This is the first in a series of short works I'm going to call the "After the Rift" stories. I'll explain more later, but the basic synopsis here is that a significant area of the world was affected by a "rift" or a "tear" in reality. The people who were caught in the rift disappear, meanwhile bizarre creatures from myth appear on the earth. A couple of years later, those caught in the rift begin returning with strange new powers, abilities, and bodies.