The time we fell was passing in slow motion. I had time to check my surroundings. Saw the beats jumping of the cliff above us in an attempt to reach us. I looked at my sister and gave her another reassuring smile. She reciprocated it and squeezed my hand. ‚Never let go‘, is what we had promised each other. And that‘s a promise we determined to keep.

Right before we should hit the violently crashing waves of the ocean I saw the distortion in the air around us. Then we reached the in-between. Time slowed down. The sounds were muffled. The reality around us got fuzzier with each second. I took a deep breath and suddenly time itself grabbed my leg and pulled me into the nothingness. Darkness surrounded me. I was robbed from all my senses. The only sure thing was my sisters hand in mine. I felt time and space and magic tear at my body and my soul. Everything was everywhere all at once.

And then it stopped. For a brief second even my heart beat stopped. Followed by a violent pull right of that weird place. Everything accelerated and then we got spit out. My sisters hand still in mine I got thrown onto a green meadow somewhere near the woods. It wasn‘t a soft landing. But I was used to it. Unlike my sister who squealed surprised and rubbed her head where it hit the ground. „Are you alright?“ I asked her immediately. „Yeah, I think so.“ She didn‘t sound sure. But from what I could see all body parts were still attached. „Did we make it?“ She asked. „Yes, we are off by about ten meters - but yes, we are right where we‘re supposed to be.“

There was a whooshing sound and an arm appeared out of thin air and fell right between us. Maddie screamed and panically moved back a bit. „It‘s alright! It‘s just the arm of someone who clearly didn‘t know what they were doing. It‘s not dangerous - at least for us - and they can‘t follow. I made sure of that. The portal is closed. And that‘s what happens to anyone who doesn‘t heed the warning.“ I smiled grimly. Maddie calmed down with my words but still clearly was overwhelmed by all that was happening. „It‘s just… exactly like you‘ve told me and yet - so differently. Does that make any sense?“ I chuckled, „it actually does. Now you know how I felt the first time I jumped. Now let‘s get moving. I am getting hungry and we still have a little walk ahead.“ With that I stood up and pulled Maddie also to her feet.

I tried to answer all her questions while we were walking through the little forest and told her as much as I could about portals and time walks. Like a sponge she seemed to absorb every little detail. Her eyes were glowing with interest, One day she‘ll do her own time walks. But for now I needed to keep here safe.

It didn‘t take too long for us to reach a little path that finally merged with a bigger forest path, large enough to fit a vehicle. We turned left and merely ten minutes later we took another turn to the right. And there it was. An old rusty gate. The detailed works on it were impressive, yet time has taken its toll. Behind the gate was nothing but another path. Everything was overgrown and would I have tried to open the gate I would have failed miserably.

I took my sisters hand and into mine and stood patiently in front of the gate. She looked at me questioningly, but I was already focusing on the power dwelling inside me and starting whispering the cantation. And when I finished it and opened my eyes again the gate was as shiny as it was on the day it got built. The path behind the gate was an old cobblestone road leading through a well maintained garden behind the fencing and peeking through some trees we could see Aerilon Manor.

Maddie gasped and with a smile on my face I opened the gate for us to enter, „Welcome home, Maddie!“