Chapter 4: Chapter 4

IRIS

What a strange feeling it was when you flew. When your body was so light… like a feather.

Without thinking, I jumped into this portal. It was the only way to escape. Whatever was on the other side of it couldn’t be worse than the monsters that had just attacked us.

While floating, I didn’t let go of Avery’s hand. He held mine just as tightly as I held his, as if he was afraid that if he let go of me, I would be lost.

The space around us distorted into swirling plumes of smoke, dissipating as if we were chasing through the ashes of a burnt galaxy. The light did not grow slowly; it exploded, ripping veils of darkness in two.

Shadows crumbled to dust as we glided through a tunnel of shimmering, prismatic cracks that opened and closed, as if nothingness itself breathed. The silence suddenly shattered into a roar—not of wind, but of time tugging at our temples.

I could have done it for hours… to fly, holding his hand. But that journey was too short, and after a few moments we reached the other side of the portal, which closed behind us as soon as we fell out of it.

“Hold on to me,” Avery shouted, pulling me toward him.

He held me tightly and caught the fall with his body, so I landed on top of him.

“Are you okay, love?” he asked me while we were lying on the ground, still holding me tightly.

I looked down at his eyes and smiled with relief. “I’m fine, Avery,” I replied.

He studied my face. It was as if he wanted to make sure that I was really fine.

“Thank you, Iris, you saved our lives,” Avery whispered.

My body was on top of his. I could feel every muscle. His beautiful eyes looked worried as he watched me.

His gaze traveled over my face from my eyes to my lips and back to my eyes again. I felt very uncomfortable while I was so close. I had never had a boyfriend or even a friend in my life who could hold me like this.

The heat rose in my face; his closeness triggered so many things in me. He looked at me worriedly, but I just felt exposed, useless… ashamed.

His muscular body was relaxed while I was lying on top of him. His scent was intoxicating and incredibly masculine, and I was blushing because of that.

“And how about you let the girl get up?” Ava asked with a laugh.

I blushed even more while Avery rolled his eyes at his sister as she helped us.

“I just wanted to make sure she wasn’t hurt,” he said as he brushed the dust off his clothes.

“Yeah… right. Of course…” Ava mocked him.

“Thank you, Iris, for saving us,” Noah added as he approached us.

“Yes! Girl, it was incredible. How did you do it? It’s not like we know anyone who can stand up to the Reapers!” Ava stated.

So they weren’t scared of me…they were just impressed? I was sure that I saw fear in their eyes.

And even if I wanted to, I couldn’t explain to them how I had done it. Nor could I tell them about the voice in my head.

“The Reapers? Who are they? And what do they want from me? What is happening… Where are we anyway? What is this…” I started asking.

But I stopped when I turned around, shocked at the surroundings in front of me.

We were standing in an endless sea of pink flowers, whose petals felt like silk beneath our feet. Their scent was sweet and bewitching, almost like a mixture of honey and exotic spices that I had never smelled before.

All around us, trees grew in shapes and colors that could have nothing to do with reality. Some twisted up into the sky like sinuous pillars. Others spread their branches out like huge, colorful fans.

Fruit hung from their branches like something out of a dream: green strawberries as big as melons, with shiny, almost metallic shimmering skin. Blue mangoes, their skin glowing a deep indigo, as if they were covered in gemstones.

And golden grapes in between, their berries sparkling like liquid light between the leaves. I was sure I was imagining all of this.

The beauties in front of me resembled a dream. The sky above was of an unreal blue, more intense than any sea, as if someone had remixed the color of the world.

Giant butterflies, as big as eagles, floated lazily through the air, their wings gleaming in rainbow colors and casting shimmering shadows on the ground. In between were animals that shouldn’t exist, two-headed dogs dozing peacefully in the sun.

Tiny rhinos with whip-like tails romped playfully through the sea of flowers, and birds in iridescent plumage sang songs that sounded like strange music. But most astonishing of all were the winged horses that elegantly roamed the field.

Their wings, covered with shiny feathers, carried them effortlessly through the air, while their manes blew in the wind like liquid gold. They moved with a grace that was breathtaking, as if this was their realm and we were just guests in a world no one had ever entered before.

My lips parted, unable to utter a single word. All I could do was stare in disbelief, admiring the beauty before me.

“Oh Dorothy, you are definitely not in Kansas anymore,” Ava said, laughing.

And how right she was! I was no longer even close to home.

Observing this place I had landed in through the portal, I would rather say I was in a fairytale world. A portal? What was going on here anyway?!

Until yesterday, I was just an ordinary worker in a bookstore. I lived a boring life without anything interesting in it.

