The Royal Hood Book 1: Rise of the Royal Hood

Chapter 5: Lost in a World

A headache slams through my skull and I let out a low groan. My eyelids flutter open, and I see a blur of blues and greens above me. Blinking furiously, my vision clears, and I see the sky above me along with some trees above me, sporting some vibrant green leaves.

Jolting slightly, I move my arms and realize I'm damp. Shivering, I slowly begin moving my limbs one by one. Slowly, I sit up and lean against the nearest tree. Rubbing my temple, I look around and gasp when I see that I am no longer in the same forest. Instead, the forest is covered in healthy grass, and the trees aren't pine and aren't as tall. Flowers sprout out of the ground in clusters or blues, pinks, and yellows.

I hear water rushing and slowly get to my feet, wincing at the soreness in my limbs. My stomach growls and I stumble forward, looking around frantically. Where am I? What is this place?

The sun is high in the sky now, and I see streams of sunlight breaking through the openings in the trees. The weirdest part is the sparks that are rising from the flowers and just floating around them. I hear birds chirping and creatures shuffling in the bushes.

Wrapping my arms around myself, I look down to see that I'm still in my pajamas, with my jacket on. My clothes and hair cling to me. Rubbing my eyes, I look up and try to find some kind of village or maybe a path out of here. How did I get here?

All thoughts from yesterday come rushing back and my heartbeat kicks up. That's right! Mom and sister were kidnapped by some random men in red cloaks! I need to find them and save them! But how?

Itching my wrist, something pops out of it causing me to jump. Rolling back my sleeve, I see the marking mom gave me. I completely forgot about that. Examining the map, I still don't understand any of the landmarks.

Sighing, I rub a thumb over the marking and the map disappears. Looking around again, I hear water rushing and look to see a stream off in the distance. Maybe I should follow the stream. I think I saw something in a movie somewhere about a river leading to some kind of civilization.

Shrugging, I start towards it. It's a poorly thought-out plan, but I don't know what else I'm going to do. Besides, the more I move, the more I get to explore this place. And perhaps, maybe I'll discover something interesting while I'm here. It honestly reminds me of the fantasy novels I've read.

Reaching the river, I see that the water is a beautiful shade of light blue, with rocks jutting out of the water and colorful fish swimming through the river. Following the river, I continue looking around.

Trees shoot straight up from the ground, with branches spreading out, looking as though they are interconnecting with the trees around them. I see sparks floating around the forest and I feel my urge to touch one of them.

Veering away from the river, I carefully walk towards one and reach out a tentative finger towards a bright pink one. It touches my finger and nothing happens. Oh...guess they are just here to look pretty.

Shaking my head, I turn and head back to the river. Continuing on, I look around for any landmarks or signs of a village nearby. My stomach growls again and I clutch it. I know, I know.

The forest is very peaceful, with only the sounds of the water rushing and the leaves rustling. I smile. This place isn't so bad. I do hope I ended up in the right place though. I need to find Malcior and his men and get my family back. And I have no clue how to do that. Other than the map on my wrist, I've pretty much got nothing. I really wish mom had given me more instructions on what to do once I had jumped through the pool.

Malcior mentioned the name of a place though. Terespia. Maybe that's where I am. I mean, if mom knew about the waterfall pool leading to another world, then maybe she knew where it would go.