Jordan was falling. At least, she thought she was. She couldn’t be sure – the darkness was so thick it was suffocating. She was so cold, her teeth chattered; she felt weightless, like an astronaut. Maybe she was falling but… up?

Ahead, the absolute blackness seemed to be less solid. Somehow, without moving, she was upon it. Intrigued, she looked out at the picture it presented, as though from underwater. A moving painting of a great storm – roiling purple clouds, green lightning, and what looked like two fantasy women cosplayers, fighting with magic.

Then, it was gone. Before she could reach for it, she had flashed past, back into the void.

She realised that she needed to take a breath, and raw panic engulfed her when she found that she could not – there was nothing to breathe!

In dreadful silence, she began to flail. She gaped, desperate for air, and a tear of terrifying despair formed at the very edge of her lashes.

Infinitely, it dripped.

It pulled free, spun away into the dark void. Jordan’s body bucked, drowning. Tears welled in fat drops, clutching at her cheeks, refusing to fall away. Her consciousness began to swim.

Another watery window flashed towards her. Desperate, she thrashed. She knew with fatalistic certainty that it was her only chance. With inhuman effort, she stretched out. The window hurtled at her, racing. Oh, God, it was too far! She was going to miss! She reached, straining with all her might. Her muscles screamed in protest.

Miraculously, she hooked the outermost edge of it with a fingertip. She’d only adjusted her course by a nanometre, but it was enough. The window sucked at her, and she crashed through it.

Light and sound and air hit her in a rush. She coughed and choked, snatching great gasps of oxygen, refilling her starved lungs with explosive force. The sudden flood of noise and colour hit her like a landslide; she clamped her hands over her ears, squeezed her eyes shut, trying to escape it. After the utter silence and absolute darkness, she felt herself crushed beneath a sensory overload. Overwhelmed, she curled into a ball on her side, rocking, trying to block it all out.

At length, the horrible buzz in her ears died away, the intensity of light dimmed, and she became aware of the breeze flitting around her, flicking her with grit. All she could hear was the wind, and she risked a peek out between her fingers at her surroundings. A great expanse of nothingness rolled away from her, bright desert beneath the setting moon. She sat up with a groan, felt herself down for injuries. With some surprise, she realised her pack was still resolutely hooked over her shoulders, and she adjusted the lay of the straps in comforting habit. The brightness of the celestial light drew her gaze up for a moment, and she caught her breath. The moon was three times the size it should have been; brilliant, beautiful, alien.

“Where the hell am I?” she muttered.

She rubbed at her eyes, widened them, stretched her regard further afield, able to see reasonably well across the illuminated night. Occasional skeletal sticks stood tall, thin, and crooked, black against the night and interspersed with short, spiny tufts of grass. Among them, large, white, whale-backed rocks breached the surface of the desert sea, glowing ghostly beneath the abnormally large midnight orb. Rivulets of dusky sand swirled beneath the endless breeze; tiny cream pebbles marched along at its coaxing. Jordan watched them move like slow stars across the night sky, fascinated, until a stick lowered itself to ground beside her. She yelped, froze with her heart thundering in her ears, and stared as it trembled, detached itself from the stony ground. It lifted high, buried itself again, and it was not the only one – three others moved in rhythmic succession. Jordan looked up, up, squinting against the brightness, blinking grit from her lashes. High above, a shadow loomed, blotting out the light. It swayed, moving forward with slow, deliberate strides. Some kind of desert creature – four-legged and resembling a gigantic, short-bodied stick-insect. It had no head to speak of – its thorax stretched out into a long, hooked silhouette, and its body was razor-thin, too. Each extensive leg was barbed with haphazard spines, resembling twigs on a tree, and ended in a single spear-shaped point that pierced the ground with each step. Its shell appeared hard, rough, like dusty bark. Jordan rolled out of the way as another great leg sighed down where she had been just a moment before, but the beast appeared not to notice her. It moved on, high-stepping over the smooth, massive rocks, covering ground gradually but in deceptively long stretches.

Jordan bounded to her feet, her heart hammering. She squinted across the silk and shadow desert, wondering what else was out there, harbouring no doubt that she was not alone. Resolute, she pulled free the stoutest of the frail branches in her immediate vicinity. Hefting its weight, she decided it would have to do; it wasn’t a particularly good weapon, but she felt better for having something to brandish. Pushing her hair back, she tried to decide which way to go – there was no question that she couldn’t stay where she was. But, as the silent wilderness rolled away to the horizon on all sides, no obvious path presented itself, and she swallowed a rising sense of dread.

