A New World

I was still screaming when my eyes opened into... Oblivion. The sight I saw brought a wave of fear so extreme that it actually shook my bones.

I was still huddled tightly with Estella and Luce. They looked just as terrified as I was.

We were floating in the endless void on what appeared to be a piece of wood from the floor of our house. I looked down and a new wave of fear gripped me. The weak wood was barely enough to contain us and just one wrong move could send us falling into what seemed like an eternity of darkness. I was now literally shaking in fear as a heavy sheen of cold sweat broke out all over my body.

In the empty expanse, peculiar objects floated aimlessly—a grand pipe organ, towering rock formations resembling mountains, scattered papers, a gleaming bronze kettle, and countless other nameless wonders.

"Children, we have reached the point of no return," Faolan said. I looked up and saw him staring down at us. He was actually floating.

"There's no way back to Earth. You have two choices: go forward to Lorath," he gestured towards a bright light that rapidly grew into what I imagined a portal to be, "Or remain forever in the hallway between worlds," he concluded.

A hallway, he called this abyss a fucking hallway?

"I want to go home," Luce said, his voice was so shaky. He was visibly shaking in fear, and Estella was quietly sobbing and ears streamed down her face in waves.

"You can't just do this to us and expect us to go with you peacefully," I said to Faolan.

"I do not want to do this either, Donna, but it has to be done, regardless of what you want, I am truly sorry"

"No you're not, you're a selfish prick,' Estella said, sobs muffled her voice. 'if you scold her for language right now, I swear I will murder you, I thought to myself as I stared defiantly at Faolan.

He did not comment on her words, instead he let out a deep sigh.

"How about this?" he started, sounding like a father about to negotiate with his children. "There is a way to return to earth, but it is within Lorath. If you enter Lorath and you hate it there, you will be immediately allowed to return to earth," he concluded.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I don't believe you, what if you betray us?"

"I will not betray you," he said simply. "You can either choose to believe me or not," he added and looked at me as if to say 'you don't have a choice after all'.

After a long moment of contemplating, I finally let out a heavy sigh. I looked at Estella and Luce. Estella gave me a curt nod and Luce was still too terrified to speak.

"You are going to regret this, Faolan," I said and Faolan said nothing as he waited for my answer. He knew there was no way I would choose to die with my family when there was a chance of survival in Lorath.

"We will go with you" I said finally. And Faolan smiled triumphantly.

"Wonderful decision, Maradonna," He said in a mocking voice and I wondered if he was always so petty.

"Now how do we get to the portal? "I asked, growing impatient. I wanted to leave this terrifying void as soon as possible.

"It's quite easy, just walk forward" he said and my eye twitched in annoyance. Was he toying with us right now?

"Are you trying to get us killed? "Estella asked.

"Of course not. There is an invisible staircase right before you. As long as you don't miss your step, it would take you directly to the portal," He explained.

"And if we miss a step? "I asked.

"That means death, the worst kind," he said. "So you must be extremely careful"

I stretched a hand out before me and, true to his words, my hand felt something solid. It was so strange, touching something that the eyes couldn't see, it was messing with my senses. The staircase was also really narrow, only wide enough to contain one person at a step. Faolan was also standing on the staircase.

He dug into his pocket and brought out a glass container that contained a white, powdery substance. He gently released the contents into his hand, exhaling a soft breath that caused tiny white particles to settle on the staircase steps, revealing their presence.

"Now you must hurry, the portal will close up in a few minutes" he announced, my eyes widened. There were at least a hundred steps on that staircase. How would we ever make it?

He climbed down quickly and, in one graceful movement; he threw Luce across his back. Luce, my sixteen-year-old brother, was once the tallest in the family, but after Faolan's transformation, he was not the tallest anymore.

Faolan was quick. It took him only a few moments to place Luce against a platform just beside the portal and rush back down to me and Estella.

"The portal closes once one person passes through," he informed us.

Without warning, he grabbed my arm and in one swift motion he threw me on his shoulder. I gasped in fear as I stared directly down at the endless darkness below us. He threw Estella over his other shoulder, and I wondered just how strong he had gotten.

"I think I can walk on my own" Estella mumbled, and I nearly screamed at her to shut the fuck up, I knew she was pissed off at Faolan but she should at least understand our dire situation, we would never make it to the portal without Faolan's help.

"You humans are far too slow," he stated in response to her as he quickly walked up the steps, two at a time. Soon enough, we had reached the portal. On Faolan's shoulder, I could see the edges of the portal slowly shrinking away. We were running out of time.

"Ready kids? "he asked and without waiting for an answer from us, he fell through the portal, carrying us all with him.

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The soft sunlight against my eyelids woke me up. I jolted to my feet immediately and looked around the place frantically.

"Welcome to Lorath" Faolan announced as he picked himself off the floor and dusted his clothes.

I looked around the place. We were in a forest, that much I knew. The plants and trees looked so familiar, yet so different and alien from what I knew on earth. The trees were at least ten times taller, and bioluminescent markings and flowers were scattered all around them. Some trees had purple and pink-coloured leaves, some had black leaves, others had white leaves. The shrubs were a healthy shade of green with the same glowing flowers scattered generously across them. There was a light misty haze all over the place, and everything was just bigger than normal, making me feel really small, scared, and uncertain.

"the Lycan forest, we are in luck," he said, looking around the place. "it is quite close to the city," he stated.

I knew what a Lycan was. It was a very dangerous animal, and I did not want to be in a forest named after it.

"and where is this city supposed to be? "Estella asked.

Faolan pointed to the distance. "right over there"

I turned to look at where he was pointing at and I gasped in shock when I saw it.

In the distance, tall spires that resembled pikes made of iron and glass rose from the ground. They looked like buildings, but what kind of building looked like that?

Back in the kingdom, the tallest building was the king's palace. I had never been anywhere close to the palace, but I always gawked at it from afar and imagined myself as a princess. It was the most magnificent thing I had ever seen.

But now, as I looked at those spires, I couldn't even begin to imagine what they would look like up close. They looked like they could contain a thousand palaces.

"they don't seem very far away," Estella said. And Faolan chuckled.

"it would take us at least a month to get there on foot" Faolan said, and I gasped. A whole month! That must be an exaggeration.

"that must mean they are very huge," Luce said.

"oh, you have no idea," Faolan said to him with a smile. "now come on, we must start our journey"

"Surely, we must find a horse first," I said, trying to be the reasonable person in the group.

"there are no horses in these forests," Faolan said, humour laced his voice, and I narrowed my eyes at him. "we would be in luck to find some hikers nearby. Maybe they would be nice enough to give us a lift"

"hikers? What are those? "Estella asked. I was also curious.

Before Faolan could answer, I could hear a loud revving sound behind us. It sounded unlike anything I had ever heard before. I turned around and my eyes met... A carriage? But it wasn't a carriage, they made this one of metal, and its tires were not wooden, it had rounder edges than a true carriage and it was a glossy black color.

It was also moving on its own. No horses were dragging it forward, and I wondered what sort of sorcery it could be.

"We are fortunate today," Faolan exclaimed, as the door of the peculiar carriage swung open, revealing a stunning woman with flowing black hair, adorned in a graceful lavender dress.

"Lord Faolan," she called, "how wonderful to see you again"