The highlight of my week would be a good movie, or an exciting book I would enjoy on the weekend.

“Where am I? What’s going on?!” I asked.

And while I was walking backward in shock and anxiety, I fell and was welcomed into Jade’s arms.

For a moment I saw images… Memories… like a flash from another time.

Children were playing in the garden of a huge mansion. The sound of laughter and giggles filled the air.

A girl with blue curls was standing in the fountain, the water sparkling around her like liquid light. With a laughing face, she formed orbs from the water and hurled them at the others—they shrieked and jumped away, but their laughter revealed that they loved this game.

“Quick, Iris, I’ll protect us!” shouted a girl, holding my hand tightly as we ran off.

Her free hand made a quick gesture in the air and a shimmering purple shield appeared in front of us. It was meant to save us at the last moment, before the water hit us.

But it did not work. We were both drenched with a splash, and instead of disappointment, we just burst out laughing even louder.

“What kind of a fool are you, Ava!” I heard myself say.

The sounds of our giggles echoed between the old trees, as if nothing in the world was more important than this one perfect moment.

Ava held my hand tightly. The small palms were not foreign to me; on the contrary, I felt so much joy and love in that moment.

Then the image faded away. But the warm feeling stayed.

As if someone had pushed me back, for a second, into a world I had long forgotten.

When I looked at Jade, she smiled gently as if she knew what I was seeing.

~What was this? What did I see?~

“It’s a memory, Iris. A memory that was erased from you,” Jade said.

“You really need to stop reading my mind. It’s creepy!” I replied as I straightened up.

“You saw my memory too, didn’t you?” I asked Jade.

She nodded, her face filled with emotion.

“This place is called Antaris. Many beings live here… magical beings. You’ve obviously been here before. And if you don’t remember, that’s because your memory was erased… Or it was just blocked, I’m not sure. Someone very powerful did it and I can’t see anything. I’m a descendant of a tribe of powerful witches. I should be able to remove such spells, but I am powerless with yours…” she explained.

I tried to understand what she was telling me, but all this still seemed to me like a dream.

Ava and Avery looked at me lovingly. They seemed pleased, and although I didn’t know why, this memory was something that made me happy too.

“We need to go to my father. He can explain much more to you than we could. He can give you the answers you want. And maybe he can help you get your memories back. You have no reason to be afraid of us or this place… this is your home now,” Avery said as he approached me.

Home? What kind of home was this where everything was unknown to me?

Not only the people or the environment, but everything in this place was foreign.

I remembered the feeling I sensed in this memory. I ~was~ happy.

And where else could I go? Who could believe me or explain all of this?

The police would lock me up in a lunatic asylum. Did I have a choice?

Avery had my trust; he had risked his life for me. And Ava was in my memory—obviously, we had some past.

These strangers had all risked their lives for me, and so far, they hadn’t done anything to make me doubt their good intentions.

Perhaps I would find answers to my questions if I followed them to their father. Maybe he ~could~ help me.

I nodded in agreement to Avery’s suggestion. And so I followed them, hoping I would get some answers.

While we were walking through the flower field, I had a feeling someone was watching us, and I wasn’t thinking about the animals.

Something was hiding between the twisted trunks of the trees, where the light broke at odd angles.

My eyes automatically searched the shadows, scanning the lines of the bark for movement, even though I didn’t know what I was actually looking for.

Only one thing was certain: we weren’t alone here.

I stopped abruptly. Jade froze beside me too.

She had felt it, just like I had. Her eyes widened slightly when she returned my gaze, and in that wordless second, we both knew there was something there.

Meanwhile, the others walked on unsuspectingly, absorbed in their conversation about the strange events of the past few hours.

Their laughter and the rustle of their footsteps through the pink flowers suddenly seemed wrong, too loud for this place, where an invisible presence now settled like a breeze on the back of our necks.

The air was still. Even the giant butterflies seemed to remain suspended for a moment.

Somewhere between the golden grapes and the blue mangoes, something was lurking… waiting, watching.

Perhaps it had been there since our first step into this foreign land.

“You have no reason to worry, Iris, no one will harm you here,” Jade calmly told me. “It’s probably just one of our residents who saw the portal.”

But I still felt someone’s presence; I just didn’t know who.

“Come, let’s hurry to catch up with the others,” she added with a smile, extending her hand.

Deep between the trees, where the light was absent, they ignited. Eyes…

Two glowing red slits curled up in the darkness like a predator, counting my breaths.

My heartbeat pounded loud enough to give me away. I crept forward, a silent step towards Jade… then another, but the eyes followed me, step by step.

Then the eyes snapped wide, as if they recognized me… before dissolving into the void.