First she thought that she had fallen and lay on the ground. Then she realised that there was no grass where she lay. Had she dreamt everything, and just fallen out of her bed? No, her floor didn't feel like this. Irritated 'cause she couldn't find the answer, she opened her eyes, and got blinded by the strong, white light that shone through a hole in the ceiling. She closed her eyes, rolled to her side and looked again. She was at the brink of some dam, filled with water lilies that float on the clear water. Slowly she got to her knees, and put her fingertips in the water. The water rings spread over the dam, and made the lilies bob on the small waves. The feeling of the cold water told her she didn't dream. She had fallen through the door. She discovered the next proof shortly after that. Stuck in the stems of the lilies was a plastic Coke-bottle.
On the side of the dam where she was, there was just the brink where she sat. No door, no way around. She had to swim through the dam to get away from there. Hopefully, she wouldn't get stuck in the stems, like the bottle. Carefully, she took of her shoes and stood bare feet on the brink. The white light warmed her, and she wondered if she would get a chock when she got into the cold water. At last, she took a deep breath and put one of her feet in the water. It didn't sink. Surprised she pushed with it, and when nothing happened, she tried to pull it up again. It was stuck. Scared she got to her knees, and tried to see what held her. There was nothing but water. She felt the panic approaching, just as she pulled even harder. Her ankle ached, and she realised that she couldn't pull the foot free without pulling it of her leg. She tried to calm her pounding heart, before the panic took over.
"Help! Please, help me! Help!
Far away in the giant castle, two men and one woman walked through the corridor. The short woman's wrinkled face looked solemnly at the great hall before them, the tall man with long, silvery hair and beard did the same. It was the man in the middle, the man without any hair on his head, who suddenly wrinkled his forehead.
"Tibor", he said in a low voice. The other man stopped, and looked at him.
"Accompany Yan Lin to the hall, meet up with the W.I.T.C.H and get Orube to the Hall of Scent", the man continued. "I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Oracle, according to the message Orube is very bad wounded", Tibor said solemnly. "She needs your help."
"I can feel something else, and the wind tells me that I can't ignore it", the Oracle answered, before he turned and went back the same way they had come. Tabor and Yan Lin looked surprised after him, before they continued to the hall.
The Oracle still wondered why he had turned. He had heard an unfamiliar voice, a voice that called for help. It wasn't like him to care about it, at least not now when Orube was injured. Orube, who he saw as his own daughter. Why hadn't he been able to ignore that voice? He shook his head, before he suddenly stopped. Before him was the door to his own meditation-room. The corridor was deserted on both sides, this was the Hall of the Oracle, where you only should come if it was necessary. Why had he stopped here? No one could be there by now.
"Help!"
The voice came from inside the meditation-room. The Oracle snatched by surprise. He had been wrong. Silently he stood outside the door, uncertain of what he should do, before he placed his hand on it and made it slide open. On the other side of the meditation-dam was a girl in her younger teens. One of her legs where stuck in the magical water. She tried to pull it up, but it slowly sank more and more. The Oracle slowly raised his hand.
"Release her!" he said in a high voice. The water immediately slipped away, and the girl yanked her leg up on the brink, before she looked up on him. She shivered, but the eyes showed no fear. The Oracle could only remember one person with the same expression, but this wasn't her.
"T-thank you", she shuttered.
"What are you doing here?" the Oracle asked solemnly.
"I… I fell in between some trees, and ended up here", the girl answered.
"You mean a portal", the Oracle said. The girl looked surprised.
"I didn't know they existed", she said calmly.
"They exist, to a great extent", the Oracle answered. "If you excuse me, I have some things to take care of."
"Wait!"
The Oracle, who had turned around, stopped.
"How… how do I get away from here?" the girl asked.
"Use the portal", the Oracle answered.
"I don't know how to do that."
The Oracle turned again. He had to make a decision. He could send her back home, or let her come with him. The girl's face didn't tell him what she wanted. Her thoughts were blocked, and her carriage didn't tell him anything else than 'You decide'. After a while, he sighed.
