FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The World of Aeurn: Coming of the Twice-born

Written by Daniel J. Sabin, under the pen name Red William © 2018. Any use for financial gain without the express permission of the author is strictly prohibited.

---

Darkness surrounded Devon Mallory. He felt neither pain nor cold and his eyes couldn't see anything, even his own feet or hands. He tried to move but could not feel his muscles tense to turn him. He was neither falling nor was he rising; he just hovered, suspended in nothingness.

Ah, he realized, So this is what it feels to be dead...

The pastor at his family church was totally wrong about the afterlife. He had expected angels, lights and music, not utter blackness. He almost considered the joke to fire his divine travel agent for this bogus trip.

Maybe this isn't heaven...maybe I'm in the 'other' place?

If it was, then it was a bit more hospitable than he expected. No fire, no pain, no agony, just utter lonely blackness. Devon didn't mind the solitude, but he knew logically that he would eventually start craving company, and without it he might start really suffering.

How did he die, he wondered to himself as he became more aware of his predicament. His mind tried to rewind from the moment he came here. For Devon, he had a photographic memory so it did not take long for him to begin recalling his past. Memories passed through his awareness like movies on a TV screen. His life as an only child, born to his parents. He then saw clips of his life from there: his school life, social life with friends and family, his graduation from high school and college with a Masters in Physics and Design, his failed relationships with numerous girlfriends both his fault and theirs. He remembered the job as a design engineer, building electric motors for vehicles among other designs for power plants and alternate energy development. He was even a teacher at a university for a few years, though he couldn't remember the name of the school. He had attended seminars and conferences, both as a spectator and speaker on several subjects. He wrote many articles, many received accolades and awards for his insights.

He could recall in his mind the many articles and papers, but the ones he remembered the most were the ones he never published openly. He was an avid reader and was one of those rare intellects that had a near-photographic memory. Among the many books he read, the ones he loved the most were fantasy novels like Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. The articles he had written were intellectual exercises on the possible existence and mechanics of magic. He theorized possible ways that magic would work and their applications. He would post them under an alias on web forums for fantasy and Sci-fi readers. Many of the replies were that of people who loved his theories and others that criticized that a person of his obvious intellect shouldn't be soiling his reputation with make-believe.

It was then that he finally found the memory he was looking for. He was returning from one such seminar--why couldn't he remember the name of the place? Devon could recall many things in his past, yet he seemed to lose focus on the time and location. He returned to the memory and noticed that he was driving home after returning from the seminar. It was dark and the road cut through some mountains, meaning the roads were twisty and shadowed. As he drove, he was getting drowsy and struggled to stay awake--bad mistake, he realized now in hindsight. The memory grew sharp as something suddenly vaulted in front of the car. Was that a deer? It was a dark figure but it was big and four legged for sure. Regardless of what it was specifically it had the unwanted effect of causing the car to swerve into the other lane. Bright lights and a blaring horn shone in front of him, then the memory cut off.

"So..." He surmised, "I was knocked off the road and hit a semi-truck..." He was thankful now that he had no lingering pain or feelings. The collision was swift and killed him instantly leaving him currently in what he could only imagine was limbo.

With the cause of his being here solved, Devon now was free to state the next question: What do I do now? He was caught between life and death since he surmised that if he was dead, he would not be aware of his own existence. It was going to get boring here real quick if he didn't have anyone to talk to or someplace to go. He tried to reach out his hand and didn't even feel it, meaning he was no doubt disembodied--a spirit. At least he wouldn't starve or get thirsty if he didn't have a body, but dwelling in oblivion without something to do or someone to talk to was going to eventually drive him crazy.

