It was a dead silent night. Not like the peaceful, quiet ones you liked when you where little. No this was a horrid, suspense that weighed down your shoulders like a boulder, crushing every living part of your body. The air reeked of summer mud and humid fog, which draped the forest with its white mist.

I shouldn't be here, she thought.

Nothing had made this night different than the last. The world had just seemed to freeze as if it didn't know what to say. Haley Wright, a somewhat normal teenager, timidly walked through the woods next her house, scouting for a sign of movement. She had been out here the last few nights and the results had always been the same. In the middle of the clearing was a sword and a small, leather pouch.

There's the sword. And the handy- dandy little message attached that makes absolutely no sense.

Haley crinkled her eyebrows in frustration. What did the sword mean? Why was it assigned to her? Who put in the forest? She grasped hold of the weapon that was stuck in the soft ground. It was stunning beautiful, crafted out of what looked like purple tinted iron. At the base of the blade was a amethyst, set in a gold hilt. Tied to the grip, a note hung by a piece of thread. The script was written in neat print.

Dear Haley,

I would like to meet you sometime soon, since you are of great importance being such a special child. I never thought I would've had to call upon you, but times are beginning to take a turn for the worst. I hope that you will turn out better than our last apprentice. Wish you good blessings.

Everyday it was the same paragraph over and over again. The sword came back each night, at the same time, 1:00am. Its not like it was late since Haley stayed up on her tablet most of the night. She rolled her eyes. Her parents didn't really care where she went as long as she came back. Having said this, she was against showing the weapon and note to her mom and dad.

She stared at the message for the hundredth time that week. Who was this person, she thought. Why did they want her so bad? What made her so special?

Haley was a average middle-schooler. She did nothing extraordinarily special that made her better than anyone else her age. She got a good report card in school and read a lot of books. The only thing she did was watch Netflix and play video games. No one had ever said she was the least bit special in any way (except her science teacher who thought she was the best damn shit in the whole school).

Haley looked around. The forest was pretty bare and had no wildlife. Trees surround the clearing in which she stood, and tall grass rose to the black, starry sky. In the distance, she could barely make out her house's light that shined on the lawn.

Ugh. Better go home. I'll figure this out some other-

Bang.

The forest suddenly came to life as if telling her not to leave. Haley turned back and saw a bright blue portal leaning sideways in the clearing.

She carefully tiptoed over to it. The portal lit up the are around it with a soft blue, pulsing light.

What. The. Hell. Is. This.

Haley put her hand through the gateway.

Everything went black.

"I think she will be ok. It was probably the shock that made her faint, my lord."

"Thank you, Lilan. You may leave us."

Haley started to feel her limbs and body again. She had no idea how long she was out or where she was. As she opened her eyes, Haley sat up and took in her surroundings. And what she saw was beyond anything she had ever seen before.

The first thing that stood out was the room itself. The walls were entirely composed of glass that ranged from deep aquamarine to bright orange. A glass chandelier floated close to the ceiling, glowing a spectrum of colors, spinning in lazy circles like a planet. She looked down at the floor. It shone with brightness as if someone had accidentally spilled fairy dust.

This is…amazing.

"Isn't it?"

Haley looked up in surprise. A man lounged in a grand chair next to the bed in which she must have been sleeping. He was wearing armor, which also glowed like the rest of the room. A wide smile crossed the man's face and his friendly blue eyes spoke the same expression. He held a magnificent staff that contained gems off all sorts.

"Hello, my apprentice. I was worried you might not come, that you weren't a believer. My servant wasn't exactly the most reliable…"

"Wh- Who are you? Why am I here? Where is here? Did you send that note?"

The man laughed. He had a deep hardy chuckle that filled the whole bedroom. "Settle down my dear child. I will tell you everything in good time. Would you like something to eat?

"I'm not hungry," Haley mumbled angrily.

