CTMAS - Chapter 2: Eldris

Computer, Tell Me a Story
Chapter 2: Eldris
“So where exactly are we?” Rayan asked, looking around.  Aurora was running around the open field chasing something like a little brown rabbit with horns.
“Eldris.  A world just like yours, but different rules of nature work here.” Jezriel replied.  The old man hopped up a large boulder and looked towards the horizon.  “Come up here quick!  You can see the castle from here.”
Rayan scrambled up.  He is incredibly nimble for his age.  People always said he excelled at sports and physical games, but he never really gave it much thought.  His sense of balance was definitely better than other kids, that much he knew.  “It’s late afternoon?” He said, surveying the red sky.
“Yes, we need to hurry.  Dinner will be served in a few hours.  We don’t want to miss it.” Jez laughed, sliding down and catching himself with his staff.  “Aurora?”
“Yes mister Jez?” She replied, running towards them holding something furry.  “I want to call her Kyukyu!”
“...It’s a boy, Aurora.” Rayan said, walking behind Jezriel, observing the horned brown rabbit.
“Whatever is fine Aurora.” Jezriel said, his face creased with a forced smile.  “Just… don’t bring that thing in the kitchen okay?… young horbits are… known to be quite delicious.”
“You mean they eat Kyukyus in the castle?  How horrible!” Aurora pouted.
“I believe tonight we will have chicken and vegetables.” Jezriel replied, quickly changing the topic. “Let’s… get going shall we?“
“Okay.” Aurora said, shoving her new pet into the basket they used to gather shells and gave it to Rayan.  “Keep an eye on Kyukyu for me okay?” She smiled.
“Sure…” Rayan groaned, rolling his eyes.  “Whatever.  I’m hungry.”
“Come on then.  This way.” Jezriel beckoned to the children, tracing a dirt path going into a wall of large trees.  “The king will be very pleased to meet you.”
“Did you also come to this world through a portal mister Jez?” Aurora asked, skipping along while walking.
Jezriel gave a short, awkward pause before replying.  “You could say that, little Aurora.  Though I did not come from a different world.  I was born here, in Eldris… or so I was told.”
“You said different rules of nature work in Eldris and it’s another world.  But where do we find this place on a map?” Rayan interrupted.
“Where indeed.” Jez replied.  “That is a good question.  You can think of Eldris as another plane of existence.  A filtered space if you will.  This world exists on top of your world.  That makes travelling by portal easy.  The portal I opened doesn’t really take you to a different place.  It simply changes the filter so you no longer exist on Earth, but now present in Eldris.  Walking through the portal from Eldris reverses that effect, and you can see Earth again, as normal.”
“So your magic cannot take us to a different place?” Rayan followed up, nodding as if he understood.
“Magic… has many disciplines.” Jezriel tried to explain.  “From what we know, each esper can control a different aspect of it.  I heard that some gifted espers can control multiple.  I am an alchemist type of esper.  My mind can control, break down, and restructure elements.  My portal is created by restructuring parts of space, creating a door where physical existence is altered as it passes through. - Quite advanced, I tell you.  But displacement magic, is a whole other area.”
“How about Aurora?” Rayan asked, pointing to the little girl with his lips.  “What makes her an esper?”
“I still don’t know what Aurora can do, but we will find out later.” Jez said, reaching for something in his pocket.  “Here, take these.”
“What is it?” Rayan asked, looking at a hollow metal tube, about the size of his palm.  Along with it are balls of different colors, conveniently sized to fit inside the tube.
“You are Aurora’s protector, right?” Jezriel winked.  “This toy is my own special creation.  Red is fire, blue is water, brown is earth… the other colors are combinations.  Air is supplied as you breathe into the tube.”
Rayan nodded but his face was a crumpled map of confusion.
“Here, let me show you.” Jezriel said, taking the tube and putting a red ball inside.  He pointed the tube upwards and blew on it.  A decent sized fireball shot into the air and exploded like fireworks.  “Simple, right?  You try.”
“I think I understand.” Rayan replied.  “But you have your spit on that thing!  That’s not sanitary!”
“Preetty…” Aurora said, looking up at the twilight suddenly lit up by flames.  “Like a magic spitball.”
“It’s getting dark.  I hardly noticed.  We best hurry.” Jezriel started walking faster.  “We are still quite a long way from the castle.”
“Are there more worlds like this, mister Jezriel?” Aurora asked, running after them.
“Yes.  I have been to a few.”  Jezriel replied.  “You will get a chance to meet Emrys later.  She is from a different plane.  The portal to her world is quite complex, as it needs a more rigid set of combined situations to exist.”
“Another esper?” Rayan asked.
“Yes, she is about your age.” Jezriel nodded.  “We found her almost a year ago.  She has been training with us since then.  Her specialty is calculations.”
“Cal… what?” Aurora asked.
“Calculations.  Her mind can process computations at an exceedingly fast rate and abnormally high accuracy.” Jez clarified.
“Oh! Okay!” Aurora replied, skipping happily along.