For Tommy Engill, only 22 years old, the experience of being able to fly in that way was indescribable.

On April 8, 1952, Tommy accompanied his teacher, Professor Leigh, towards the Land of the Rising Sun. Leigh had spent years searching for information about a lost civilization. Japan would be the next stop on their elaborate route. Alphonse Leigh, head of the paleontology department at the University of Wolverhampton, possessed what appeared to be texts in yet-to-be-discovered languages, fragments of objects made from unknown materials... dozens of questions and no answers. However, something told Tommy that this trip would be special, perhaps a hunch, the feeling of being in the right place at the right time.

The problem was precisely the place and the moment when the next events written in the destiny of young Engill would occur.

A gust crossed the clouds. Tommy, who was engrossed in reading some documents, looked up. Nothing could be seen through the window. The clouds covered everything. It was night and he could barely make out the end of the airplane's wing. "Maybe it was the reflection of some distant lightning," Tommy thought.
Suddenly, the impact... the gigantic jaws of that creature colliding with the fuselage. The right wing split in half. Total chaos inside the plane... the screams, Professor Leigh stunned by the impact...

Tommy was glued to the window. Outside, at 40,000 feet and nearly 500 miles per hour, a huge winged snake was facing a creature that was half man, half bird. The plane began to descend sharply. Tommy clung to whatever he could. About twenty suitcases bounced from one side to the other. The huge machine began to spin uncontrollably and then it happened: the massive De Havilland Comet broke in two.

Tommy, who had his seatbelt fastened, was trapped in his seat. He tried to grasp Alphonse Leigh's arm to prevent him from meeting the same fate as the suitcases and another half dozen people who were flying aimlessly towards the void. Tommy gradually lost his vision, but he was still able to watch the two creatures that remained aloft, battling, oblivious to the disaster they had just caused.
His head was about to explode. The pressure was extreme and the intensity of the ringing he felt inside increased. Tommy began to scream to try to drown it out... but he couldn't hear himself. In fact, he didn't hear anything, except that unpleasant whistling. His eyes were about to burst and the pain he felt, added to that caused by his burst eardrums, was atrocious. Without strength, he let go of the professor and saw how he disappeared into the darkness of the cloudy night.

Everything was a whirlwind of silent images and in his fall, Tommy's mind filled with the following words: This is the end... the goal for our journey...

However, the voice he perceived so clearly in his mind was not alone. Another voice invaded the being of Tommy Engill, that of the man who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and started floating in front of him. An older man, with pointed ears, a prominent nose, and honey-colored hair who whispered in his ear: All problems are already solved, this is the end...but at the same time, it is the beginning. I am D'on Hortale, brother of the elves, father of the Akatay.

Far, far away from there, in terms of time and space.

The light was blinding. It irradiated everything uncontrollably. The Infinite Gates had opened.

Everything trembled beneath Lilly's feet. The floating island she was on wouldn't stop shaking. It seemed about to explode. The girl looked around. Beside her, on the ground, lay two defeated beings. One of them, apparently unconscious, was a battered, cracked humanoid mass of metal. The other was a young boy. He wore only an old chainmail, torn in battle. The parts of his body that were visible were all covered with strange inscriptions, tattoos, and scars. His hair was long and black, totally black like the darkest night. His eyes, fixed on Lilly's, were of a captivating light green, the most intense the girl had ever seen. His lips parted to say something.

– M... move away...

The young man's words were muffled by a deafening roar. The entire island of Edden roared with force. Beneath it, a city had just disappeared.

– Move away! - the young man stood up. He ran to Lilly and pushed her away from the gates, positioning himself between them and her. - Morke has triggered this... my fate is to pay for it. Yours? To take care of these gates.
– You will perish! -without knowing how, Lilly began to speak, but she was not the owner of her words.- There is no way to stop the process.
– Not from here, I know.
– You can't go in... you will cease to exist.
– I know the abysses of Edden. I have been to the other side. I have navigated the currents of space and time. I have returned to you... and I will do it again. One way or another, we will meet again.

– Aniol! -Lilly shouted desperately-.

It was too late, the island roared again. The young man closed his green eyes, spread dark gray massive wings that emerged from somewhere on his back, and let himself fall into the gates. Lilly saw him slowly disappear into the void.

– No... you won't go alone.

The girl took a step forward and jumped after the boy. The light, pure, white, warm... enveloped her completely.

Lilly woke up instantly. The wind banged the shutters and displaced some of the tiles of Ross Manor. The girl's bedroom was completely dark. It must have been early in the morning. The door to the room cracked open and a familiar face peeked in.

– What are you doing awake, daughter? It's very early.

The door opened fully and revealed the figure of a young, beautiful woman with a child in her arms. It was Agatha Ross, Lilly's mother. A few years ago, she and her husband, Gabriel, had settled in that small Canadian town, Little Norburk on Prince Edward Island. While most of its inhabitants wished to flee to larger cities, this English couple found there a long-sought peace.

