The Time War

Chapter 1

 Every step took her further into the limitless maze. She couldn't grasp any concept of time or sense of direction. There was nothing but the dense woods and silence. Even her footsteps, which should have been loud on the rocky path, were noiseless.

Alice shivered, skin stinging in the inexplicably cold summer night She forced herself to focus her eyes ahead of her, hoping to glimpse something other than trees. But there was nothing.

Stopping, legs shaking with exhaustion, Alice looked over her shoulder. Although she had been walking on a path all this time, there was no evidence of a trail behind her. It had simply been erased. Her mouth was dry from screaming, a tactic she had tried hours ago and eventually gave up on when she realized no one was coming for her. Now, there was only forwards. And forwards had to lead somewhere.

Trying to occupy her thoughts, Alice looked around her. Although roommates and teachers had warned about how easy it was to get lost in the woods, she had never truly understood why everyone was so concerned until now. Massive trees, centuries old, pushed against one another for room and their branches left little space for moonlight to get through. Going off the path would be suicide.

There was a rustling from the undergrowth and Alice looked at the bushes beside her. Normally, she might not have noticed the sound, but compared to the silence she had been walking through, the rustling was louder than thunder. The bush rustled again and some primal instinct inside of her sent her off running.

The sounds of animal footsteps growing nearer and nearer pushed her forwards. It sounded heavy. She could already hear her bones crunching in its teeth. Even then, the adrenaline could only do so much to propel her aching body forwards. Alice's legs were already quivering with effort and they felt ready to collapse.

A small golden light, distant, blinked at her through crowded branches. The sight of it sent warmth through her freezing body. Desperation and wild hope blocked out all pain and exhaustion, and Alice began running faster than she ever had.

Suddenly, a large black figure leapt in front of her. Alice startled, sliding down onto the rocks just as another figure jumped over her, running towards the animal.

It was a...boy? A boy and a creature that, while massive in size, moved so fast her eyes could barely follow it. Every time she tried to make out what it was, the beast changed its shape. It melted into the shadows between the trees, slithered in the grass, and sprung into the air: taking whatever form it could to escape the boy who kept chasing it. The only constant characteristic was the small, pointed ears on top of its head. Her mind screamed at her to run, but she was paralyzed.

Specks began to appear, swirling out of the boy's hands and into the air. They gave off a faint tan light, softly illuminating his small figure. The boy swept his arm through the air and sent the glittering flecks flying outwards in a glowing arc.

Finally coming to her senses, Alice lifted her hand and covered her eyes as it hit her. Her skin stung as a wave of grainy particles forcefully pushed past her. Lifting her hand to her face, she felt that, even though there wasn't a beach for miles, it was covered in sand. She grabbed at her face, trying to push the granules out of her eyes. Her arms began to drop down to her sides and she felt her heartbeat slow.

"Hey. Are you okay?" The sand on her lifted off of her skin, flowing into the air.

Forcing herself to open her eyes, Alice looked above her.

He was, at the most, as tall as she was, but he radiated power. From under dark blond hair, pale yellow eyes peered at her.

"Mhm," she murmured drowsily.

"Oh. Sorry. Guess I overshot it, huh? Here."

She felt sand flow under and around her, lifting her body up into the air and carrying her forwards. Alice could hear him talking, but her mind refused to listen. She turned to her left to see the monster the boy had just been fighting lying on the ground. As she watched it's sides rise and fall slowly, a troubling thought entered her mind.

"There was another one."

"What?"

"Another monster. Behind me."

"Oh. I took care of that."

But looking on the path, which hadn't disappeared this time, Alice couldn't see the second creature. What she could see, when she turned her head to look behind her, was the outline of a mansion in the distance.

"...so anyway you're going to wake up tomorrow and you're not gonna be tired anymore so you'll be really upset and really scared but then you'll realize you have superpowers and were just rescued by the Sandman which is pretty co—-"

"Huh?"

"Nevermind. How about you just sleep for now?"

Finally, they broke through the thick wall of trees and emerged into an open field. The last thing Alice saw, before tiredness finally pulled her eyelids shut, was the faint outline of a mansion—-looming in the darkness.