We hiked along for some time more, no bother to me, as I do a lot of camping and hiking in my line of work. The new UltraTred boots were working out nicely.

Imagine the timing that my girlfriend and Steve both piped up at the same time, “Could I ask…” Both stopped short and tried to make polite gestures of deference.

Steve finally came out and said, “I already got to ask a question. I believe it’s your turn.”

Chloe, though not sure how to react to a terribly polite bear with an eagle’s beak, went on ahead with her question, “Seth, where in the world are we?”

“We’re not,” I sighed. I knew this wouldn’t be a good answer so I continued, “We’ve jumped dimensions, specifically down two and over one. But that’s a whole world, and since I messed up the spell we could be anywhere on that world.”

Before she could ask anything more, several men on horseback surrounded us, looking grim. I knew their colors and insignia at once.

“Well, at least now I know where in this world we are exactly.”