Fallen (Being rewritten - Sorry about the wait!)

Teaser #1

Hi guys! Here's a teaser from the first chapter of the new book, The 3rd realm: Hell, or as you might better know it, Fallen. It's far from perfect, but it's much better than it used to be. 😃

Thanks for being patient with me, guys, and I hope you're as excited as I am to continue this journey with Myria.
~Clara

It was cold.

It was cold and what little warmth I had left was being leached from my body into the cold marble below. I sit up and yawn, my soul still sleepy from its slumber and the cold was certainly not helping. I shiver, wishing I had something heavier on rather than the flimsy slip I wore. Looking down, I could see my reflection in the black marble.

Large, smoky gray eyes peer at me from a round, light brown face. A wide, snubbed nose wrinkles as a wide smile shines back at me. A small hand pushes back a strand of copper hair out of my eyes.

I'm pretty.

XBlinking, I take in my surroundings. Large black and white checkered tiles decorated the thin bridge I was kneeling on. I was sitting on a black one in the middle, three squares on either side separated me from a sharp drop-off. I get up and skip - keeping only to the black squares - to the edge, teetering on solid ground, my toes hanging off. I couldn't see the end, and after a quick peak at the other side, I knew that I was surrounded by outer space. Stars dotted the horizon and rich colors swirled by in a nebula. But the cooler part was the fat obsidian pillars that loomed out of the abysses like ravens ready to pounce on me.

What's a raven?

I had barely asked my question when an image popped up in my mind. One of a large, silk black bird, its wings hunched forward and its beck opened in a menacing caw. Beady black eyes stare at me, daring me to take away the dead rabbit it was perched on.

Cool! So this is what it's like to be new. You get access to everything!

I hopped onto a white square and everything changed.

I was flooded with warmth, and the raven that still lingered in my mind changed. This time, it was a cartoonish raven shaking an equally cartoonish rabbit's paw. And that wasn't the only thing. The pillars had changed to a snowy color and had become thin. It had shot upwards and hadn't stopped until the ends hung a meter above the bridge. Craning my head upwards didn't reveal the tops. I guess you're only meant to see one end at a time.

I smile as I hop on more squares, alternating colors. This is amazing!

"Careful, many more hatchlings have tried to see both pillars at once, and all have failed."

A deep voice stopped me from what I was trying - and failing - to do.

"I might do it though." I sniff, eyeing the stranger. He looked kind of like me, except for the large peppered wings that made a hood over his messy silver hair and that he was a good head taller than me. A careless smile dances across his face, lighting up storm gray eyes. He wore a gray sweatshirt and jeans, a gray stripped scarf hung around his neck.

"My name is Daniel. I'm here to take you to where you will receive your name and wings."

"What will my name be? What color will my wings be? Will I be an angel? Are you an angel? What is this place? It's not in the knowledge I'm receiving. How am I receiving so much knowledge? Why don't I have a name yet?"

Daniel starts to laugh and I pout.

"Why are you laughing at me?"

"Because you are so funny. In a good way. Curiosity can be a good thing, but don't let it sweep you away." he smiles. He looks up behind me and his smile fades. "Oh no. Not her."

"Not whom?" I look behind me in time to see another angel folding her white wings with pink-tinged edges up behind her back. Her long, wavy golden-white hair hangs down her back, and bangs cover a good portion of her forehead. An oval face, complete with full lips, a spray of freckles across the bridge of her straight, small nose, and serious ice blue eyes. A white sundress flutters around her thin, curvy body as she stalks towards us.

She looks me over with a dismissive sniff, before glancing behind me. Her eyes harden at the sight of Daniel. She closed her eyes, sighed, and opened them again, a half-smile on her face. "Oh, hello, Daniel. What are you doing here? Aren't you exempt from having a trainee?"

"Stormy." his was a bit awe struck, "It's been a while hasn't it? I heard things didn't go so well with Clyde. He sucked anyways, you're lucky to be rid of him."

Stormy sniffs again. "It's Storm to you, Daniel. My boyfriend was perfectly fine, thank you very much, and I can't see why you'd care, seeing as you left me."

"I care about you still. Even after all these years. One can not forget their sister-sworn."

"If you cared for me, you wouldn't have turned. You haven't answered my questions about what you're doing here. Did you really think that you could trick me into forgetting them?"

Daniel grins, "You know me too well, my dear Stormy. I am here for the hatchling. Yes, I was exempt because of what happened long ago, but Lucifer thinks I've been brooding for too long. He demanded that I get a new trainee."

"Not my problem, and you don't get to decide anyways. I'm taking her to the discovery mirror for her seeking ceremony." The woman, Storm, grabs my arm and jerks me down the path endless path.

"Don't you dare look back at him," she whispers, "He's nothing but trouble, you had better stay away from him.

"But he seemed nice!" I say as I stumble after her.

Storm shakes her head. "Hatchlings are all the same. So innocent and naive."