As he was mulling it over, he could see in front of him a pinpoint of white, shining dimly even in the pitch blackness. It was the first sign that he was actually somewhere and had a point of reference. Though he felt nothing like wind or motion, the small light was becoming brighter and closer. Was he being sent somewhere, or was he going to be consumed in some sort of astral body? He calculated the speed he was going and realized that he was going faster. That light suddenly grew stronger and rays of white energy fanned out about him. The light was so bright and yet he had no hands to shield him from it nor did he have eyes to close. He tried to scream as the light overwhelmed him and soon the whiteness enveloped him.

---

White vanished into blackness and sensations of nausea and pain appeared. He was groggy and finding it hard to focus, but now could feel the remoteness of a physical form. Was he alive? Perhaps he was just unconscious from the accident and was probably in his car. He expected to be cold since he realized the accident was in the dead of winter; however, he only felt the warm sensations of spring warmth and the fragrance of flowers.

He was regaining a portion of his awareness when he began to hear voices. Someone was out there, and here he was helplessly hurt in probably a burning vehicle, no doubt broken and bleeding.

"....mas..r..." the voice was distant and garbled.

Another voice, slightly higher pitched--possibly female, "...m...str...Al...n..."

Devon took stock of what his senses were trying to process. Someone was there looking for him, the voices distant. Perhaps his car wasn't on fire? If he was thrown from the vehicle, he would be in a far worse situation. And why was he smelling flowers and feeling the sun on his face?

"...Mas...r....Mas..ter?" The voices grew closer and louder, then, "Alwyn? Master Alwyn?"

What the hell is a 'Master Alwyn', Devon wondered.

"Ketra!" The male voice boomed with a tinge of frantic discovery, "I found him! The Young Master's here!"

Suddenly he felt the presence of warmth as hands reached down to him, running his fingers over his body. They felt around and he could feel the winter gloves over his body--they were covered in some sort of light fur.

"The Young Master's injured! Fetch Calatrix, quickly!" The man's voice demanded.

More noises appeared: feet trudging quickly over grass, their cries of alarm and concern as they cried out

"Young Master...his head..."

"Is he dead? Say it's not so!"

"No, he's still breathing, see?"

"Praise the Maker!"

"Where is Calatrix?"

A new voice, more prominent than the others emerged from the cacophony, and despite being able to see, could tell the others made way for him.

"I'm here, let me see the lad." The voice was old but still held some strength. Sounded like some venerable older gentleman by the way he exuded confidence.

Devon tried to open his eyes, but as they cracked open, all he could see was smears of color. Blues and greens and a bit of white around as the colored blobs moved about. It was like looking through water.

"His eyes! He's coming back!"

"Thank the Maker!"

"Someone notify the Duke! Move!"

Duke? He lived in a region that had no royalty...

As Devon tried to speak, a pair of hands cupped his cheeks.

"Try not to speak, Master Alwyn." The Venerable voice commanded gently. Devon saw it was a bright white blur looking at him from the left that was making the voice. "You'll be well cared for." With that, Devon suddenly felt a deep thrumming beat coming from the hands on his cheeks, and a warmth that began to spread across his face. The pain in his head diminished somewhat, reduced to a dull pulsating ache instead of a sharp stabbing one

"Rest, young master." The old man said, "My spell can only do so much...the rest is up to you."

Devon felt his consciousness slip away back into a warm blanket of sleep--so deep that he didn't even bother to consider what the old voice said: My spell...

---

As Devon regained consciousness, he was acutely aware that he was no longer on the ground. He felt a soft mattress under him and a cool silken sheet atop of him. He was finally able to regain some motor controls and he stirred slightly. His body felt strange as he realized the cool sheet was weighted with thicker warmer blankets.

I must be in a hospital, Devon considered, but as his senses reactivated, he did not sense the same sensations he should have from a hospital. There was no antiseptic smell, but the scent of flowers and clean linen. He expected to hear the sounds of doctors and other people milling about the hallway outside his room, but instead could only hear the chirping of birds and the crackling of...a fireplace?

He opened his eyes but the world was still out of focus.

No doubt the head injury from the accident is affecting my ability to see, He deduced.

