True North [True North series book 1/3]

I furrowed my brows as I looked at the closed door behind me. There had been a whole lot of unexplained decision-making and shoving on Thoridor’s end so far.

I huffed indignantly before approaching the stairs. Unlike the rest of the palace, these stone stairs seemed not to have been cleaned in years. The only evidence of life were the footprints in the dust on the steps.

I hesitantly stepped onto the first one, and looked up. The stone steps ascended like the intricate coils of a forgotten labyrinth, an afterthought of what once must have been a striking part of the palace, like the rest of the architecture I had seen so far.

The golden light that had poured out of the houses around the palace so beautifully seemed almost eerie here, filtering through dusty, narrow windows, painting a kaleidoscope of silvery light onto the worn, ancient walls.

The air I breathed was a blend of cool shadows and stale mildew. I filled my lungs with it, thankful there even was air to breathe here. I started my spiraling journey skyward, pausing at every other window and glaring through the milky glass at the aquatic city around the palace. I wondered if it had once been surface-level and had sunken, or if it had been built here. Each option seemed just about as unlikely as the other.

I continued my journey until finally, I reached a door. It was narrow, like the one downstairs, but this one seemed… alive, somehow. There was a moist, slippery kind of moss growing on the doorframe, seemingly coming from inside the room.

I took a deep breath, and raised my hand. What was I to do? Knock? Before I could decide on my next move, a voice called out from the other side of the door. “Enter, child.”

I reluctantly grabbed onto the cold, algae-covered door handle, and opened the door. The room beyond the doorway was breathtaking. The floor and walls were covered in flora, both aquatic and terrestrial. The roof was pointed on one end, and completely open on the other side, providing the plants with air and possibly even the faintest hint of sunlight sometimes.

I looked straight up, and noticed that instead of the lake water swirling above me like everywhere else in the air pocket the city was in, there seemed to be a gaping hole. There was a tunnel in the water, reaching all the way up to the surface.

It was a magical sight, and I stood there marveling for a moment. I understood now, how the Aquatic Ardanians never ran out of air — how terrestrial plants could grow in the depths of the lake. I just wondered about sunlight.

The voice from earlier answered my internal questions. “I summon sunlight for a few hours a day,” it said.

The voice sounded soothing, melodic, and clearly female. I looked for its owner, and found her on a bed of moss on the far side of the room.

The female was breathtaking. Her skin was a deep umber, with undertones of gold and copper, reminding me of the forest during autumn. Her hair was made up of tiny coils that framed her face like a halo, and decorated with countless flowers that almost seemed to grow directly from her scalp. Her eyes were kind, and seemed to hold the secrets of life. Although she looked to be in her mid-twenties, her presence felt ancient, like she had been around since the beginning of time.

“My name is Aeloria,” she said, “are you a friend of Thoridor’s?”

I scoffed. “Hardly,” I whispered under my breath.

Aeloria smiled knowingly. “He brought you to me,” she said, “why did he do that?”

I cleared my throat. “I am not from this world,” I began, thinking of how to even begin explaining the events that had taken place the lost couple of days.

“Indeed you are not,” Aeloria agreed.

“I fell through a gateway by accident,” I explained, “I was looking for a specific plant to help cure my sick brother, but ended up here. I need to go back as soon as possible — his health is dependent on me. Thoridor thought you might know a way to get off his lands.”

Aeloria regarded me silently for a few heartbeats.

“To travel anywhere, you must leave something, someone, and some place. You must look within yourself to find your destination,” she finally said.

I just stared at her for a long moment. “Yes,” I finally agreed, “but I know my destination, which is why I have come to you. Do you happen to know how I can get back there?”

Aeloria slowly rose from her bed, and crossed the room, her movements rigid and stiff.

“There is a prophecy that speaks of the gateways,” she said, lifting her hand and plucking a flower of a vine that wound around a wooden beam that ran along a wall.

She turned around and walked back to me, handing me the flower.

“She with an unblemished heart and blood like the sky, with stars for eyes and feathers for hands. She who summons riches from the void’s silence will materialize the quiet and grant the people’s wishes,” Aeloria recited. “It is she whom shall crown a new King and make a nation whole again. She who has known loss, agony and sacrifice like no other shall be the bearer of peace.”

I waited for her to continue, but Aeloria remained silent.

“That’s beautiful,” I said carefully, “is that the full prophecy?”

Aeloria closed her eyes and nodded minimally.

“But there is no mention of a gateway, is there?” I tried.

“Oh, but there is,” Aeloria said. She rolled her neck stiffly. “Would you tell me what your world is like?” she asked.

I bit my lip as I pictured it.

“There is greenery everywhere you look,” I said, “trees unlike the ones here. Their branches stretch out far and wide, and sometimes bear fruit or nuts that can be eaten. Their leaves are large and green and change color with the seasons, even dropping to the ground once a year and growing back the next. When the sunlight hits them from above, they look like a multicolored rooftop, and they cast playful shadows on the ground.”

“The people look like me — humans. They live in houses like the ones around the palace, made from wood or stone. We live with our families until we marry and start families of our own. We hunt and fish to provide for our families, and either use what the forest gives us, or grow our own fruits and vegetables in our gardens.”

Aeloria was staring into the distance as I spoke, and I could practically see the images she pictured in her head.

“That sounds lovely,” she finally said.

“It is,” I agreed, “I need to go back there.”

Aeloria nodded solemnly. “You need a gateway,” she said, “find the female from the prophecy, she will open one for you.”