It was dark in this room. I had no idea where I was. Everything around me was pitch black. The only thing I could see was what was in front of me which was nothing at all. I could hear voices echoing in my head, but none sounded familiar.

  Out of all sounds, the most distinct was a low laugh of a woman. It grew louder and louder as if the person was coming near. After a while, there were footsteps followed by scratches: metal on stone.

  It gave me chills down my spine. I covered my ears, not wanting to hear these sounds, but I continued to hear them, knocking in my brain. I screamed, but it does no good. In fact, it made things worse.

  The laughing came closer and the figure was visible. Surely, it was a woman, but a dark shadow clouded her face and when she spoke, it was mixed with a man and woman. "Hyori, you should go home now before things get worse. You don't belong here."  The noises cease, so I uncovered my ears, staring at the figure. Beside her, I saw a glint of metal. My eyes widen as I recognized the size and shape. My breath shallowed, as my heart beated fast.

  "You don't belong here," she repeated, "You should return home."

  "I can't." I managed to say without knowing. It didn't sound like my voice at all, but it was.

  "You can't? Then shall I do it myself?" She whispered, raising her sword. "Good-bye." In a single move, she slashed deep into my skin, going down my body.  I screamed in pain as the cut burned my skin. I felt my blood running down and staining the cold blade. My vision blurred as I was nearing death.  "You need to go home," was the last thing I heard before I woke up from my nightmare.

  I was gasping for air as my eyes flung open. Sweat was running down my forehead and neck. My breath was heavy, still feeling the fear I had when I was asleep.

  "Had a nightmare?" A male voice came.

  I turned my head to the doorway, seeing Dongho holding a lamp and leaning against the wall. How long has he been standing there? 

  "What do you want?" I questioned.

  He walked up to me, not saying a word, and placed the lamp on the bedside table. He leaned close, both hands resting on the bed beside me and whispered, "You had a nightmare, didn't you?"

  I didn't reply.

  Dongho rubbed my neck, wiping away my sweat and stood straight up. "Have you seen or touched a Shadow?" He asked, rubbing his thumb and index finger together.

  "No. When I woke up, I was saved by Hyuna from some dog-creature-thing." I said, using hand gestures even though I knew they didn’t help with descriptions. I was used to doing that when I talk.

  “Hm… Hold still.” He once again leaned close to me and pressed his two fingers against my chest, near my heart. He pressed deeper as if he’s trying to stab me.

  I felt the pinch, but didn’t do anything until his finger dug deeper, piercing my skin. I clenched my teeth, holding back my scream. The pain was spreading, aching my chest. “Stop!” I cried.

  “Sh!”

  I glared at him, ready to beat him to a pulp if I make it out alive. What is he doing anyway? I watched him carefully as his eyes were shut and he mouthed some words I couldn’t hear.

  In a split second, he flung his eyes open, showing a tint of pale white and pulled his hand away, dragging a dark mist. It came with a shrill scream, wiggling around to get out of Dongho’s grasp. It was no use; his grip was strong.

  Dongho grinned at his catch. “Huh. Good thing I found you early. You know it’s bad to scare young girls,” he told it and flung it into the lamp fire.

  It screamed again as it tried escaping, but it was only getting into the fire, causing it to turn a deep purple. The scream ceased as the Shadow shortens. A hand shot up, trying to grab me.

  “Back off!” Dongho shouted, sending a burst of light at it.

  It pulled back with another scream and disappeared completely.

  “What just happened?” I exclaimed, both amused and frightened.

  “That is the cause of your nightmares. It must have gotten in you when you were unconscious. You should thank me for taking it out.”

  “Thanks.” I said weakly. It feels strange speaking to him. I’m afraid of saying something and he’ll twist my words. “How did you know?”

  “I felt it staining your clothes.”

  Really? I thought he was just a sick ert.

  “Now that I’m done here, why don’t we sneak up on a conference?” He wiggled his eyebrows and rubbed his hands together.

  “Oh no you won’t!” I heard Kevin coming in a hurry. “Not without me at least. It sounds fun and I’d like to know what Mother is up to.”

  Dongho rolled his eyes. “Fine, just don’t make any noise if you want to stay.”

  “I won’t. Hurry before they start.”

  Dongho came up to Kevin and paused. “Are you coming or what?” He asked me.

  “Why should I?” I retorted.

  “Maybe you’ll find out if you can return home or not.”

  Home. I wanted to go back to that place. The place where I grew up. I scrambled out of my blankets and followed them.

  “They’re usually in the library.” Kevin commented as we walked down the corridors.

  “Sh! We’re getting close,” Dongho snapped. He stopped at a double door and opens it a crack. He knelt, so we can see.

