Chapter Two

Where the hell am I?

What happened?

Looking around, I don't know what to think as my eyes scan the room. It's like a marble building, one you would see in Greece belonging to the gods, one mainly isolated from the outside except for three archways. Where I lay is in the middle of the structure, a white stone bed under me, just a plain rectangle that causes my back to ache.

How the hell did I end up here? As I sit up, right before me on the marble wall is a mirror, one that has a golden frame around the long mirror. I came here through the mirror in my house. I came here. If I am here and alive...my dad must be here and alive.

I get to my feet, the glad to see myself still clothed and in the same pair of sweatpants and old t-shirt. Pushing my fingers through my own hair, a deep sigh leaves my mouth as I look around at the outside. My body is still stiff, my mind wondering off to the question of how long I was laying there, prone to any creature outside these walls.

A circle of trees surrounds me, thick evergreens causing me to wonder what is behind the trees. For sure I am somewhere. For sure some sort of civilization is clue. This whole thing makes me think of Minecraft, how a village will be my first place to go, to get food and a place to sleep. Walking over to one of the archways, I spot something that makes my stomach becomes tied up in knots. A storm is coming. Lightening can be seen. I either need to stay here or go and find some place to take shelter.

Right away I step out of the structure, looking in the opposite location of the storm as the wind picks up. This storm will not be one just to wait for it to pass, this one will be strong. I either head out into the unknown or wait it out. The first choice seems the best.

But who knows what creatures I could find here? What animals of predator and prey lurk around the next corner.

A loud crack of thunder and I'm walking away, straight for the tree line as my heart begins to pump faster. I just need to find somewhere safe tonight, and I hope I'm not placing my hopes too high.

The branches are low as they scrape my arms, the twigs pulling at my hair as my feet sink into the mud. This is not my ideal journey into the unknown. As for the temperature, every second it seems to be growing colder, the storm clouds nearing as I try and outrun it. Maybe I will be able to...but looking ahead, all I can see are trees.

For passing time, my whole concentration is upon dad's journal. I had tucked it under my arm before I am stepping through the mirror, but I awoke without it. Maybe it didn't make it, for that seems like the clear choice because I don't have it.

Another tall hill comes to view, one that I cannot see over. Sighing, I begin my ascend once more, thinking of my mother. As for what is up to, I have no definite idea, but I know she must be screaming over that mirror in agony. "Maybe she will look for me," I mumble, knowing that's a very clear answer. That's all she has done since dad left: look for him. Why only stop with dad? Why not look for your whole family as well? Pretty obvious to me.

"And just to think the next chapter of my life was about to start," I mutter to myself, thinking of college. I was going to go into interior design with a full ride scholarship to my dream school. I did do this to myself, stepping through that mirror because I could not take another second in the hollow walls of that house that has driven my mother to rely on an endless hope that my father will return.

A twig snaps.

My head twists around, the adrenaline kicking in as I can feel my heart beating fast. Maybe an animal? The snapping was loud, too loud to be an animal unless a bear.

"What are you?"

I turn around, giving the woman a raised eyebrow as she inspects me. What am I? I'm human just like her...right. Unless this is some sick and weird alien community out here in the middle of nowhere.

"Who are you?" I ask, looking her over.

She's different, that's a definite issue right there. With golden locks pulled back into a braid she looks normal, not to mention just paler skin, but her eyes.... her eyes are so weird. They're blue, but bright, electric almost, swirling around as if water. Her eye color moves in designs. What the hell is going on here?

"So, the animal speaks."

"Animal?" I hiss, hearing the thunder only become louder. "Listen lady, or whatever you are, where am I?"

The woman cocks her head to the side, a pair of pointed ears displayed. Elf? Not Hobbit for sure. Why am I automatically assuming that she's some creature? For all I know she could be some lost cosplayer (though highly unlikely).

"Iduna," she replies. Iduna? How do you even pronounce that without some strange accent? "You must know, you speak the language."

"Yes, I've been taught English since I was a child," I reply sarcastically, thinking this woman to be mocking me, perhaps just playing a game.

She looks clueless. She looks uncertain of what to do. "Anglishe?"

I roll my eyes. "This is not funny!"

