The Mage

Chapter Two

   It stops me in my tracks. I fall to the ground helpless. I feel myself being dragged in the same direction. I can't move. Something is holding me against my own will. I can't struggle. I suddenly find myself putting both hands on the cold cement and pushing myself up until I am kneeling. I get up and I start walking. All while doing so I am having an argument with myself. My mind keeps telling me to do something, while my feet tell me to relax. I am about to squirm; when I realize that this is exactly like one of the dreams I had as a little girl. I was a strange child. Most people still call me that. I want to see where this would take me. Maybe it is dream... Maybe I haven't gotten up. I must be sleeping. I was probably still sleeping. Since dreams aren't real, I might as well turn this into an adventure. This was going to be one heck of a dream.

    No...it isn't a dream. This is a nightmare. I can feel everything, and the fear soon controls me. I feel tears prick my eyes, as I fight against myself. I can't control it anymore.

      I find myself walking across the room farther and farther away from the black eyed lady. I can't look back though to see if she is still there. I don't see anything. Until I do. Suddenly a portal seems to appear outside the large window on the other side of the warehouse. I begin running. Where am I being taken? Where will this portal lead me to? This is turning out to be an interesting dream.... I pick up speed and start to get closer to the window. What am I going to do next? I seem to be going straight for the window. I suddenly feel apprehensive. What a weird dream.... I am so close to the window. I suddenly want to question my life which must be pretty crazy if I am about to hurtle through a window. I step on the window ledge and hurtle through the window. The glass shatters and I fall off the window sill. Straight into the portal which has blue swirls of what looks like magic emanating from it.

     I see the window sill and the sky falls away from me. The entrance of the portal becomes smaller and smaller. Wow... portals are bigger on the inside. I love watching Doctor Who. I see the blue magic all around me as the entrance races even farther away from my view. It races so far away that I can only see a speck of the dark blue grey sky. The air whooshes past me as I fall. I am still falling and it's getting annoying. The portal seems to be getting more transparent and the blue magic seems to be fading away. I suddenly see lots of green and I fall out from the portal which seems to have left it's exit in the sky and I fall towards the ground. My stupid head won't permit me to turn and look at the ground. I just see the portal getting smaller now and the sky getting to be a darker blue. I close my eyes and wait for the worst. I feel my body thud on the ground. I open my eyes and see trees overhead of me. hold has left me and I tell myself to get up. My body obeys. I look all over my arms and see cuts. I feel my face and bring my hand down and see blood.

      I must have sustained them when the window shattered. I tentatively touch some of the cuts and a sharp pain hits me. I look at one of them that looked particularly nasty and touch it. I feel like I have just been stabbed. I hear what sounds like rushing water. I turn quickly and race towards the sound. I trip over a tree root and fall hard on my face. It doesn't matter. I get up and kept running. I reach the river and cup some water from it. I pour it over my throbbing cuts and wash my face. I see a small piece of glass nestled in the wound; or at least the tip of a small piece of glass. It is too far down. I can't reach it to pull it out. I don't want to touch it again because it will hurt. I decide to leave it be. I finally look around and take in my surroundings.

     The sky was dark, and I could see the grey clouds scattered across the sky. It left a feeling of uncertainty in me. I notice the trees, they were a black colour with dark leaves. The whole place was dead. It looked like someone had come in with black paint and a bulldozer.The wind began to howl above me, and goosebumps rose on my arms. I began to shiver. Covering my bare arms, I start to look for any sign of life. All around me I could only see the dark trees. Even the water was dark. Whatever dream this was it was horrible.

"Hello?" I call out.

My voice is hoarse and shaky, and I can sense the fear in my voice. I'm sure that there are people here. Or things that inhabit this place. I feel like I am being watched. Everything is silent and then I hear a tree branch snap and rustling.

A loud howl fills the air.