Devon started to sit up, but felt the throb of his head force him back down, emitting a groan that sounded strange to his ears.

At once a form suddenly appeared and started to come into focus, but was still barely registering.

"Master Alwyn?" A young female's voice asked, sounding hopeful.

"W...Who?" Devon stammered, suddenly aware that his voice sounded differently. The crash did more damage perhaps?

The girl emitted a gasp and her out-of-focus self rushed into the background.

"Get Lord Calatrix and notify the Duke! Master Alwyn's awake!" She yelled out, probably into a hallway. Her form seemed to move back towards him and he could barely make out her face.

"Are you doing alright, young master? Do you hurt anywhere?"

Why was she calling me 'young master'? I'm 55 years old!

"I...can't see." Devon spoke, and he noted the youthful voice that emitted from his throat. What the hell is going on?

New shapes and colors appeared and soon there were several people appearing in his room. One in particular was the blob of white and gray that came up closer.

"Alwyn." The old man's voice appeared, "How are you feeling?"

"W...who is Alwyn?" Devon said, shaking his head slightly and wincing at the throbbing aftermath. The sudden jostling seemed to do the trick cause his eyes started to refocus. The blobs of colors suddenly took on a new sharpness but what he soon saw made him doubt his eyes and his mind.

Standing at his left side was a tall humanoid man, his face covered in white-gray...hair? Or was it fur? The venerable old man looked more like a mishmash of human and canine. He had human blue eyes, but his nose and muzzle was that of some large dog. His hair was white and gray and trailed down his shoulders with what looked like long floppy canine ears that seemed to blend with his hair. The front of his canine muzzle had a long set of whiskers, almost like a beard and mustache that hung loosely from his nose and chin. His eyebrows were thick and bushy, like some sort of pure white St. Bernard.

Devon looked around and saw that everyone else was staring at him, and he was trying to process what he saw. The young girl was actually some sort of feline, a black and white tuxedo cat wearing what looked like a maid's outfit. She seemed to stare as if perplexed at him as well. Two other people came into view, a man and a woman he assumed by the way they were holding onto one another. The female was elegantly dressed in a formal gown of pink and gold, but her face and head was that of some gray furred rabbit, complete with long leaf like ears sprouting from shoulder length blonde hair. The man next to her wore some sort of regal looking uniform of navy blue and gold, with epaulets and buttons that glistened. He too has the head of a gray rabbit, his nose sporting a shorter blonde mustache and a small goatee under his chin. His hair was short cropped and a dusty blonde, also with long rabbit ears on his head.

It took several moments for his rebooting mind to analyze the situation, and yet he still could not fathom what he was seeing!

"Wh...what the hell are you?" Devon exclaimed! "Where am i?"

The regal looking woman put a hand to her mouth and choked a sob while the bunny-man tried to comfort her.

"You are safe at home, Master Alwyn." The old dog-man replied, "You fell from one of the trees in the garden and was injured. Don't you remember?"

Remember? I was driving down a forest road one minute, and now I'm dreaming of furries!

"What are you creatures?" Devon demanded, shuffling back away from the old canine-guy as panic overrode his thinking mind, "Stay back!" He struggled but the piercing pain in his head made he go slack in the surprisingly powerful arms of the old canine-man.

The wise looking canine tilted his head, "Creatures? Why don't you remember your tutor, young master? It's me, Calatrix."

"I don't know who or what you are!" Devon retorted and tried to climb out of the bed. He turned away from the canine only to stare into a full length mirror on the opposite end.

Reflecting back at Devon wasn't a middle aged man with a receding hairline and three days of growth on his chin. Instead he stared into the face of a young boy, probably no older that eight or nine. He was in a full length night shirt that hung loosely on a wiry frame. What really struck Devon was that his face was that of a young gray rabbit-like boy. He had large green eyes standing out from a light gray furry face, a small triangular pink nose and his mouth was slack jawed and staring wide eyed in shock and disbelief. His head was capped with a tuft of blonde bangs that hung slightly over one eye and long gray bunny ears stood erect and rigid.

