Prologue
The month was June. The sun shone pleasantly and a slight, dry breeze ruffled the lush greenery of upstate New York; the air was neither too warm nor too cold, at a happy medium of the two at seventy-five degrees. In short, this was the most beautiful day that the whole of New York had seen in a very long time. It was also the day upon which our heroine began the biggest adventure of her life.
Of course, she was not a heroine yet- that would come with the years. In fact, she was a rather Bilbo Baggins-y sort of character; she was eighteen years and about to ship off to university, but she was a true homebody if ever there was one. She hated adventures, she hated surprises, and she hated straying from her set routine. And most of all, she could not be bothered to make friends of her own age; they were all so hateful and plain and vicious and vulgar. That is, perhaps, the reason why her best friend in the entire world was a pony, a delightful pony who went by the name of Dingo.
Now, since you know all about her habits and preferences, allow me to describe how this girl looked. Aliara was just shy of average height, with dark, thick chestnut hair flowing in waves and curls to her waist. She had an absolutely extraordinary face- all chocolatey-gold almond eyes, high cheekbones, femininely-well-defined jaw, and heart-shaped face. This girl was not the thinnest girl at her school- she was well-aware- but she had something that all of those skinny girls did not: a grace of carriage that was then uncommon amongst American school girls, the beauty of a body reminiscent of Boticelli's Venus, and great presence that made everyone turn their heads- whether she was performing on stage or simply walking into a room. Aliara was only vaguely aware of these facts, and she wore her magnificence carelessly.
After having bored you, my dear reader, with all of these mundane- albeit important- facts, I will begin my story straightaway.
So it was, that on this gorgeous June day, Aliara dressed to go riding, threw all of her gear into her car, and drove off to the barn where she kept her beloved pony. She threw on Dingo's tack and mounted up expertly, and promptly directed the grey pony to the trail that would take them through golden wheat fields and shady copses. The cheerful companions returned in high spirits to the barn, where Aliara quickly groomed Dingo and put the tack away. She brought Dingo to a pasture of the deepest evergreen grass, where she let him go graze. This, this was the part she really loved; she loved sitting in the grass, under the sun, watching her beautiful animal eat. This was her time to reflect on life, to daydream about love, and to imagine the future.
Aliara had just settled down in the grass, sitting in the pasture, leaning back on the white fence, when she footsteps behind her. She didn't pay them any mind; it was probably just one of the stable hands come to bring some of the other horses in from pasture.
But it wasn't. The man who belonged to those footsteps was not a stable hand at all. He was the Gandalf of Aliara's story. He would be the one to push her into adventure- quite literally.
It was only when the man stopped behind her that Aliara suddenly turn around and look up into the oddly inquisitive eyes of a relatively young man whose face was obscured by large spectacles. Aliara jumped up to stand to face him. She took him in with her eyes. He looked like a nerd.
"Hello, sir. Can I help you?" Aliara asked with her usual politeness.
The man looked pensive for a moment, then said, "Yes, I believe you can." He did not look an unkind man, but he looked too interestedly at Aliara for her taste.
A short silence ensued, but was then cut off by the man's question, "Would you possibly assist me in finding someone here?"
"Sure," Aliara responded, eager to be rid of this stranger as soon as possible. She clambered over the fence and stood next to him. "Please follow me, sir. Whoever it is you're looking for will probably be around the barn." She began to walk back to the barn, with the man following her. When they arrived at the door of the big red and white barn, Aliara stopped. "If you would please tell me who it is you're, I'll go find him for you. Or her."
"Actually, I changed my mind, thank you," the man said, looking slightly unsure of himself, and began to turn around. Aliara shrugged and turned to walk back to Dingo's pasture. Suddenly, she found herself pinned to the rocky ground. She kicked, she grunted, she fought, but soon enough, her attacker had her standing in a chokehold.
"I changed my mind again, miss. Sorry." Aliara glanced at the face next to hers out of the corner of her eye. Damn! It was the young man. He abruptly took one arm off of Aliara, probably to dig for something in his pants pocket- she couldn't tell- but as soon as he did, she made a run for it. She unhooked his arm from around her neck faster than she would ever have thought possible and ran in the direction of the barn's office. Her legs stretched into a sprint and she started forming the thought Home free! in her mind when she felt the man running into her back and knocking her down and she screamed. She tasted cement, and blood.
"Don't do that again, okay," the man said as if scolding a child, saying it firmly but gently. This time he sat on her lower back, straddling her, his weight keeping her from moving. Aliara struggled some more and his hand grabbed a fistful of hair on the back of head and smashed her face against the floor. This time the cement seemed to become part of her face. She was stunned. She couldn't breathe. The man went on to fiddle with a little blue box in his hands unconcernedly.
Oh God, the pain. Aliara blinked, still not breathing. God, help! Help me! Oh God, help me! She saw everything, staying awake through the pain. The man sat on her, still playing with his little blue box.
"Ah, there we go. Finally finished." The man got up and stepped off and away from Aliara, placing the little box about five feet from her head. She gasped, breathing again.
Above the box, there suddenly appeared a circle of swirling blue lights mixed in with stars.
"It's beautiful isn't it?" the man asked as he pulled Aliara up roughly by the shoulders. She stared at the swirling vortex of stars uncomprehendingly. Her knees buckled, and the man pulled her up roughly again. Tears began flowing down her face and she silently sobbed.
Suddenly, Aliara heard voices. She knew those voices.
"Yeah, I think I heard something out in the barn," the first one said.
"Go check it out, Miguel," the second one said.
"Fine," Miguel said.
Hope began to form in Aliara's heart. A head popped out of the office door. Miguel's jaw proceeded to nearly unhinge itself. "Guys! Come quick!" he yelled.
"No!" the nerd-man bellowed and shoved Aliara towards the vortex.
Shit! Aliara could hardly resist. But she had her last word. "Miguel!" she yelled through the tears, "Tell my family that I love the-"
And then swirling colors were in her face, and then she was inside it. She felt pressure all around her, pressing her and squeezing air out of her lungs, until finally, everything went black.