A soft knock at his door interrupted his thoughts. Opening it, he found Marcus, a concerned expression on his face.
"I heard you moving about," the older man said. "Troubled sleep is common for those new to the mountain air."
Alan invited him in with a gesture. "Just thinking. Trying to process everything that's happened."
Marcus nodded understanding. "Few would adapt as well as you have to such circumstances. It speaks to your character."
"Or my scientific curiosity overriding my common sense," Alan replied with a wry smile.
"Perhaps both." Marcus moved to the window, gazing out at the city. "There's something I haven't shared with you—something that may be relevant to your situation."
Alan waited, sensing the seriousness in Marcus's tone.
"Years ago, before my... disagreement with the Academy, I was part of a research group studying interdimensional theory. We discovered references to a cycle—periods when the barriers between realities naturally thin, allowing for potential crossings."
"Like a cosmic alignment?" Alan suggested.
"Similar in concept. According to the ancient texts, these cycles occur approximately every three centuries. The last recorded thinning was just over three hundred years ago."
The implication was clear. "You think my arrival coincides with this cycle? That it wasn't just my experiment, but timing as well?"
"It would explain certain anomalies," Marcus confirmed. "The ease with which you crossed over, the Void entities' unusual activity, the Academy's extreme response... all consistent with a period of interdimensional instability."
Alan processed this new information. "If there's a natural cycle, does that mean there's also a natural... window of opportunity for return?"
Marcus hesitated before answering. "The texts suggest the thinning lasts for approximately one lunar cycle—about twenty-eight days in your reckoning. After that, the barriers strengthen again until the next cycle."
A chill ran through Alan. "How long have I been here?"
"Five days since I found you in the forest. Perhaps six since your arrival."
Less than a week. The realization was sobering. If Marcus's theory was correct, Alan had perhaps three weeks to find a way home before the opportunity closed for centuries.
"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" he asked, trying to keep accusation from his voice.
"Because it's theoretical, based on fragmentary ancient texts," Marcus replied. "And because I wanted you to adjust to this world first, to understand its rules and possibilities before facing such a potential deadline." He met Alan's gaze directly. "Also, I needed to be certain of your intentions."
"My intentions?"
"Whether you truly wished to return home, or if you might consider remaining in Ethera. Your knowledge could be tremendously valuable here—potentially world-changing. Some in your position might be tempted by that possibility."
Alan couldn't deny the thought had briefly crossed his mind. The opportunity to help shape the understanding of an entire world's energy systems was seductive to any scientist.
"I need to go home," he said firmly, as much to himself as to Marcus. "But this information changes our priorities. We need to focus specifically on interdimensional travel mechanics, not just general energy theory."
Marcus nodded. "The Guild library may have relevant texts, but the Academy's collections would be far more comprehensive. Unfortunately, those remain inaccessible to us under the circumstances."
A thought occurred to Alan. "Unless... Lyra has access to those collections. And she's already researching interdimensional events."
"You're suggesting we contact her?" Marcus asked, clearly skeptical. "Despite the risk she might betray us to Darkblade?"
"She warned us in the mountains when she could have simply led the Containment Team to us," Alan pointed out. "And now she's conducting independent research rather than joining Darkblade's search directly. I think she's genuinely interested in understanding what's happening, not just containing it."
Marcus considered this. "It's risky. But you may be right that she represents our best access to the information we need." He sighed. "I'll consider how we might approach her safely. For now, focus on your role as a Guild consultant and what you can learn from their resources."
After Marcus departed, Alan returned to the window, his mind racing with the implications of this new information. A cosmic cycle, a limited window for return, Academy researchers already studying similar phenomena... the pieces were beginning to form a pattern, though its full shape remained elusive.
Outside, the lights of Ironhammer continued to twinkle against the mountain darkness, unaware of the interdimensional drama unfolding within the city's walls. Somewhere out there, Darkblade and his team were searching for him. Lyra was pursuing her own investigation. And beyond the mountains, the Void Rift continued to expand, its entities somehow connected to Alan's presence in this world.
As he finally sought sleep, Alan's dreams were filled with swirling portals, shadowy figures watching from between worlds, and a countdown clock whose ticking grew louder with each passing moment.
In another part of the city, in a small room provided by the Guild for Academy visitors, Lyra Starcrest sat surrounded by ancient texts and scrolls. A particular passage had captured her attention—a description of an event three centuries earlier when a stranger had appeared during a Void incursion, wielding unfamiliar powers that both repelled the entities and ultimately sealed the breach.
The account was fragmentary, the language archaic, but one detail stood out clearly: the stranger had called himself a "scientist" and had spoken of "physics" as the true nature of what Ethera's people called magic.
She made a careful note of the passage, adding it to a growing collection of similar references spanning centuries. A pattern was emerging—one that the Academy, or at least certain powerful members within it, seemed determined to suppress rather than understand.
"What are you hiding, Shadowveil?" she murmured to herself. "And what are you really afraid of?"
The answer, she suspected, might lie with the mysterious outsider now somewhere in Ironhammer—a man who manipulated energy through understanding rather than tradition, and whose arrival had somehow drawn the attention of forces beyond their world.