Devon felt his body go slack as the deluge of stimuli was too much for his mind to process. The last thing he heard was the bunny woman screaming and the last sensation was powerful furry hands grasping him as he fell into a dead faint.

The next few days, Devon slipped in and out of consciousness, his mind trying to reboot itself and hopefully analyze the situation. One day he partially woke up to listen to the old man, Calatrix talking to the two bunny-people in regal gear.

"What do you mean, Calatrix?" The rabbit-man asked.

"What I am saying, My Lord," Calatrix replied, "is that it is not uncommon for those that suffered a head injury to suffer some memory loss."

"Memory loss? How bad are we talking about?"

Ah, Devon concluded, _They think I have amnesia._That could be easily explained considering the headache he had from the fall. Trouble is, Devon knew exactly who he was, but wasn't sure what he was now or where he was.

A pause, then, "It's hard to say. The young master's injury was severe, and the memory loss may be only temporary."

"And what if it's not?" the woman's voice cracked as if in her own wave of despair, "What happens then to my baby?"

Baby? I'm this woman's child? Devon was more and more feeling like reality was crumbling around him.

"It is possible that he might suffer partial and permanent memory loss." Calatrix explained, then quickly added, "But it is rare."

There was a long pause as Devon tried to listen in. In the brief few seconds, he started to calculate what was going on with him. It definitely was no dream he was having. Even a dream this realistic didn't have such diverse sensations. In all his personal experiences had his imagination possibly come up with what he had seen. He was in an ornate bedroom, like the ones in some Disneyland castle, but far more lavish.

And the people, or whatever they were--that was something he couldn't have concocted, no matter what kind of mind-altering experience he was having. They were some sort of human-animal hybrids, dressed up like characters in some sort of swords-and-sorcery type setting. It defied belief, but Devon was grounded enough to know that his initial reaction was out of shock. Now he was more aware and realized that he was not having some bizarre dream.

"Will there be any permanent damage to our son?" the Regal bunny-man asked.

Son? Wait a minute! I'm their son!? So the two bunny-people were the parents of this kid he had become?

"If--and I do mean if--there is any permanent memory loss, it should not have any bearing on his ability to regain it over time."

Finally, everything was starting to fall into some bizarre pattern. Devon wasn't dreaming, that part was obvious. He recalled the moment he was in some inky blackness without a physical form and suddenly pulled into this world could only be one thing.

This wasn't his earth anymore.

Somehow, he died in his world, and his soul got transported here in the body of this rabbit-human child.

It wasn't a reincarnation since he would have no doubt had some sort of memory of his new 'parents' and experiences. That and also that he was now fully aware of his past life, along with those memories that was coming back to this world.

There was no known precedent for this kind of other-worldly body snatching incident. Who would be able to come back and report it?

He had been trying to figure out what had happened to him that he did not realize that all three of them were now at his bed side. Devon looked up into the face of his 'mother' and saw her with tears in her eyes.

"Alwyn?" she said, choking slightly, "It's me, darling. You're mother's here."

Devon fought the urge to tell her that she wasn't her real mother, even though it was true.My mother left me and Dad when I was young. She abandoned me. He tried not to let the bitterness of those memories well up. They were from another life, another time, and another person.

Instead Devon looked up at her and could only say, "Mother...?"

Her face was so alien to Devon and yet seeing her sobbing as he spoke out that word made his heart pang with pain.

She doesn't know that the real Alwyn isn't here. I've been put into his body and he's...I don't know where.

He didn't want to dwell on that fact that the real Alwyn was probably dead, and he was some sort of hijacker. While she wasn't really his mother, he had never known a mother's love and didn't have the heart to break her heart by saying she wasn't. Would they even believe him if he told them the truth?

