This program has been far more demanding than I had expected, but it is nice to take the time to write again. Enjoy...


"What in the name of all Beasts were you thinking, Edmund?! She was clearly injured, yet you stood there and interrogated her!?"

"Lu, that's not how it was. I swear—"

"—you left her standing there, until she collapsed, Ed! You said she ran because she was scared. You don't think she'll be scared now? You could have killed her, she's going to be utterly terrified of us all!"

"Lu, even I am terrified of you right now, and I'm your brother. Please calm down, you're practically shouting."

"Of course I'm—"

"Ungh…"

The babble of voices above her head jarred her senses into action. Her ears felt sharp, ringing in the sudden silence. There were people in the room, she could sense it, but could not summon the strength to open her eyes, even a crack.

"Now look what you've done, Ed." Came a woman's voice. It sounded young and gentle, but carried a threatening steel to it. "It's all your fault."

The other person spluttered. "Mine!" Was that the King from earlier? He didn't seem like the type to whine like that.

"Shh!" She heard the rustling of cloth shift nearer to where she lie. A soft hand placed its weight on her arm and she willed her eyes to open; they merely twitched with the effort.

"Be still, friend. Rest a touch longer. When your weary body is ready, then shall you wake." The gentle voice acted like a lullaby, enveloping her once more with the urge to sleep. Somewhere, deep in the recesses of her mind, her thoughts were restless, demanding to know where she was, who was speaking to her, what they looked like. Too deep were these thoughts, and as the soft hand moved across her forehead, Mairin fell back into emptiness of sleep.


When her eyes opened again, it was to the gentle darkness of night. A faded warmth remained of a fire which had long sing crumbled to cold ash, and in a window to the right a dull glow of moonlight pushed its way through the class.

Mairin blinked. Once, twice. She collapsed in a forest, that much she was certain. But this was no forest. This was a room, and a well-furnished one at that. The bed on which she lay was comfortable, far better than anything she had at her own home, and the cloth as soft as a newborn's skin. Though dark, the moonlight granted her a view of the thick wooden timbers holding up the ceiling and the perfectly cut stone making up the walls. The floor was decked with a large carpet, whose vibrant reds were visible even in the dullness of the night. Beside her bed was a small table, covered with tiny glass vials filled with a variety of substances.

Taking a breath, Marin tested her muscles, gently rolling her neck and shoulders, and testing the strength of her grip. She was sore, but it was the tenderness of lying about for longer than one is used to. Slowly she sat up, taking her time lest she happen upon an unnoticed injury, but the caution was merely that. There was not even a trace of the scrapes and bruises she had accumulated in her frantic escapade through the forest.

The room was utterly silent about her, the only sounds being that of her steady breath and the steadier beat of her heart.

There was no trace of the people she had heard speaking during her brief rise to consciousness earlier. How long ago had that been? Had it been day or night? How long had she been sleeping here, with strangers watching her, taking care of her...the thought of it made her shiver.

She grabbed one of the tiny vials beside her bed, swirling it in the moonlight and watching it reflect across the light blue liquid within. What as it? Had they given her some sort of strange potion?

Potion… Mairin snorted. It sounded like something straight out of Harry Potter.

Then again, everything that had happened in her recent memory was straight out of a book, quite literally. A book opening up and sucking her into another world where she was chased by a king and a talking wolf…was she going crazy?

No more crazy than she was when she discovered her ability, and that was undoubtedly real.

"I guess I'll just have to suspend my disbelief, for now." Mairin whispered into the night. If only to keep her from going into shock, she would have to take it all in stride. The flight through the forest felt real enough. The soft bed was real enough.

She sighed and gently pushed the blankets off, swinging her bare feet down to touch the soft rug. With a relieved sigh, she recognized the loose black pants she wore as her own, the same clothing she had been wearing in her dorm room…however long ago that was.

The floor, too, was made of stone, and not a sound was made as she walked about the room. But for the bed and the small table, the only other piece of furniture was a small chair, placed on the other side of the bed. The fireplace was large and made of decorated and smoothed stone, whose designs were too blurred to appreciate in the darkness.

It was old, the room. Not in age—for everything from the furniture to the walls themselves felt as though newly constructed. However, it was purely medieval from her perspective. Candles stood around the room, waiting to be lit, not a light bulb in sight. Kings, wolves, and candles… so that's how this world was going to be, then?

Wakefulness had by now fully returned to her, and Mairin turned to the door. Whoever had brought her here—the King, she assumed—had cared for her; that much was clear. But she needed to know where she was, immediately. It was not in her nature to sit and wait. Like the wind itself, she needed to move.

With careful movements, her hand guided a gentle breeze towards the lock on the door, testing it. To her surprise, Mairin found it unlocked and without any trinkets or traps to surprise her on opening it. Interesting, she thought.

Regardless, she turned the handle slowly, but it moved without even a click. The door too opened without trouble, revealing a lightly lit hallway. Large windows followed one end of the hallway down until she could see no farther, letting far more light in than that of the small chamber she had just exited. The other side held doors evenly paced down the hall.

Her journey was utterly silent, but for the occasional crack of her ankles as they became used to movement once more. There was no one to be seen—as place lonely as where she awoke.

At the end of the hall she found that she had two options; turn left, or turn right. Either side was identical, the same stone, same carpeting, and same darkness broken by far smaller windows those she had just walked by.

Her decision was made easier, however, by the closing of one of the many doors behind her.


R&R is always welcome