They came. One hundred, all told. Young and old, rich and poor, though more younger than older, as that was the way chance worked, and more poorer than richer, as that was the way the world worked.

  It certainly wasn’t a legion’s worth, but Tayandarix would discover his spell hadn’t worked as he’d thought in more ways than one, given time.

  They appeared in unfamiliar places across the continents of this strange world. Whether by chance or fate or a strange quirk of miscast magic, they didn’t all materialise at the same time, though less than a week separated their arrivals.

  Marie found herself in a city of the dead, barren and hungry, monstrous forms of unimaginable terror lurking just out of sight.

  Others were not so lucky.

  —

  One new arrival found herself in the middle of a wide, deep harbour just before dawn. She couldn’t swim.

  A couple from Wisconsin appeared in the midst of a battlefield. They died in each others’ arms, trampled by a cavalry charge that couldn’t stop in time.

  Six students on their way home from school were suddenly in a shrouded forest, surrounded by mist and towering tree trunks, and other things that chittered in the dark.

  One young man knocked on the wrong door.

  Almost a third of those summoned to this new world did not live past their first hour. It was a dangerous place, full of war and strife, pitfalls and traps, death and disease. Monsters of every kind.

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  In some regards, it was not dissimilar to the world they had come from.

  But if their paths were fraught with danger…

  … there was also hope.

  A man running along a trail found himself on a mountainside, pained howls echoing in the distance and, rather than taking the path of safety, for once, decided to step in.

  Five work colleagues on their way to a breakfast buffet at their conference hotel stepped out of a lift and into the middle of a land that was in dire need of change.

  A budding engineer from India paused from tending to her garden and looked round, wondering why the soil had changed and it was suddenly night, and checked to see if her medication could cause hallucinations. She couldn’t have known it, but the people she found would soon need her more than she needed them.

  One, perhaps the oldest of them, stepped into a chamber in the midst of a heated debate. His appearance startled them to silence, and in the days and questions that followed they found an answer to what they’d been seeking.

  And another, perhaps the youngest of the lot, appeared in a city under siege, almost precisely where her aid had unintentionally been sought. She didn’t look like a [Hero], but she brought a chance for salvation.

  To the unaware, the whole process was unfair, or at best impartial, but in other ways, something worked to ensure the scale was balanced, if only just a little given the disadvantages they’d otherwise face…

  No matter where they appeared, each one of the hundred heard The Voice. It said the same thing to each of them in the first seconds of their existence in this new world. And though few would remember it as the shock of the transition faded, those that lived long enough would benefit from its boon, and those that made something of their new life would hear The Voice again when they lay down to sleep…or passed out from exhaustion...

  Of course, with so many chosen at random, and with such different welcomes to the new world, not all would end up utilising the opportunity in a predictable manner…

  A man opened his eyes in the middle of a desert and laughed, thinking it a dream.

  Hysterical, a woman screamed for her children, lurching from strange house to strange house, demanding their return.

  One young professional found trouble, and in finding it, only started his slow descent into madness.

  —

  As midnight of her fourth day in the new world passed, Marie left the city of nightmares behind her, rucksack with everything she could carry on her back, trusty spade in one hand, bulky chest of uncertain origin and contents slung under an arm, and skeletal hound by her side.

  For many of the others, their journey was just about to begin.

  Hi all! Welcome to my book, Miscast Heroes.

  I'm uploading a few chapters to start with and then will upload one a day after.

  The full first book is available on Patreon - and I greatly appreciate anyone who chooses to support me there.

  Hope you enjoy it - please leave comments below!