She decided to head in the opposite direction from which the unknown beast had come, reasoning that putting distance between it and her with every step was a good idea; after all she still had no idea if it might still turn out to be hostile. Squaring her shoulders, she set out, keeping the descending moon on her left, trying to maintain a straight course. The idea of wandering in circles across this unforgiving expanse did not appeal in the slightest.

The quiet night pressed heavy around her, and her staccato heart kept steady rhythm with her footfalls. She avoided patches of dark shadow that lay in wait beside the large rocks, keeping a keen ear for anything that so much as sighed. Odd, fluting notes of melody reached her now and then, pretty calls unknown creatures. She scanned the terrain as she walked, but encountered nothing else; had no idea whether other monsters watched her in the night. One foot in front of the other, she pressed on, hoping desperately to stumble across some sign of civilisation.

Far to her left, a line of light brightened the horizon by degrees. A long swath of indigo night brightened to burnt orange and bloody red, and Jordan paused to watch as the first rays of the burning sun crested the edge of the world. The magnificent star climbed with joyous rapidity, chasing the colours, lightening the sky to a speckled periwinkle blue. As she watched, the desert transformed, glowing beneath its scorching caress. The dusky silt turned bright black, the great rocks and glittering pebbles a stark, milky counterpoint. She looked about in wonder; the panorama was nothing she could ever have imagined. It was wild and untouched; its savage beauty captured her heart. She smiled, drinking it in, and continued with a lighter step.

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But the thrill was fleeting. As the sun ascended, so too did the temperature. Heat shimmered in waves, rolling across the landscape with little mercy for its denizens. Jordan quickly realised she was going to be burnt to a crisp. Resigned, she fished through her backpack, liberated the light hoodie she knew she’d left at the bottom. Tucking her papers back inside, she slipped the jacket on for protection against the sun’s scorching rays, and trudged forth. She leaned into the wind as it picked up, sparing a grateful thought for its marginal cooling even as she bowed her head against the stinging black grit it carried. As the day dragged on, she soon panted with the simple effort of walking. Her long sleeves clung to her damp skin, but she knew it was better than blistering, so she endured. The stick, far heavier than it had been beneath the cool light of the moon, weighed at her aching arm. Shifting it to her other hand, she licked at her dry lips and cast her gaze about again, still hopeful, though she had spied no sign of water amongst the endless sea of black sand.

Something has to be out there.

Still nothing moved as she plodded onward; only deep, narrow divots told of the passing of the strange, giant beasts she’d encountered the night before. Once, another loomed in the distance, standing motionless above a copse of spindly trees, its four thin legs clumped tight together, body reposed against the merciless sky.

As the sun crested its zenith, Jordan’s head hung low and swinging, and she all but stepped over the edge of the cliff that fell away beneath her feet. Jerking away with a sharp, startled cry, she flung herself backwards. Her weak legs collapsed beneath her, dropping her into the dust. Adrenalin sang in her blood, and she stared out at the nothingness for a long moment. Then, on her hands and knees, she approached the drop-off.

The sight that met her was a balm for her parched soul. The ground cascaded sheer, plunging down into a verdant valley far below. Immense trees in myriad colours carpeted its floor, interspersed with sweeping meadows of bright flowers and luminous grasses. She stared in wonder at a vast, glorious pocket of life in an otherwise barren land. Miniscule between the arboresque giants, the gossamer shimmer of a sinuous stream caught her eye, and she crowed with delight. Licking arid lips, she scrambled to her feet and roved the edge, looking for a way down.

Frustration found her still pacing an unbearable amount of time later. She’d no idea how far she had followed the edge, but it felt like miles, and still, the callous cliff taunted her. For a heartbeat, she toyed with the idea of simply leaping off. Mentally shaking herself to dispel such morose thoughts, she continued, and the sun began its slow descent in the eastern sky.

As the shadows lengthened, she spied a towering tor that jutted out over the edge of the escarpment. She hastened towards it, hoping it augured rougher ground that she might be able to clamber down. Eager, she ducked beneath a shadowed overhang, and skidded to a halt with entreating hands upraised.

“Hey, whoa!”

She leaned back as far as she could, away from the bite of the wicked blade at her throat. Shrouded in the shadows, a dark, brooding, woman cocked her head, setting long black braids to dancing. It was hard to tell much more about her, cloaked as she was by the deep gloam beneath the overhang. Jordan attempted to force a reassuring smile to her chapped lips, failing miserably. The other pressed the knife-edge of her glaive a little harder, the tip threatening to draw blood. Her dark eyes, bright as onyx, sparkled with intrigue as she regarded Jordan’s dusty jeans and dirty hoodie.

