Beyond the door

 It was the village of Orka, the sun was high in the sky, a cool breeze weaved through the leaves with subtleness but the people of the village were in great distress. They had received word from neighboring villages that the “Yotu” (skinwalkers) were migrating to regions with more souls. The people of Orka knew that it was time to migrate as well to a region far away from the migrating monsters as they knew that the Yotu needed living souls to grow in strength and number. 

Ten thousand years ago, the Yotu first appeared, they were beasts with long claws, a stretched physique, and no eyes. The people of that time thought of them as strange animals until one of them tried interacting with a Yotu and got his soul completely sucked from his body, leaving behind a lifeless corpse. The people were shaken, they were scared as they discovered that the Yotu now had a thirst for human souls, and since they had no way of fighting them, they were totally defenseless.

It was a dark time for the people that existed in the land, their civilisation was destroyed from its roots, people senselessly killed by both Yotu and the living alike as resources were scarce and surviving was difficult. Those who were able to flee, spread out all through the land and set up villages to rebuild their lost hopes and dreams. That's when it happened. The Yotu started moving in hordes with their queen as their leader, controlling them telepathically. The Yotu showed signs of intelligence as they'd send scouts ahead of a moving horde to look for the human camps that were closest and proceeded to raid and slaughter those who lived there. This was the life the people of Orka had come to know, a life filled with terror, fear and pain. 

After receiving word from the other villages which acted like communication relays to alert everyone around that the Yotu were close, they began setting up to move to another location. But someone had had enough of the constant fear and hiding, Nyx, the mother of Elysia, daughter of Soufa, was an intermediate sorcerer who specialized in portal magic, she had been trying to do something that no one else had ever done before, she wanted to make a portal to another world, she wanted the best for her and her daughter and was tired of the life they were currently living, she wanted to be free. 

“Nyx!”, Orlad called loudly, pushing aside the veil of her tent. 

“It is time, we must move”. 

“Okay”, she replied as she looked around her to gather her things. 

“Where is elysia?”, she thought. 

“Elysia!”, she cried out. 

Elysia was a young elf, just like her mother and everyone else who lived in that world. She had sky blue eyes, pale glowing skin, the classical pointy ears and a petite physique, she was about the same age as Soren, just a tad younger. She had been picking fruits from the neighboring trees when she heard her mother's call. 

“Yes mother!” she responded with a hint of surprise and nervousness, as her mother's tone was sharp and almost frightening. She ran back to her tent and on getting there, found her mother packed up and ready to leave. The elves of Orka traveled light because they were constantly on the move. They lived in tents and had a centralized system of governance, with the oldest being believed to be the wisest and was therefore made the leader of the clan. 

She set down the fruits and helped her mother out of the tent. She took the traveling sack put together by her mother and wore it like a backpack but it had just one strap. 

“Thank you”, Nyx said as she slowly looked at her beloved daughter and gave her a grateful smile. Elysia responded warmly, “You shouldn't be carrying anything heavy at your age, mother”. “You may harm yourself”. Elysia had always been a hard worker, growing up in her world, she had to be strong both mentally and physically otherwise she would not have survived her formative years, so right from when she had a consciousness to understand the world around her she sought to be reliable rather than a liability to her mother. 

Elysia quickly packed up the fruits, put them in the traveling sack and set it down so she could disassemble the tent, while she did that, her mother went over to Orlad, who was in charge of the affairs of the camp and reported directly to the eldest elf, Hupna. 

“Where are we going?” Nyx asked Orlad with a worrisome tone. 

“Wherever they're not”, he replied. 

As they only had Intel on what direction the Yotu were approaching from, they could only flee in one direction, which was the opposite direction from the approaching horde. In the past, people have tried avoiding the Yotu by going adjacent the horde but they were unaware of how spread out the horde was. In comparison to days of old, the Yotu had now grown considerably because of the number of souls they had consumed. 

Nyx walked back to her now disassembled tent, Elysia packed the tent into a travel friendly and compact manner and carried it as well. 