The other rabbit-person--his father?--placed a hand on his 'mother's shoulder.

"We should let him rest. He's still recovering." He said.

"Agreed." Calatrix inserted, "My healing arts will aid in his recovery, but time is the best healer in this."

Alwyn's mother leaned in and kissed Devon on the cheek, and smiled. Devon felt heat burning off of his cheeks...and his ears?

"Sleep my darling. We'll see to you this evening." She promised.

As the three of them filed out of the room, Devon leaned back and spoke a silent prayer into the air.

_Wherever you are, Alwyn, I promise you. I'll never tell them who I am. To them, I'll make the most of this second chance and be a good son to them._He owed it that much for the real Alwyn.

To Devon, this was a second chance at life--a new beginning. Whatever the reason for his being here it had to have some sort of meaning. He was going to need more information about this world to figure out what he is supposed to do here. Yet despite all that he had only one thing currently on his mind.

He was going to never break that woman's heart ever.

---

Two days passed and Devon was feeling well enough to sit up in the luxurious bed. He was still dressed in the over sized night shirt and his head was bandaged up where he had suffered the severe injury on his head. He regained enough clarity to determine that Alwyn suffered a concussion--thus why his vision and senses were disoriented when he awoke here. He checked over his limbs and didn't feel any other pain so he was grateful for not breaking any bones other than this kid's skull.

The feline maid, who he learned later was named Lenni, had come in during his recovery time to provide soup and later to change the sheets on his bed. She was surprisingly cute for a cat-girl. She was not like the neko cat-girls he had seen in Japanese anime in his previous world, but was like a human girl with a cat-like head on it. It didn't seem to stop him from wanting to reach out and stroke her tail when it swished about through a hole in the back of her skirt--It looked so soft.

After finally being able to sit up, Calatrix came to visit him. It turned out that he was not only the house physician but a mage as well.

Holy shit, there's actual magic here! The thought excited Devon to no end. He had read all of the great fantasy novels along with textbooks and manuals in his previous life, and thankfully he retained the memory of each one with his near photographic memory. While this world didn't have elves or dwarves, the world reminded him of the novel of Redwall, though they didn't have magic in those stories. He had written many thesis and studies on the mechanics of magic, but to see it in action...

Calatrix questioned Devon as best as he could to determine the extent of his memory loss. Devon concluded that letting anyone know that he wasn't the real Alwyn would not be wise at this current time. The idea of a middle age human hijacking the mind of a ten year old bunny like child might provoke some concern, which might include pitchforks and torches. He was honest about not having any memories about this world since he wasn't really from this world; however, he did know the sky was blue, how to add one and one together, and some common knowledge questions.

The old mage declared to his new parents that he had suffered significant memory loss, but determined that his mind was still sound and there was a chance that in time his memories would return. Naturally he wouldn't be able to recall any of the past ten years, but hopefully he might pick up enough information to ad-lib it and use his past amnesia as an excuse for any gaps.

With all that settled, Devon finally was able to settle in and start assessing himself and this current environment. He would stare at his face in the full length mirror next to his bed, looking at his paw like hands, which were human-like, but with three fingers and a thumb rather than four. They were all tipped with blunt claw like tips that appeared to be manicured to keep them round and clean. He even had rough paw pads like an actual animal paw, though the hand was more humanoid in functionality.

He then stared at his face, looking at one side and the next. As humanoid rabbits go, he thought of his appearance as cute. He even went to stroke his long ears, noticing how his hearing changed when he moved. It also surprised him at how his ears instinctively swiveled when trying to focus on certain sounds. He knew some humans could wiggle their ears, but this was on a whole new level. Muscle memory must have been something he retained from Alwyn or perhaps some instinctual mechanic.

He even had a tail! He looked at it from the side and saw it was white, fluffy and twitched as if on command. For quadruped animals, tails were a common appendage that most humans thought was for communication and/or balance. He would have to practice that sometime to see if that was true in this case.

