I can’t rightfully impose on you any longer.”

  Ripley laughed, “If you’re trying to figure out what logic this world follows, then you’ll never find it.” He laughed again at Enoch’s confused expression, “What I mean is that this world doesn’t logic. Random encounters and wacky situations are omnipresent on South Bloom, and it gets worse in the Crawl. Instead of trying to find a logic to apply to everything, seek a methodology. For instance, as a merc, I never assume anything.”

  Enoch nodded, “That isn’t comforting. But there has to be predictability, right? I mean, it doesn’t seem like people are that different than where I come from.”

  “Aye,” Ripley conceded, “But people of higher ranks get progressively more eccentric and odd. As a blossoming high-ranker myself, I can theorize why this happens. I think that the more power you get, the more you realize you don’t to fit in with those around you.”

  Enoch shook his head, “I get it, maybe. But sitting here chatting is just gonna make me more of a nervous wreck. I just need to jump into it. That’s the one thing I learned from football: if you hesitate to give it your all, you just get hurt more than if you had tackled the problem full-speed.”

  Ripley smiled, “Fair enough. Next time we meet, tell me more about this ‘football.’ I don’t know any sports where feet are the main element.”

  Enoch grinned, “Nope. I’m American. For some reason, we call our game football even though we don’t use our feet for it except on some occasions.”

  Ripley guided Enoch to what looked like a pier, only it jutted out into empty air. “You say that our world is crazy, yet you speak of a game called football that doesn’t involve feet. I think you’ll do just fine here.”

  “I hope so…” Enoch muttered as they walked over to the edge. His stomach was going wacky at the dichotomy of feeling solid ground beneath his feet, yet clearly seeing the drop before him.

  They walked over to a humongous wicker basket with various weights hanging over the sides. A small door sat open and waiting, with a huge pile of canvas connected to it by strings. Over the basket was a brazier, and Enoch recognized the thing as a hot air balloon. He grinned in spite of himself, looking forward to the ride down. “Are we going down in that?”

  “Aye. I thought this would be your first flight, so I chose this device, as it is more approachable.”

  Enoch smiled, “Thanks, but I’m no stranger to flying. I would love to ride a hot air balloon though.”

  Ripley looked surprised, “Your world has flight? How? I thought you didn’t have magic.”

  “I’m not really qualified to talk about it, but we have pretty advanced technology where I’m from. Flight is one of the older technologies, though it has progressed by leaps and bounds over the years. Let me tell you, a fighter jet has no right to be a stable aircraft, and yet it is.”

  “What’s a fighter jet?”

  “Something really cool that flies crazy fast and shoots big bombs.”

  Ripley frowned, “Sounds like a monster I know.”

  Enoch shook his head, “It isn’t alive. We made it.”

  Ripley pointed to the basket, “Alright, I’ll take your word for it. Now let’s go. It’s getting late, and I want to have a surprise meeting with an acquaintance of mine before I drop you into the thick of things.”

  Enoch nodded and boarded the basket. Ripley followed and started moving bits and pieces about to get it ready to fly. Enoch was at a loss how it all functioned. Probably something to do with weight and wind. The only part Enoch recognized as definitely-not-how-they-do-it-on-Earth was when Ripley seemed to grab at the thin air between him and the balloon, then casting it upward. The empty balloon followed his gesture, and it held itself loosely up. Ripley reached up and snapped his fingers above what would be a torch for a balloon.

  Enoch smiled when the balloon lurched upward, the originally flimsy balloon snapping to perfect shape like a soldier to attention. Ripley set his hand on a crystal set into the center of the basket on a thin pedestal. As his hand danced around the device, the balloon behaved strangely and started moving toward Velocity.

  Enoch laughed and looked over the edge, enjoying the dichotomy between sense and logic that was riding a hot air balloon. His gut was telling him death was imminent while logic told him he was just fine. The strange feeling gut was exciting.

  Ripley just smiled, “I thought you had these on your world? You seem like this is your first time riding one.”

  Enoch shook his head, still looking down as they passed the bottom of Ripley’s sky island, “I’ve flown plenty, but it was always on a big commercial airliner. Hot air balloons are outdated and impractical, so they are more of a tourist event than practical mode of flight. This is my first time.”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Ripley shook his head, “Your world is strange. These balloons are very practical. They use very little magic, are easy to produce, easy to fly, and can navigate sky islands superbly. They only really struggle with speed, stealth, and durability. I’ll never forget the first time I was taken out of the sky by a wayward monster who seemed to have beef with my balloon.”