“Isn't that too much for you to carry all by yourself?, Nyx asked with deep concern. 

“It's okay mother, it's honestly fine”. 

Elysia was struggling to breathe under the weight of the things she carried but she had to be strong for her mother. 

“We’re moving out!” Orlad cried out as the footsteps of a large number of elves followed. It was another migration, one of many that have come and soon be part of those that had gone. Some looked forward to migrations while others didn't, this was due to the favorability of some locations over others. 

Elysia followed behind her mother, trying not to show her discomfort in the weight of the load she carried. The journey ahead of them was going to be a long one, but she was ready for it. 

A few hours into the trip, Orlad signaled to the rest of the elves that this was their camp for the night. Elysia was beyond ecstatic, she was relieved and fell to the ground as soon as she received the signal that they were all stopping. Her mother saw this, chuckled and shook her head in a proud but unsurprised manner as she looked at her daughter's tired body laying on the ground. 

“Elysia”, she called. 

“Yes mother”, Elysia replied with her face still in the dirt which made her voice have a muffled sound.

“Let me help you, I know you're looking out for me but you're my baby okay?”. 

“Okay mother”, Elysia  murmured in a conceding tone. 

Nyx took the bag off Elysia’s body who was too tired to move and started setting up the tent for the night. 

Nyx got to work, her hands moving swiftly as she set up their tent for the night. The other elves were doing the same, creating a temporary village in the middle of the wilderness. The night was eerie, and the forest around them was filled with sounds of nightlife creatures. Nyx continued to work, but now with a new found sense of urgency as she was displeased by the atmosphere that night, it felt as if they were being watched. 

Elysia who had fallen asleep on the grass covered ground had to be woken up by her mother as Nyx couldn't set the tent poles by herself. 

“Elysia”, she called, delicately shaking her daughter.

Elysia jacked back up as if she was having a nightmare and her mother just saved her, confused, she looked around with her sleepy eyes, trying to make sense of the situation. 

“Come help me set up the tent”, Nyx demanded softly. 

“Yes mother”, Elysia mumbled. 

Elysia, now rested (for the most part) sat up and helped her mother with the tent poles. Despite the lingering exhaustion she faced, she tried her best to be as helpful as she could. “I'm sorry for collapsing like that, I didn't want to worry you”. 

Nyx’s eyes softened, “You're doing more than enough my child, I'm proud of you.” She turned to look at the elves around her. “The journey will be perilous but we must be strong”, she said. They all nodded with a sense of confidence.

As night fell, the camp was illuminated by orbs of glowing gel which were crafted by a little magic and artistry. Elysia and Nyx sat next to each to each other in their tent, sharing a bowl of the now prepared fruits that Elysia had picked earlier. The silence was oddly comforting, a momentary relief from the fear had continually plagued them. 

“Mother”, Elysia began hesitantly. 

“Do you think we'd ever be able to be completely free from the Yotu?”

Nyx looked at her beloved Elysia, her eyes hiding her uncertainty, but her demeanor showing forth confidence. 

“We'll be free, I swear to you, we will”, she assured, grabbing her daughter by the hand and looking at her with hopeful confidence. 

Unknown to Elysia, Nyx had secretly been gathering items to make a portal to another realm, a realm inhabitable by elves, she needed a place that was safe for her and her daughter's future, she had made several attempts in the past but they all proved to be unsuccessful. She didn't know what the problem was and most times felt hopeless but each time she looked into her daughter's eyes, she got a renewed sense of hope and that was her drive to keep trying.

They had finished eating and they laid down in the tent. While Nyx thought about how she was going to get Elysia out of their death infested world, Elysia thought about one day becoming a skilled portal magic user like her mother. She was interested in the magical arts and had from a young age shown interest in her mother's exploits. Everything was a matter of time for both her and her mom. “When would we leave this accursed world?” Nyx thought.

”When would I be a skilled magic user like my mom?” Elysia asked within herself, those thoughts lingered in their hearts as they both drifted into sleep.