The Quest for Normania #1: The Door of Andrios

2. Shadows of the Heart

Ayesha Sinhala was in a new world.

She was sure she was no longer on Ahala, the only world she ever knew, though not a lot. She had more to learn.

Which included, apparently, gliding between two worlds.

'Or maybe it's just for people who were born with deadly prophecies,' she wondered. 'Does that make me deadly?' The face of the old seer came to her mind. 'Apparently.'

She sighed but did not let her possible fate get the better of her. Instead, she trudged on.

When she had passed through the Door of Andrios, Ayesha had landed in what looked like a wood in the dusk. She could hear an occasional owl or wolf howling, she thought, but wasn't sure. 'I wonder where that boy is, whom I saw when the Door opened,' she thought. 'He couldn't have simply vanished?' She gulped down her fear and marched forward, a hand on her silver dagger.

The dagger wasn't just any silver, either—it was quick silver. In the world of Ahala, that was one of the highest priced metals. Quick silver as a sheet of metal looked like harmless, and exactly like normal silver, but when it's used for making weapons – which was often the case – its mark is lethal. No denizen of Ahala could survive if struck with quick silver.

'I wonder if it works in this world, too,' thought Ayesha. 'I wonder what quick silver would mean here.'

She was walking down an aisle-like pathway that had trees on either side of it. The sun was sinking into the clouds; the more she couldn't see, the more panic seized her, but she was determined to stay in control. If any mishap, she had her dagger with her; even if it didn't work, it may at least hurt when struck: It had a pointy edge.

The young princess thought she heard something and stopped dead in her tracks. A rustling just beside her. With her grip on the dagger firm, she slowly turned her head around. She knew to be slow and steady when in the wild; otherwise, animals and plants would think you're the enemy and would harm you. Of course, it was only self-defence, she knew that, but to protect herself, she had to be careful.

A pair of glowing eyes stared at her from behind a tree. From their size, she realised it could be no bigger than a rabbit.

'Still, caution.'

She gulped and slowly removed her hand from her dagger. She raised both her arms up. "See, no harm," she said in a voice that was calm and cool. "Just a friend."

When she took a step forward, her ears picked up running feet. On instinct, her hand went back to the dagger and her body whirled around, and pierced the oncoming body. She could hear more rustling behind her and thought the rabbit must have escaped.

She turned all her attention to the body that lay before her, face up, chest bleeding from the would she caused. It was more near the shoulder, so the man was in no immediate danger.

Well, if quick silver worked the way it did in her world, she wasn't sure he had more than half-an-hour to die.

Ayesha suddenly realised that the woods had become dark and the jungle noises had increased, though not enough to bother her yet.

And then, a woman's voice: "C! Where are you!? Damn, C, I'm too exhausted to search for you! Come to me yourself – follow my voice!"

The young Ahalan princess looked down at the man, who was staring at her through half-opened eyes. A shadow crossed over her heart. She thought she saw his lips move ever so slightly, but didn't hear anything. Keeping a wary eye on him, she knelt down and leaned closer. She knew he wouldn't be able to catch her unawares even if he wanted to: She recognised that look of helplessness quick silver usually caused when struck with a deliberate blow.