The light stung at my face, and it was only then I realized I'd been asleep. Unconscious. I tried to sit up, a bad idea, as the lurching in my stomach and spinning in my head both proved. I fell back, curling up as I clutched my stomach, squeezing my eyes shut as the room continued to swirl about, flecks of light dancing under my eyelids. I never knew what it meant when people said they were seeing stars, until now. I would lay there the better part of an hour, waiting for the debilitating sickness to subside before gathering the strength to crack my eyes open, slowly. Baby steps. I blink a few times, the dark room had finally come to a halt, but I still couldn't quite see, other than what was immediately nearby, where light beamed in from a tiny slit on the wall. "Where am I?" I'd thought, as I lay on my side, staring at the little source of light. I touch my hand to the floor, gulping a bit as I pushed myself up, slightly leaning on my hand and elbow as I force my body to roll over. I flex my fingers, slowly, wiggle my toes, wag my tail a bit. Everything seemed in place.. that was a good sign. I pushed myself further, pulling my knees up under me. More spinning, but not as bad as before. I crawled to the light, my hand resting against the wall under it a moment, and, finding nothing there to stop me from doing so, I heaved myself over, and sat back against it. Upright, at last. "I am Tyr Datan.." I'd said to myself, still fighting the nausea in the back of my throat. "I know who I am.. but where?.." I muttered. I thought about it a little as I closed my eyes, breathing deeply as I gathered myself. 'I am Tyr Datan,' I repeated, in my head, this time, 'I live with my brother Anmar in the capital, in the castle, the North Tower. I'm a Court Mage in training, Apprentice to Master Valence, Arch Mage and advisor to King Dominic, my fealty to him. I was studying! Experimenting, and..' it comes back like punch to the gut, like I needed more knots in my stomach. I'd opened a portal. It's swirling, deep blue makes my vision twist just imagining it, and another dizzy spell strikes me. It was unheard of! Many had attempted it, the ability to open a stable portal on demand would make the discoverer rich and renowned beyond their wildest dreams. Traders would flock to them, looking to get their products to their destinations in an instant, with no threat of bandits at all, military would want to move troops and supplies to the war effort, even every day citizens would want it, to visit distant relatives or return to their homelands without the long, long months of travel it may take otherwise. I grin, forcing myself to stand, I needed to know where I landed! I fumbled in the dark, before reaching up, feeling wood beneath my fingers and grabbed the edge just under the light, yanking hard to pull the boards off, squinting through the light as it pours into the room more and more, until I look out through broken glass at.. other buildings? They were definitely shaped oddly, and not built in any way I thought familiar. The road looked strange too, black, and with lines painted down the center. I turn around, looking into the freshly lit room, some sort of rug across the whole of the floor, the walls perfectly smooth, and colored a light shade of tan.. I shake my head, my ears swinging side to side a bit, before taking a deep breath, closing my eyes and holding out my hands. Where ever I was, didn't matter. If I can just make another portal, channel the Mana around me the same way I did back home, and just.. a swirl of smoke builds under my hands before fizzling out as I open my eyes, a wave of dread settling over me. Where in the gods' light was I that could have such a small amount of Mana?..