Chapter 64: David And Goliath
After the rift between the two worlds opened decades ago, the boundaries that once separated Earth from its parallel counterpart had blurred, at first temporarily, but now, almost irreversibly.
Not only had people gained access to new resources and strange abilities, but entire ecosystems had begun to seep through, as if the world on the other side had decided to migrate, piece by piece, into this one.
At first, it was chaos. Skies that once saw nothing but birds and clouds now had streaks of crimson winged serpents and glowing feathered reptiles gliding over mountaintops.
Forests became alive with sounds no biologist could recognize.
But as time passed, and as the world adapted, regulations and response units came into place.
The most dangerous creatures, those that breathed acid, warped reality, or hunted in organized packs, were swiftly exterminated or banished back through controlled rifts by specialized military divisions. But not all creatures were threats.
Some were simply strange. Unfamiliar. Exotic. And harmless.
So they stayed.
They integrated.
They bred.
Some of them, like the massive bird circling overhead now, had found new homes in this world, perched on mountain ledges, building nests in deep forest canopies, and occasionally swooping over man-made lakes like the one the in the estate.
With no real reason, or perhaps no ability, to return, they had become part of Earth’s modern natural order. There were whole documentaries about them now. Nature preserves. Even dishes inspired by their meat in underground culinary circles.