The Children of Frevallion

Chapter One

The pounding feet behind me intensified. I thrust my staff forward, tearing open a portal. Pale blue light rippled as it connected with the air, shadows dappling the surface. It moved like cascading water around the tear in the Penumbra, the fabric holding our universe together.

Shouts echoed in the distance, and thudding footsteps closed in. They were gaining on me. The dust and grit from the parched earth coated my throat, burning my lungs while the metallic taste of fear lingered on my tongue. My breath came in ragged gasps; pain flared at my side, and my muscles locked up in terror. Desperation spurred me forward. The cracked earth crumbled beneath my feet, thin wafers of dust shattering into ruddy shards. One more step. With a final burst of energy, I hurled myself into the portal, twisting to close it behind me. It was risky— mistiming the closure could slice me in two, leaving half of me in Vandejaan's deserts and the other half in the icy mountains I landed. But this wasn't my first time closing a portal mid-dive. Light flickered as I traced my staff around the portal's edges, zipping it shut.

I collapsed into a snowbank, my lungs burning and my heart pounding in my ears. Relief washed over me, and my body shook as adrenaline ebbed. They were gone—and I was free.

The cold snow soaked into my thin garments in moments, pulling me from my brief respite. I hadn't been bisected, but I'd leapt into one of the most inhospitable places imaginable. I hadn't thought about where to go, only that I needed to get away, to go home.

Slowly, I heaved myself up, my legs trembling. I had no food, no warm clothes, and no equipment. No one was nearby to offer help. The desert had been unforgiving, but at least I knew how to survive there. Here, in the mountains, I might have just sealed my fate.

Fierce blasts of wind whipped round me, nearly knocking me off balance. The cold gnawed at my skin, biting through my thin clothing with sharp fangs. I stumbled, and dropped to my knees, struggling to regain my bearings. The cliff I was stood on was no wider than a pool table. The sheer drop vanished into an abyss below. Tendrils of fog snaked across the edge, threatening to obscure it entirely. I needed to be careful. One wrong step and I'd plunge to my death. The wind roared, but suddenly died down, allowing me a brief moment to breathe.

I wished I had mastered the ability to open portals with ease. My training was far from complete, and my body was spent. Days of running with little water and no food had drained me. Another attempt to open a portal might very well be my undoing.

Scanning the horizon, I spotted the outline of a distant forest, a rugged line of pines stretching across the landscape. The mountains curved like the jagged spine of a dragon. Of all the places to land, it had to be here. How was I going to escape? The snow concealed treacherous ground and panic curdled my stomach. I was trapped. No one knew I was here. No one was coming to save me.

Stop. Stop. Don't hyperventilate. Don't. Count. Five, four, three, two, one. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

Gradually, my heartbeat slowed. There had to be a way out of this. Just then, the sun began to rise, casting light over the horizon. It lightened the edge of the sky. Then, slowly, beams of sunlight broke over the horizon, illuminating the world. It radiated delicate light as tiny particles hovered, glinting. I stood for a while, transfixed by the tiny flakes swirling in the air.

Below, the forest and hills looked otherworldly in the early light, cloaked in mist and mystery. The wildness of this place beckoned. Thin silvery rivers wove through valleys. Mist sat delicately in the clefts and folds of the hills below. Further away, a plume of grey smoke slowly floated up into a long column, twisting and turning. Was that a village? Had someone just lit a morning fire?

The thought of fire and the warmth that it would bring jolted me awake. I shook myself, focusing on survival. My clothes were stiff with cold, and I realised I couldn't feel my feet. That knowledge seemed to rip through my whole body. Something primal awoke in me. An animalistic instinct. It thrummed in my gut. My body started moving without my brain's awareness. Instinct led me now. Running forward, I leapt off the cliff.