It's hard to wrap my mind around it. This morning I was struggling to decide whether to wear my hair up or down, and now I'm traveling through a portal, going past the boundaries of space and time.

"Welcome to 'The Abyss'," Ronan says. The first thing I see is his face, shrouded by the darkness of the night, though close enough that I can see him. He's grinning, prideful of his homeland.

Between the time that we stepped through the portal and the words Ronan spoke, only a second had passed. I blinked and, in one second, I had traveled from one world to the next.

I gape at my surroundings. The moon hangs in the night sky, reminding me of my own world, if not for its bloody hue. The moonlight bathes the rugged terrain, giving it a haunting yet entrancing air.

"It's beautiful," I breathe out. Ronan grins, pleased by my comment.

Occasionally, I see figures whistling through the air, too fast for the naked eye.

I can barely make out mountains kissing the sky, taller and more domineering than any mountains I've ever seen on Earth. Surrounding us is a forest of green, probably home to many dangerous creatures; even the trees seem sinister in appearance. I also notice a difference in air pressure – slightly heavier than my own world, but not enough to make breathing difficult.

This world is similar, but there's more to this place that I have yet to figure out.

This is Ronan's home. And I had lost my home.

"Identify yourself." A single, monotone voice snaps me out of my trance and I dart my eyes around in the dark. I identify the owner of the voice as a middle aged man in a dark robe, heavy armor over his clothes and a sword sheathed by his side. Several other guards dressed similarly line up behind him in rows, as still as a statue.

The portal we've stepped out of is much grander than the one Ronan made at a whim. Although I'm not sure how this world works, those guards seem to control who comes in and out of this world, and they don't seem too thrilled to see us.

Ronan lays a hand on my lower back and urges me closer. He bends his head to whisper, "Stay close to me," brushing his lip on the tip of my ear in the process. I almost jerk back, his breath ticklish against my skin.

"Alright," I whisper into his arm, grateful that the darkness would hide my embarrassment.

Out of thin air, a badge appears next to Ronan and floats towards the middle aged man. Nodding, the man steps out of the way and lets us pass.

Blade against wind. There's something about that grating, high pitched noise that fills you with a sense of crisis. It is with this sense of crisis that I turn around just in time to see a sword piercing the air, heading my direction. My senses dull, leaving me no time to react. I'm paralyzed.

Ronan lifts his hand, the sword stopping a few inches from his palm. "What's the meaning of this?" He says indifferently. From this close distance, I can tell he's secretly irritated.

"Young lady," The middle aged man says, ignoring Ronan. "State your reason for your presence in the human world."

What am I supposed to say? "I...was..."

Ronan glances at me from the corner of his eyes, seemingly trying to send me a message. "Can't you see? I was showing the miss around." He suddenly pulls me towards his chest, wrapping his arms around me. I can hear his heartbeat – slow and steady. Slow, steady, and oddly comforting.

"We're lovers," he says with a smirk, playfully twirling a lock of my hair with his fingers.

L..Lovers?

The man clad in armor shifts uncomfortably and shakes his head. "Young people these days are shameless." He sighs, making up his mind. "Don't do it again, or else I'll report you." The sword, with a mind of its own, returns to the man's sheath.

I heave a sigh of relief and Ronan releases me. The night air seems chillier. "Let's go," he says.

We step into the cover of the forest, the guards disappearing behind us.

***

The trees here are alive. Its branches, decorated with alluring purple leaves, sway with seductive splendor.

My gaze falls on one pitiful inhabitant, a rodent with red fur and vicious looking teeth, who has been enchanted by one of the purple leaved trees and has scurried too close to it.

The branches of the tree continue to sway, like a patient predator waiting for its victim. In one sharp movement, a branch wraps around the rodent until it goes limp. Its roots drag it under the soil.

Carnivorous trees? You can never put your guard down around here.

The landscape is filled with hills and sudden cliffs that plunge you to an unexpected death. Nature is scary enough, not to mention the vicious creatures that call 'the Abyss' their home.

Every step I take makes me paranoid. I end up walking behind Ronan, letting him scope out the area before picking a path to take.

"Scared?" Ronan says with a stupid smirk. God, why is he always smirking?

I purse my lips and answer, "Just surprised."

"If you're scared, just say so," He says, staring up at the trees.

Unable to hide my curiosity, I ask, "What're you looking for?"

"Bandits," he mutters, not paying me anymore attention. I glance up at the trees, suddenly feeling jittery.

Time begins to pass and I notice my steps are becoming heavier against the forest floor. I have no idea where he's taking me and my feet ache.

"Come to think of it," Ronan says thoughtfully, "you understood what the guard was saying, right? That's something a normal human wouldn't be able to do. The only explanation would be that the demonic presence I sensed is manifesting within you."

"Huh? He wasn't speaking English?"

"Of course not," he snorts, "Where do you think you are?"

The guard was speaking fluent English; I'm sure of it. This really is a whole different world I've stepped into. I wonder if the inhabitants of this world act differently too.

