"We're not actually fighting the monster like trying to punch it in the face," Cassie said. For one it didn't have a face -- or if it did, once it got its face where they could see it, it would be too late anyway. "It's got servants, like those shadowy things that were chasing us.

"Also, you're magic now, remember? You're tougher and stronger and you feel better than you did back home, and you heal really fast? And I bet you noticed you couldn't talk to people when you got here. It couldn't bring you here without making you magic. You'll be able to do something magic now -- I don't know what, it's different for everyone. But there's a guy here who has no more magic than you in his world, and he makes us heal faster now that he's here. And we get more powerful the more people that believe in us."

She took a deep breath. "But if you really don't want to fight, no one's going to make you. We can't send anyone back -- it's one way right now -- but we can set you up in a safe place with people who can see you until we've finished fighting. Then you can go home again -- or maybe even somewhere else instead, so you don't have to just go back and die."