Twisted Realms

Chapter 1: The Realm Well

Hey guys.
Enjoy the silly book 📖
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And we shall see if I will make more chapters.

Written by: Baraka A. Rhy (Me)✨️
Edited by: Samra Leitt ✨️

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KAMARI REVERIE HAD HEARD OF THE TALES AND STORIES WITH HER OWN TWO EARS.
A few minutes ago, she had whispered goodnight to her mother as she turned off the lights. She was too old to be tucked into bed, but for her and her mother it was something more than a simple bedtime story.
It was a bonding moment for the two. A chance to spend time together and better understand each other.
It also gave her mother, who loved sharing tales, an opportunity to tell of far away lands and mysteries Kamari would never be able to fathom.
However, there was one that was quite different.
One of the stories her mother would tell stuck out the most.
Kamari pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders as she recalled the world in which once in, you could never find a way out.
Once in, you would become one of them.
They would manipulate you into staying. They'd sing mesmerising songs and ballads, for you to be at their service.
You would be forgotten and people would have thought you just died.
You would never be seen again. Never ever.
She was told how people were kidnapped by the immortal Kings and Queens of the seven realms.
Her lips trembled, and shudders ran up her spine.
Her mother always told her the stories, each and every night. Kamari enjoyed the tales. But sometimes, once her mother had gone and she was left alone with the stories running around in her head, she couldn't hold back the fear.
She knew that in order to get into this world, you had to be willing to some extent. You had to be willing to sacrifice your life on the normal realm, and then the gates would open allowing you to the seven other realms.
Ofcourse, some tried to escape. But it was impossible. They would simply be glamoured and brought back.
She thought of the word glamour. Such a pretty name for such a creepy thing. It forced you to do whatever the monsters wanted you to do. It made sure that even if you tried escaping one of the Other Realms, you'd be inevitably tempted to stay.
Or worse, be forced to become a slave.
Her heart skipped a beat at the thought. How horrid.
How could the mesmerising creatures of fairy tales- possibly having horns and wings, and all those other things- how could they do such horrid things.
Oh how she wished she could do something to help those who were stuck inside that nightmare. Those mortals who were subjected to the boring and endless lives of evil immortal beings.
Kamari closed her eyes, willing herself to sleep. She could only stir listlessly.
Her eyes flew open.
She wasn't in her warm, cosy room anymore... Kamari stood at the bottom of a hill, a pearl-white moon peering at her in a some-what crooked smile.
She didn't smile back. She only made a sour face.
"Oh bother, why do I dream of such silly places? What even is this?" She asked the heavens, she needed an answer because she was standing barefoot in the middle of nowhere.
The sharp grass below tickled her feet as she began to walk, searching for... something. Anything. The air seemed to have paused, the sound of her steps muffled.
And then, her jaw dropped.
Her jaw dropped to the ground and through it because infront of her was sunlight.
How bizarre! Behind her, the moon shone, a stark pearl in the middle of a fold of stars and darkness. And in front of her was a yellow ball of fire hanging with a beaming face against the backdrop of a cyan blue sky.
The sun in question was ablaze ever so brightly, illuminating the grass which was on that particular half of the field.
Kamari stepped speechlessly into the line where the day seemed to meet the night.
Out of nowhere, there popped a well in the distance. It was made up of moss-covered cobblestones piled on top of one another. There was even a little roof atop it, and though there wasn't any backet in sight, it was appealing to the eyes.
Kamari glanced around her to try and get a sense of where it had suddenly appeared from,
"What in the-"
The words were not fully out of her mouth when she was cut short by a voice calling her name. Warm and embracing, like summer dew. Like caramel and honey and birdsong.
It called her and tempted her. She felt something deep within her core heed the voice.
"Kamari dear, come to us, come help us, come save our lands from war. We welcome you to our realms, come to us..." The voice was smooth and deep, like the ever flowing water of a river.
Kamari's heart began to pound in her chest. It beat hard, the sound like horses galloping. The echo reverberated from deep within the well and into her very being.
She froze. Statue still. Her body didn't even tremble despite her head throbbing with fear. Not betraying a sign of the thundering within her chest.
The night side became too dark. The daylight side became unbearably bright.
Blades of grass cut her feet, the stars span in the sky, the earth shuddered beneath her.
The well called louder and louder and louder. An insistent ringing in the world around her.
Pressing her palms to her ears never did anything to help.
She began to scream. A horrible sound that wretched from her body.
"No! I shall not be taken by you wretched beasts."
"Come. Come with us, dear." The voice called amongst the ending of the world, soft, persuading, beautiful, mesmerising, compelling, like the sound of ringing bells in a wedding ceremony.
It sounded beautiful.
It was a trap.
She tried to call out, but she- she couldn't! Her throat had been stitched together. The only sound that came out was similar to that of a fish out of water.
Her feet began to move. She couldn't control her legs- couldn't stop.
No! No, please no.
Kamari struggled against her own body. She tried and tried to break free from the spell...
Her body moved without her violation, slowly, slowly advancing towards the horrible, terrible well. It took her to the stone structure and she looked down, and saw...
The scream lodged in her throat. Dark. Empty. Endless. She tried to break free.
Another entity was controlling her body, she was just a puppet to the strong force. She was just a husk.
Without a single thought of safety and wellbeing, Kamari dived, head first into the well.
Darkness engulfed her. Darkness consumed her whole.
She was entering the throat of a monster. She was entering the darkest pits of hell.
She was entering the Twisted Realms.
She was entering...
This was not supposed to happen. No. No. No. This was not supposed to happen.
This was not real... she told herself.
She told herself that only to make herself feel better, but that never helped. It never worked.
Her tears of terror clogged in her throat as she fell and fell and fell without stopping.
Falling down to her into misery and then, she was certain, death.
To a land, once she was in, she would never come out...
Never. Ever. Never. Ever. Never--

Kamari woke up with a start. She glanced around her. She wasn't falling anymore. Instead, she lay sprawled on the floor of her bedroom.
Her breaths came in quick heavy gasps, her lungs sucking in all the oxygen in the entire world, her mind awhirl with questions she couldn't possibly answer herself.
What the hell just took place?
How silly of her.
It was just a nightmare. One she'd never love to revisit ever again.
She pulled herself into a sitting position and ran a hand through her damp chestnut brown hair, the sweat already cooling on her back.
And even then, she thought it was a spider, but it was only a bead of sweat falling down her face. She swiped at it with her fleece.
"I suppose those stories my mother keeps sharing are getting the better of me." She laughed at herself, getting back to bed.
She turned to her side then rolled onto her back. Her lilac grey eyes fixed on the ceiling above.
She couldn't seem to calm herself down.
Her breath was still quick from the fright, and her heart raced in the stillness of the room. She could hear it. Thumping. Thumping. Thumping.
As her heart hammered, her ears caught the change of speed as she tried calming her nerves.
And, as she gazed at the ceiling, the poor girl had no clue that she'd dreamt of the gate.
The gate to the Seven Twisted Realms.
The Well of Time.
Where night and day met.
Where darkness and light merged.
She had no idea of the darkness that awaited her.
The monsters that wanted her. And when they wanted something, they'd do anything to get to it.
Perhaps rightfully so...
Maybe the tales her mother told were true. Maybe the Kings and Queens of these 'Other Realms' truly did kidnap people and enchant them for eternity.
No wonder it was referred to as the 'Twisted Realms' because everything about the legends were twisted wickedly.
And maybe they were coming for her.
Searching. Finding. Locating her.
Maybe, she was next.