Together, they raised Ross Manor and set up Gabriel's clinic in the mansion, which from that moment became the town doctor.

– I can't sleep – said Lilly-

– Nightmares again? – the girl nodded - It seems that tonight your brother Sean has decided to sympathize with you. No one can sleep –Mrs. Ross said with a smile-Lilly looked at the baby resting in her mother's arms. He tightly hugged a small teddy bear.

– Mom...

– Yes, Lilly? – the little girl jumped out of bed and ran to the door to hug Agatha Ross's waist.

– Where is dad? I would like... I would like to see him.

– Oh darling, I'm sorry, but dad left a few hours ago. He had to go up to the Engills' house for an emergency visit.

– Is Duncan sick?

– Apparently, he also had a bad night. How about this: How about I make some pancakes, we have breakfast and you go up to see him at Thomas and Mona's house?

The red-haired girl smiled.

It had rained for almost a week and water still dripped from the leaves of the trees and accumulated in small puddles. Separated from the cold by a window, Duncan Engill sheltered in his grandparents' cabin. Duncan was a fragile boy and for this reason, Doctor Ross visited him quite often. That night the fever had risen a lot and his grandparents, Thomas and Mona, had been worried and had phoned the doctor. Finally, his body seemed to be relaxing and Duncan took the opportunity to lean back on his bed and resume his favorite hobby: reading. He could spend hours devouring books non-stop. At ten years old, Duncan could have read almost half the books available in the Little Norburk library. His favorite author was Dionisios Blackwood, a British writer specializing in fantasy novels. Duncan loved his stories, set in distant places, with heroes, princesses, terrible monsters...

That morning, Duncan had fully immersed himself in a new story, oblivious to the conversation his grandparents and Doctor Ross were having. Suddenly, something caught the boy's attention. Some steps. Someone was walking up the hill to the Engill house located at the farthest point from the center of Little Norburk. Duncan looked out the window. The long red hair of his friend Lilly gracefully waved as she walked. Her eyes, small and crystal blue, scanned the tree tops looking for a squirrel.

Most of the villagers were tired of that reality. They wanted to go to any other area of the country, away from the meadows, to the big city; Montreal, Toronto, Calgary... However, the Ross family adored Little Norburk: The forest, the peace of the place... and Lilly, despite her young age, was no exception.

Finally, the girl reached the Engill cabin. The elderly couple had spent their life on top of that hill. Lilly often went up to see Duncan. Initially, when her father started treating him. Later, for pleasure, to do homework with her best friend, read together, share fantasies through the forest of Little Norburk, taste the cakes Mona Engill baked...

The little girl knocked on the cabin door. Mona, Duncan's elderly grandmother, with beautiful features and long silver hair, approached to open it.

– Good morning, Mrs. Engill. I was looking for my father. How is Duncan?

– Hello Lilly. Good morning. Come in, don't stay out there catching cold. Your father is talking with Thomas. Duncan is fine, don't worry, it was just a bit of fever, nothing more. I guess I scare easily.

Lilly crossed the door. There was Thomas, Duncan's robust grandfather, tirelessly stoking the fireplace, keeping the flame that generated a pleasant warmth inside the house alive.

– Hello Lilly –Mr. Ross, an attractive middle-aged man hidden behind a well-trimmed beard, addressed his daughter-

– Dad! –the girl hugged him.

– Are you here to see Duncan?

– I... -Lilly paused for a few seconds- Yes.

– Go upstairs little one, Duncan is in his room –said Mr. Engill with his deep voice though worn by time-.

Lilly nodded and ran upstairs. On the second floor, Duncan was waiting for his friend.

– Hello Lilly.

– Duncan...

– You've come early.

– Are you okay?

– Yes, it was just a bit of fever, nothing more. A bad night.

– I haven't slept well either. –Lilly lowered her gaze-.

– Did you dream again? –asked Duncan with a tone that combined assertion and surprise- Come in, sit down.

The children entered Duncan's room and sat on the bed.

– What was it this time?

– The same dream. The same place... the floating island. And below, a strange city, a huge forest... but this time... the city was destroyed.

– Is there something else?

– Someone else Duncan... –Lilly replied nervously- a boy, older than us, with his body covered in marks. He spoke to me. There was a gate too... some kind of door made of light and he... disappeared on the other side.

– A door? Wasn't it more like a portal? A triangular stone structure?

– Yes... with strange inscriptions... Does it... does it sound familiar to you?

Duncan abruptly got up from the bed and headed to one of the shelves in his room from which he pulled out a book: The Chronicles of the Black Moon.

– Lilly... you... You haven't read this book, have you? - Duncan handed her the copy -

– No. Who is it by? What is it about?

Duncan's long bangs and horn-rimmed glasses hid curious green eyes that moved quickly from page to page as Lilly leafed through the book.

– It's by Dionisios Blackwood. And it talks about a very distant world, a fairy-tale world... and a floating island... Edden.