Escape from Aelendor

Chapter 5

I was falling.

Falling.

And falling.

And then I wasn't.

I flickered my eyes open. The light was blinding. I tried getting up but kept sinking down until my shoes eventually found the hard floor. I sucked in a breath and lurched forward. My footing was uneven and I realized I was stepping on a leg.

I yelped and fell over. Amari began to move, lifting his head with crooked glasses. He shifted to his feet easily and eyed me. Tentatively, he held out his hand and I took it, his warmth soaking my cold hand.

I looked up at him, eyes adjusting to the light. His hair was extremely disheveled and guarded his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he answered blankly. "You?"

I released a shaky breath. "Yeah. Where...are we? Wait," My mind flashes back to the feeling of weightlessness. "I...jumped out of a window," I stated incredulously. "Why am I not dead?"

"Because we didn't touch the ground," Amari states simply.

"...how?"

"Because we were..." he trails off. His eyes darted at me like he was hesitant to finish his sentence.

I frown at him. Then I notice a box of crates in the darker part of the room. As I make my way towards them, I feel his gaze follow me.

"Queen Eliza..." I read aloud from the stamping on the wood. The familiarity of that name made my blood rush.

A few moments of heavy silence pass.

"Ziah-"

"Queen Eliza." I started again, strong. "'Known for her ruthless nature and unfeeling actions, the royal fairy maintains the role of keeping a balance between our world and the magical world.' Volume 3, page 198 of All Things Magical by Aelynthar Starwhisper." My voice gets quieter as I finish. I turn slowly, giving the person of my demise a hard glance. "Amari...where are we?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he asks easily.

"No. It really isn't." But even as I said that, a ball of apprehension weighed down in my stomach. My mind was running in circles and trying to deny reality, but my body could feel the difference. The air was colder. Much colder. As I exhaled, I could faintly make out my breath in the air. I was oddly heavier on my feet, and the air held a strange tingling sensation like it was ready to burst at any sudden movement. I stared at the crate a moment longer. "I don't know where we are, Amari. I don't know where you brought me."

There was a tremble of accusation in my voice that made him roll his eyes. "Wow, no thank you?" he asks irritably. When I don't say anything, he continues, "Don't blame me for what happened. It was the only option for us to escape after you decided to set the entire room on fire, including our only exit."

Amari's unfazed manner and disapproving tone made my blood boil. I clenched my teeth, fighting the anger, and newfound guilt, threatening to spill over. "You didn't answer my question."

"We are in the Aelendor, Ziah." I whirled on him, disbelief and fear washing over me like a bucket of ice-cold water. We looked at each other, our gazes unwavering. He paused before continuing, "I told you to jump through the window because I knew it was a portal. Because I could see the portal. And I did it because-"

"There are no portals in the school. We are not in Aelendor."

Amari clicks his tongue. "I can't believe all you unseeing are so thick. Can't you see it Ziah? Can't you feel it?" His eyes burn into mine, trying to bore some reason within me. "Fine, tell me this. If we were not transported to the magical realm, then why are our dead bodies not sitting on the steps of the university? Hm?"