The man sighed. "There is no use in lying to me, Haley," he said. "Lilan, you can come back in. Fetch this girl a plate of food."

A servant walked into the door. She was dressed in a simple but beautiful linen gown and her hair was squeezed into a clean bun. She nodded at the man and slipped away.

Haley turned her eyes back to the person next to her bed. "Who are you. How do you know my name?"

"You must understand that I have been watching you for a while now. As for introducing myself, I am one of the Immortals. Many humans know me very well, even though they can't comprehend my world. I am most commonly known by the name of God."

"God? As in praise our holy lord and all that crap?"

"Yes that would be correct."

"Why am I here? Did I win some lifetime lottery?"

God rolled his eyes at her. "No you're here because you won a cruise. So close."

Haley shrugged. "You don't have to be so mean."

"You are here because I am in need of an apprentice. My last one, um didn't turn out how I had planned. You passed all my expectations and were the best child I could find."

"Me? The best child in the whole world that you could find? Geez, I'm not that special. You should've looked harder 'cause this is just sad."

"Oh this was no mistake. You are the best of the best, even if you don't realize it. You believe in anything you want to; unicorns, Norse gods, wizards, dragons, anything. It doesn't matter what anyone said, whether it was all real or not, you still chose to believe in it. That is what makes you unique, different from any other human child."

"Well it isn't like its real thought. I just like to pretend that it is."

God cracked a grin. "But that is where you're wrong. Anything is real if you want it to be. Where is somewhere you have really wanted to go, that you couldn't because you thought it was fictional and fake?"

"There is so many of them. Asgard, Hogwarts, Death City…"

"See? There are so many worlds that are blocked by a wall of doubt and realism that most humans can't get to them. As my apprentice, you could go to any of these places, not matter how fantastical they seem to be."

"Are you serious? How would I even fit in? I would be horrible. I can't even fight or wield a weapon."

"Get up," said God motioning to rise.

Haley uncertainly stood up.

"You have to understand," he said, "that you can do anything you want, as long as you trust yourself and believe in anything. Think of an outfit that you would wear in Araluen."

"Ranger's Apprentice? Like knights and couriers? Ok…"

Haley struggled to picture herself from any character in the book. What would I be? she thought. I am most definitely not a knight. Cooking? No. A courier? I hate dresses and socializing. Scribe? Haha. A ranger… but I'm a girl. It shouldn't matter though, besides the fact that I can't shoot a bow and I don't like coffee. Ranger it is.

She started to think of a ranger's outfit. They had green cloaks and were armed with knives and a wooden bow. Quivers, knockers what else? A sword was no good to her and a scythe was useless in her hands. Maybe her knives could be special. That's it; she could have gold knives.

Before Haley even knew what happened, her new mentor let out a laugh. "A ranger, huh? Nice choice. I absolutely could not see you as a courier; the thought of you in a dress with makeup on is laughable in itself."

She looked down at her clothes. Where there was once shorts and a Bazinga! shirt was now a soft, thin green cloak. A bronze leaf hung from her neck, and a quiver was strapped across her back. Gold knives glinted on her belt, calling her to be thrown. And on the bed next to her was a wooden recurve bow.

"Wow. I am now the most dangerous shit out there. Watch out bitches here come Haley to kick your ass!"

"You should probably receive some training first," smirked God.

"Who would train me? You?"

"Great Heavens no! Me being a ranger! Wouldn't you rather go to Araluen and be taught by a ranger to be one?"

"Really? That would be awesome. When can I go? And if I do what would happen back at home?"

"Don't worry. That's what clones were created for. They act just like you would. They go to school, play with your dog, do chores, and just about anything else in between. And for when you can go? Anytime you want to, my dear, but I need to teach you the basics of realm jumping. It is a lot easier than you think, but it takes practice. After that, yes you can go anywhere you want. This is just the beginning of an amazing adventure. Are you in?"

Haley flashed him a smile. "Sure. When do we start?"