Chapter 31
Annalise
Day 1
The moment I stepped through the portal, I was yanked into a world unlike anything I’d ever seen. My stomach lurched as my feet hit soft, damp ground, the air thick with an earthy, almost rotting smell that stung my nose. The land stretched out in every direction, an endless expanse of dark, mossy green. Towering trees with twisted branches clawed at the sky, their leaves shimmering faintly with an unnatural luminescence. The canopy above was dense, blotting out most of the light, leaving the ground cloaked in shadows.
The water nearby rippled in ominous patterns, its surface an unnatural shade of blackish green, as if it hid secrets far worse than its appearance. The air buzzed with faint whispers, the kind that made the hairs on the back of my neck rise. I w
