Chapter 2 Welcome to Mytherion

As Emerald stepped out of the portal, she suddenly became entranced. She gaped in awe of what she was staring at. She had never seen anything like this world but one thing was certain. She was in for some big treat. She tried to find her way around when she was suddenly obstructed by two creatures that could have been on the same height as her if they were to stand on their hind legs.

She was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts, just as she heard them speak, "Welcome to Mytherion, Lady Emerald Draemir", the creatures said in unison. She jumped back in surprise,"Y -yyyy", she stopped and took a really deep breath before speaking again, "What are you?" she asked with obvious fear written on her face. The creatures simply signaled her to follow them. She wasted a moment before sceptically following them.

After a while, the creatures spoke up again, "We're Lycan's. We are the stewards of Mytherion. We welcome every magical creatures that come into our world. Magical creatures like you." they said again in unison. Emerald took a while to digest what she had just heard before saying, "Okay, I understand you're Lycans, but Lycans aren't supposed to talk, yet you do." The Lycans simply said, "You seem to forget that you are in the land of magic. In this world, everything is possible". After that brief conversation, they walked in silence while Emerald proceeded to observe the world she had stepped into.

As they walked, she noticed the sun in this world shone especially bright, yet felt effortlessly warm on the skin. The warm golden rays of the sun gave her a tingling sensation on her skin, like walking through a field of trimmed grasses. She also noticed that although the sun shone especially bright, it didn't feel as hot, unlike in the human world. As she looked up at the sun, she noticed fairys dressed in golden yellow like the sun, dancing and twirling around it. And as they danced and twirled, the rays from the sun moved according to their rhythm, evenly spreading out across the realm.

The Lycans noticed her gaze and answered her before she even asked, "Those are the sun fairys. They are the ones who make sure that the sun spreads our evenly across the realm during the day".

"They dance like this all day", Emerald asked totally mesmerized by the sight. "Yes, all day from the rising of the sun to it's setting. They dance like this till the first beam of moonlight rises across the realm, paving the way for the moon fairys." the Lycans replied. After a while, the Lycans stopped in their tracks, "Alright, this is where we shall drop you off. We must return to the portal entrance and await the arrival of other magical creatures. You shall be met here by two earth fairys who will then lead to the great hall", the Lycans said as a got to a bridge that looked like it was made of glass. Underneath the bridge was a shimmering lake that reflected the rays of the sun.

Inside the lake, Emerald saw creatures she had only heard of in fairytales. Seahorses that had the bodies of fishes, fishes with wings, crabs that looked like seahorses and even mer - people. She was so entranced that she had no idea when the Lycans left. She only managed to come to when she noticed two fairys land in front of her. They were the earth fairys that had been sent to bring her to the great dome hall.

"Hello there. We're Zane and Leia Luxe and we are the earth fairys sent to bring you to the great dome hall." both fairys spoke together rather enthusiastically. Emerald smiled awkwardly at them while offering them a polite "Hi, I'm Emerald Draemir". "Well, nice to meet you Lady Emerald Draemir", Leia said with a beautiful smile on her face then added, "Don't mind that we are like this. We're twins actually, so you we're kind of connected".

"Oh, it's okay. I totally understand. Besides, I can actually see the resemblance." Emerald said with a polite smile. The twins were dressed in the same way, with leaves and flowers for clothes. Leia's dress was a made from green plants and styled intricately with beautiful daffodil flowers, while Zane's was simply made with just green plants, yet they still had an intricate design like they were styled with magic. As she looked around her, she noticed all earth fairys were dressed up the same way.

"Ok, let's take you to the great dome hall where your welcome ceremony is being held. We still have a long way to go." Zane said as he pulled her along.

Are we gonna get there on foot if we still have a long way to go?" Emerald asked puzzled. "Who said anything about walking", Leia asked looking obviously excited. Emerald simply stared in confusion when suddenly a large eagle landed right in front of them. Emerald yelped in shock, "Th - th - that is a giant eagle, right?". "Yep, meet Star. She's My beast companion," Leia said enthusiastically, "She's the one who's gonna be taking us to the great dome hall," she added.

"What? There is no way in hell I'm getting on that bird. What? You want me to die before I even make my mark here?" Emerald asked looking so scared. Suddenly the eagle cawed like it was trying to say something and surprisingly, she could actually understand it. But she said nothing as she was still obviously so scared of the bird. The Leia looked at her in surprise, "Star says it would be an honor for her if you were to ride on her back".

"Awwww, really? She said that?" Zane said obviously doting on his sister and her beast companion.

"You understand what she's saying", Emerald asked in surprise. "Yeah. Everyone understands their beast companion", Zane replied and was about to reply when Leia cut in, "Once you bond with your beast companion, you'll always be able to understand whatever they say". "You'll get to feel it too when you bond with your beast companion", she added.

The eagle cawed again, "She obviously understands me. She's just pretending not to". Emerald simply smiled awkwardly as Leia looked at her again in surprise. "Uh, why don't we hurry up and take off to the great hall or we might end up being late for the ceremony ", she said, her fear suddenly disappearing. She was afraid of being discovered this early on than of falling off the back of the giant eagle bird. She clearly remembered her father's warning, "Don't let anyone realize that you have control over everything around you unless absolutely necessary. Okay?". "Okay dad," she had replied obediently.