Teodora looked between the two maps in bewilderment, imagining the possibility of having some grand adventure. “Okay, okay, let’s think about this rationally.” She muttered to herself as she walked back to her bed. “There’s a very good chance that this is some kind of elaborate fake, but at the same time…”

She looked out the window where stray lines of light were pouring in from behind her closed blinds. There was a feeling in her chest that wanted her to believe it was all real. Most people always looked at her funny for the fact that she held onto the belief of magic and myths, but it never once stopped her. Now here she was, holding what felt like undeniable proof of what she had always wanted.

“What have I got to lose?” Teodora wondered aloud as she stood up, eyes bright with resolve. “I’m finding this thing or at the very least trying!”

With a goal set, Teodora began to dig around in her closet for her usual supplies. A small satchel packed with basic supplies, a flashlight, a mostly empty notepad, and a pen. Quickly, she packed everything up and grabbed the odd leather-bound book from her bed as she left the room. Teodora made her way to the entrance and pulled on a light coat and a pair of leather boots, readying herself for another one of her expeditions.

As she left, she looked back at the photograph of her father and gave it a sad smile, before ducking out of the apartment and locking the door. Teodora dashed down to the ground floor and checked if anyone was watching her as she snuck around to the backside of the apartment complex, heading towards the forest on the edges of town. She was practiced in avoiding most gazes but was still careful of the random tenant hanging outside on their balcony.

It didn’t take her very long to find herself under the painted leaves of the forest. Teodora had always enjoyed being out here more than anywhere else, perhaps because of the memories she had come to associate with it. Carefully, she navigated between the trees and rocks that happened to be on the way towards her destination near the mountain ahead.

“I wonder if I’ll even be able to find it…” Teodora said, thinking back to what the book had said. “Something about needing a… Divining Rod? Yeah, that’s what it was.”

The young girl pulled the book back out of her bag and checked the map, occasionally looking up towards the mountain. It seemed to be a good distance away from the base of the mountain itself, but still fairly far away from any major trails. She had checked the map of the area on her phone just to be careful she didn’t run into some hunting spot.

“Alright, so it looks like… man I sure wish I remembered to grab my compass before I left. I think that this way is north, so the gate is somewhere… northeast-ish from where I am. Probably.” Teodora looked at the journal again and looked around the area again.

After what was about an hour of wandering around in the forest, she finally slumped down against a tree and sighed. “Where the hell is this thing?!” Teodora exclaimed as she looked through the book again. “And why the hell did the person drawing this not include a scale for how much space is between things?! Like, I don’t carry a ruler around, but still! It could have been helpful to at least have an idea!”

Hanging her head between her shoulders, she took a deep breath. “I knew this was just a joke. I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up.”

“Don’t talk like that! We can’t just give up now! Sunk cost fallacy and all that.” Her own voice said, insulted by the idea of stopping her hunt.

“But how am I going to find this magic portal thingy if it’s hiding itself from me?” Teodora complained to herself.

“Well, for starters, you could look behind you.” She said, her voice sounding a little distorted, as if someone else was talking with her. A voice she could swear she almost recognized, a woman’s voice that she couldn’t quite place.

“Huh?” Teodora’s head shot up as she looked around herself. Nothing but trees were there to greet her. Except when she looked behind her, like she had been told earlier, there wasn’t a tree there anymore. Now there was a set of large stone bricks that were stacked upon one another, building into an arch.

The girl scrambled to her feet and quickly dusted herself off. “Alright, I’m officially going insane.”

She walked around to the front of the Gate and looked at it with curiosity. The stone was plain and unassuming, like it was made to go unnoticed. One would take a quick glance at something like this and think it would be unimportant, or they would if it was in a place that it looked like it belonged. Taking a hesitant step forward, Teodora stuck her hand through the empty space where a door would normally rest and then quickly pulled it back. Nothing seemed to happen.

