Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Colter

Forests of Howard, Kingdom of Howard

Laughter spread throughout the trees; it was a boisterous, powerful laughter. Prince Colter Howard was traversing the forest once more. The adrenaline he feels, the way his blood races when he is trekking through the unknown brings a sense of thrill that he was almost addicted to. He jumped over trees, forced himself through undergrowth after undergrowth, his face was speckled with leaves and dirt. Exhaling loudly, he leapt from one tree into another, plucked an apple in one fluid motion then slid down the trunk and rested on a great tree’s roots.

“The fruit here tastes the best.” The young prince muttered, wiping the apple on his clothes, and taking a giant chunk out of it with one bite.

As he chewed on this little piece of heaven, his thoughts were suddenly invaded once more by that brown-haired woman in his dreams. Her beauty almost enthralled him, making him feel things he never felt before. His heart practically marked itself on his chest it beat loudly.

“Any stronger and it might jump out of my mouth” Julian told himself, with a mouthful of apple. All his thoughts refocused on that beauty that invaded his dreams.

His instincts suddenly tensed up as he heard something moving in the bushes, the thoughts of the girl vanished instantly as he moved into an alerted stance. The source of the sound was a cute white rabbit that barreled its way through the said bushes. It was jumping back and forth, as if trying to get his attention.

Chuckling to himself, Colter darted forward trying to grab at it, but the rabbit’s agility passed his. It deftly dodged his arms and took off running further into the forest. Clicking his tongue in frustration, a smile crept on his face, a childish glee of chasing down a small creature to domesticate it filled his brain.

The prince took off running, because flying after it wouldn’t be fair, it was too boring to immediately catch his quarry. Careening through various vines and bushes, he located the rabbit. It was running as fast as it could, away from Colter.

“Hey, come here!” he shouted after it, laughing, as he almost tripped over a gigantic root due to his own loss of focus of his surroundings. “I won’t hurt you! I swear!”

But the rabbit, probably due to it being an animal didn’t understand a word he said and thought he was going to turn it into his dinner, ran even faster.

Colter ducked at the last second, saving himself from a lump in the head, as a branch was in his way while he chased the white rabbit. His thoughts were consumed by a desire to catch it that he didn’t realize he was venturing into parts of the forest he hasn’t been to yet. It was a few more minutes later he accepted the fact that he lost track of the rabbit and that he himself was now lost.

“What better way than to explore the unknown!” he told himself excitedly, glancing around at the new spot he found. “That little guy brought me to a new place! This is going to be fun.”

There were variants of flowers that he had never seen before, trees with even thicker trunks than what he usually sees, it was a different ecosystem entirely. Animals of all shapes and sizes were there too, as they do not dare venture out closer to civilization.

They stared at him suspiciously from the safety of their trees and bushes, annoyed by his loud presence as he had disturbed their quiet place. Colter, ever the adventurer took no heed of it and took in the ambiance of the area. “What a wonderland it is!” he shouted, making all the docile animals flinch.

It was as if he was transported to a new world, he silently cursed himself for not going this far into the forest before. Everything was brand new, and this experience took away his thoughts of that beautiful woman lingering in his dreams. An hour passed, and he found nothing he could familiarize with. But from the direction he was facing, he felt a pulsating energy. A magical pulse that reached his very existence, his soul. Walking towards it, he found something else entirely. The rabbit, the woman, the new depths of the forest were now forgotten temporarily.

It was as if someone left a huge mirror in the middle of nowhere. It gave off a magnificent warmth, as if alluring the young prince. He moved towards it slowly, never taking his eyes off it. It was like steel cables latched unto him and reeled him in. It was a circular magical thing, it changed colors every few seconds while it spun in place. The lights mesmerized the young Ecanus, as if a kid discovering something new in his own bedroom. It was embedded on a wall, a wall that has aged beautifully. Another wave of magic erupted from the portal and Colter felt his heart race faster. He mindlessly reached out towards it, wanting to bask in its beautiful lights when the realization hit him.

“This is it… this is the forbidden portal they talked about. I always thought that was just an old hoax passed on by notorious gossipers.” Colter whispered, still gazing longingly at the portal.

“But it is real.” came a voice from behind him, with a gasp the prince turned towards the speaker already ready for battle.

Another Ecanus, his faces show the ravages of time, the wrinkles on his leathery face gave an air of wisdom and misery at the same time.

