In My Own Little World

I followed behind Ariela as she tugged me impatiently through the trees. We had been walking for almost a half hour, and during that half hour Ariela probed me with questions.
“So what’s Earth like?” She asked. I glanced up from the undergrowth to see her staring at me expectantly. How she managed to turn her head almost completely around to look at me was disturbing, but I tried to ignore it. What was even stranger was the fact that she kept walking, over roots, around stumps, between a pair of shrubs, all without so much as a forward glance. It was almost like she didn’t need to see the obstacles to know they were there.

“Miles? I asked you a question, didn’t you hear me? Or is Earth really all that bad? Is it horrible with death and destruction and disease like Lord Gareth tells us?” There it was again, that name she had dropped earlier. Didn’t she say something about hiding me from him? I ignored her barrage of questions and instead posed my own.

“Who is Lord Gareth?” Ariela didn’t look like she wanted to talk about him because she immediately turned around to face forward again. Her reluctance angered me, and before I knew what I was doing I had grabbed her forcibly by the hand and yanked her to a stop and around to face me. “Look,” I spat, “I know there is some crazy stuff going on around here, but it makes me mad that you won’t tell me what’s going on. M…. that vampire took Evelyn because she came through the gate with me. I don’t know what his plan is exactly but I need to understand this world if I’m ever going to get her back.” Ariela stared at me, calculating. I met her gaze with what I hoped was a firm glare but it was hard to be angry with her because she was so pretty. Probably elven trickery. After few more straining minutes of staring her face softened and she relented.

“I suppose I should at least tell you why you have to hide.” She admitted. She ran her hand across her forehead and sighed. “Okay. Lord Gareth has this whole world under his thumb. He claims that he and only he is the proper ruler of Tamlane. That is what we call our world. Everybody knows that his claim is absurd, because Tamlane is divided into different territories, each with their own race of people, sometimes more than one like with us and the brownies. We have always sort of ruled ourselves, we weren’t a united empire. However absurd his claim, he has the largest army, the largest territory, and lots of dark magic and nasty creatures at his disposal. He’s basically overrun the entire realm. Everybody is afraid of him, but isolated as we are, most of the territories are too small to oppose him. Only if we managed to unite all the other territories together would we stand a chance, and there are too many feuds and squabbles between them.”

“How many territories are there in Tamlane?” I asked her.
“Quite a few, oh lets see…” she started counting them off on her fingers. “There’s the vampire’s territory east of here, it’s a deep valley that shades their dark fortresses from the sun. It is a desolate place, full of wind swept trees and steep ravines. The actual name of the territory is Kendaleigha, which literally means “Valley of the Storm.” This forest is the territory of the Elves, and the Brownies I guess. It’s called Silvane, and it’s kind of stuck between all the others. To the west is Gareth’s territory, Sunil. He has a massive castle built on the mountain furthest east, and he can see clear across our forest into the territories on the other side. Sunil takes up the entire Western side of the realm, which is why it was so easy for him to overrun the rest of us. It is on the border we share with Sunil that the gateway is placed. It’s kind of the center of the entire realm, and some people suspect it holds the world together.” She seemed deep in thought for a moment before she glanced up at the sky and the position of the sun.

“We have to get moving. I don’t want you caught by Gareth’s men.”

“But you still haven’t told me why Gareth wants me dead yet!” I exclaimed. She let out a sigh of frustration.

“There are no humans in Tamlane. Gareth sealed the gate using some really ancient and evil magic. He was scared that if humans from Earth managed to get through the gate in large enough numbers, they would be able to turn the tide on his power. The gateway is constantly monitored on the Sunil side, and he’s bound to know the seal has been broken. He will hunt you relentlessly, and your human signature is like a homing beacon. He is probably curious to know how you managed to break the seal.”

“I don’t even know how we broke the seal!” I cried, frustrated. It sucks to discover that someone is out to get you for something you did without meaning to.

“That doesn’t matter. Even if you don’t know he will capture you and try to torture the information out of you. After he has extracted all the information you can give him, he will kill you without question.” Her last statement made my blood run cold, and it must have shown on my face because Ariela grabbed my hand and started to lead me away through the trees.
“Don’t worry Miles, My father can protect you. I think he will know what to do, and besides, he has been hoping that someone could break the gate from the other side. Everyone has, really. With Gareth being ever watchful in Sunil, breaking the seal from the other side was our only hope. He will help you, I’m sure of it.”