“Well, it I guess it makes sense that it doesn’t scream ‘Look at me, I’m a magic portal to another world!’ or whatever, but it really just looks like someone had a house here and everything, but the door frame has rotted away.” Teodora commented on the structure as she continued to inspect it. “Uh, sorry if that was rude of me, Mr. or Ms. Gate. I’ve never really had the pleasure of being by a magical something or other, let alone one that can supposedly bring me to another plane of existence.”

Teodora felt the need to explain herself to the Gate, for what reason, she wasn’t quite sure of. Maybe it was just because she felt like something that was magical deserved respect, or maybe it was just her natural quirkiness letting out since nobody was around to judge her. Nevertheless, she gave the Gate a gentle pat before opening her book again to see what to do next.

“Okay, let’s see here…” Teodora hummed as she flipped through the pages. “Ah! Found it.” She landed on the page that showed off the image of a Gate. “Now let’s see how to open this sucker up.”

Turning the page, she immediately gasped in horror. On the next page was a beautiful wing, glittering like fresh grass covered in dew in the low light of the evening, that was caked in dried blood at the base. It was about as big as a maple leaf and was torn in several locations. It didn’t sit right with her that, even if it was fake, someone would do something like this. Teodora had to look away, her stomach turned as her mind imagined what must have happened in order to have this in the book.

“That’s so wrong on so many levels.” She gagged as she glanced back at the book page. “First thing I’m doing after I see if this works is finding a better key than someone’s ripped off wing.” Quickly, she turned her gaze to the next page.

This wing was removed from a Spring Court Fairy, a type of fey being that has been covered in earlier pages. It was a struggle to catch, but my fellow society members were quite resourceful. I suppose that it helps to have someone who has had first-hand experience with the meddlesome creatures.

Using this wing, which should last for centuries to come, we can open a Gate to the Fey Wilds with ease. Through its natural connection and magical properties, we have essentially a key between the planes. However, this should not be used frivolously as overuse will destroy it and leave us without any way to send the creatures that slip through the vale back to whence they came.

Of course, if it were known to the Archfey council that we had taken this wing as our key, they would likely try to end our order and our mission. Should an emissary of the Fey ever end up in our plane of existence, we must convince them to act as the key to their plane of existence rather than using our own. It should also be noted that we can do this with other creatures, but only those of high enough power will sufficiently work for this purpose. The reason as to why our key is an outlier in terms of power sources is due to treatment that my closest aid, Vantur Denstrust, has managed to perform on it.

Now to open the Gate and send the creature back into the Fey plane of existence, one only needs to recite the following chant and draw power from the wing. As the chant begins, power will naturally draw from our key.

Hear my voice and acknowledge my will,

I ask that you open yourself to me,

And bring the divide between the planes,

Together as I present to you my destination’s key!

The Fey Wilds of Seasonal Congress.

“Okay, so it sounds like whoever wrote this bit did go and rip the wing off of a fairy. Big red flag my guy. But it seems pretty straightforward overall, so I guess I’ll give it a go.” Teodora said as she looked up at the gate. “Though it sounds kinda pretentious with the whole chant thing, can’t I just ask nicely for you to take me to the Fey Wilds?”

Immediately the wing and stone arch flashed in sync with each other, a thin stream of blueish green light connecting the two formed in the air. The stones shook, as if they were a creature stirring from a deep slumber. Dust fell from where it had laid undisturbed for a long period of time as that small stream of light began to feed a growing hole, filling the archway. After only a few moments passed, a brilliant portal had finished forming with a pulse of energy leaving it and sending a strong breeze outward.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Teodora struggled to form a coherent thought as the unbelievable act of magic laid before her. Eventually she managed to find her words again as she gave a nervous chuckle. “So, I guess this means magic’s real. And you seem to be alive to an extent.” The ground shook, causing small pebbles to bounce up and down. “Well, thank you? I never imagined I’d be having a sorta conversation with a magical portal.”

Another rumble shook the ground around her as the Gate seemed to acknowledge her and her thanks. She looked towards the open portal, hoping to catch a glimpse of the other side, but nothing else besides the solid blueish green light disk greeted her. Teodora took a hesitant step forward, pulling the flashlight out of her bag and sticking the end into the glowing doorway. She pulled it back and, thankfully, it came through without any damage.

