The Last Theiro

11

Tessa
•••

I held my breath and stepped through the portal together with Alec. I still couldn't believe I had agreed to go with him so easily. It hurt knowing that I would be leaving everything behind. But maybe I needed this. Maybe I needed to get away from all the people I loved the most, to distance myself from them so I wouldn't be able to hurt them.

My feet touched solid ground and the portal closed behind me. I looked around me and stared with awe at the tall buildings made of sandstone with dark wooden linings. The city around me was built at the base of a rugged mountain and was truly an architectural urban phenomenon. Its beauty was matched by the backdrop of snowy mountains and I could see a luscious forest. In the distance, I could see a beautiful waterfall where the water shone like stars in the night sky. There were clouds hovering in the night sky, not the normal white ones we had back at my world, but they were clouds of every colour.

"Where are we?" I murmured in awe.

Alec turned to me, wearing a bright smile. "Welcome to Phenomena. The World that possesses the power of true happiness and love."

My brow furrowed. "How many worlds are there?"

"Well, there are four worlds, each possessing a different kind of force," Alec explained. "The world you lived on was called Insipid. No power or force exists on Insipid, which makes the world incredibly vulnerable. People escape their own worlds to live on Insipid, where they wish to start their own empire. Then we have Murk, a world that possesses the power of darkness. I've never been to Murk so I don't really know what it's like. And the final world, the most dangerous one. Iniquitous. The power that exists on Iniquitous is pure evil. It's too much for an ischyros to control and there are very few people living there."

"If I was living on Insipid, how am I an ischyros?" I asked Alec.

He pursed his lips and looked away from me. "Some things in life remain a mystery, Tessa." He slowly whispered.

I stared at Alec's back. He seemed to know something, but he was too scared to reveal it, afraid of what might happen.

There was a noise from behind me and I span around on my heels. I could make out a white figure standing in the dark and I could see two eyes that glowed bright red. I squinted my eyes and leaned in closer to the darkness.

"Tessa?" Alec's voice pulled me out of my thoughts and I turned to him.

"I just thought I saw something," I muttered and gestured towards the darkness.

Alec's electric blue eyes searched the darkness behind me and he squinted, straying his eyes to make out the figure that stood in the darkness. He bit his lip and his eyes flickered over to me.

"We need to go." He demanded and began walking towards the snowy mountains in a hurry.

I joined him and furrowed my brows. "Where are we going?"

"To your new school," Alec stated simply then glanced at my confused expression. "The school that will teach you how to use your abilities and how to control them." He further explained.

When we reached the mountains, Alec placed his hand on the snow that covered it and whispered an incantation.

Suddenly, the mountain opened up and Alec grabbed my hand and pulled me inside, the opening closing behind us.