"Son?"

Devon whirled to see Duke Elrik--Alwyn's father--appear at the door.

"I see you're up and about." Elrik said warmly, "How do you feel?"

"I'm feeling much better..."Devon replied, then remembering added, "..father..."

The Duke smiled as he came up to Devon, carefully placing a hand on his head and avoiding the still tender welt.

"You gave everyone in the castle quite a scare, son. We warned you time and again to avoid climbing those trees."

Devon tried to look submissive, lowering his ears as he replied, "I think I've learned my lesson there, sir. I won't do it again."

The Duke knelt in front of Devon and lifted his chin to look into his eyes. "I think you did, my boy. Just don't try anything so reckless again. You're mother might not be able to handle any more excitement."

Even Devon could read the face of the middle age bunny. You mean don't make ME handle that much excitement. Devon gave his father a knowing smile. "Yes, sir. I'll try not to scare mother."

The duke laughed and slapped Devon on his diminutive shoulder, "Good lad! Good! In time, I hope your memories will return and we can put all of this behind us."

Devon watched as the duke stood up and moved to the ornate balcony window. Opening the glass doors the room was caught in a sweeping breeze of flowers and warm spring sun. Father and son both stepped out into the balcony.

It was the first time that Devon had a chance to see outside and the vista before him caught his breath. It wasn't the fact that the sky was the most brilliant cobalt blue he had ever seen, nor was it the distant mountains cloaked in white snow. The rolling hills in the outskirts of the castle were endless greenery, untouched by mortal hands.

What really caught Devon's eyes was the something in the sky. A curving series of lines arced across the firmament, striations of what he could only assume was rings moving in a defined orbit.

"The Maker's promise is a beautiful sight today." The Duke remarked.

"Is that..." Devon questioned, "...a ring system?"

Elrik looked at Devon questioningly, "What?"

Damn it, Devon cursed himself, I'm letting my old self be seen. Devon had been fascinated by astronomy as a kid and his father even got him a telescope to do star gazing during clear days. It was one of the reasons that Devon was such a science geek in school.

"I...mean...It's something that goes all around the world, right?" Devon tried to explain, hoping to avoid using any words a ten year old might not know.

The duke relaxed a bit, "Yes, son. The Maker placed that ring in orbit around Aeurn to remind his creation that he would never forsake us." He stared wistfully at the rings and sighed, "The Maker is always watching his creations."

So the duke was a religious man, Devon surmised. He himself wasn't much of a church goer in his old life, but he at least showed respect for those who adhered to their faith. 'Whatever keeps you going' he would always say. Of course, Devon was a man of logic and science, and though he respected others for believing in a higher power, he wasn't so quick to put his heart to such fantasies.

Of course you think such things, but you also believed in magic, you dolt.

Just then there was an unearthly series of cries--a mix of some sort of eagle and feral cat.

"Ah! Look there, son!" The duke told Devon, pointing into the sky.

There, flying through the air were a flock of creatures the likes of which Devon had never imagined seeing in the flesh. They were majestic looking feline bodies, but had wings and the head like some great bird of prey. They were flying in a V-formation like migrating birds coming back from the south.

"The Griffs are returning." The Duke chimed in, "That means spring is truly come back to Aeurn.

Aeurn...is that the name of this planet? Devon stared wide-eyed as his mind drank in the sights before him. He was on a planet with a ring system like Saturn. A world with magic and magical creatures like Gryphons. Were there dragons too?

"Father?" Devon questioned, "Will we see dragons here too?" It was a calculated risk but since he saw Gryphons, why not dragons too?

The duke's face turned to him and wore an expression of stern coldness, "Pray you never see one in your days, my son, lest the Drakkul will return to destroy our homes and families."

The way he had said it made Devon shiver and his ears lower. The old legends of his old world told of how terrible and powerful they were, but were they really so dangerous as he said?