Looking into the glowing portal, she hesitated. Why? This was everything she had ever wished for, so why was she so uncertain? If the stories and myths were to be believed, the Fey Wilds were a dangerous place for regular folk like her and she could easily end up dead. Thoughts flooded her mind on a wave of anxiety and stress, not to mention the fact that she would cause the people around her to worry…

“No! I can’t think like that, because I know I’m going to find a way to talk myself out of it if I keep going. Come on Teodora! Be adventurous! Just like Dad used to say! You can’t expect to find anything if you don’t start looking for it.” She said to herself, repeating words of encouragement from days past. Looking back to the Gate she said, “Thanks again! Just, please don’t trap me or something.”

The Gate shook, almost like a laugh, as Teodora stared at the portal with determination. Breathing in deeply, she plunged into the disk of light and closed her eyes. It felt as though she had stepped onto solid ground but couldn’t yet open her eyes. She kept pushing forwards, moving through the space she was in, until there was a faint breeze that surrounded her body.

Opening her eyes, a beautiful sight greeted Teodora. All around was lush and vibrant greenery, colored like someone had taken a pastel paint set and created a masterpiece in celebration of the season of spring. Verdant trees with emerald leaves dotted an ever-expanding grassland. Flowers of all shapes and sizes, some as big if not bigger than the trees, bloomed into colorful and bright petals. Large dandelion puffs floated on the gentle wind, gliding with such a hypnotic pattern that one might confuse it for a dance. Somewhere nearby, a stream babbled along, singing songs in an unknown tongue about things that happened long ago.

And the creatures. Oh, the creatures! They captivated Teodora as she took in all that there was to see. Beasts of all kinds spread out across the plains, from strange rabbit like creatures with antlers and horns, to large buffalo type ones that seemed to blend into the landscape as moss and other foliage grew on their backs. She could recognize a few at a glance, being an avid scholar of mythology and such from around the world, and finally remembered to breathe as she started to feel a little lightheaded.

She took a hesitant step forward, afraid that by even moving she would break through the picture-perfect image in front of her. The soft grass brushed against her pants, sounding like gentle whispers of comforting words. Every step she took felt like it was taking her deeper into a dream. A dream she never wanted to leave. Carefully bending down, Teodora brushed her hand against a small flower. As her hand came into contact with it, all of the petals suddenly grew more vibrant and then blew away on the wind further adding to the dance of the dandelions.

Of course, the girl couldn’t just watch all of this from a distance given her nature. Teodora stuffed the journal back into her satchel and started heading off in a direction, noting where she currently was and what landmarks were nearby to keep hold on her position. However, behind her, the Gate rumbled with what one might compare to a chuckle as it remained open. Unknown to her, a small fey rabbit curiously poked its head out of its burrow and hopped towards the unchanging Gate. Without anything to stop it, the creature leapt through the open portal and into a world that had long forgotten magic.

Her eyes wandered the landscape, taking in every inch of magic she could at every possible moment. Teodora watched the dandelions dance on the faint breeze, listened and tried to understand the song of the stream, kept a distance from the various living creatures she couldn’t recognize from her books, and enjoyed the scent of the vibrant flowers around her. Moving through the soft grass, she spun around and giggled to herself. She rarely showed this side of herself in public and even with her friends, but here, she was free to do what she wanted.

Horned rabbits jumped out of her path and into their burrows, only to poke their heads back out to watch her. Occasionally one of them would hop closer and watch with curious eyes, gleaming with a greater intelligence than what one would expect. While Teodora walked, she couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something other than the rabbits were watching her as she waded her way through the tall grass. Eventually, she took a break from the overwhelming experience as the shock wore off and sat down in the shade of an oversized four-leafed clover. Then she pulled the Bestiary from her bag and opened it up to the catalog of various magical beasts, focusing on a section titled: Fauna of the Fey Wilds.

