Snow crunched underneath the hooves of the black and white speckled horse Lin was riding. A chilly breeze pierced through the fur coat she was wearing making her shiver. Hills of snow covered forests surrounded her, only parting for the small narrow road she traveled on. She glanced back nervously; something was making her dreadfully anxious. "We should hurry. I think the next village has a Gate, so..."

Lin jerked her head up towards the sound of the man's voice. "What? Where–" Lin began then stopped abruptly when she laid eyes on him. He had an unusual assortment of clothes and a strange accent she had never heard before. His hair ranged from a deep purplish-mahogany to a coppery reddish-orange color and hung in long curls on one side then was shaved short on the other. And his eyes were a strange combination of deep amber, gold, and platinum colors. And he had a zigzag like tattoo on his left cheek that ran up past his eyebrow.

"Aaaahh, Damn. Just my luck...I get a walker... great...Just great." The man tightened his grip on the reins of her horse, which she noticed was unusually long. The horse snorted, it seemed to be agitated, or nervous. "First, I had teh escort ya on a horse. 'It'll be faster.' They said. Psshh...Yeah, if horses liked me...which they don't, by the way." He turned to look at Lin and smiled; his canines a bit too long and sharp to be human. Lin also noticed that his ears were pointed, a bit, like some kind of elf. "Oh, but where are my manners. My name is Izhmayel. Now, if ya would kindly–" He suddenly took out a pouch and blew a glittering powder into her face.

Lin coughed and rubbed at her eyes. "Hey! What are you doing?!" When Lin removed her hand she noticed it was transparent. She held out her hand a bit scared, but mostly awestruck. "What did you do?"

"Somethin' that apparently didn't work right," Izhmayel said sounding annoyed. "I should've known somethin' was up when them Collectors showed up with 'em horses. An' here I thought I'd have at least a few more peaceful tours before it got rowdy again." He turned and started guiding the horse down the road again. "Some Keepers go their whole careers without ever havin' a walker, but then again they don't really challenge the Gates, so I guess 'em Collectors give 'em the plain ol' ones. But, ya see, I didn't challenge that Gate, so ya should be a plain ol' one." He shook his head.

"What?" Lin asked, thoroughly confused. What was going on and how did she get here, wherever here was?

"Nope, that's all, ssh quiet."

An unearthly whisper in the breeze froze Lin to her core. "What was–" Lin began, but was immediately cut off by the young man next to her.

"We've got the go, now. Move silently as possible." He took out another small pouch from inside his coat pocket and tossed it to Lin. "Last resort, only eat it if we, or I should say you, don't make it to the Gate in time and we are in real trouble...remember, last resort. Stuff works real good, but may have some nasty side effects...s'posedly..."

"What?" Lin asked and looked down at the small leather pouch she had caught moments before then opened it. Inside the pouch were three roots that looked almost like ginseng, only with a vaguely iridescent shine to them. "Wait a second, what's–"

"Yah know," Izhmayel started, trying to get the horse Lin was riding to move at a faster pace. "If I knew this animal would take ya straight teh the Gate, I would scare the livin' daylights outta it teh make it go faster." The horse slowed and bobbed its head. Ears flat and eyes wide, the animal gave a small whine and jostled from side to side making Lin grab its mane to keep balanced.

More whispers had joined the first and seemed a lot closer than before. Suddenly, a deadly sounding screech tore through the air making the horse rear up and buck. Lin lost her hold and fell to the ground and was narrowly missed by the smashing hooves of the panicked animal. Izhmayel cursed, as he lost his grip on the reins at the same time and the horse bolted straight into the woods and out of sight.

In the distance, Lin saw dark shadowy wisps gathering. The figures appeared to be armored and ready for battle, even the mounts they rode. Swirling dark mist seemed to hang onto each one of the warriors making it hard to tell if some of them actually had huge dark feathery wings and horns or if it was just the mist playing tricks on the eyes. "Get up! GET UP! GET UP!" Lin heard Izhmayel frantically shouting while he tugged her to a standing position. "No time to be gawking! Let's go!"

"But–"

"We 'bout teh be involved in somthin' I'd like teh stay the SKY away from, if ya don't hurry! Now MOVE IT!" Izhmayel grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards a small cluster of buildings not too far away, which Lin assumed to be the small village he had referred to earlier.

"What are those?"

"Nope, no talkin'...just movin'. Come on."

As they got closer to the village Lin noticed the inhabitants stop and stare at her. The villagers had been taking down hanging bags from the trees and placing them into carts. But now, they watched the travelers warily as they passed by.

A few of the villagers got up and ran inside one of the hut-like buildings. Moments later the villagers came back out accompanied by an elder. "-shadows are near us, going to surround us!" one villager exclaimed, pointing in the direction of the newcomers.

"There is nothing to worry about. They are probably just regular travelers looking for rest." The elder paused to catch her breath. "We have the protection of the Gate and sacred trees, also."

"Yes, but one of them is a Walker," said the villager that was guiding the old woman towards Lin and Izhmayel.

"Oh dear..." the elder exclaimed when she reached them. "I see..." Her gaze was not on Lin or Izhmayel, but off in the distance behind them. Lin turned around and saw what looked like the leader of the shadowy figures point in their direction.

"Dear, dear, dear...we need to hide you." The elder grabbed Lin's arm and gently pulled her towards the hut she had come from.