  Enoch stopped laughing immediately. “Wait, what?! Monsters can take us down? Please tell me you have a solution…”

  Ripley smiled devilishly as he pointed at one of three small packs that were sitting in a small box on the ground. “Do you happen to know what a parachute is?”

  Enoch nodded, “Yeah… but, can’t you stop them? I thought you hunted these monsters.”

  “Aye. To both. But while I could fend them off, you cannot. It would be a good learning experience for you, since you will probably end up owning one of these, and won’t have the capability to defend it. It is quite safe, as long as you use logic and don’t panic too much.”

  Enoch set his hands on each of Ripley’s shoulders as he stared intently at him, “I think logic and calm demeanor go out the window when you begin to freefall.”

  Ripley smiled and took his hand from the crystal, “The balloon will go to Velocity without further inputs.” He turned and poked his head over the edge of the basket.

  Enoch was confused, “Why are you changing the topic? I want to know how to live!”

  Ripley’s gaze lingered downward for a moment, then he nodded and turned back to Enoch with what he was beginning to realize was his natural shifty grin. “What’s so scary about a freefall?”

  Before Enoch could give him a great multitude of answers, Ripley snatched one of the three pouches and vaulted over the basket. Enoch gasped, lunging to try and catch him. He wasn’t even close, Ripley’s speed unnatural. Enoch stared down as Ripley was falling through the sky, doing wild flips, twirls and other obviously intentionally tricks. Enoch just now thought about what he considered ‘high’. He recalled looking down from planes at their zenith, and he felt like he was still a higher than he’d been then. A stray thought invaded Enoch’s mind, ‘Why isn’t the air thin?’

  Enoch slowly backed himself into the center of the basket, the balloon not seeming so magical anymore. He looked up, barely seeing Ripley’s island in the sky. It was equally as high up now. He was close to halfway down. Enoch grabbed one of the packs, stuffing it into his pocket in case he had to take a dive for some reason.

  Some time later, as Enoch was beginning to regain his confidence, he heard a small whistle. Blinking, Enoch looked around in the sky. It was toward the end of dusk now, and Enoch felt nearly blind. Before he could dismiss the sound as a small gust, he saw a streak in the sky passing close to the balloon, the same whistle following it. Enoch felt like he was beginning to choke. He refused to believe that he was about to be free falling. After a few more passes, each one making Enoch feel a hundred years older, the streak came straight for the basket. It stopped around ten feet from Enoch who was raising his arms to block whatever it was.

  When it stopped, Enoch got a good look at it. It was like a mix between a stork and a hawk. It had ridiculously long wings that were currently flapping to hold the creature aloft as it gazed into Enoch’s eyes with its own. Enoch absently noted that it looked like a rather peaceful creature and that maybe he’d just overreacted. Still wary, he held out a hand and tapped the basket, “Come here. I promise, if you don’t ever scare me again, I’ll get you buckets of your favorite food. Deal?”

  The fact he’d just attempted negotiations with a creature that looked to be lacking a brain made Enoch feel like perhaps a trip to the local equivalent of a therapist was needed, but now was time to wheel and deal.

  Or so he’d thought. The bird just glided forward and landed gently on the basket’s edge. It was the size of a stork, with a general body shape of a hawk and stupidly long wings.

  Enoch just stepped back, sighing internally. He gazed about the sky a minute longer but nothing else showed up. He turned back to the stork thing, “Did you understand me, or are you just friendly? And what are you called?” As he noted that, Enoch felt like an idiot as he had an inherent power that was literally made for this. He summoned the book in a puff of sparkles and gold light. The creature squawked and blustered for a moment, but settled after a moment.

  Enoch opened the book, hoping it would give him an answer.

  Enoch snapped the book shut, “Well, you aren’t so bad, are you? Just a curious little bird, eh?” He smiled and relaxed. The bird preened itself for a moment before looking up at the balloon. Perhaps then was the best time for Enoch to note that the whole outside of the balloon was covered in colorful ropes that were swinging in the wind. They were probably intended for telling wind, but all Enoch saw was probably the same thing the stawk was now fixated on: Colorful vines hanging out in the sky.

  “No, NOOO!!!” Enoch screamed as he lunged at the bird, but it was too late. With one wingbeat, it launched upward to the center of the balloon, and time slowed as its wing seemed to stiffen and flexibly whip forward, slicing through both the ropes and balloon. Enoch gasped as the entire balloon seemed to jolt, then began to freefall in an odd trajectory due to the hole in the side.