“Well, I know that those rabbits were a mix of al-mi’raj and jackalopes, though I would have expected them to be more violent. Maybe they haven’t seen a human in a while and that’s why they didn’t attack me?” Teodora muttered to herself as she flipped through the pages until one caught her eye. “Hmm? What the hell is this doing here?”

Name: Mngwa

Classification: Felid

Magical Affinity: None Low grade illusions

Threat Level: Low-Mid grade

Resistances: Low grade physical resistance

Weaknesses: Standard array

Frequency: Less than regular

The mngwa are large, grey, man-eating cats that were originally from a region in Africa. They are similar in build to the most impressive of lions and decorated similarly to a tabby cat, but with tracks that look like that of a leopard. While not a native to the Fey Wilds, they were moved to said plane of existence after the exodus of magic from the material plane. Due to this change in habitat, we cannot confirm if they have since managed to reproduce or take on changes due to the large amounts of magic they would be subjected to while there. It is advised to be cautious if you are without someone who is a capable fighter to guard you.

* First Keeper, Jeremiah Morais

Under the description was an image of a large cat, tabby-like patterns coating its lithe body. It showed the creature, not in a scientific, research-like way, but rather it was displayed like a living being that was being observed. There were a handful of rather detailed sketches around the main portrait that showed the mngwa in various day-to-day poses and actions. Whoever was the one to draw these images cared to show more than just what was needed, going as far as to show the creatures regular habits to better understand how it would think or act.

“So… magic left our world for whatever reason and because of that, a bunch of mythological creatures were just kinda shoved into this place? Man, that’s kinda lame. But also, a bit neat because it means I can check ‘em all out in one place!” Teodora commented to herself as she finished reading the page. “I love the drawings too! They capture so much life in them, not to mention the impressive shading on the sketches as well as the main piece. I’ve always envied people with art talents.”

Teodora looked back the way she had come from and made sure she wasn’t going to lose the portal that brought her here. A pillar of grey stone bricks stood on the top of a small hill not all that far from her. Sighing, she leaned against the stem of the large clover she was under and closed her eyes for a few minutes, debating if she should stay a few more hours. A voice in the back of her head told her it would be better to leave now and just come back since she had an easy way in, but a louder one said she should take her time since this was something she had always wanted. Teodora came to an agreement with the louder one and opened her eyes, ready to explore just a bit more before heading back to her normal world.

Placing the book back into her bag and dusting herself off, she picked a direction and marched off into the unknown. As she moved further along, she found the scenery slowly changing into something more matured. The trees grew more frequently, giving a much-wanted shade as the temperature rose to that of a summer afternoon. Pillars of stone jutted out of the ground and pointed to the sky, engulfed in thick, green ivy. Vibrant colors of spring gave way to bright shades of summer as the grass grew shorter and the flowers became smaller.

The light that was originally a nice late afternoon changed into an early evening as the sun moved closer to the edge of the horizon. As if in response to the now dimming light, small motes of light began to bloom from the ground as if to mimic fireflies waking up and buzzing around. Teodora watched in awe at the spectacle, reaching out but deciding not to touch the strange orbs of magic. Soon, the dancing lights were everywhere and swaying in the breeze.

Everything gave off a feeling of summer, instead of being a painting of pastel colors, the scenery had become a strange collage of varying shades of yellow and green. From the way the light filtered through the leaves of the trees, to the colors that decorated the other plants in the area, everything felt comforting like a familiar summer day. Even the creatures had started to change to fit the change in seasons.

The rabbits had their coats changed ever so slightly, the buffalo were replaced by lounging horse-like beasts with glowing hooves, and occasionally a large bird of prey type creature would swoop in and out of trees. Teodora found herself having a harder time recognizing the creatures, wondering if these had ever even been seen before by humans. However, she still couldn’t quite shake that feeling of being watched as she kept memorizing the path back to her exit.

“Everything here seems to follow some kind of seasonal pattern…” Teodora muttered under her breath as she jotted down some notes on her personal papers. “I wonder if I could find… Wasn’t there something about fey courts in that one book… Maybe I should follow the borders of these different sections?”

