The bright light faded and Toby realized a transformation had taken place.

He no longer held the carrot, but a sword, which gleamed brilliantly in the sun. It was lighter than it looked, and holding it empowered him. He’d felt foolish when he’d first accepted the carrot—it hadn’t been his imaginary weapon of choice. This sword, however, would make the game far more real. The sense of confidence it afforded was short-lived, though, as he surveyed the eerily familiar landscape surrounding him.

He no longer stood in his mother’s garden, but at the edge of a forest of towering, shimmering golden trees. The nearby river shimmered also, but with a blueish hue. In fact, everything around him shimmered—the mountains of green, the sky of orange and the castle of gray high atop a hillside.

And he shimmered, and a panic arose within him.

He knew this place, he knew it all too well. He’d seen it many times before when playing…

“Welcome to Battle for the Realm,” a computer-generated voice thundered.