"I'm sorry father...I thought..."

The duke lowered himself on one knee to look at his quasi-son. "I'm sorry to frighten you son." He said, resting a hand on his shoulder, "I keep forgetting that your memories are gone. You must never wish to see a dragon in your lifetime, for many are the traitors of the Maker, and the agents of chaos."

Again, Devon's new father spoke with such dread that it confirmed in his heart that he must never hope to see such a creature. He would file this 'Maker' in his mind to study up on their religion, mostly for his own well being.

---

A week passed and at long last Devon was declared fit to return to his duties as the duke's son. Calatrix of course admonished him for not climbing anymore trees and scaring his parents. Devon was not interested in doing it again, mainly cause he had no idea what would happen if he 'died' a second time. He was not about to waste a second life like this on some juvenile antics now.

Lenni helped Devon dress, which he himself tried not to get embarrassed about--obviously, this was a normal custom as a son of royalty. He put on a white dress shirt with golden embroidery on the collar and cuffs, with a powder blue doublet. He wore rough fabric pants similar to denim jeans in his old life; but they were likewise embroidered in gold around the pockets and cuffs. Apparently there was little need for footwear, cause his rabbit-like feet were left unshod. He noticed that all the servants around him were also not wearing shoes or boots. The duke Elrik however wore thigh high boots that had the toes cut out to allow freedom of movement. The Duchess, Mirelda (his new mother) didn't seem to wear shoes either, not that he could see them under her billowing dress.

Devon had to get used to his new body but it seemed that he not only inherited a youthful young rabbit-boy body, but the muscle memory as well. He realized also that he had also could understand the language of this world, and his mind translated it into English. He knew for a fact that the language wasn't English by the way the mouths moved, but somehow his mind could encapsulate and decode it for him.

Soon young Devon/Alwyn was walking down the halls of his new home, the castle of Thornbriar to which the city was also named. He wanted to see everything, from the highest towers to the kitchens and dining halls that the servants performed their duties. There was a lot of people working in the castle and from different 'races', if Devon could use such a term. There were dogs, cats, rabbits, mouse, and a few horse-men. Many of the horses were guards and soldiers along with a few light infantry among the cats and rabbits. He watched in the back by the servants quarters as a group of merchants and servants, Foxes and even a bear-man were bringing in supplies.

Finally, Devon found the library where Calatrix often was seen in. This is where he found himself wanting to stay for a while, mainly because he wanted to get as much information about this world called Aeurn as he could. He would explain his fascination with reading with the fact that the old mage still didn't want him wandering in town due to his injury (and the fact he was the royal heir) and was trying to re-acclimate himself due to his supposed amnesia.

One thing Devon was thankful for was that while his mind could translate the language in this world, he found he could also read it as well. The letters were runic and completely foreign to his eyes, but after a while, his mind quickly could decode them into something he could understand. Apparently he obtained Mnemonic muscle memory as well--Thanks Alwyn, wherever you are.

The world he was on was called Aeurn, which translated meant "Sacred holding". According to the beliefs of this world, the Maker came into this space which was consumed by the Chaotic Seas of Pandemonia. The Maker fought back against these living seas of Chaos and tried to destroy them, but found he couldn't. Instead he forged an entire planet around the seas to contain Pandemonia from the rest of creation. He then created the dragons to act as celestial guardians of this universe to prevent the chaos from spreading. Later, the Maker would create the Elvenar, who spread upon Aeurn and acted as the first line of defense against the chaos from seeping through the planet's crust.

He also learned that the race of creatures in this world were called the "Beast-kin", based on a legend about Aeurn.

