I felt my eyes blink.

"Who is that woman?"

"What is she doing with that girl?"

"You guys know who they are?"

"Yes, that's Prisca Hamwich, maybe it's her grandmother."

The crowd below talked it over with themselves. As for me, I just stood there on uneasy feet. After a few seconds of them staring at me, I stepped down into the crowd with some effort. Everyone around me was looking, I could feel it, but I could not think of anything to say. When a voice erupted from the stage, though, I felt the gazes turn.

"Greetings, young sorceresses. My name is Elvira Sherwood, and I am in charge of gathering spell casters from all the schools when there is great necessity." She had a powerful voice when speaking to a crowd, but not that she was screaming at us. "As you've all probably learned from the prophecies, the time of emergence is coming. The Three are coming. Truth be told, I do not know when, just soon. However, we must do whatever we can to stop them from uniting, and that can only be done with the purest power of the elements."

She paused for a moment, and the crowd became completely silent. People were looking at each other with questioned expressions. I saw quite a few glances at me as well, did they really think I had something to do with Elvira?

"I will be taking some of the most talented volunteers from this school, and I mean just that: volunteers. Meet here tomorrow at sunrise only if you choose to go, otherwise, go to your normal classes."

Everyone burst into whispers at that, probably deciding among themselves whether they would go. They all seemed excited, so eager to go. What about me?

"What about you, Prisca?" Someone I didn't even know was standing next to me. She asked me the question casually, as if we had been friends for a very long time. She was slightly shorter than six feet, but I my eyes were at the level of her lips. Her hair, an orange color, was worn in a ponytail with two strands falling to the side of her face.

"Who are you?" I instinctively asked, while peering into the dark pupils in front of me and into my own reflection. My light brown hair was all frizzled, standing up at random places due to Elvira's spell. My skin was of a darker shade than the other girl's ivory white. She blinked.

"You mean, you don't know me?" She stumbled back a step, seemingly hurt from what I said. Something was wrong with the picture. She looked confused for a few moments, but then laughed at me like something was really funny. "You almost got me there, Prisca, with all that seriousness in your voice. We both know that you couldn't possibly forget your best friend in just two days."

I stood perfectly still, not even able to breathe. What was she talking about? I swore I had never seen her my whole life. I had a friend? My staring blankly at her must have scared her, because she shook me worriedly.

"I said, you couldn't possibly forget your best friend, right?"

"No, of course not." I whispered, before taking a few cautious steps back. After seeing that no one blocked my way to the exit, I broke into a run, ignoring the voice calling to me from my "best friend." My mind was such a jumble as I tore out of the school and back into the forest.

It was not fear, more likely confusion that overtook me. Trees, grass, rocks all flashed by in a mess. Insects and birds flew off in self-preservation as my rapid steps took me away from it all. Finally, I stopped near one of the largest trees that I had ever seen. As I held on to the surface of the tree trunk, I gasped for air and recalled what had happened. I leaned my back against it, looking into empty space.

Something had to be wrong with me, I decided. Maybe one of the alchemist healers in the school could help me by brewing up a potion. Or, maybe there's no hope.

I looked back at the tree. It stood in the middle of a huge patch of space that no other tree seemed to grow on. It was more powerful than all the other trees in the area, with also something magical about it. It was, nevertheless, still alone when it came to technical terms. I could feel some kind of connection between us, and without thinking, I talked to it, "I know how you must feel."

There was no response, not that I had expected any.

"You're all alone, just like me. You are different from them, but they think you're the same. They think they know how you feel, but in reality, they-" I caught myself there, what the hell was I doing? I must really be crazy, was I talking to a plant? I laughed, sounding much like a canary chirping, all the while banging on the tree with a bare fist.

"Don't do that. Trees have feelings, too, you know?" A rough voice invaded my senses.

I turned around. There, only a few yards away, stood a large man. He wore a thick fur coat, probably made from a bear, and had the same colored hair as his clothes. "Do I know you?" I wasn't really sure if I knew anyone anymore.

"No." He answered simply. "But what are you doing all the way out here?" He seemed to be inching toward me.

"Nothing." As he got closer, I moved away.

"Don't worry. I mean no harm to you."

That's what bandits and murderers always say, I thought. He came closer, but instead of heading my way, he went to the tree. I watched curiously as he looked at it for a while, carefully feeling it where I had hit it. In a strange tongue, I heard him whisper to it. At least I'm not the only crazy one, that felt reassuring... somewhat.

"Why are you talking to a tree?"

He paid on attention to me, just kept talking. I stood there for a few minutes as he kept whispering to it, only once breaking off to point at me.

"Are you crazy or something? Trees don't talk." When he still did not seem to notice me, I went up to him to make sure that he was all right. It happened just then. There was no warning, just a loud growl from a nearby bush, and then a creature jumped at me.

I heard the sound of my own yelp of surprise, but the sound dragged on for what seemed like eternity, even after I closed my mouth. When I realized what was happening, my right hand was placed in a defensive position, facing the huge wolf that leapt at me. In fact, it was still leaping, just in VERY slow motion, it was almost suspended in mid air, but did not even seem to notice. I ducked out of its path and looked in fascination as it took quite a few seconds to land on the ground, forelegs first, then the hind.

Impossible... I watched the leaves of the giant tree as they swayed from a soft breeze, again, slowly, so slowly that I could capture every moment of it. Was everything slowed down except me? I heard a loud thud from next to me, except this one did not have any echoes following it. I turned to look, and gazed into the muzzle of a really ticked off canine, this time it did not seem to move slowly.

I was having my last prayers to the Phoenix when the wolf turned and walked casually away. It was the strange man. He said something to the creature.

"How the... what... you talked to the wolf?" I finally found the strength to burst it out.

Instead of him boasting about his abilities, he actually chuckled. "And I thought you were the one that dodged out of its attack faster than lightning."

He was right. It must've looked like I got out of its way really fast to them. What really happened, though? Was I moving extremely fast or was the rest of the world going extremely slow? I'll look into that a bit later. Dismissing the thought, I faced him. "So who are you anyway?"

"Me? Nothing special, just a resident of the woods. You can call me Niseth."

Don't trust him... I reminded myself. When I started walking away, nothing followed me, strange. Where's the way home?