"You're speaking pretty good Idunian right now, creature," she comments. Idunian? It sounds like either some weird ice cream flavor or a Pokémon. Maybe a tech company? "Whatever that Anglishe is that you're speaking, it's clear Idunian."

I shake my head, not understanding. She's telling me I'm speaking some other language right now. "You know what, never mind, I just want to take shelter before the storm," I point out, looking over my shoulder to see the clouds coming closer as lightning strikes. The woman nods, motioning for me to follow her down the hill. I watch her as we walk. She looks human except for the ears...and the strange leather material of her clothes. Burgundy leather pants, a black shirt that looks like armor, and boots that also add to the look, she could be a cosplayer right now. This could all be some weird dream for all I know.

As we pass a small cliff, I only allow my jaw to drop as a small village lays before me. The village is carved into the cliff, homes located in the rock as staircases lead to other levels. There's glass windows, meaning this is not too strange of a world that I've set foot in. There must be some connection between my world and this one...right? Villagers stand outside their gray doors, many of the women dressed just as this one who leads me in, the men wearing dark pants and robes with hoods that cover their shirts. To me this looks like some warrior tribe.

"God, where am I?" I mutter to myself, onto to gain a raised eyebrow my way.

"What race believes in one Devine creator?" She asks, her face puzzled as I shake my head.

"It's an expression," I reply, following the woman onto the main streets of gravel that the village has, some houses and shops built like cabins.

"What race would use their Devine creator's title in such a way that pays them no respect?" She's going to get me stressed out over a small saying soon enough.

The thunder booms, the ground shaking, and my eyes widening. "How bad will the storm be?" I ask as we pass by a small child and her father, the two both looking at me strangely. The children look normal to what a human would be, but their ears, their ears just give me the wrong impression. In books and movies many supernatural creatures appear human until they lash out, could this be the same case? The woman looks to a certain door up on the cliff. "Will it last long?"

"You must be from the more urban areas of the kingdom." What does she mean by that. "Out here the storms are presents from the gods that praise us for our hard work and devotion to them. We do indeed fear the storms, for the gods are to be feared, but they are hope for the land."

I look as a woman opens the door of her home, pulling out a bucket of what must be stone, engravings upon the item. "And many of us collect the water to enchant."

Enchant? Did I run into some cult here? "What for?" I ask, deciding to take this village as a new culture that I'm experiencing rather than something to be afraid of. Hell, I am scared. I'm scared that I don't know where I am or anybody here.

"You really don't know. Where were you raised? By the oceans?" I guess to be raised by the oceans is bad around here, seen as a negative comment to give someone. "We enchant it for the purposes of potions. You do know we sorceresses sell the potions at the end of every two months. We head up to the nearest urban city and sell them there."

My God. Magic. They do spells upon the water and sell them. Magic. They actually practice magic and not some sort of science that is kept hidden.

"I'm sorry, I forgot, I thought you were elves."

The woman stops dead in her tracks, her eyes becoming a darker blue as the thunder roars. Eyes fall upon me as I know I've done something bad. "Those evil creatures may have been part of our ancestry, but we despise that half of us, creature, we are not cold killers and deceivers as they are." Her tone informs me well to never compare her to an elf again. "The treason that they have committed, the betrayal, their suave personas as they believe themselves to be better, have you no knowledge to never compare anyone to an elf?"

So, elves are evil suddenly here. The only elves I can picture are the ones from fantasy books and movies, where elves are seen as porcelain and pristine dolls, how they are sophisticated, and the race known by their beautiful music score. "I'm sorry," I reply, feeling the wind shift as many decide to head indoors. "So, what is in the city? Markets?"

The woman cocks her head to the side. "You ask a lot of questions for someone your age."

I ignore her last comment and look around. All I can see are trees and trees, a small path heading through a patch of them. I'm guessing the nearest city is far away. "Unlike someone who lives by the ocean or those who live in town, we prefer a simpler life without the luxuries."

What does she mean by that? Do they have car? They have glass windows so that must mean something. Right?

"What luxuries?"

"We better head on in," she replies, not answering my question as the drizzle of rain begins.

Walking up a staircase, eyes are still focused upon me. The woman leads me into one of the houses, one that smells like herbs.

