Andy thinks he's lost forever when his aunt's chimney transports him and his dog, Chip, into the magical world of Emerraine. To get home, he must save the Hearthstone Village with Elsie, a young witch, and her Familiar against a dark plot that has b...
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DIZZY AND BRUISED, covered in soot, Andy gingerly rolled to his back, holding his broken glasses up to his eyes.
His vision was still hazy, but judging from the silence of his surroundings, he was entirely alone. But where he was, he had no idea.
Still on his back, Andy wiped the grime and dirt away from his cracked glasses and put them back on. He strained to focus his vision amidst the looming shadows of the place. There was a little grace of light streaming from the gap between the door and the floor in that cold lonely place.
Other than that, he was thankful for the additional light cast by a bright red crystal over his face. But when it blinked, he realized those were someone else's eyes.
Eyes?
He reached his hand up and groped around the air. Andy poked on something soft and squishy. He pinched it a lot more times before a soft giggle bounced in the silence, the eyes growing bigger and more prominent at the sight of him.
"Hi! I'm Elsie Rainwater. What's your name?" it said.
Andy bawled in fear. He scrambled away from the owner of those crystal amber eyes and scratched the stone material of the chimney box.
"Get me out of here! Get me out of here! Aunt Carol!" He continued his assault, resulting from his nails bleeding and fingers having cuts.
"Oh, no, stop! You're hurting yourself," the voice, which belonged to a girl, said.
But that didn't stop Andy from desperately seeking his way back. He was simply trapped in an unknown place with a person he didn't even know.
A flash of blinding light exploded in the entire room. His attempt to find an exit ceased and instead covered his whole face. He groaned as the searing sensation enveloped his body. Its brightness stung his eyes, rendering him motionless for what felt like seconds.
It took moments before he felt the brightness die down into comfortable warmth. Soothing licks crawled on his skin. Someone poked him on the shoulder, making him turn around to see. With his hands still concealing his tired and scared face, he parted his fingers slightly to take a peek, and that's when another hysterical scream rushed out from his throat.
"W-What's that thing floating beside you? Go away!"
Elsie puffed her chubby cheeks and rolled her eyes. She rested her palms on her hips and looked at him pointedly. "Why are you being so scared? It's just fire."
"Just fire?" he whimpered. "But it's floating."
"Hmph, such a baby."
"I-I'm not a baby!"
"Then prove it." She squinted her eyes at him, molding a challenging grin.
"I'M. NOT. AFRAID," Andy said sharply. He stood up, ignoring the wobbling of his knees. His hand no longer concealed his face. It finally revealed a pale skinny face of a four-eyed kid.
