Nethermost Realm: Prisoner of Arlunn

Chapter 3

Please note: I am updating this draft of The Prisoner of Arlunn. The most important change is that the main character's name has been changed from Philip to Rian.

3

Intricate woven rugs and delicate portraits lined the stately, wide hallways of the palace of Chuness. A palace! Anya couldn't believe that she'd been transported to such a place. Sometimes she closed her eyes, afraid that it was all a dream, but when she opened them again—she was still here, on the world of Chuness.

For years she had gone from foster home to foster home, not having anywhere to call home. Certainly, she had no family that cared about her. Her parents had abandoned her at birth. She knew nothing about them, nor had they ever tried to contact her, or get her back. Not that she knew of.

Less than a year ago Anya had found a new foster mother, Aldena Jade. Aldena was like no one else. She was a terrible cook and only a passable housekeeper. She loved to do crazy things like dance in the rain, skate on the frozen river, camp in the snow. She took Anya snowmobiling in the mountains. She said it never snowed where she grew up.

Then there were the stories ... stories of a magical and mystical realm—the Seven Worlds of Cathal, where wizards became kings, princesses fought with swords, and the Guardians of the Continuum kept the dark forces of the Nethermost Realm from creeping into the real world from the places below.

And there was the story of Dayle and Aldena, a brother and sister, who fell through a magic portal that appeared one day. They found themselves on Earth but could never find the way back home. So they each found someone and got married, and lived happily ever after.

But then, Anya found out that is was all true; these two turned out to be Corey and Aldena—or Dayle Edwin Corey and Aldena Jade. A terrible necromancer, named Molan, broke through to Earth; he found Corey and killed him, creating from his heart a magical construct, a magic-spawn that he could use to do terrible spells. But his wife escaped with the magic-spawn, and raised him from a baby, hidden in their home in Nebraska.

The magic-spawn grew. Ten years later the dark wizard came back for the child and terrorized the town. Corey's son Rian helped kill the wizard, in the end. The magic-spawn, which Rian considered as a brother, was saved.

Now, they'd come to live in the fairy-tale world of Chuness, a place where it never snowed. Buildings all looked like castles or medieval towns. The capital city bustled with people, millions of them, along with marketplaces, theaters where they held plays or operas, boats, floating ships that looked a lot like boats and hovered over the city. A beautiful blue ocean stretched away into the horizon.

* * * * * * * *

Anya slept all morning that first day, dressed in a beautiful, silk nightgown. She had been exhausted from the fight against Molan the day before. It was afternoon when she finally slid out of the most comfortable bed that she'd ever slept in. It was like a feather-pillow, light and fluffy. The bedroom they'd given her was huge. The king-sized bed fit in a small corner. She had a darkwood, mirrored dresser with gold-leafing around the edge in the pattern of flowers. In another corner, several beautiful wooden sitting chairs made a little sitting room. There were flower pots in the bay window and beautiful burgundy and gold drapes.

Past the door to the room, which was closed, another section made for a study with a roll-top desk, book shelves, and a comfortable sitting chair for reading. She looked at the books, but they were all written in the language of Cathal.