I woke slowly, my head pounding. I raised my head too quickly and searing pain shot through it, sending me back to the ground with a moan of pain. Someone knelt beside me.
"He's up," said a woman's voice. "And he certainly took his time about it."
"It's his first time through a portal," replied a male voice. "It's only to be expected. Anyway, you weren't exactly the quickest off the mark, were you?" The woman ignored his comment and gently raised my head, slipping something soft underneath to prop it up. I opened my eyes, wincing as candlelight flooded my vision.
We were in a cave of some sort, with rough stone walls which I instantly recognised – even though I had only seen them once before. The red stone was identical to the amulet Firenze had sent me. I tried to think of what that could mean – the significance of such a correlation – but my head was too foggy. On a natural sort of shelf along one wall, two glimmering steel swords were sat, along with a pair of backpacks and four folded grey cloth piles. A figure approached me and I squinted to see his face, the candlelight behind him making it difficult to make out. I recognised him as the man who had joined us. The woman beside me, her auburn hair now tied back in a simple ponytail, rose and crossed to the dark entrance.
My head slightly recovered from its aching, I pushed myself up to first my knees, then my feet, leaning on the wall for support. The man put his hand on my shoulder to steady me.
"Easy, kid," he said. "Don't exert yourself just yet. First time out of the portal is always the worst."
"How long have I been out?" I asked him weakly.
"About six hours, give or take," he replied. I sighed in annoyance.
"So, two seconds in and I've already passed out once," I said, irritated.
"Don't beat yourself up about it," consoled the man. "The first time I went into a portal, I was out for a whole day before someone had the idea to chuck a bucket of cold water over me." He gave me a rueful smile – I guessed it wasn't his most treasured memory.
"I'm Bill by the way," he added as an afterthought. "That there is Zoey." The woman glanced up and smiled at me before going back to whatever she was doing – the shadows were obscuring her hands.
"I'm Mike," I replied. "What do you mean, the first time you went into a portal? You've been here before?"
"Yup," he replied darkly. "This isn't the first time power-hungry idiots have opened one of these things. About thirty years ago, they had one. A top-secret project that went wrong. With the help of Zoey here, I escaped, and I left for Ithaca. But then, the Council tracked me down, and here I am."
"So, any idea what to expect?" I asked him. He shook his head.
"The Nether is always changing. It could be completely different to my Nether. Anyway, we're in a different part to the bit I know."
I saw movement in the corner of my eye and looked around to see Chris emerging from the shadows, yawning profusely.
"You're up, then?" he asked with a grin. "Finally, I was tired of waiting."
"So tired you fell asleep," commented Zoey dryly.
"Yeah... Whatever," replied Chris. I saw he was carrying a sword identical to the ones on the shelf. I walked over and took one, weighing it in my hand.
"Hmm. Not too heavy, but not too light. I like it," I commented, swinging it over my head.
"The Head of Council gave the packs to us before we left," said Bill, grabbing his own pack and sword from the shelf. Chris picked his up from the floor and I took the other from the shelf, unzipping the top to inspect the interior. There was not much inside – a few ration packs, a couple bottles of water, a simple steel knife, a leather belt and a first-aid kit. I took the belt, looping it around my waist and buckling it tightly. Conveniently it had loops for my various equipment, and I slotted in the first-aid kit, a bottle of water and the knife. Chris and Bill did the same.
Zoey emerged from the dark entrance to the cave. She took the heap of cloth from the shelf and shook it out, revealing its purpose. Four grey hooded cloaks unfurled in her hands, reaching halfway down her thighs. She handed them out and we slipped them on over our clothes.
I was immediately struck by how soothingly cool it was. The Nether was very, very hot – whether that was from being underground or not, I wasn't sure. The cloth was silky and smooth, and smelled wonderful – like the sea on a sunny day, salty and fresh. I pulled the hood up and gripped my sword loosely in my hand.
"Everyone ready?" Bill asked. We nodded and he led us to the exit to the cave. The others disappeared into the shadows outside and I heard Chris gasp in shock. I followed apprehensively.
The view took my breath away. Vast lakes of red glowed ominously amongst islands of stone, dotted with dark figures I couldn't make out. Far overhead in the shadows, a faint yellow glow illuminated the vast space, lighting the cliff side we had emerged from. Bill glanced around, unimpressed, and started to edge around the thin ridge of stone we were standing on. He reached the corner and disappeared from view, closely followed by Zoey. Chris hurried after them and I rushed to keep up, desperate not to be left alone for even a second in that terrible – yet strangely beautiful – place. We rounded the corner and found ourselves on a plain of the red stone, seemingly stranded on the desolate landscape. Bill rummaged in his backpack.
"Let's see here," he muttered, pulling out a thickly folded piece of cloth. He shook it out and held it flat, revealing that it was a map. A red dot marked where we had teleported to, and a black sketch in charcoal showed our destination – some sort of fortress-like structure. A yellow dashed line marked our route, and Bill set off in the direction of the fortress, undeterred by the distance or the apparent danger of such a place. We fell into line behind our leader, trekking silently to keep our strength. We all knew we would need it later.
Sorry this Chapter is so boring at the start, but I needed to set the scene really. I'm finally into the interesting bit!
Also, thanks to my latest reviewers, iDog, DJatomica69, and FTWeepingbell!