"Come with me, then."
"How do I get over the dam?" the girl asked.
"The water won't harm you anymore", the Oracle answered. "You can walk."
The girl wrinkled her forehead in surprise, before she placed one foot on the surface. With a gasp, she realised that it was as solid as the floor she had stood on before, and like a child that just learned how to walk, she carefully got to the other side.
"Thanks again", she said when she was on the right side of the dam. Then she stroked away a golden-blond lock of her hair, and smiled towards him.
"I'm Sandra Roberts", she said, and reached out her hand. He didn't take it.
"The Oracle of Candracar."
She took back her hand, and nodded solemnly.
"Shall we go?" he asked. She nodded again, and followed him out through the door.
Sandra could hardly believe her eyes. It was a castle, built in some mystical, white stone. There were fountains everywhere, windows that showed a sea of clouds. After a while they passed some creatures, no humans, creatures from other worlds.
"It's wonderful", she whispered. The Oracle didn't listen to her. He was even more mystical than this place. After a while, he turned into a short corridor, and opened a high door by placing his hand on it. Inside were four girls, all dressed in green and pink with wings on their backs. Before them was a fifth girl, dressed in white and pink. Sandra saw that she was injured.
"Tibor, where's Yan Lin?" the Oracle asked an older man with long, white beard and hair.
"She went away to meditate, Oracle", the man answered. "Who's the girl?"
"She fell through a portal in my meditation-room", the Oracle answered in a low voice. Tibor wrinkled his forehead in surprise.
"I will help her, as soon as I've helped Orube", the Oracle continued. "You can go, now."
Tibor made a slight bow, before walking past Sandra out through the door. The four girls and the Oracle sank to their knees at the injured one's side. Sandra stayed at the door, at a loss.
"Is there anything you can do, Oracle?" a black-haired girl with an Asian face asked.
"This is strange", the Oracle mumbled, without answering the question. "It's like Orube's not here."
"Well, I can not say that she's ever been normal, but…" a brown-haired girl began, before a red-haired one gave her a nudge in the side. The last girl, a blond one, tried not to laugh. Then the girl in front of them opened her eyes, turned around and send a wave of power towards the Oracle. He flew away, and landed with a thud on the floor. Sandra snatched, and stared at the girl's eyes. They were pale white!
"What the hell are you doing?" the brown-haired girl yelled, and got to her feet.
"Don't hurt her!" the Oracle called out, and got to his elbows.
"Do as he says, Irma!" the red-haired one yelled. "Orube do not know what she's doing!"
Irma didn't care about them, she send a power of water towards Orube, who easily send it back. The four girls stood against its power, but only just.
"She knows very well what she's doing, Will!" Irma spit out. "I'm going to…"
"No, we'll attack her with our weakest powers," Will, the red-haired one, interrupted resolute.
"Don't get in between me and the Oracle, if you doesn't want to be harmed", Orube said with a grin. Sandra shuddered by her voice. Something wasn't right. Without really knowing what she was doing, she stepped forward and stood between the Oracle and Orube. Diagonally in front of her was the Asian girl, who Orube suddenly threw up in the air.
"Say hi to your friends from me!" she laughed, and threw the girl through the air. Sandra looked angrily at Orube.
"Move", Orube hissed.
"Make me", Sandra spit out. Deep inside herself, she wondered what the hell she was doing. She had seen what had happened to the other girls. They had powers, which she definitely didn't have, and still they'd been defeated. She needed something that could help her. A quick glance around the room told her that nothing was within reach. Suddenly, her eyes stopped at a painting. A young woman in a shimmering white cloak held a long, broad-bladed sword in her hand. What if she had something like that! Slowly she raised her hand, as if she really held a sword, and imagined that she felt the leather-band on the hold. She felt its weight and its… heat? Astonished she stared at her hand, and realised the sword was there.