Serena moaned in pain when she woke up. Sitting up with a wince she tried to look around to see where she was, but found that her spell had ended.

I must have been out for quite awhile then, it usually lasts two or three hours.

Recasting the spell she looked at where she had ended her fall. The pit was only six feet deep, a bit taller then she was. The bottom of the pit had metal circles that appeared to be cut off.

Standing she checked her equipment, finding everything to be mostly in place and intact.

Good thing I got that padded potion holder.

Jumping with a small flap of her wings she quickly hopped out of the pit.

Looking around Serena began to frown.

Why are the walls so cracked? They looked old before but now they almost look decrepit.

Serena walked towards the entrance with caution, unsure what to make of the situation. As she approached the starting chamber her frown grew.

Why isn't there any light coming from the door? I can't have been unconscious for that long. And where did the golem go?

With even more care, and slowly growing nerves, Serena edged into the room. The golem was in a corner, as a pile of rubble. The door was stone instead of wood, and opened to a forest of dark trees, almost black. Instead of sunlight a dull grey light came from the sky.

With a rapidly increasing horror Serena began to realise where she was.

POV: Hammers of Light Watcher

An hour ago

Albert looked on as Serena went about her task. While she had been told that this would be a solo mission with no assistance, that didn't stop the order from sending one of the Watchers to make sure one of the best pupils (and an Avriel) they had didn't have any misfortune on her journey. Having one of the blessed ones die to a bandit ambush would be bad after all.

In fact, he had cleared a bandit camp in a nearby clearing. One of them had spotted Serena as she flew and he took steps to prevent them from preying on innocents ever again.

So he felt it justified that he, an experienced Watcher, had been just arriving when he heard a yelp; instead of hiding in a nearby shadow.

Rushing in as fast as he could without revealing himself, Albert looked just in time to see a pitfall reset itself. He sighed and waited for her to climb out.

...

Did she fall unconscious?

Moving over to the pit Albert opened it to check on Serena's condition, before starting in confusion.

Where is she?!

This is the Shadowfell! I think. I really should have paid more attention in the Planes and the Outside class. Whatever. But its impossible though, there's no way I could have planewalked to another realm. No. This isn't where I was before and our class said that it was a dark reflection of our world. Though I didn't expect it to be so literal.

Moving forward she closed the door against the lurking shadows outside and slumped onto it.

Blankly staring at the wall Serena scrambled to make sense of the situation; and came to the conclusion that it made no sense at all. She knew no power that could have moved her across planes with so little disturbance to the surroundings.

Suddenly she bolted upright.

No! It could have been a ritual! That would have left a magical signature but no physical sign.

Unfortunately, Serena was horrible at anything to do with rituals other then blowing them up. Still, she could figure out the general intent and workings of it.

"DETECT MAGIC", she said as she walked back to where she entered the realm.

There were signs of a ritual, but one that hadn't been active for an hour or so. The runes that composed it already growing hard to read. Squinting at them, she saw that it was a portal, one that would activate again once it gathered enough power.

...

But...

...

It needed so much power.

The other parts said that it would last about an hour, but she couldn't even begin to estimate how much it would take. More than the archpriest had at his disposal at least.

Still, she decided to wait at least a week. She did have rations after all and seeing it fill would help her find out how long it would take.

Two days later Serena was regretting her decision.

She watched the orb of light she held carefully. It flickered as if it was a candle on the verge of giving out, vastly different from it's normal steady glow.

That's not even the biggest problem.

...ho..l.s....

Please be quiet

...i....n....

"STOP IT! I'M NOT GOING INSANE!", Serena screamed at the whispers that were haunting her.

The shadows grew around her looking over the light that kept them at bay.

"light", she tried to cast the spell again, but it came out weak, just like all the other Divinely gifted spells she tried.

Are the gods abandoning me?

....g..v....in....

She shook her head, trying to force the whispers out.

She would never give in.