Prompt 1

"Wake up! Wake up!" Is all I hear as I'm shaken awake in the pale moonlight of a dark forest. "We can't let it catch up to us."

"What?!" This ominous and alarming news is quite the thing to wake up to. Where is here and how did I get to here?" I get off of the floor standing next to a hooded figure.

"There's no time to explain just follow me." He looked around before turning to run. Should I follow? Who is this man? What is he so afraid of?" Then I see it from the edge of my vision a figure begins to march towards me dressed in shadow. A sword in his left hand and his pace steady, I quickly run after the hooded fellow.

We ran for what felt like three miles until he stopped and grabbed a stick tracing strange symbols into the dirt. "What was that?" I ask as I pant still catching my breath."

"No one knows. All I know is that you two showed up at the same time."

"Two? You mean I just appeared here? How long ago?" What does this mean?

"Three days, funny you only just woke up. We only noticed him at first, destroying everything in his wake. No one knows what he is because anyone who gets close enough to learn anything dies at his hands."

"Three days?" I've been asleep that whole time? "How am I connected to that, that thing!?" He seems to finished his drawing as he draws one huge circle around his marks and scribbles now chanting in some strange language. "What are you doing now?" He continues to chant as the outer ring begins to bleed a midnight black smoke, running itself towards the center as it fills his marks in the dirt. Once he stops there is just this pool of thick purple shadows swirling within the circle.

"Time to go." He says pushing me into the circle I fall forward into the smoke coming out the other side to a bright blue sky, tended landscapes and one large mansion plopped into the center. The stranger gracefully glides through the smoke before it dissipates behind him. "Welcome to the College of the Eight." He removes his hood to reveal medium length sandy brown hair and a smile that looked like it was always keeping something from you. "You may call me the Headmaster."

"Where are we? How did we get out of the woods?" So much has happened that I can't explain. Have I finally lost my wits?

"I drew a portal to this place, my College. It's unlikely you'll be discovered here, not for a while at the least."

"I don't understand? A portal like magic?! Where the hell am I!?" This has to be a dream. Right?

"Yes with magic. You're here in the world of Areton, one of many." He waves his hands throwing lavender lights up and showing me a tree. "The leaves each are their own universe and Areton is just one of them. Within each leaf there are many planes and dimensions, the College of the Eight is nearly impossible to find without help because it is a separate plane from the material. By the time anyone could map their way to our plane, it already will have moved along to another space in our infinite universe." He then blows the wisps of light into the wind. "I know it's a lot to take in, especially if you come from a Leaf without magic. Trust me, we will take care of you for now." Could this all be really happening? Why me? Where did I even come from... how do I find my way home?