Ronan grabs a hold of my wrist, startling me. "What is it?" I ask. He looks mildly irritated. Did I say something wrong?

"I swear to the heavens I have the worst luck," He says under his breath. In one sharp motion, his blade appears by his side. "Reveal yourselves."

Silence. Silence and my heartbeat.

"That's no fun," An eerie voice says from the darkness of the tree tops. The figure makes its appearance. There's something strange about this man. He hangs from a tree branch, arms crossed, with what looks like a bushy tail.

The monkey-like man snickers. "Brothers, join me." Five more men appear from the darkness, overflowing with self-confidence. They too have a bushy tail, with thick fur coating their bulky hands and the length of their back.

My heart thuds against my chest. There's way too many of them. There's no way we can win.

I glance at Ronan, about to suggest making a run for it. His temperament is much different than I imagined. He holds his face forward, a stone cold expression on his face. I blink at him, unable to connect his current image with his previous smugness. It's like they're two different people.

I nudge him gently on the side. "What are we going to do? We're outnumbered." Right when I think he might reveal his true strength, Ronan continues to walk as if nothing has happened. Before I know it, my lifeline is a few feet away. "Wait up!" Whether I like it or not, I'm going to have to rely on him to survive. I follow closely behind him, clinging to his shadow.

"Hey, don't just ignore us!" One of the monkey-men calls after us, "Brother, they're looking down on us."

The bandit boss, his pride wounded, arrogantly speaks, "You dare insult me, when you've entered our territory? Now you must not only hand over your belongings, but your lives as well!"

Ronan stops and I almost make contact with his back. "Your territory, you say? Then please, do demonstrate your top notch skills."

The bandit boss snorts. "I'll make you regret the moment you decided not to run for your life." He tugs on a nearby vine and cuts through the air with a swing. The bandit locks his hands together to form a hammer-like attack and throws his weight towards us.

At moments such as these, when my life is at stake, I always turn to my childhood memories. It's a way of distancing myself from any stress I might be going through.

When you're little, you're taught the basic stop, drop, and roll if there's a fire. But in the case of the strange man about to knock my lights out, I've decided to do the basic stop, drop, and curl up into fetal position procedure.

"Gahhhh!"

"Huh?" I look up from my safety procedure and come face to face with what looks like black static energy. It crackles and fizzes away before my eyes. I can now see clearly that the bandit boss is trembling on the ground, a fearful expression on his face.

"Boss!" The monkey-men cry out and flock to his side. With a tearful expression on their faces, they mourn over their fallen brother.

Meanwhile, Ronan stares me down in with disapproval. Of course, I'm still curled up in the dirt and must look incredibly pathetic. I quickly bolt to my feet and try to make myself look presentable.

"Boss! We will avenge you!" The monkey-men say in unison. They run full-speed ahead and attempt to use the same hammer attack as their boss. Clearly, they're not the brightest people.

Once again the black static shield appears and the monkey-men are sent flying as soon as they make contact with it. This time I can see that the black static energy is protecting Ronan and I at all angles.

"What is this?" I ask.

Ronan doesn't seem as intrigued as I am over the spectacle. I'm sure he feels annoyed having to explain everything to an outsider like me. "My aura," he finally answers, "Anyone considerably weaker than me is unable to approach me. I'm able to release my aura to fend off weak attacks."

I nod in a matter-of-fact way. "Makes sense." How can I tell him that his words have only confused me more? I regret asking in the first place.

Ronan shifts his vision to the horizon. "Enough time has been wasted. At this rate, I'm bound to run into a couple more bandits." He glances back at me. "Not to mention I have baggage."

Why is he looking at me? Am I the baggage?

"There's no helping it. I'll have to use it," he says hesitantly. A sky blue marble appears in his hand and Ronan immediately pops it in his mouth. A breeze picks up and surrounds him while a faint blue glow radiates from his feet. "Hop on."

"What was that?" I'm so fascinated by this change that I can't comprehend what Ronan means.

He narrows his eyes. "My back. Hop on."

It's best not to ask questions. I silently hop onto his back, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"If you fall off, it's not my fault," he says. I tighten my grip around him just as he takes off. My vision becomes a blur of colors and I struggle to keep my hold around Ronan. Cutting through the air at such a speed is a terrifying yet wonderful feeling. The crazy speed had to be due to the blue marble he swallowed earlier – that much I could put together.

The act of being carried by someone is amazing in itself. You have to trust that the person has the ability to do so, and won't drop you.

Trust scares me. Most of all, I'm scared of trusting this man. I'm scared that I'll grow to rely on him too much, as I can already feel myself doing.

I don't know how long I've been clinging to Ronan's back until he says, "You can let go now."

I slowly release my grip. As soon as my feet touch the ground, my knees buckle. "I'm going to puke," I say, hunched over the ground.

"There's no time for puking," Ronan says, "We've arrived. You're looking at the Inferno Empire."

Inferno Empire – where I begin a new chapter of my life. Am I ready?

A/N- Thank you for reading and please vote if you're enjoying the story so far!