The village of Clayton looked even more medieval up close than it had from the hillside. Alan followed Marcus through narrow streets of packed earth, between buildings constructed of rough stone and timber. Villagers stopped their activities to stare at the newcomer, their expressions ranging from curiosity to outright suspicion. Alan noticed that many of them wore simple clothing similar to Marcus's, though with less ornamentation.
What struck him most, however, were the subtle differences that confirmed he was no longer on Earth. The people themselves looked human, but many had unusual eye colors—vibrant purples, deep golds, and even some with irises that seemed to shift color as they moved. Some of the older villagers had faint patterns on their skin that almost appeared to glow from within.
"Keep close," Marcus murmured as they passed a group of men loading barrels onto a cart. "Your appearance marks you as an outsider, and fear makes people unpredictable."
The distant rumbling continued intermittently, and with each thunderous boom, the villagers' anxiety visibly increased. Children were being ushered indoors, and Alan noticed several people gathering possessions as if preparing to flee.
"What exactly is happening?" Alan asked, keeping his voice low. "What's causing those sounds?"
Marcus led him toward a stone building larger than the others, with a slate roof instead of thatch. "The Void Rifts are expanding," he replied grimly. "It happens every few generations, but never this suddenly. The barriers between dimensions grow thin, and creatures from the void attempt to cross over."
Alan processed this information, trying to fit it into a scientific framework. "You're talking about some kind of interdimensional breach? Like what happened to me, but... hostile?"
"Similar in principle, perhaps, but different in nature," Marcus said as they reached the building's heavy wooden door. "Your crossing seems to have been between worlds. The void is... something else. Not a place so much as an absence—a space between realities where different laws apply."
He pushed open the door and gestured for Alan to enter. Inside was a single large room that appeared to be a combination of living quarters and workshop. Bookshelves lined the walls, filled with leather-bound volumes and scrolls. Tables were cluttered with strange instruments, crystals, and containers of powders and liquids. A fire burned in a stone hearth, above which hung bundles of drying herbs that filled the air with unfamiliar scents.
"This is your home?" Alan asked, taking in the eclectic collection of items.
"My temporary residence," Marcus corrected, closing the door behind them and securing it with a heavy wooden bar. "I travel between villages, offering my services where needed. Clayton has been peaceful enough that I've stayed longer than usual." He moved to a window and looked out toward the mountains, his expression troubled. "Perhaps too long."
Alan approached one of the tables, his scientific curiosity overcoming his caution. The instruments were unlike anything he had seen—brass and copper devices with multiple arms and dials, crystals mounted in intricate frames, what appeared to be a telescope but with prisms instead of lenses.
"Please don't touch anything," Marcus said without turning from the window. "Some of those items are quite volatile."
Alan withdrew his hand quickly. "Sorry. Professional habit. I'm trying to understand the technology level here. Some of this looks medieval, but these instruments..." He gestured at the table. "They suggest a more advanced understanding of... whatever your science is."
Marcus turned from the window with a faint smile. "We don't call it science. Magic is both art and discipline here—different traditions have developed different approaches over millennia." He moved to the table and picked up what looked like a compass, though its needle pointed not north but toward the mountains. "What you see here represents my forty years of study across multiple magical disciplines."
He set down the compass and fixed Alan with a penetrating gaze. "Now, Dr. Chen, while we have a moment of relative safety, perhaps you could explain exactly how you came to be in my forest, radiating energy patterns that shouldn't be possible."
Alan took a deep breath, organizing his thoughts. How could he explain quantum physics to someone from a world where magic was real?