“What… are you?” Her voice was throaty and pleasant, if rather hostile.

“What am I?” Jordan queried, eyeing the blade, trying to lean away from its sting without flinching. “I’m… a person?”

The other’s eyes narrowed. “You do not look like any type of person I have seen.”

Any type of person? That was an odd way to word it.

Jordan swallowed. “Look, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude or whatever, I just – I’m lost, I’m thirsty, and to be honest, I’m scared… I think I went through a portal, maybe? I have no idea where I am, or how it happened.”

The words left her in a rush, and the dark woman tilted her head the other way, like an inquisitive bird.

“A portal? Many portals on Andoherra. Which one?”

Jordan’s jaw dropped. “D-did you say... Andoherra…?”

“Aye.” The woman seemed to have decided she was possibly a simpleton, certainly no threat. She lowered her weapon, rested her elbows on the butt of it, and regarded Jordan with frank curiosity. “What else would I say?”

“Um, Earth…?” Jordan breathed, gaping.

The woman laughed. “Why would I speak the name of The Old World?”

Jordan stared at her. Subconsciously, she rubbed at the line on her throat, fingers probing at the purpling bruise. Memories of her dreams raced through her mind – she’d heard the term Andoherra often enough, but never understood the significance.

She cleared her throat, remembered the other had asked her a question. “Well… Earth is where I’m from.”

The other’s mirth faded. “What? You cannot be. That is not possible.”

Jordan shrugged, helpless to explain it. The woman came forward, grabbed her chin with strong fingers, turned her face this way and that. Jordan did not protest the inspection, glad that she hadn’t raised the weapon again.

The woman finally released her, shook her head, and eyed her foreign clothes anew. “How did you get here?”

Jordan flicked the tip of her tongue, more nerves than thirst, this time. “Like I said, a portal, or something… I was following this other woman – she went under a tree and disappeared… and then, I did too, I guess…?” She shivered. “I’m pretty sure I nearly died.”

“Who was the other?” The woman craned her neck, face a mask of suspicion as she looked behind Jordan for a companion.

“I… don’t know. I’d just met her – didn’t even catch her name. I arrived alone, in any case.”

“Do you have a name?” The question was sharp, mistrustful.

“Jordan Ballimore.”

The other repeated it slowly, as if the words were like an anathema to her, and then offered her own titles. “I am Norae Dre’Cor, Rider of Thallo. Callkin, Daughter of Nalvadian Dre’Cor – Grand Earthkin of the Order of Earth and former Advisor of Eoscan.”

Much of what she said went straight over Jordan’s head but, given the woman still held a weapon and appeared more than capable of using it, she nodded politely and focused on the most important bit – her first name.

“Pleased to meet you, Norae,” Jordan said, holding out her hand.

Norae took it, but clasped her by the forearm, rather than palm to palm as Jordan was accustomed. Jordan returned the pressure awkwardly.

“Welcome, Jordan Ballimore, to Andoherra,” Norae said. “Pleased to meet you also. Have so many questions.”

“You have questions?” Jordan giggled, before she could stop herself.

Norae smiled, then, but she shook her head. “Now is not the time. Here is not the place. Come, we drop to the valley and seek shelter – wild things roam The Bone Plateau at night.”

Jordan shivered. “I know, I’ve seen them – tall, strange-looking creatures, like massive insects…”

Norae fixed her with a steady gaze. “You describe the wanderers. Not to be feared, harmless – unless one steps on you. No, it is not the wanderers to worry about.”

Jordan swallowed, her throat somehow seeming to be even more dry than it had before, and crowded closer to Norae. She had no idea what else haunted the place that Norae had referred to as The Bone Plateau, and didn’t want to find out. The wanderer things had been creepy enough. Norae tied a rope around her waist, looped the other end around Jordan’s. She double-checked the knots, shouldered her glaive and a pack on the side opposite to a bow and quiver, which she collected from deeper back in the shadows, and gestured for Jordan to keep up. Together, they squeezed through a narrow gap in the rocks, coming out at the top of a steep scree slope that stretched almost sheer for a vertical mile. Jordan baulked, daunted.

“Not so bad as it looks,” Norae reassured. “Watch feet, use hands for balance. Reach bottom before you know.”

Jordan nodded, took a deep breath, and followed her down into the exotic valley.