The first room is different than what I would expect. With stone walls and wooden flooring, that's not the part that makes me raise an eyebrow, but the plants hanging from the ceiling in bunches as they give off an herbal scent does. Jars lay on wooden tables, filled with different smelling spices or even liquid, little heads on string around the jars. All over are small artifacts that look like they belong in some fortune teller's home.

"Follow me."

And I do, passing under an arch and into a smaller room with a wooden table, candles lighting the room. "So, creature, what are you known as?" The woman grabs from the table an old book, the pages turning brown, and the leather worn.

What do I say? Human? "A werewolf who hasn't shifted?"

Werewolf? Since when did werewolves exist? Then again, if elves and all the things here exist, so can werewolves. I even just did portal travel into another realm, these things should not surprise me at all for I should expect them.

"Because if you are, I'm going to have to ask you to leave, we are not fans of your kind."

"I'm not a... werewolf," I state, the phrase feeling foreign. Never did I ever think I'd be saying something absurd like this. "I'm human."

The book drops, landing on the floor as the room grows painfully silent. She knows of humans.

"Have you met one of us before?" I ask. If she knows what a human is, maybe she's run into one before, maybe she met my father. The woman picks up her book from the floor, her eyes widening as I have no clue what she's going to say.

"I've heard of one, a male. I've also heard of the stories."

"The stories?" I ask, watching as she takes a step away from me. Is she afraid of humans? What's wrong with humans?

"Of the ancient humans, the ones that hunted the supernatural and believed we were demons." The woman sets the book back down on the table, grabbing from under the table something I cannot see. In seconds I'm thrown across the room, my back colliding with the wall as I'm held a foot from the floor by some force.

The woman approaches, holding out a dagger, holding it so that it points to my neck. "Why are you here? A hunter? Your kind is supposed to be world's away, separated by magic." Supposedly I'm the enemy. So, our world was cut off by magic. What is going on?

"What are you talking about?" I ask, my heart thumping in my chest as fear takes over. "I came here to find my father."

I'm released, my knees colliding with the stone floor as I take a gasp of air. She is strong with whatever power that is. "I came here to find my father who spent his life trying to come here. He came about eleven years ago."

The woman raises an eyebrow as she pulls out a chair, taking a seat as I stay on the floor. "How do I know you're not here with others of your kind, to kill."

Getting to my feet, I get the hint she wants a chat. The thunder roars outside, the downpour beginning as the room becomes darker. "Because I want my father back. I want to meet the man that raised me for so few years that I can barely remember."

"I cannot help you find him, no one in this village can. We hold no records nor get any news from the outside world. We like to be isolated from the rest."

The rest? What else is out here? Besides the wolves and whatever this race is, what other races are there to be seen? Should I fear them?

"The rest?"

She doesn't reply, simply getting up and moving to the next room. Following the woman, I'm surprised to see a bedroom, one with a simple oak bed stand, a handwoven blanket upon the matters, and a wooden wardrobe. "The only place you can get your information is the capitol, and you're lucky, tomorrow there is a group leaving. In four days you should arrive there, and I'll make sure that I get you into the archive of the palace."

"The archive?"

"There's a room holding all the events in the past years of strange things that have happened. A fellow villager now works there since marrying a wolf."

So, I'll have to get into the palace of some King and Queen. "Why are you helping me? I don't know if it's because you are just this n-

"I'm helping you because my kind sees humans as a curse. The longer you are here the longer you put yourself at risk of death." My heart literally stops. They could kill me here. "I do not want to watch a young girl like you die brutally, so I'm going to help rid you of our lands quickly. Once at the palace I will leave you with some money." So, she's going to help. "Tomorrow I'll get you dressed like a normal person here and we head out early. If anyone asks, you are a werewolf who has not yet shifted."

Just as another roar of thunder shakes the house and makes me jump, an image flies through my mind. An image of beautiful eyes that seem to hold the universe within them as they stare at me. Whoever owns those eyes, they must be one lucky person.

Just as the woman looks back to me, she holds out her hand.

I take it, not prepared for what happens next as I'm shocked, a wave running through my body as I once again fall into the darkness. But not before those eyes pass through my mind one last time.