So here it is, the prologue of my first story here on this great story-sharing site . I hope you enjoy it.

Ashley was deep in the throes of the spell she'd found. In hindsight she should have probably deciphered the full context of the spell she was casting before casting it. But it was a bit too late for that. The ebon-haired sorceress in training was fully locked into the ritual, the words of the spell being drawn forth from her lips by the spell's own power. This was the very reason she'd asked to be tutored in magic by her mother. To feel the energy of the universe pulse through her very being. It was a euphoric high that made the rigorous study and intensive ( and often painful) rituals worth the effort.

She was truly heart broken that she couldn't share this feeling with her friends.

Line Break

"Morning Mrs. Kernick." Alex said as he waltzed through the kitchen door. Marion Kernick, Ashley's mother, was hardly surprised. Alex had a habit of walking in when least expected. He was followed by Eric and Rachel. These three formed the center of Ashley's friends.

Alex was the most athletic of the trio. He was an offense player in the local Lacrosse team, making him extremely tough and accustomed to pain. He had golden blond hair and a handsome face to go with his muscles. This was all offset by his somewhat subpar academic skills.

Eric was faster moving by nature. A parkour enthusiast, he had dark brown hair and mischievous green eyes along with a slim, wiry body. He spent more of his time in the forest than anywhere else. So he had a better understanding of nature than the others.

Rachel was probably the calmest one out of the bunch. Her parent's were both martial artists and buddhists, so she often acted as the voice of reason amongst the group. Keeping the peace when Eric and Alex got into one of their spats. On occasion, she also showed her competence with her fists when someone got out of line. The results were never pretty. She had long dark hair tied in a tight bun behind her head and contemplative brown eyes along with a toned figure.

"Morning Alex, Eric , Rachel." Marion said calmly as she sipped her coffee. Getting a "Sup." and a "Good Morning." from Eric and Rachel in response.

"Is Ashley up yet?" Alex asked.

"Yes, although she hasn't left her room yet. Feel free to go up and wake her." Marion said as she returned to her coffee. Alex and the others walked off towards the stairs. Eric was poking fun at Alex like he always did. Rachel quietly padded off after the two boys, always ready to intervene if they got to roughhousing.

They had no idea what they were in for.

Ashley had reached the final moments of the spell. Coursing energy crackled around her as she all but shouted the final arcane words of the ritual. She was about to hit the last, almost orgasmic high of the ritual when the door to her room was flung open by Alex. Who was barreling into her room in an attempt to help. He was closely followed by Eric and Rachel. They had all heard her screaming, they just had no idea the unintelligible screaming she had been doing had actually been the last words of a major spell.

They had walked into the most critical part of the spell. For you see, the spell she hadn't translated fully was a planar shift spell. More colloquially known as a dimensional jump. The point they had entered the room was when anyone wanting to hitch a ride on the traveling mage's wake would join the spell. Once you step in, you can't step out.

A whirling vortex of energy opened in the ceiling of the room, and all four occupants started to lift off the ground, being drawn in slowly but surely. Ashley, instead of freaking out like Alex and Eric were or trying to grab onto a solid object like Rachel was. Instead, she grabbed her satchel from her bed. Which contained most of her arcane paraphernalia. A few minor pieces were spread around her room but she didn't have time to grab them. With a flash, all four teenagers disappeared into the vortex. Which closed behind them.

Marion dropped her coffee cup and ran upstairs, feeling the flare of a completed ritual in the flow of magic. She was too late though, by the time she had gotten to Ashley's room, the vortex had closed. Instead of wasting time, she immediately searched her daughter's room, Ashley's satchel was missing and it appeared that Ashley had been wearing the robe Marion had enchanted for her. The enchantment's woven into the robe made it tougher than plate armor. But what scared Marion the most was that the remnants of the ritual indicated it was a planar shift. And Ashley hadn't learned anything about Planar shifting, specifically that she needed to learn about the specific energies of her home plane so she could get back.

Marion felt tears begin to stream down her cheeks. There was nothing she could do to help her daughter. As she didn't know which dimension Ashley had gone to. Or if she had even set a destination.

Ashley was on her own.

The castle was old.

Very old.

It was born in the days of Netheril. When humanity's cities and fortresses floated across the skies, and served as a fine guardian of the outer edges of the empire. Until the day the great works of Netheril's magi failed, and it fell from the sky.

Millenia passed and humanity returned, a young lord came to the fallen bastion and built his home atop the ruins. People came to the lands surrounding the new fortress and settled there. A nation forming from the ashes of the past. But it was not to be. Wild orcs savaged the land and slaughtered the people, feasting off the burnt carcass of the lord's land as was their way. The broken fortress remained as a testament to the fallen nation. Until a new ruler came and made it his home. And such was the cycle. Some group came and built a home here. They were destroyed. And the castle once again became a ruin until the next group came along.

The cycle had ended though, no more would settlers depart their safe havens. For the lands the castle once occupied could no longer support good folk. A great desert had formed, burying the ruined buildings until only a lonely stone tower remained. While many rooms of the most recent buildings filled with sand, the lone tower formed the only safe entrance into the extensive complex of ruins beneath the fallen castle.

In the lowest room of the old Netheril bastion, where once a great orb had shown like a sun. A vortex tore itself into existence, depositing four unwitting souls onto the cold stone floor.