While she was absorbed in her theories and the like, something moved in the corner of her eye. Teodora stopped in her tracks, carefully watching the area where she noticed something moving. A moment passed, before a low growl came from the grassy area. Suddenly appearing out of nowhere, a large, grey cat leapt out at her with its fangs bared. Her instincts she had developed over the years of hanging out with Oscar kicked in and caused her to roll out of the way.

Teodora didn’t take the time to further study the fascinating animal as she reasoned that if she was going to observe, it would be better for her not to do it while said animal was trying to eat her. Stuffing her notepad back into her bag, she made a mad dash away from the mngwa and tried to think of a plan of escape. Unfortunately for her, the wildcat didn’t plan on letting its prey get away so easily as it gave chase.

“Shit. Shit. Shit. I really didn’t think this through, did I?” She cursed as she dodged behind a tree. “Though I am glad that Oscar insisted that I at least take the time to join him a few times a year for survival training with his mom. Never thought I’d use it like this though.”

The mngwa roared as it swiped a massive paw at her side, which she only barely managed to avoid the majority of as it tore parts of her shirt and made a few shallow cuts. Teodora had to keep moving, but more than that, she needed a plan. There was only so long she could run, and she didn’t expect it to be longer than what looked like a bunch of impressive predators put together. Clutching her side, she slid down a slope towards a spot where a river was flowing.

“IF ANYONE CAN HEAR ME, HELP PLEASE!” She yelled as she scrambled to stay ahead of the beast following her. It was a long shot, but if there were fey here, maybe they’d help her for a favor. The wildcat snapped its jaws at her, getting far closer than she would have liked it to have, almost taking a chunk out of her leg in the process. “I’M IN SOME SERIOUS DANGER AND COULD REALLY USE A HAND!”

Her side flared up with pain as the shock wore off and she only had adrenaline to rely on. Stumbling, Teodora felt another set of shallow cuts dig into her lower leg, but she had to keep moving. For whatever reason, she got the sense that the mngwa was just toying with her, like it was enjoying playing with its food.

Another growl came from the wildcat, but this time there was an odd feeling that came over her as it reached her ears. Out of nowhere another mngwa appeared in front of her, blocking her path and causing her mind to almost freeze. However, all the time she had spent training with her friend forced her to change directions and charge back up the slope a little way to come up and around the new wildcat. Passing the beast, there was a faint shimmer as it faded from her view, but it didn’t seem similar to how the first mngwa had shown up.

“No puede ser...” Teodora whispered in part awe, part terror as she realized what it was doing. “It’s using its growl as a mode of spellcasting. That’s genius!” A shock of pain coursed through her body as claws managed to sink into her side, deeper than they had previously done before, and spun her to face the mngwa. Crying out in pain, she fell to the ground trying to get back up only to find herself pinned to the ground by a set of massive paws on either side of her. “I really should have been running instead of admiring the magic used huh?”

The beast just snarled at her in response, long strands of saliva dripping from its dagger-like fangs. It leaned close into her face, its hot breath hitting her face as the mngwa opened its jaw wide. Teodora tried to think of a way out, attempting to move to the side only to find the cuts left on her body to paralyze her with pain. Most people might close their eyes in such a horrific moment of death, but she just stared down the throat of the magical wildcat that was about to eat her, meeting what would be certain death with a steely glare. When all of a sudden, Teodora heard the sound of metal boots running towards her at high speed.

A figure clad in a bronze and leather suit of armor, the color reminded Teodora of fallen autumn leaves, slammed into the mngwa and shoved it to the side. It stumbled on its paws and turned to see who had interrupted its feeding, growling in a threatening tone. The figure drew a long blade from a sheath on their waist and held it at the ready. Teodora managed to catch a glance at the helmet as she propped herself up, seeing a yellow shine of what she assumed to be the eyes of whomever was inside the armor glow with a faint fire-like light. The figure lowered themself, before lunging at the magical beast, blade brought out in front of them.