An Alice In The Wonderland Retelling
Seventeen-year-old Eleana Rosenberg lived a terribly mundane life with her adoptive parents and sister before she was swept away to a world with wormholes in the form of rabbit holes, deadly gorgeous shapeshifter...
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I saw all sorts of strange flora as we trekked through the forest without incident. Though Xen did drawl on endlessly throughout our little adventure.
Apparently, bottle transits was the standard local sea transport. In this case, the bottle was both the ticket and the vehicle. The name of this place, he told me, was Vareglia. I was pretty sure I wasn't on Earth anymore.
Xen told me several more random facts about this...Vareglia, most of them involving bloodthirsty creatures prowling within the very forest we were in. I had rather he kept his mouth shut for those parts.
The forest itself was quite entertaining. The flowers were the size of trees, and the trees were the size of skyscrapers, blocking out any sunlight from shining through. But the glowing stones that littered the forest floor lit the way. Cool wind blew in irregular directions at various parts of the forest, sending dried leaves afloat and skittering as they collided with one another. It twined around my exposed legs like a cat as I hitched up my skirt. I wondered why we did not spot any animals. Occasionally, we passed by clusters of cherry red mushrooms splattered in white dots. Xen warned me to never go near them.
As we progressed further towards the heart of the forest, the luminescent rocks and vibrant vegetation seemed to dwindle, and the air stilled. Only faint whispers of wind could be heard alongside our low breathings and incessant footsteps. I swallowed, mostly due to my thrumming nerves, but partly to wash the aftertaste of stale air off my tongue. Every movement felt too loud, as if it would give us away; from whom or what, I don't know. Even Xen seemed to tense, his movements grew more rigid with alert as he slowed his pace to walk beside me.
I wanted to ask him if something's wrong, but there clearly was, and I didn't think it was safe to make too much noise. We continued advancing deeper into the forest. Darkness seemed to have substance here, I could almost see shadows flowing and dancing among the tree trunks.
The aiding light of stone lamps was no longer present, but that made me notice Xen's eyes—his eyes were illuminated, the amber orbs were ablazed like fiery torches in the dark. I must have made a sound, as Xen glanced sidelong at me.
