The Memory Thief | ONC2020 [AMBASSADOR PICK]

Chapter 1

Note: The prompt(s) won't come into play until later on in the story.

"Cum navitas mea,

In animum meum,

Ante mihi ostium, tibi praecipio aperta.

Porta aperta."

The words left Liliya's lips in a hoarse whisper. Sitting cross-legged on the cobbled street of a small, dark alleyway, her braid out of the way down her back and her palms faced up, she focused all her inner energy on the chalk-drawn oval in front of her.

"Porta aperta," she spoke the words her ancestors had ritualised centuries ago. The same words she'd used so many times in the past decade. "Porta aperta!"

A surge of power made her gasp and her eyes flung open. There, at the end of the alley, the portal flickered into life. It stood ten feet tall, midnight-blue energy sparkling off of it like electricity. The middle existed of nothing; a black hole stretched out into nothingness. For Liliya, this had always been the scariest part of travelling by portal: you never knew if you'd end up where you wanted to be until you took the leap.

With one last look over her shoulder into the empty alleyway, Liliya picked up her faded green purse and stepped gingerly through the portal.

A familiar tug on every inch of her skin instantly made itself known. It was as if the energy, the very essence of the portal, constantly gave her tiny little shocks. As if something tried to pull her skin off of her body. Her other senses picked up nothing, and yet she kept pushing forward.

Her face lit up when the darkness made way for the most beautiful shades of green. Liliya found herself in a clearing, surrounded on all sides by trees reaching up to touch the sky. The ground was littered with brown, shrivelled up leaves, hazelnuts and pinecones. A gentle breeze blew through the trees and raindrops pattered softly on the highest branches, but sunlight still managed to break through the foliage. Liliya breathed in the smells of wet wood and new moss. Birds twittered somewhere high above her head.

Right, focus, Liliya told herself, setting off into the forest. Leaving the portal behind, she kept her eyes on the trees as she slipped past them as swiftly as she could. It was the bright little leaves she searched for, the ones that looked a bit like mashed-together three-leaf clovers.

Dashing through the forest, pushing through bushes and hopping over fallen branches, Liliya had only one goal in mind. Those leaves meant everything. If she could get her hands on them, her life was saved. And that of her mother.

Crack.

Liliya froze, her heart in her throat, peering around for any sign of life.

Crunch.

Her body flinched at another loud noise, while her eyes shot up to the tip of a tree to her right. A whoop and a screech followed, making her muscles relax. It was only the Eloko, the ape-like creatures that protected the forest. They were peaceful creatures, nothing to be afraid of.

Under their watchful gaze, Liliya continued her trek through the woods. Peaceful or not, their stares sent a shiver up her spine. Especially now. If the wrong people caught her here...

With her heart pounding against her ribcage, Liliya strode on. Her eyes shot back and forth, the large, green-skinned, hairy creatures distracting her from her goal.

Damn it, Lil, focus!

More trees passed and the Eloko only got closer, more and more curious about the strange human walking through their forest. They swung off branches to get closer. They sniffed the air to pick up her scent. They screeched over their shoulders to call for more of their kind to come and see what they'd found. With every step, Liliya saw more stomp noses and bright-green eyes pop up between the trees. The whoops and screeches that made up their language became louder and louder.