Journey to the Kingdom of Thorelind

Chapter 4: Prince Nicholas

        Emma was flung out of the Time Wheel and hit the ground with a loud thud. The wind was knocked out of her and her head was pounding at a million miles. She opened her eyes with blurred vision and sat up  feeling  dizzy.

        The Time Wheel pulled Emma through, she knew that for sure even with a raging headache. Which, only meant one thing. The Time Wheel worked.

        But how?

        The means to power something of that magnitude could not be developed for another two hundred years in present time - let alone - twelve hundred years ago. And even if the right power was consumed, traveling through such a device should bring instant death since the human body could not withstand such exposure to energy at that level. Emma was no scientist and she was still alive but that puzzled her.

        Emma stood up and stumbled a bit before finding a tree to balance herself. She was in a forest and a large one at that. Just by looking around she could see that it did not end for miles, maybe a day by foot. It did not look like any forrest she’d ever been to in Seattle. The trees were abnormally large and looked like they reached the starlit sky. It was dark but the moon gave off just enough light for her to see.

        Emma found the piece of the Time Wheel at her feet. She picked it up and turned around to find the device lodged in a slope a few feet away from where she stood. She pushed the piece into the hole and tried to turn it but nothing happened.

        It was very strange.

        When Emma turned it at the museum the Time Wheel came alive and now nothing. She used all of her strength and it would not budge.

        “It will not work.” A soft voice said from behind her.

        Emma turned around startled and dropped the rock.

        A woman stood in front of her wearing a green dress with long dark flowy hair. In the moonlight the woman looked around Emma’s age, maybe a little younger but muted lighting could be tricky.

        “I’m sorry, who are you?” Emma asked.

        “I live in the forest in a place with no light,” the strange woman replied. “You came through the Time Wheel, did you not?”

        “Yes,” Emma nodded her head, glad to have met someone who knew about the Time Wheel. “I activated it somehow. All I want is to get back to my own time, that’s all.”

        “Are you past or future?”

        Emma looked around, of course she wouldn’t be able to tell since she was standing in a never ending dark forest. But from the way the woman was dressed Emma took a wild guess at what century she was in.

        “I’m from the future. Do you know how I can get back to my time?”

        The strange woman sighed. “I’m afraid that you will not be able to tonight. But, tomorrow at twilight the portal will open again and you can use the key to return to your time.”

        Emma furrowed her eyebrows. “Key? What key?”

        “The one at your foot.” she replied with a smile.

        Emma looked down and it all made since. The missing piece that Peter Croft found was not just rock chipped off of the Time Wheel, it was the key.

        Emma picked it up.

        “Keep it in a safe place until tomorrow night,” the strange woman warned. “And remember do not come in contact with anyone, for fear that the future you return to may not be the same.”