As I climbed through the portal I stumbled and lost my balance.Before I could hit the ground, however, I rolled over. Firstly, Alvin wouldn't fall on me and secondly, I wouldn't get any more wounds.

The place I was in was not outside. Below me was a Maragoni wooden floor. Somehow I expected someone to be waiting on the other side of the portal, but I was alone in the room. I stood up carefully and looked around. In the middle of the room there was a round table, which was also made of Maragoni wood. In the middle of the wall I saw a large bed with silk pillows and the softest down duvet I had ever seen. There were pictures of people I had never seen on the wall. Before I could look around the room any further, the front door swung open and two people entered. Enter wasn't actually the right word. The two of them stumbled through the door, lost in each other. They didn't seem to notice me and they didn't seem to mind as they tore a vase from the side table that was next to the door. Only when the woman started kissing the man's neck did she seem to see me. The next moment I was thrown against the wall. In addition to my ankle and elbow, my head also hurt. My vision blurred for a moment and when it cleared I had a sword at my throat. I looked into a pair of brown eyes.

"Death." The woman's voice still sounded out of breath but also incredulous. The man turned back to me. This time there was something angry in his eyes, but I also felt the pain that now surrounded him.

The woman who had just been kneeling over the dead body had now stood up and stepped behind the man. She gently placed her hand on his shoulder. The sword moved a little away from my throat, but I still couldn't move because magic chains were now wrapped around my wrists. Only when my hands felt very tight did the man lower the sword and I fell to the ground like a bag. I had no strength left to stay on my feet any longer. And my ankle hurt more and more. I had ignored it and run, but now that I was just lying there I felt the pain. I felt the man grab me and lift me onto a chair. The backrest was soft and I wanted to just close my eyes and fall asleep.

"Who are you?"

The woman's voice woke me from my half-sleep. To make sure I didn't fall asleep, she tied the restraint so tightly that I could feel it cutting into my skin. 

"Mallory."

 I didn't care what they would do with this information, I was too tired to lie or fight back. Let them kill me or torture me. I had lost everything. My home, my family and my friends. What's the point of life if it's just living.

"Where did you come from? Why are you here.

Yes, why was I here. Where was here anyway? I had stumbled through this portal not knowing where I had even gone. And yes, where did I come from? A strange clearing somewhere in the forest was probably not what they wanted to hear.

"I come from Oxenfurth."

It was not a lie. I had been born there. I had spent the last sixteen years of my life there. It was my home. Had been. All that was left of the city were ruins and Ashe. Most of the citizens were dead.

"Oxenfurth is far away. Then how did you get here and what do you want here?"

If I had had any strength left, I would have started yelling in her face. I would have asked her where the hell I was. How was I supposed to say what I wanted here without knowing where I was.

"Through a portal."

The woman didn't really seem satisfied with any of my answers.

"Why is Alvin dead? Why are you here?"

She didn't shout the words, but there was something so threatening in her voice that I wanted to flee through the nearest portal. She wanted the truth? She could have it. Not that I'd lied before.

"Alvin was killed by a lamppost in Oxenfurth during the attack on the city."

A shocked expression appeared on her face and she seemed to be weighing up whether I was lying or not when the man began to speak.

"Oxenfurth was attacked?"

"Yes, I don't know by whom or why. Nilfgaard I suppose, but I don't know."

The woman turned around, pushed open the large front door and stormed off. I could hear her calling a name over and over again in the corridors. Eloveren. She shouted again and again until finally a door slammed open and closed. I looked at the man questioningly but he ignored my askance.

"If that's true, how did you get here?"

"There was a man who said he could take me out of the city to Aretuza. He opened a portal and then me and Alvin were in this forest clearing, but the man was gone. I didn't know what to do and then I opened this portal and well, here I am."

He stared at me as if I had told him he had three heads.

"What did the man look like?"

I would probably never forget that face. Not because of the portal, but because he had broken our family.

"Dark brown hair, blue-green eyes and very pronounced cheekbones..."

Before I could continue, the man reached for a photo on the table next to him. He pointed to the man who was smiling at me and although it was dark and I could only make out very little, I recognized him immediately.

"That's him."

Without saying another word, he also stormed out of the room. But not without first undoing my chains.