The forest here is a wonderful place. The birds singing, the wind blowing through my hair, the refreshing scent of pine. It's quite relaxing as I snap pictures of birds for my album.

But, one day, as I searched for birds to photograph, I was blinded by a light shining in my eyes. I soon realized the sun was reflecting off something on the ground. It was hidden amongst autumn leaves and shrubbery. I went to pick it up, realizing it was a beautiful green-blue necklace on a silver chain. I took a picture of it, setting my camera down to put the necklace on.

As soon as I put it on, I found that I was somewhere else entirely, in a small hut surrounded by strange people in animal skins. It was a dismal room, walls lined with tree roots and floor covered in soil (assuming there was actual flooring to begin with). To sum it up; if hobbits had bars, this would be exactly what it would look like.

I jumped up and shrieked in surprise. "Where am I?" I asked frantically. "Who are you people?"

Everyone began to murmur amongst themselves, not bothering to answer me. They seemed just as confused as I, but I was too startled to notice.

"Answer me! Where the hell am I?"

"Excuse me, miss." I heard a child's voice speak from behind me with a strong Cockney accent.

I turned to see him standing there wearing animal skins like the rest, rabbit by the looks of it. "What?" I asked impatiently to the small child.

"You're in the Foxen Tribe." He answered as though I knew what that meant.

"I don't know what that is." I grew more and more frustrated.

"It's where we live, miss. My name is Seamus. What's yours?"

I decided to spare him for his vagueness. He was only a kid. "Raven."

"Like a bird?"

I smiled small. "Yes, like a bird. Except I'm human."

He tilted his head to the side in confusion. "What's a human?"

My smile disappeared, replaced by a look of slight concern. "I thought you were a human?"

"No, ma'am. I'm a Foxen."

"Well, what is that?"

"We are all warriors, ma'am. Why don't you know this? Surely you're from nearby."

I scoffed slightly. "Trust me, I doubt I'm from anyplace even close to here."

"Where are you from?"

"Salt Lake City."

He looked confused again. "Never heard of it."

"Of course you haven't. Listen, Seamus, do you have a mom or a dad I can talk to?"

He nodded. "Yes. My mother's at home right now. I'll take you to her."

He led me out of the odd hut, and I noticed all the houses here were made of dirt. Every one of them had walls of compacted soil and roofs of hay. Seamus took me to one nearby and opened the door. "Ma!" He called. "I've brought a visitor!"

It was a quaint little place, the front door leading to the kitchen where a large Irish wolfhound sat, wagging its tail as we walked in.

"Hey, Barkus!" Seamus greeted, scratching him behind the ear.

I scoffed at the name. "Barkus?"

"Yeah. My uncle Jingo named him."

Jingo, Barkus, these names fascinated me to no end. I heard a woman's voice shout from another room, sporting the same accent as Seamus. "Seamus Greene! Where the bloody hell have you been?" She walked in with wiry grey hair and a subtly wrinkled face.

"Ma, I've met an outsider! Her name is Raven!" He nodded toward me.

She looked at me and I nearly cringed at her fiery glare. "Uh... hi. Can you tell me where I am?"

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "Talk about being out of the loop. Where would you be from if not here? The Wolven Tribe? You best not be."

I was even more confused now. "The what?"

"Wolven Tribe. Tell me you've at least heard of Drandor."

I gave her a puzzled look, never having heard of any Drandor. I wasn't sure what that was, but it sounded intriguing.

She sighed again. "Well, at least you're pretty."

"Ma, do you know what a 'human' is?" Seamus asked her.

This piqued her interest. "What did you just say?"

"She called herself a human. Do you know what that is?"

She hesitated for a moment, seeming unsure of what to say. "No. Not at all. Seamus, go on to your room while I take Miss Raven here to see Asriel."

"Can I come with you?" He asked excitedly, seeming to know this Asriel.

"No, this is adult business. Now go on, and take that beast of a dog with you."

He sighed with disappointment. "Alright. Come on, Barkus." He walked to his room, Barkus following happily.

"Who's Asriel?" I asked.

"He just might be the one who knows what's going on."

She led me to a large building, almost official looking. It seemed to be made from dirt as well.

"Asriel's the Tribe leader." Seamus's mother explained. "If anyone knows what's going on here, it'll be him."

She knocked on the door, and after a moment, a man with dark hair answered. "Effie. Hello." He glanced at me. "Who is this?"

"I'm Raven." I answered. "I take it you're Asriel?"

"Yes. I am. Where are you from?"

"That's just it!" Effie exclaimed. "Asriel, she calls herself a... a human."

He seemed surprised to hear this. "But that can't be."

"Why is that so fascinating to everyone?" I asked. "Surely there's other humans somewhere, right?"

"No, in fact." Asriel answered. "They're extinct. Wiped out by Drandor."

"Who's Drandor exactly? I take it he's bad news?"

"Yes. Very. Why don't you come in and I'll explain it to you."

I was rather reluctant, but I walked inside with Effie, sitting at Asriel's couch as he sat in an adjacent chair. This is a nice place, I thought. Much nicer than anywhere else, I was sure.

Asriel began to tell me of Drandor. "Drandor is the leader of the Wolven Tribe. He is a ruthless tyrant, seeking to destroy anything and anyone that gets in his way. And it was over 700 years ago that he killed off the human race."

I was shocked by this. "700 years? How old is this guy?"

"Very old. Tribe leaders can live for centuries. It's all part of orientation. The Foxen leader before me lived to be 1274 when he died, which was quite the feat."

"How old are you?" I asked.

He paused for a moment. "Very old. As I was saying, Drandor killed the human race. And after that, he wiped out all the other Tribes. The Avian Tribe, the Equestrian Tribe, all of them. All that remains is the Wolven Tribe and us. And there's no stopping them."

"There's gotta be some way. Nothing's indestructible. There's always a weakness."

"Not for Drandor. We've lost many soldiers to that beast. And we're quickly running low on options."

I sighed deeply, finding myself more and more perplexed by this whole thing. Because, firstly, where the hell was I? Secondly, what the hell was going on?

"Where did you get that amulet?" Asriel suddenly asked me.

I looked down at my necklace, realizing I still had it on. "Uh, I found it in the woods. Before I... got here." I started to realize the connection I never got before. I looked Asriel in the eye. "Do you know what this is?"

"The Chthonic." He replied simply.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "The what?"

"Forged in the darkest hell, bestowed with inter dimensional powers. It was banished to another world where it wouldn't cause any damage. And you have somehow reactivated it's powers."

"I didn't do anything. Really. I just put it on and I got here. Do you think it can take me back?"

He thought for a moment. "Perhaps."

"So she's from another world?" Effie spoke up.

"I believe so." He replied.

I sighed sharply. "This is crazy."

"Yes." He grinned slightly. "Welcome to the Foxen Tribe."