  Enoch looked down, and saw that he wasn’t too far from the city, and he knew what he had to do. He turned to the bird that was squawking as it chased his falling form and began to scream at it. Not even Enoch could understand what he was saying, but he intended it to be scathing. After a few more seconds, Enoch grasped the basket for dear life, and tried to endure. But he was not the first to give out. The tethers holding the balloon and the basket together snapped, one by one, until the basket was all that remained, and the basket was top heavy. It flipped, throwing Enoch out of it and away.

  Enoch screamed, his freefalling flips and twirls far less intentional than Ripley’s. Enoch fumbled at his pockets, but found it difficult while being buffeted by the winds. He panicked more and more, until he finally got it. He undid the buckle on the pouch, which was thankfully easy, and grabbed the small handles. He cast the whole thing upward, gripping the handles tighter than he’d ever gripped anything before. But apparently the parachute wasn’t quite like they were on Earth.

  The handles slithered out of Enoch’s grasp like live things and snaked around and down his arms, then his back, eventually wrapping his entire body. The parachute itself deployed into a fan of cloth, larger than any other parachute Enoch had ever seen. Curiously enough, it didn’t jar him as it deployed. Defying physics, the thing slowed his descent slowly, then turned it into what nearly felt like no gravity. Enoch was still breathing heavily, but he was no longer inconsolable. He was nearly to the city, though he was now at the edge of it. After a minute or so, Enoch touched ground, and the parachute, somehow, began to do the exact opposite it had done to unfold, as it packed itself back up, snaking its way loose of holding his body to the parachute.

  Enoch barely registered that, though, as his legs turned to noodles and he collapsed to the grass, breathless. Tears streamed from his eyes, and he simply sat there and rested. Until some boots stepped in front of his face. Emotionless, Enoch looked up at Ripley, who was just smiling.

  Enoch clenched his teeth and found his feet in an instant as he hauled back and sent his fist straight to Ripley’s jaw. It felt as if he’d punched a mountain, and Enoch grimaced, though he leveled his glare at Ripley.

  Ripley looked surprised, and he hadn’t even reacted to the punch. “Why are you so upset?”

  Enoch looked disbelievingly at him, “Are you serious?... You left me alone! I’ve never fallen more than six feet, much less more than six miles! Are you stupid?!”

  Ripley looked slightly guilty, “I was actually quite close by the entire time. And it isn’t that scary- oh… I believe my viewpoint was skewed.”

  Enoch, still furious, snorted, “Skewed? What kind of prank is leaving someone alone in a skydive. How is that a prank?!”

  “Humans are a magical race, so I forgot that a couple thousand years ago, the inherent fear of flight was bred out of man. I guess it wasn’t for your world?”

  Enoch scoffed, “Of course not. Fear of heights is completely understandable.” He looked around. They were around three-hundred yards from the city wall, but there was no gate in sight. There was a paved road running beside the wall though. Enoch shook his head, “Whatever. Don’t ever do something like that again, ok? Can we get on with this? I just want to forget what just happened.”

  Ripley cleared his throat and nodded. “Sorry. Let’s go.”

  Silently, the two made their way to the wall and followed the road around to the southern entrance. When they made it to the checkpoint, the guard who was trying his best not to look bored spoke laconically, “Reason for entry and have you been here before?”

  Ripley gestured at Enoch, “I’ve come to speak with the mayor about my friend here’s new career. And I’ve been here, but he has not.”

  The guard scoffed as he looked up from the checklist in his hands. He nearly let forth a snarky comment, then he recognized Ripley and snapped to attention. “S-sir Ripley! I apologize, sincerely. I thought you were given an expedited entry pass?”

  Ripley shook his head, “Aye, I was, but my friend wasn’t and I didn’t want to make a mess for the guardhouse.”

  The guard nodded, still wide-eyed and ramrod straight. He turned swiftly to Enoch, briefly looking confused, then snapped out of it. “Since you’ve never been to the city, I need to put your information in our system.”

  Enoch, long since out of his foul mood, nodded, “My name’s Enoch Aadland and I’m twenty-two years old.”

  “...Ok. And your facets? Or facet, I suppose?” He asked expectantly. Enoch, remembering something Ripley had said about privacy, turned to him expectantly.

  Ripley just nodded, so Enoch told him, “I have a star facet.”

  As he wrote it down, the guard nodded, “A rare one. Alright, you’re all set. Enjoy your visit to Velocity. Next!”

  Neither Ripley or Enoch spared the busy gate another moment as they passed through and Enoch entered his first Praeda city.