'Walking through the gardens at this time of day is such a peaceful experience' I thought to myself as I walked through the long lush grass, the golden sun setting in vivid tones or red, pink and orange with hints of purple and blue. The light and colours reflecting off the surface of the Lake of Eternity, the banks of which I am now sat upon.
It is not often I get the chance to see this part of the kingdom, and especially not at this time of day. Right now, my family and I would usually be in the great hall, consuming our evening meal and conversing about our activities from the day. However, since it is set rule that the family shall not gather without the head of said family, and my father sometimes unable to enter the dining hall, the family meals have become few and far between, instead we just request meals from the kitchen staff as we desire them and eat them in our private chambers.
"I should probably begin my walk back to the palace," I whispered to myself, "It will be night not long from now and the shadow creatures like to play during the dark hours. It is better not to get caught up in their mischief"
With that thought, I stood up and turned to make my way home.
I had taken only a few steps when I heard a strange sound from behind me, but thinking it was just some creature or another playing in the last moments of the day, I carried on my journey.
It was only when I felt the gentle breeze pick up to an almost staggering force, making me fight to stay on my feet, that I turned to see what was happening. When i saw the... thing before me, I felt my heart rate increase, I had never seen anything like this in my life.
There was a large swirl, almost like a whirlpool out at sea, that was a blinding blue-white in colour. This anomaly seemed to be drawing air into it, like it needed feeding to sustain itself. My curiosity has always been a negative trait, I just can't seem to stop myself when I see something new.
Though this was not a new occurrence. Whirlpools open up all the time.
It's a result of my people's combined magic feeding the barrier surrounding our world. It seems to draw other uncontrolled magics to it, causing buildings, animals and even other Velorians to fall through them and into other worlds.
I took a few tentative steps forwards, trying to get to a view into the whirlpool, but as I neared the ground started to shake, causing me to lose my balance. As I reached out my arms to catch myself, the pool opened further, and I felt my body being drawn in, like I had no control over my own actions.
I screamed out in terror, I didn't know what was happening, where would this thing lead? Would I be able to get home if I couldn't stop myself from being pulled through?
As I felt the pulling force strengthen, I resigned myself to the fact that I could not stop this, and let my body fall limp. At least then I'd have some strength left in me if I survived the passage.
As I passed through the blinding blue center of the whirl, I could hear a high-pitched noise, like a million souls screaming for help.
That seemed to be the breaking point for my mind, it seemed it could not take any more of this unknown terror and I passed into the blissful Rest.
The sound of a loud, constant roar reaches my ears, brining my back to consciousness. I try to block it out but the realisation that I have never heard such a noise before brings back the memory of the whirlpool, the screaming and the falling through.
I force myself to keep my breathing even, and my heart rate steady as I open my eyes to check for any other creature, from whatever place I am now in, that may have found me while I was at Rest. I could tell without opening my eyes that I was now in a different world. The air tasted different, I could no longer feel the powerful magic of my people tingling against my skin and my empathetic connection to my family had been severed by the unknown distance, leaving me with an instinctive feeling of loneliness that chilled me to my core.
Upon opening my eyes, I could see that I was currently alone on a crushed stone floor with a low wall surrounding it. There was a bright sun in the sky and the air was a pleasant temperature to it. All this lead me to believe that I may not have fallen in to a dangerous place, despite the still ongoing roar and lack of familiarity.
I stood up slowly, my body aching a little, trying to determine a way out of my holdings and find a way to get back home, my family will start to worry if I'm not back at the palace soon.