Aronin stepped out of the portal from the Dome into the real world accompanied by the last rays of sunlight which beamed through the portal and lit up the dark forest the portal had opened in. He had proved fond of his newly found ability to create portals to and forth the world where the Dome rested in, and spent a lot of time exploring new and strange worlds the Dome linked to. Whether it was the dome, or a power of his own, he did not know, but if he concentrated properly and focused on the Dome, he could create temporary oval portals which linked to other dimensions. However, he could only create portals to other dimensions from the dome, and only portals to the dome from other dimensions, which had led Aronin to think of the ability as a power of the Dome.

But, as Aronin looked around, he found himself lost. The forest did not seem like a common Norwegian forest, which he had aimed for, as it was far too humid and green. In fact, as the rays disappeared when the portal slowly closed, he grew weary of the sounds in the air. There were monkeys, insects and the sound of exotic birds, and the foliage seemed too exotic for a cold northern forest. In fact, it looked like he had entered a rainforest somewhere, probably in Africa judging by the time of his watch.

But this was not a place to be in the middle of the night. In a swift movement, Aronin had pushed away the foliage directly above him and shoot up above the treetops. Wishing he had spent some time studying some basic star navigation principles, he tried to look for something he could recognize. But there was no stars on the sky tonight. A dark shadow hang above him, blocking his view. His instincts instantly told him to escape, but he did not move as he was curious about what this thing was. Something moved, rapidly and homed in for Aronin where he hung in the air. Aronin backed up instantly and flew straight into another thing which had attacked from behind. He only caught a glimpse of blue as he fainted.

--==§§§==--

Aronin woke up with a start and engulfed his hands in plasma as to counterattack that which had attacked him. But there was no attacker, only a mirror, which showed himself, naked? Why am I naked? However, he noticed right away his cloths and got dressed in a hurry, before he properly started to look around. Mirror on one wall, walls on the three others, covered in mushrooms. What kind of sick joke is this? But just as he was about to shatter the mirror with the plasma, a voice sounded through the room.

“Welcome Aronin Orino,” it said, and Aronin noticed how it appeared to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. “Please refrain from destroying that mirror, as that will make your journey far from pleasant. Shattered glass is not a pleasant thing to sleep on.” Aronin didn’t answer and closed his eyes, searching for the source of the voice. But it had stopped speaking, and Aronin opened his eyes again. The mushrooms seemed to glow faintly, almost like they were radioactive or something.

Then the voice appeared again, “You, Aronin, are really lucky. You get to participate in a intergalactic event, the War of the Races! The price is,” the voice paused as Aronin closed his eyes again. “Your life. That is, if you are the surviver.” Aronin opened his eyes again.

“My life? If I survive?”

“The War of the Races is a galactical tournament where you are to fight others from all across the galaxy. You are chosen for your incredible powers. Now, you should rest before we arrive.”

“Arrive where? What’s going on here?!” Aronin shouted angry out, but the voice did not respond anymore. Instead, the air near the walls became filled with a gas, which quickly filled the whole room, and Aronin fell asleep.
--==§§§==---

Aronin woke up a little later, still in the same room. The gas had disappeared and the sound of silence was ringing through his ears as the soft surface of the walls muffled all sound. But to Aronin’s relief, the voice came back not long after he woke up.

“Already awake? Good for you. We will grant you a head start, by releasing onto the battlefield first.”

“Battlefield? Which battlefield?”

“The planet you will be fighting on. But don’t worry. It’s perfectly safe for you to breath there. Too bad I can’t say that about the ground…” the voice said and faded out.

“Wait.. What do you mean?” Aronin shouted to the walls, which suddenly started to glow and wither away, revealing a red sky outside. Lightning filled the sky, and strong winds forced its way into the dissolving room. And before Aronin could react, the floor slithered away from the walls, and fell away, along with Aronin and the mirror. And underneath, as Aronin cleared the cloud layer, a roaring lake of lava greeted him with flames and flying pieces of glowing stone.

The mirror crashed into the liquid stone and melted in seconds, leaving nothing but a small puff of smoke. Aronin looked down at the destructive powers of the magma and looked around for less hostile grounds before flying away with the wind, hoping that whatever awaited there would be better than what he had been presented with.