The cave air felt thick and cold. Mark's engines roared outside, but the slab held firm. Saint sat against the wall, still shaking. His heart would not slow down.
Sheriff powered down his red eye slightly. "We are stuck here a while, boy. Might as well do this properly. Names mean something in Veyra."
Saint looked up. "I am Saint Dimi. Thirteen years old. I ran from my home in Belgrade, Serbia. My mother, Johanna, hit me every day. She blamed me for my father leaving when I was six. I saw the portal and jumped. That is all I know."
Shed crouched near the vines, his yellow eyes glowing softly. "I am Shed. Fifteen years old, soon sixteen. A humanoid reptile from the Goodwill Reptile Clan. They cast me out because I am weak. I do not fight like the others. I do not kill for sport. I hide and scavenge instead. Most reptiles call me useless. But I have survived this long."
Sheriff gave a low mechanical chuckle. His duster creaked as he leaned back. "Name is Sheriff. Age unknown, but I have walked this dimension for seven thousand to nine thousand years. I used to keep the law here. Now I just survive. My memory glitches a lot. The Director did something to me long ago, wiped pieces. I remember fragments of being in charge once, but mostly I am just a robot with a badge who shoots first."
Saint stared at the robot. "You knew my name before I said it. The Director said he was waiting for a Saint."
Sheriff nodded once. "The Director watches every portal. Mark's crew brings him fresh meat for his labs. But the way he looked at you in that hologram, it was personal. Like he knew you."
Shed hissed quietly. "The Director runs everything. The Zach Clan worships him like a god. They burn villages that hide new arrivals. We stay hidden or we die."
Saint rubbed his swollen eye. "The masked figure in the robe, that red visor line, the deep voice. It felt wrong, but familiar. I do not know why."
Outside, the engines faded slightly, then came back louder. Mark was circling.
Sheriff stood up slowly, his joints whirring. "We cannot stay here forever. Mark will bring more. There is an old ruin two miles east. Floating platforms and hidden tunnels. A good place to rest properly. But we move quietly."
Shed checked his bone knife. "I know the path. Follow me closely. Gravity shifts there. One wrong step and you float away forever."
Saint pushed himself to his feet. His backpack felt lighter now. Everything he owned was gone except the shirt on his back. "I do not belong here, but I am not going back. Not to my mother. Not to that life."
Sheriff placed a heavy metal hand on Saint's shoulder. "Welcome to the team, kid. Three outcasts against a whole dimension. We make our own law now."
Shed led them to the cave mouth. He slid the slab open just enough. Cool night air rushed in with the smell of glowing vines and distant smoke.
They slipped out into the fractured world. Two moons watched from above. Distant towers hummed with neon and danger.
Saint glanced back once at the cave. The hologram words still echoed in his head. There is work to do.
He did not know what the Director wanted, but he knew one thing for sure. The wrong monster had followed him through the portal.
The trio moved quickly through the broken landscape. Behind them, Mark's engines grew faint but never silent.
Veyra was awake now, and it was hungry for them.