  I was above him while Kevin was above me. In front, I could see twelve people gathering, all of different ages and wearing dark blue cloaks except for two: the Queen and Eli.

  “Everyone take your seats and we will begin,” an old man ordered, sitting next to the Queen.

  Everyone sat and waited for the next step.

  “Hyuna has brought in an Earthling from the New Age. She wasn’t able to bring her back to where she came from, so she showed me the prophecy and it reads,” the Queen took out a scroll that was torn at the bottom and read it to them:

  On the day of despair

A warrior comes unprepare

Training is the only thing you must do

To prepare for the siege that will come through

On the night when the walls crack

The Shadows will plan their attack

The warrior must be ready

To keep the Kingdom steady

Two is captured in the night

But one doesn’t give up without a fight

Fate will take its toll

And cause the Shadows to win this roll

 The can not return warrior must now

Take a vow

To protect this never ending world

As a new problem is being unfurled

One is how many will slip away

Two is how many will betray

Three is how many will forget their place

And cause chaos in their own race

  “There’s more, but this is all that’s left,” the Queen ended, adding an explanation, “The other part is missing.”

  “How do we know this girl is the warrior?” A woman in her near thirties asked.

  “Hyuna told me there was something strange about her, but she doesn’t know what. And she perfectly matches the description. The girl doesn’t know how to fight and can’t return home.”

  “That isn’t enough.” The old man stated, “We had that problem in the past. It was only because there was a solar flare at that time and everyone knows a solar flare can repel our magic.”

  “No.” The Queen argued, “Hyuna tried it again several times while she was asleep, so when she wakes up, it’ll all seem like a dream. It didn’t work!”

  As everyone jumped in to say something, I watched Eli as he sat there calmly, listening to their conversation. I watched him cross his arms and close his eyes, only to open them back up and look at our direction. Or more like, directly at me.

  “! Retreat!” Dongho shouted, going back. He hitted my chin as I took a step back, stepping on Kevin’s toe.

  We were suppose to escape, but ended up making a ruckus.

  “Sh!”

  “Ow! That’s my foot!”

  “Who the hell slapped me?” The last voice was Dongho before we fell forward, opening the door, and toppled over each other.

  “Oops,” this time it was Kevin, giving a grin to all the counsel members that were giving us shocked stares.

  The Queen stood in burning rage. “Dongho! Kevin! What are you two doing? You’re not part of the council!”

  Dongho pushed Kevin and me off. He stood and bowed in respect. “I understand we are not suppose to attend, but I’m sure we are involved.” He gives a sly smile, “The warrior in the prophecy isn’t prepared for the siege, am I right?” He doesn’t wait for a reply, adding, “And as prince, along with my other two brothers, we are trained professionally. We can train Hyori personally out of our experiences rather than a real trainer. The more comfortable she is, the better she’ll train.”

  I sat Indian-style and stared at everyone’s expressions. They were giving much thought except for Eli. He was fascinated, giving a small grin and raising his eyebrows.

  “We’ll agree to these terms,” the old man said. I’m guessing he’s the Head, since no one argues with this notion.

  Eli scoffed.

  Dongho turned his gaze to him, “If you don’t want to be involved, I can ask Kiseop to replace you.”

  He shifted his dark eyes to his younger brother. “Who says I don’t want to be involved? It sounds quite interesting.”

  He looked away.

  Kevin jumped in. “Does that mean we have a new schedule?”

  “Of course,” Dongho grumbled.

  “We will continue discussing the plans,” the Queen announced and turned to me, “without the Earthling.”

  Earthling. I hated how they called me Earthling when they were originally from Earth in the first place. Just because she lived a hundred years before me, doesn’t mean she could treat me like a slave! I held my anger in and left, grumbling to myself. I want to know what they’re going to do about this! I want to know if I truly am the warrior. And I want to know if I can return home.

  As the doors close, I saw a silhouette in the distance. The face was blocked by a shadow and clanking sounds were echoing as the figure approaches.

  I was remembering my dream and the prophecy.

  ‘Two will betray.’

  Is this person going to kill me? Is this one of the people that will betray this Kingdom? I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t want to find out. I wanted to turn around and enter the library, but the door didn’t budge. They must’ve locked the door so I wouldn’t get in. I turned around to see the figure much closer. My heart slowed as I recognized the familiar face.

  AJ.

  “Are you okay?” He asked, touching my forehead, “Are you sick? You seem very pale.”

  I stared at what he was holding. It was a tray of teacups and a tea pot. I took a couple of steps back, bumping into the door. “Oh. Uh. I’m fine.” My voice trailed, “Is that for the meeting?”

