Thrallfly: Jonas Foutz

Mark’s cries were swiftly cut off as everything in front of him blurred and stretched together. His mouth kept moving and sound kept coming out, but even from his perspective it seemed as if his voice was somehow absorbed. One instant he felt like he was being stretched, the next compressed. Mark’s breath seemed to leave him in a huge whoosh. He felt an overwhelmingly strong feeling of vertigo, and then his senses returned to normal. He looked around and saw a lake to his side, with the surface sparkling from the sun. In the distance mountains stretched tall, overshadowing land. Wherever he was, it wasn’t California.
After he had looked around for a second he collapsed on the grass and promptly dry-heaved. His trip through whatever that had been left him feeling sick. He dimly heard footsteps behind him. He slowly turned his head around, just in time to see a weighted net be thrown from the hand of a man in simple leather armor. It wrapped around Mark , sending him flying a couple feet. A second man walked up to him making confident strides and carrying a staff. He wore more sophisticated armor with elaborate black markings painted on the red metal. He raised his hand, made a simple gesture, and Mark’s vision went black.
Mark started to stumble around dizzily before being yanked back to his position by chains around his wrists.
“What was that?” he moaned. “Where am I?” he asked realizing he was surrounded by dozens of children about the same age as him all chained to the floor as he was. They wore outfits of all different kinds. One kids clothing consisted of sashes tied together to form a cloak, while another kid wore jeans with logos written all across the legs. “Hey,” he called out to one of the girls “Do you know where we are?”
She had been picking at a thick bracelet on her wrist, and dropped her hands hastily, almost guiltily. “You’re in a wagon.” She said, trying to act casual. “I don’t know where we’re going, or where we are though. That kid tried to explain but I still don’t get it.” she said pointing to one of the boys.
The boy she had pointed out looked up tiredly. “You’re in Endera. The king had his Enthrallists set traps to bring people here from other worlds. If you ended up here, then that means you have the ability to Enthrall. I’m Aaron by the way.”
Mark looked at him with a confused expression, his brow furrowed. “Enthrall?”
“Every year, this universe,” he said making a wide gesture “Dimensional space, area, whatever you want to call it gets flooded with people developing the ability alter the materials around them. The king ‘employs’ them, if you want to call it that, but it’s closer to slavery.” The boy’s tone was bitter, as he talked, as if he had experienced firsthand the cruelty of the monarch of this country. Mark was starting to suspect that the king had an avid fan. The shadows outlining his face made him seem surprisingly grown up. His face grew animated again. But there’s still hope. There are those who oppose him. You could be one of them.”