According to the tale, The Elvenar found the beast-kin on Aeurn and taught them to read, write and use magic. Centuries later, the Elvenar mysteriously vanished and the Beast-kin were left to care for Aeurn in their place. While there was one race, there were many 'nationalities' they referred to as tribes. He was of the bun-kin tribe, which seemed ironic to Devon. There were the Catkin, Dog-kin and Horse-kin. All in all there was 13 known tribes of beast-kin: Mice, Cat, dog, rabbit, deer, bear, ferret, skunk, fox, cow, horse, bird, and lizard. Naturally there were varieties even among the tribes, like not all catkin were based on domestic cats like Lenni, but even some powerful ones that resembled tigers and lions. Likewise, Dogs also had domestic breeds like the St. Bernard that Calatrix looked like to wolves and coyotes. He often wondered then why fox-kin were separate from the dog-kin but he later discovered that the Fox-kin were notorious for being thieves and con-artists, so they were kept separate from their more honorable canine cousins. This was similar for the ferret-kin and their Skunk-kin relatives, for more obvious reasons.

It was learning about the Lizard-kin that made Devon realize the fear in Duke Elrik tone when he asked about dragons. The Dragons grew envious of the Elvenar, who were the maker's second creation and gave them governance of the planet of Aeurn.

This jealousy was partial to one dragon in particular, Malegurn. This dragon was said to be the shield of the Maker, and in the celestial realm, he stood in front of the Maker as he slept and shielded all creation with his massive wings. While the Maker slept for many centuries, all the other dragons and celestial spirits came to sing praise and glory to the Maker in gratitude. Malegurn over this time span started to believe that they were in fact praising him as the creator. Malegurn began to accept their praise until the Maker awoke.

The great Arch-dragon accused the Maker of stealing his power from him, caught in the delusion that Malegurn was the maker and not this usurper. A large portion of the other dragons joined with Maelgurn in this lie and caused an uprising in heaven. The other dragons fought back in defense of the true maker and pushed the rebel dragons out of the celestial realm.

Trapped in the physical realm, Maelgurn and his renegade flight turned to Aeurn and attacked the Elvenar who was the true source of their rebellion. The Maker forbade the loyal dragons to interfere, but some of them could not stand by and watch Maelgurn destroy the Elvenar. These dragons went into the physical realm and fought alongside the Elvenar, against their rebellious kin. Maelgurn and his rebel flight could not fight back against such combined forces and fled into the core of Aeurn, where they were snatched up by the core of Pandemonia and mutated into the Drakkul, the dragons of Chaos.

The Dragons that fought beside the Elvenar remained on Aeurn and retired into the mountains where they would keep a vigil against the Drakkul, knowing they were forbidden now to return to the celestial realm. They were known as the White Flight. It was from this, that Elrik cautioned Devon. Seeing a Dragon, whether he is a righteous protector of chaotic monster was a sign of bad tidings. If the white flight appeared in Aeurn, it meant the Drakkul were also about.

The remaining dragons that remained in the celestial realm kept a holy vigil over the universe, and became the shining stars seen from the heavens.

Naturally, Devon's other-worldly skepticism saw this as a romantic fairy-tale to teach their children to be good and respectable, lets the boogeyman come and eat them. Still, he did see parallels in some of the religions of his original world, mainly in Christian and Middle-eastern religions. He didn't believe in this kind of stuff, but considering the fact that he was once a human professor and now a 10 year old half rabbit, half human child on an alien planet in a dimension of magic, he made sure not to dismiss it entirely.

Something is going on in this world, He considered after closing the book. I'm not so arrogant to think I'm anything special, but something like this can't possibly be some astronomical stroke of cosmic luck. Devon had never been hooked on the opiate of conventional religion, but he never dismissed it outright. He may have the mind of a scientist, but he was also pragmatic. It was clear he wasn't on Earth anymore. Most likely he was in some other dimension where the laws of nature didn't work the same way. He was in a world of magic, dragons and beast-men creatures. He wasn't just reading fantasy anymore, but living one.

No amount of logic could convince him that this was just random luck. Someone was rolling the dice in his life, and there was a reason he was here. He was both elated and terrified in learning what that purpose was, however.