  “Was. Until I found out the door was locked.” He smiled. “Do you want some, Milady?”

  I shook my head, followed by a growl. I flushed in embarrassment.

  AJ chuckled. “Or maybe you want something more than tea. Come with me to the kitchen. I’ll prepare something for you for breakfast.”

  I followed him to the kitchen. It was smaller than I had expected. I was imagining it to be as big as the ones I’ve heard in stories. It had a mixture of a medieval theme and the modern day. There was a fireplace under a stove-like topping and the sink was being pumped from the ground. They kept their food in a pantry and if it needed cooling, they used magic.

  “What would you like to eat?” AJ asked, looking inside the pantry. “If you want eggs, I’ll have to get them from the poultry.”

  “No. I’ll have pancakes.”

  “Uh. That requires eggs.”

  “Oh.” I forgot they don’t have the instant flour where you just add water.  “What do you have?”

  “Toast with jam.”

  “Okay. I’ll have that.”

  “We ran out of jam, so it’s now just toast,” AJ said, holding out an empty jar.

  I shook my head, grinning.

  “You can add sugar if you have a sweet tooth.”

  “What about peanut butter?”

  “That could work, too.” He searched for another jar and handed it to me. “I’ll get the toast.” He went to another pantry and found a loaf of bread. “Don’t worry. It’s still fresh. There’s an enchantment placed on it to keep it fresh.” He waved his hand on it to remove the enchantment and sliced it carefully with a knife.

  I watched him, noticing everything I missed the first time I saw him. I could see his eyes were a shade of dark brown with a tint of red. His hair was a brown color in this lighting while last night, it seemed black. Last time was pretty dark, so I didn’t pay attention to him. I saw as he had a nice jaw-line while his body was average, not too skinny nor muscular. What do I expect? He’s a servant. Certainly, he wouldn’t be in combat.

  “Have anymore for me?” A deep and familiar voice said by the entrance.

  I found Kiseop there in his armor. From here, he was even more attractive, but there was a deep scar that ran down his right cheek. There were probably more scars, covered by the armor.

  AJ sliced another slice. “I’ll get more if you’d like. You’re going to get hungry during your post.”

  “If I eat too much, I’ll get sleepy. I’ll take the toast and go.”

  He shrugged. “Here.” AJ held out the floppy bread.

  Kiseop snatched it and turned, finally noticing me. I couldn’t help but stare at his scar. He touched it and covered it with his hair like last night. “This has been here for a while. I’m not going to tell you what happened. There’s no need for it right now. I heard you were staying from Hyuna.”

  “Hyuna?”

  “She tells me everything.”

  Strange. She seemed like she didn’t like Kiseop all that much. If it was Eli, then I would have understood. She has feelings for him, obviously. “Where is she now?”

  “Most likely in the forest. She spends her time over there, searching for humans like you and send them back home.”

  “She does that everyday?”

  “Sort of. People arrive here by accident and Hyuna searches before they get killed by an animal. Once they’re back, they’ll think of it as a dream.”

  “I won’t. Everything is too real for me.” I stated, poking my bread.

  He remained expressionless. “You might forget instead. We can’t let anyone know about this world. We won’t know what will happen if we let someone stay from Earth. See what happened here? We ruined the balance and now a new species have joined: The Shadows.”

  AJ shuddered. “I wonder why they want this land, too. They won’t be immortal, just young.”

  “They want to control every world, no matter what it offers.”

  “I think that’s a waste.” He poured tea into one of the cups and handed it to each of us.

  “Thank you,” I said, taking the warm cup into my hand. The mist hit me very lightly, warming my cheeks. I took a sip and felt it run down my body. It was refreshing after all this stress.

  Kiseop took it in one gulp and set the cup down. “I have to go now. I just found out the West Wall is cracking. A Shadow had tried to get out, but we stopped it before it could do any fatal damage.”

  My eyes widened and it felt as if the glass cup could fall out of my hands any moment. The wall is cracking? No. The prophecy can’t be right. I can’t be the warrior. I know nothing about combat! I should have played those videogames when my cousin offered it to me. At least I’ll have some knowledge about tactics and stuff.

  “I’ll be back for lunch.” He single waved at us and left.

  I was still frozen, thinking about what he just said. The wall is cracking. It can’t be true!

  “Are you alright?” AJ asked for the second time this morning.

  “So the prophecy is real?”

  He chewed his lip. “Most likely.”

  I gulped. “I’m not sure if I’m ready for this.”

  “I’m pretty sure you will be. A warrior is strong.”

  “Have you not read it! It clearly states-“

  “I know what it says, but I’m sure you can do it.” He patted my shoulder.

  I really hope so, too.