Chapter 1: The Portal Awaits
The Portal That Chose Us
Ravenswood always felt like a town frozen in time.
The streets were narrow and quiet, lined with old brick buildings whose paint had long peeled away under years of sun and rain. At sunset, the air took on a heavy stillness, as though the town itself was holding its breath. Most evenings passed the same way—shopkeepers locking their doors, porch lights flickering on, and the distant hum of crickets rising with the dark.
But tonight was different.
Tonight, the sky burned.
Streaks of deep orange and blood-red clouds stretched across the horizon, casting long shadows over the town square. At its center stood the oldest living thing in Ravenswood—the oak tree. Its trunk was massive, wide enough that five people holding hands could barely wrap around it. Its roots pushed through the cobblestones like the fingers of something buried and restless beneath the earth.
People said the tree was older than the town itself.
People also said it was cursed.
Five figures approached it cautiously, their footsteps echoing louder than they should have in the empty square.
Alex was the first to reach the tree. He tilted his head back, eyes tracing the massive branches overhead, a grin tugging at his lips despite the knot forming in his stomach. "Still standing," he muttered. "Guess it didn't disappear like everyone said it would."
"Nothing ever disappears here," Emily replied quietly.
She stood a few steps behind him, hugging her jacket around herself even though the air was warm. Her eyes were fixed on the tree, not with excitement like Alex's, but with a mix of curiosity and dread. She had read enough old journals and forgotten town records to know that legends didn't survive for centuries without a reason.
Jake scoffed, rolling his shoulders like he was preparing for a game. "You're all acting like it's going to bite us. It's a tree."
"A tree with a criminal record," Sarah said, flipping her sketchbook open.
She sat cross-legged on the edge of the fountain, pencil already moving. Her sketches often captured things others overlooked—odd shadows, subtle movements, expressions no one else noticed. Right now, her page filled with twisting roots and jagged lines. "Look at it. It doesn't feel… normal."
Matt hadn't said a word yet.
He stood closest to the trunk, tablet in hand, his face pale in the fading light. Symbols glowed faintly on the screen—symbols copied from an ancient map he had discovered buried in the town archives, hidden behind shelves no one had touched in decades.
His voice finally broke the silence. "The map wasn't wrong."
Everyone turned toward him.
"What do you mean?" Emily asked.
Matt swallowed. "The coordinates, the symbols, the alignment with the sunset… it all matches. Every single detail." He hesitated, then added, "And the energy readings are spiking."
Alex raised an eyebrow. "Energy readings?"
Matt turned the tablet so they could see. The screen flickered, lines jumping erratically. "This tree is emitting something. Not electricity. Not radiation. I don't even know how to classify it."
Jake laughed, though it sounded forced. "So what? The tree's magical now?"
No one answered him.
Because that was when the light appeared.
It began as a faint glow deep within the trunk, barely visible through the cracks in the bark. Slowly, it grew brighter, pulsing like a heartbeat. The air around them grew warmer, heavier, pressing against their skin.
Sarah stopped sketching.
"Guys," she whispered. "Please tell me you're seeing this."
Emily's breath caught in her throat. "I am."
The glow spread along the roots, illuminating strange carvings etched into the wood—symbols none of them recognized, yet all of them felt oddly familiar. The ground beneath their feet vibrated, subtle but undeniable.
Alex's grin faded.
"This wasn't part of the rumor," he said quietly.
Matt stepped back instinctively. "We should leave."
Jake frowned. "Wait—what?"
"This isn't safe," Matt insisted. "The map never said—"
Alex didn't let him finish.
With a sudden, reckless determination that defined him, Alex stepped forward and pressed his palm against the glowing bark.
The world shattered.
A surge of blinding light exploded outward, throwing all five of them off their feet. Sound warped into a deafening roar as the ground disappeared beneath them. Colors twisted, folding in on themselves like liquid mirrors. Emily screamed, her voice swallowed by the vortex.
Sarah felt weightless.
Jake tried to grab onto something—anything—but there was nothing to hold.
Matt's tablet slipped from his hands, spinning into the void as the air tore them apart.
And then—
Silence.
They hit the ground hard.
Emily groaned, pushing herself up slowly. The first thing she noticed was the smell—fresh, sharp, filled with something like rain and wildflowers. The second was the light.
She looked up.
The sky was purple.
Not sunset-purple. Not storm-purple. A deep, endless violet, streaked with slow-moving silver clouds that shimmered as they drifted. Two suns hovered low on the horizon, one pale gold, the other faintly blue.
"This…" Jake whispered, sitting up beside her. "This isn't possible."
Alex stood, brushing dirt off his jeans, his expression unreadable. "Tell that to the sky."
They were standing in a forest unlike anything on Earth. Trees towered above them, their leaves glowing softly like embers. Vines crawled along trunks, pulsing with faint light. Strange insects fluttered through the air, their wings chiming softly as they passed.
Sarah turned in a slow circle, awe written across her face. "It's beautiful."
Matt stared at his phone, fingers trembling as he tried to turn it on. "No signal. No satellites. No known atmospheric readings." He looked up slowly. "We're not on Earth."
A sound echoed through the trees.
Low. Resonant. Watching.
Alex stiffened. "Did you hear that?"
Before anyone could answer, movement rippled through the forest. Tall figures stepped into view, emerging silently between the glowing trunks. They were slender, humanoid, their skin shifting colors like moonlight on water. Their eyes glowed faintly, intelligent and ancient.
Emily's heart slammed against her ribs.
"They're not human," she whispered.
The beings stopped a few meters away, studying them. One stepped forward, taller than the rest, its presence heavy and commanding. It spoke.
The sound was unlike any language they'd ever heard—musical, layered, echoing inside their minds.
Jake winced. "My head—"
"Wait," Matt said sharply.
He pulled out a small device from his backpack, hands shaking as he activated it. "This is crazy… but the sound patterns—if I reroute the translation algorithm…"
The device beeped.
The voice became clear.
"Travelers," the being said. "You have crossed the threshold."
Alex swallowed hard. "Yeah. We noticed."
The being's gaze flickered toward the oak symbol carved into the dirt behind them—an echo of the tree they'd left behind. "The portal has chosen you."
Emily felt a chill crawl down her spine.
"Chosen… for what?" she asked.
The being's eyes darkened. "For a war that has already begun."
The forest seemed to grow quieter, as though listening.
"A darkness rises," the being continued. "It corrupts. It consumes. And one among you already carries its mark."
Jake's breath caught.
Alex turned sharply. "What do you mean, one of us?"
The being did not answer.
Instead, a distant roar shook the ground, deep and furious. The trees trembled. Shadows stretched unnaturally long.
The being stepped back. "Your time for questions has ended. Run."
The ground beneath them cracked.
And from the darkness of the forest, something massive began to move toward them.