Chapter 1

At that same time, to the south, in Bhel'Ehzz, the capital of Khaballe, in the court of King Nherycyn, Athar, wizard and Advisor to the King, had to suddenly excuse himself from the daily proceedings due to a major "disturbance" he felt. Just to the north, in the Towers of the Moons, Khyrhyelle, High Witch of the Moons, abruptly halted the teaching of a difficult incantation to her students because she also felt a "disturbance." In that same tower, Arhyvhynne and Eyrmysse, daughters of Khyrhyelle and members of the Council, both had visions of a black goat tearing at the only leaf on a tree which bled grey into the snow. And far to the west, beyond Tanglewood, in the Erlym Range, the blind eyes of the one known as the Dweller Between the Stone gleamed brightly.

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Uriel, confident on the outside, shaken on the inside, had made his way northward down the slope of the mountain for the remainder of the day. As dusk approached, he wondered if he should continue to travel or try to find a place suitable to rest for the night. Though it was getting colder and he had no idea of where he was or where he was going, he had nothing with him as far as provisions were concerned, either. Hoping to find his destination (wherever that was) he continued onward since he still had some decent light thanks to the twin moons. Twin moons. A little different from Earth, he thought. The twin moons weren't stretching his imagination too much. He had known that other planets had more than one moon, but two suns? That was very different. The foliage was quite different, too. Most of the trees were pines, but these were enormous here (larger than around the clearing), easily reaching three hundred feet high and three to four feet wide, with needles of a red-maroon hue and didn't have the sweet scent of the smaller variety. There were red flowers with thick black veins reminiscent of dahlias which grew in the snow. When Uriel pulled one from the ground, it gave off a very pungent odor. There was bramble that was pale violet and looked very soft, almost furry. Uriel reached down to touch it once and it constricted around his hand and cut him. It had taken a few minutes, a small amount of panic and all his strength to free his hand from the bramble. After that incident he decided not to investigate the nature of this world any further until he could secure a guide.