“Where’d you come from, old timer?” he asked suspiciously, “Here I thought I was all alone. Were you following me?” Paranoia started to creep into his voice, surely if this newcomer told his father he would be severely punished for it. This, after all, was the forbidden portal. “Whoever you are, I ask that you not inform King Malik Howard of this. He will mete a severe punishment on us both.”

The old Ecanus laughed at his words and gestured at the forest around them, “Surely you followed the rabbit?”

Colter’s eyes widened slightly, how did this old man know? “Yes. So what if I did?” a hint of indignation steeled his tone.

“That was no normal rabbit, he is a magical being that leads Ecanus to this place.” The old man answered him, “Prince Colter Howard, this is the forbidden portal that they talk of. As mesmerizing as it may look, do not cross its threshold.” His eyes suddenly lowered, as if in severe sadness, “For you will only know pain, horror and regret.”

Upon hearing the words ‘pain, horror and regret’ Colter instantly glanced at the portal, “So this is the portal. Where does it lead to, old man?”

There was no answer.

When the young prince turned to look at where the old man stood, there was no one there. “Well, isn’t that nice!” he said to himself and started to look for the missing person. But he couldn’t find him, no trail was left, he had vanished into thin air apparently. The prince stared at the sky and noticed that it was getting dark. He glanced at the portal one more time before letting out a sigh and coming back from where we came from.

The trek back was depressing, the sense of adventure had left him, the portal simply consumed all his thoughts, but Colter was still an amazing adventurer, even in his absentmindedness he still took the right paths and trails back to the forest where he was used to. His brain had already memorized it instinctively and made him pick the correct way. Still dazed and curious about the portal, he made his way out of the forest and back home where he wanted to simply lay down and think about what he saw.

“And where have you been?” a snide voice asked him, it was his brother, Gian. His eyes were staring at Colter intently, as if scrutinizing the dirt and leaves all over his body.

Not interested in having a verbal joust with his brother, “From the woods.” He passed the older prince and said nothing more.

“Right. Off you go” Gian said coyly, staring after him as his figure vanished into the entrance to their home. Something felt off. He knew that his brother was up to something, and it was up to him to find out whatever it was.

That night, Colter thrashed around in bed, the portal still consuming his thoughts, the words of the old man echoing in his mind. “For fuck’s sake!” he growled in complete frustration, pummeling his pillow. “What the hell was beyond that portal?” he murmured; his imagination unhinged as he thought of what lies after the portal.

His thoughts were of different worlds, a place made entirely out of snow and ice, a mountainous region with large flying birds, a world that burned, a city made of steel, a world where peace reigned. All these things were in his head as he tried to sleep. The curiosity consuming him from within. He wanted to know what was beyond it. He had to. But he shouldn’t.

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Vida

New York City, Earth

Her peaceful sleep slowly turned cruel and evil, as she slumbered, she gasped out the word “Help”. With a final thrash, the nightmare woke her up. Vida felt the fear in her system, her heart beating rapidly. She moved to the kitchen to grab a glass of water, to help soothe her frayed nerves.

It was another nightmare. She was being fondled and forced by an unknown assailant; the dream was so vivid that she felt his hands all over her body. It felt too real. She even checked her breasts out to see if there were marks left on her. She found nothing.

In the dream she was being forced down, while feeling awful hands ravage her body. Her hair was pulled, she was throttled by the same hands, she tried to fight back but the man was just too strong. He was ripping apart her clothes, and she couldn’t do anything but scream and shout.

“You’re all mine honey” the man said in a raspy voice, Vida couldn’t do anything but struggle futilely. When all of a sudden a new person appeared, in one fluid motion the newcomer struck her attacker across the face and caught her before she fell to the pavement.

“You okay?” the man asked her, slowly helping her up, “Let me take care of this, give me a few moments.”

Her savior focused on the rapist and launched a flurry of hits all over his body. It was so fast that Vida couldn’t keep track of each hit, Vida’s attacker tried to fight back but he couldn’t hold back the onslaught of fists and kicks that the newcomer hurled at him. Eventually, the attacker crumpled to the ground and Vida’s savior turned his attention on her.

“You should be safe now.” He said, moving towards her, as he closed in, this new person planted a passionate kiss on her, and Vida kissed back with all her might.

“What the hell…?” Vida said out loud, breaking the reverie, her cheeks were burning red as she thought of the ending of that dream. She stared at the glass of water, apparently checking if there was something in it that made her dream those kinds of things. She poured it all out in the sink and saw a fantasy book on the counter. “Oh. For fuck’s sake, these damn fantasy novels. They’re starting to find their way into my own dreams!” She moved towards her bed, hoping desperately for a dreamless sleep.