I heard the most sacred sound of this school day. It was quarter to four and the bell, which with its humming sound announced the end of classes, echoed across the schoolyard. Children were running towards the school buses, screaming to be the first to get on. I walked towards the bicycle shed, where Shana would be waiting for me as she always does. 

She was standing under the big oak tree in front of the school, and she was tapping her foot on the ground impatiently. 

"There you are at last," she reprimanded me. 

I stared absently into space. It wasn't my day. I'd been hit in the head by a football during sports class, which made me a bit groggy. Shana's gaze immediately softened when she sensed that. I glanced up at the sky. Grey clouds were gathering over the busy city where we had grown up together. 

"Let's go quickly," I suggested. "It looks like it's going to storm." 

My friend nodded affirmatively after she too had inspected the sky. We jumped on our bikes and headed out into the street. Five minutes later, I had to turn left, leaving Shana to ride on alone. It started to rain. I cycled on, crossed an intersection, and went on until I reached the next roundabout. I stopped there to take a breather under a weeping willow tree by the side of the road, because it was almost impossible to not collide with anything in this filthy weather.

I could no longer see a single thing ahead of me. My red jacket was clinging uncomfortably to my back. When the downpour finally began to die down ten minutes later, I turned around to get back on my bike and I continued on my way. Behind the weeping willow I saw a long narrow forest trail, the end of which I could not see because of the dense foliage and mist that hung over it. I had never noticed it before. I thought I saw a bright blue light floating in the darkness. I watched in amazement as it danced through the fog bank, like a flame around a log in the fireplace. Every few seconds it changed its color, blue, green, yellow, red, brown, blue, green, yellow, red, brown. Quickly, I cleaned my dampened glasses because I thought I was imagining it. Of course, I have far too much imagination. But when I put my glasses back on, the... the "thing" was still hovering out and about. I looked around and made up my mind as the last thick droplets turned into a pathetic shower of nothingness. I fished my mobile phone out of my pocket and typed a text message to my mother:

'Am at a friend's house. Will come home in an hour :)'.

Almost immediately a reply came in:

'ok. Have fun, don't do anything stupid!!'

I rolled my eyes with a smile. She would never approve of me following a strange flying light instead of doing homework. I looked up, saw it was still there, jumped on my bike and rode down the small road. After two minutes, there was nothing to be seen of the inhabited world.

The trees in this forest stood close together and various berry bushes grew on their roots. The rain had finally stopped and the sun shone through the foliage and warmed my face. I enjoyed it. Suddenly, my bicycle jerked and I felt the front wheel hit a rock and I fell over. I came crashing down on the moss-covered road and groaned. At the most, I had got a few bruises and scratches, nothing to worry about. I stood up and felt a sting in my ankle. Hissing, I looked down and saw a chain hanging from my shoe.

It was emerald green and sparkled in the sunbeams filtering through the leaves. In the centre of the amulet, some kind of symbol was engraved, probably a Celtic one. I pulled my bicycle, which now had a flat tire, out of the brambles and walked on, with the amulet around my neck, towards the light. I came to a clearing, where the light was hanging in the middle above a stone, which reminded me of a menhir from the time of the Vikings. It was a breathtakingly beautiful place and at the bottom of the stone grew flowers in all colours of the rainbow. In the slab, which was taller than I was, were carved many names. I read several ones that did not exist in my country: Aros, Kindle, Bavis, Peclore, Rellian... I suspected they were all boys' names. 

Who were they? Where were they now? Did they in fact exist, or was it just a bunch of kids who had made up names during one of their frolics? Some were scratched out, and when I rubbed them, I noticed that the marks that hid the names were carved into the stone later than the original letters. When I touched the stone, the coloured flame suddenly flashed to bright green, startling me from my thoughts. In my contemplation, I didn't even notice the deserted house built in the shadow of the forest. That is, until I walked around the rock where I found more names chiselled out in the back. 

I looked curiously at the dilapidated house. It had a grey facade with a dark green door, on which was a symbol, the same one as the necklace I found on the sandy path just now. The symbol lit up as brightly as the hovering light above the stone. I hesitated for a moment. Should I go in? What if someone still lived there? 

I tentatively grasped the gold-leafed door handle and my doubts immediately vanished when I saw a thick layer of dust gathered on the door. In response to the contact, the locket lit up bright green. This looked like...magic? Was that the right word? I pushed the round door open, swallowing my fears and taking a deep breath. The hinges squeaked like crazy. My mouth dropped open in surprise. Inside, the house was much bigger than the size it should have been, looking at it from the outside. 

I entered and the door fell shut, and the room was illuminated by light falling in through the large round windows.

The first room, apparently the living room, was shaped like a hexagon. The wooden floor was covered with a round, deep green carpet, with more Celtic symbols. There was a fireplace with two sofas, once again green, and murals were painted on the reef-high walls. I saw a hill with the biggest tree I had ever seen. In the branches and among the foliage were strings of bright lights that merrily illuminated the room. The word 'Eastborne' was written on it in golden letters. Below the tree was a group of small cottages, presumably a town or village, and behind the tree a bright sun was painted.

