Chapter 1
The day her life changed began like any other day for Lyne. Her alarm clock went off at 7, she got out of bed, and started to get ready for work. Like any other day, her soon to be ex-husband had pestered her as soon as he saw her in the bathroom they still shared. He knew things were complicated between them, since they didn't even sleep in the same room any more, but that didn't stop him from acting like everything was fine. Ignoring problems was his way of dealing with them, and Lyne was having no more of that. One thing was clear as can be between them though: after twelve years of being together, love was gone for good from this house. Since they worked together and had a house together, they still had to share more than they wanted to. For Lyne, this situation couldn't last, and she would be leaving him as soon as the house was sold, but for now, she was surviving as best as she could.
Like any other day, she had dragged herself to the office where they worked, and had started on her daily tasks. At home, her beloved dog, Blacky, a cute Shetland Sheepdog of 7 years, always managed to cheer her up and drag her from her despair. At work it was an entirely different matter, as she had to pretend everything was fine with her workmates, so that her personal life wouldn't affect her job as a secretary. Not that she intended to keep said job when she left for good, but right now the last thing she needed was more drama in her life.
It was a bright sunny day outside, and even though that spring day cheered her up a little, she still felt trapped within that life. "What would I give to start things over and get a new life", she thought, longingly gazing at the birds flying idly outside her window.
She was standing in front of the filing cabinet, putting order in her files. The cabinet was so full that she had to put her wedding ring off when she dealt with this particular task, lest she scratch her hands repeatedly. That was probably why she loved it so much: without this stupid ring, she felt free, for once.
She had her headphones on, as usual, since music helped her a great deal to give her the energy she was usually lacking. Michael Jackson was singing his famous 'Thriller', and she was dancing a little bit -some habit she had gotten into after having lost more than forty pounds: if she could find anything good in her situation, it was this: she had never felt that good in her body. Her long ponytail was swinging in step with the music, and she was almost feeling good. She decided that she would hit the gym after work, that could only be good for her mood, she thought. She felt like having a cup of tea, and was considering which flavour she would chose among the different boxes her drawer contained, when it happened.
First, her vision started to get blurry. Her first thought was that she must have eaten too little that morning, and the fact that the music in her ears had started to fade away did nothing to refute her assumption. But what should have come next never came. She never lost consciousness, never felt her body hit the floor of her little office. Through the buzzing in her ears, she thought she heard someone calling out to her. "Help us, the voice said, lend me your Power and come to our aid". Her surroundings disappeared, and she found herself staring into a void of darkness. She started to fall, but never hit anything. It felt like ages, though it must have been only seconds. Then her feet hit something solid, and her eyesight came back to her.
When she could see again, the scene unravelling in front of her was too much for her brain to deal with.
It was raining heavily, and dark clouds were hovering over the scene below. She was surrounded by trees, but in the clearing stood what looked like a former factory of some sort, completely in ruins. Four young men were lying on the ground, two of them looking unconscious. Though the blonde guy with unkempt hair looked frail enough, the fact that the bull of a man next to him was also knocked out was worth noticing. To her right, a slim man with dark blonde hair and his spectacles slightly askew on his nose was looking at her with turquoise eyes, unmoving, his head on the ground. The man facing her had unruly raven hair and was the only one not lying on the ground yet. Kneeling, he directed his blue haunting gaze directly at her. Although he seemed positively surprised to see Lyne here, he didn't hesitate more than half a heartbeat, and called out to her: "Please, help us…". He was losing consciousness too. His head hit the ground, and Lyne found herself quite alone.
That was at that moment that she noticed the beast that was facing her and the young men. It was the angry roar coming from it that brought her to her senses, and a small part of her mind still found the time to wonder how come it hadn't been the first thing she noticed in that strange place. At first it looked like a feline of some sort, but not your average big cat. That thing must be at least fifteen feet high, and probably thirty feet long, without the spiked tail that is. It had a crest on its back, and two huge horns sprouting from its head. Well, what must have been two huge horns, as the right one was broken nearly at the base. The thing was dark purple, and had an impressive grey mane. Its right eye was dead, but the left one was enough to convey how much that thing loved killing. And right now, that eye was looking right at Lyne. The beast was clawing at the ground with its huge paw, preparing to attack the newcomer.
She could have gone crazy at the sight of this beast getting ready to rip her apart. And certainly, some part of her mind was giggling uncontrollably. But some force had already started to take control of her body, and even though she saw what happened, later on Lyne would be positively sure that it wasn't her who did these things that first time.
She bent over the man with the glasses, taking one of the daggers he was still holding. She heard herself say "I'll borrow this for a sec if you don't mind". Above her, thunder had begun to roll. The thing controlling her body made her stretch her free arm towards the sky, and the hand holding the man's dagger pointed directly at the beast's heart -trapped inside her body, Lyne wondered "is this even where that thing's heart's supposed to be?". Suddenly, lightning stroke her. The bolt went through her outstretched palm, energy filling all the fibers in her body to come out of the dagger and strike the beast. The conscious part of Lyne was overwhelmed with emotions: pure terror, empowerment, exhilaration, exhaustion. She had no idea what was happening, but the thing that controlled her body helped her feel safe, as if it was protecting her. Before she got time to dwell on her feelings however, the beast roared one last time, and as lightning reached its heart under the thickness of its skin, fell to her feet, dead.
Lyne felt the presence inside her recede, and as she gained control over her own body once more, the part of her mind who was petrified with fear started to take over. She was in a completely unknown place, with strangers, had no idea how she'd gotten here, or what had just happened. Remotely, she heard the young men getting to their feet, as the world vanished once again into oblivion. This time she was falling to the ground, and as a pair of strong arms got hold of her before she would hurt herself, she heard a cheerful voice say "Whoohoohoo we're alive! Let's celebrate by eating something dead!"