In front of the houses, I could make out small figures with raised spears and swords, and above the group, reptilian creatures were hovering. I came to the grim conclusion that they were dragons. But they were not attacking the tiny figures. Rather, it seemed that they were on their side. 

They spat fire at the inhuman beast depicted at the other end of the wall, where the flower-covered green hillside gave way to a mix of churned up earth and charred soil. 

Most of the vegetation had been burnt down, and the remains of trees were blackened. The sky was the colour of night and thousands of stars shone in the sky. Smoke swirled up from the dead part of the hill. A giant dragon, with the other dragons looking like fruit flies, cast a shadow over the village. It was twice as big as the tree and about as long as a football pitch. 

The sight was striking. The beast had razor-sharp black and silver scales and gleaming eyes that seemed to be made of pure gold. The demonic creature vomited bright purple flames and was about to destroy the tree and the village. Beneath the dragon, the same type of golden letters read 'Sherdol, Bringer of Death'. 

I felt a chill go down my spine. There was no doubt that that beast had left many victims in Eastborne, wherever that may be. I laughed out loud. 

"Nena girl, you are an idiot." 

There was no such thing as dragons. 

"Yes, and no ancient Menhirs either, with wisps of light hovering above them," said a little voice in my head. For the umpteenth time that day, I felt some doubts coming up.

Before turning around to face the next wall, I looked at my watch. Amazingly, only a quarter of an hour had passed, as if time in this house was passing like syrup.

"like magiiiicccc..." the little voice whispered in conspiracy in my head. I gave an irritated knock on my temple so I could think straight again. Then, I turned to face the other walls. 

On one side, near the fireplace, stood a bookshelf, crammed with old leather-bound books. On the shelf above the fireplace stood a framed picture. 

I carefully picked up the frame and blew the dust off the half-broken glass. It was a selfie of two boys. One had bright green eyes and messy dirty blonde hair. He looked at the camera in a puzzled manner, as if he had never taken a picture before. He wore an amulet around his neck. When I looked closer, I saw that it was the same as the pendant I found outside! The other boy, who clearly took the picture, looked quite peculiar. His hair was completely white and his eyes were a strange shade of purple. I placed the photo in my backpack to examine it further at home. I also sent another text to my mother to let her know that I would be coming home later than planned. Fortunately, she didn't mind and she didn't get suspicious. I was glad that I could continue to investigate this mystery without being disturbed by texts. On the other side of the fireplace was an empty doorway leading into the next room. Next to the huge mural I had first examined stood some sort of altar, and a dragon was painted on the wall behind it: I felt that this creature had to be centuries old.

The dragon radiated authority and wisdom: its blind eyes stared into the distance and its pale green scales shone like thousands of precious stones. On the altar, an open book with prayers written all over it was placed, the pages reeking of mould. I read both pleadings and requests for forgiveness, and in each prayer, a certain Brutheo was addressed.

I assumed that Brutheo was the green dragon on the mural. 

This room had been completely searched. I walked on to the next room. I found nothing special there. I discovered a kitchen, a small library, where I also found a cupboard full of strange creatures and potions, and other rooms that you would find in a normal home. 

Home? 

Just call it a fantasy castle.

 I walked back to the first room I had arrived in, feeling rather disappointed. There were no more strange chambers to explore. 

Could there be something about this strange world in those ancient books? 

It was worth a try. 

I looked in my bag, and found more than enough room for the books I found interesting. I walked up to the bookcase and fiddled with a turquoise book with a dragon on the side, and put it in my bag. Three books later, I already felt like a turtle. A leather-bound book with the ancient symbol of the door and the amulet on the side caught my attention, and I grabbed it excitingly, but it didn't budge.

A mechanical clan resonated. 

Before I was aware of it, I was standing on the other side of the wall where I had just been. Everything was pitch black, and my hand was still wrapped around the book. 

I fished my mobile phone out of my pocket and switched on the pocket light. I saw cupboards full of glass orbs, all covered with a layer of dust. 

The secret room was cloaked in a ghostly light thanks to the light from my flash lamp, but at least I could inspect the spheres better like this. 

I saw all kinds of different worlds and situations in the crystal balls: a girl fighting a giant made of stone, knights bowing to kings, unicorns fighting a battle-scarred centaur... it was fascinating and disturbing at the same time. 

I turned away from the first closet. In the middle of the room, I saw a stone outcrop with a purple cloth draped over it. I coughed when I pulled it off: the dust swirled around the room. The top of the stone was polished smooth and made of marble. On the cushion rested a ball, like the others in the cupboard. I found the scene I was looking for: The tree and the giant dragon. I picked up the ball carefully; it was cold and heavy. 

I took a step back as I admired the ball, and tripped over my bag. The orb shattered into splinters on the dirty stone floor as I fell to my knees, cussing, and a sharp ringing filled my ears.

Then, everything went black.