Chapter 2

Aubrey awoke with a groan as someone shook her body as they tried to rouse her. Her eyes fluttered open and she was startled to find that she wasn't in her bedroom but was at a place she had never been before in person but had seen multiple times on TV and in books.  She was at Stonehenge.

                "What the-?" She started to speak but was cut off when the scarred warrior entered her vision. She remembered him from the church and felt herself pale at the fact that she wasn't having a very bad dream. "Who are you?" She questioned pulling herself into sitting position, her fingers running through the dewy grass.

                "I am Tiberius Maximus. You are Aubrey Winters." His tone was matter of fact as he held out his hand, his clothes changed from the t-shirt and jeans he had been wearing before and now he was dressed in a tunic with tight cotton trousers that could easily be leggings. Around both of his legs were holsters in which various weapons were sticking out of. Aubrey took in all of this with wide eyed appreciation, her heart hammering in her chest as she stared up at him, unsure why she wasn't screaming at the intimidating presence before her.

                "Why am I here, with you Tiberius Maximus and why are we at bloody Stonehenge?" Aubrey almost put a hand over her mouth because of her rude attitude, if she felt like being rude she usually kept it to herself but she just blurted it out in his face and felt guilty the moment it passed her lips. "I am so sorry, it's just so much has happened. Did I really wake up in a coffin? Please tell me it was a dream." She whispered the last bit feeling a bit overwhelmed.

                His face was sympathetic as he put an awkward pat on her shoulder in consolation. "I'm afraid it all happened. As for why we are here-" He swung his arm wide to gesture the circle of stones that look like empty doorways. "This is the portal ring to the other dimensions. There are many more that this portal suggests but this is just the secondary portal ring, the original was destroyed in Pompeii." Aubrey just nodded her head unsure whether to believe the stranger who though he wasn't good looking in the obvious sense, there was something magnetic about him and she found herself intrigued by this mysterious man.

                "Okay so if this is a portal ring-" Even Tiberius didn't miss her disbelief as she tilted her head back so that she could fully gage the magnitude of what was before her. "Where are we going?"  Tiberius didn't answer just tugged her to the centre of the ring of stone after taking a glance around, his eyes piercing though the early morning mist as if checking for intruders. He took something from his belt that if she was to guess, Aubrey would say it was a Nintendo DS, a device she had seen many kids playing with when she was working in the library.

                Tiberius' version was either a modified version or it wasn't a Nintendo DS at all because of the way that it had extra buttons and things that he clicked with the smallest frown on his face as he stood in the centre of the stones turning full circle before he paused facing one of the stone doorways. He ignored Aubrey's presence as he tapped away for a seconds before he strutted over to chosen doorway and pulled out a blade. He bent down and carved into the soil at the base of it but she was too far away to see what had been carved. Before she could say anything else, Tiberius brought the dirty blade across his palm and after clenching his fist to squeeze out some blood, he placed his palm onto the dirt drawing. She didn't so much as see the change but more felt it.

                The wind started to pick up and the urge to run in the opposite direction filled her to the core but Tiberius stood and gestured her over. She didn't have time to react because as soon as she was next to him he grasped her hand and slid the blade across her palm so that a sharp sting radiated from the spot. She tried to pull her hand away on instinct but Tiberius held her hand tight and squeezed it before he dragged her down and placed her palm over the etching in the soil and saw that it was an intricate version of her tattoo with several symbols around the edge.

                Aubrey watched in awe as the symbol glowed and then it was like a veil had been lifted. The doorway was no longer empty but was a swirling wall of colours. It was the closest thing to magic she had ever seen and if it wasn't for the fact that Tiberius was still holding her palm to the symbol, she might have just walked right up to it and touched it.

                "Sorry about the cut, but the portals need a blood price from this portal ring as it is the archaic model, you'll understand better when we get there." He stood pulling Aubrey up with him. He looked down at her and back up to the portal with a stoic expression, not even a twitch in his face to give away his emotions. Aubrey just stared wide eyed not sure what she was supposed to be doing. "You might want to hold on the first time is always a bit disorientating." His lips quirked at the last bit but Aubrey ignored it as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist as tight as she could as she eyed the wall of colour.

                Tiberius was startled and looked down at the fragile looking girl who had such a strong grip on him before his mask returned and he was back in what his friends and joked was his guardian mode. He tried to take a step forward but almost stumbled over Aubrey's feet that were planted firmly on the ground. He looked down at her and sighed before he swooped down, his hand going to the back of her knees before her pushed her legs out from underneath her so that she was in his arms bridal style. She let out a squeak of protest but he just gave her a level stare.

                "Hold on tight." He told her and stayed still until she wrapped her arms around his neck. Without any other word of warning he stepped forward though the doorway.

                Aubrey felt her breath sucked from her lungs as she was squeezed from all sides by a freezing cold force that would surely freeze her solid if it wasn't for the warm embrace she was wrapped up in. Her cheeks flushed at the thought. This was the closest she had ever been to a man after seeing so many girls get spurned by them at school she chose to stay away, it didn't help that she dressed like she was fifty and had a penchant for turning to her books instead of engaging real living people in conversations, they just never held her attention like a five hundred page novel could.

                For what seemed like a day to her but in reality was about ten seconds, the sensations continued until the cold was gone and she felt like she had just broken through the surface of the water after being starved of oxygen and was now taking deep greedy breaths. She didn't even bother to open her eyes which had closed as soon as she was in Tiberius' arms; instead she concentrated on getting air back into her body whilst she strangled the life out of her warrior. He let her do it for a minute before her gently pried her fingers from his neck.

                "You can open your eyes now, we're here." He told her gently before dropping her to her feet, making she was stable before he pulled from her grasp.

Aubrey kept her eyes closed for a minute before she peeked out of one eye trying to gage where she was but too afraid to look. Immediately both of her eyes were open wide as she caught a glimpse around her, she didn't know how to describe it; it was paradise but then so much more. They were stood upon a cliff that overlooked miles and miles of greenery, birds unlike any she had seen or read about before soared past that round platform they were on, diving in and out of the doorways that were not dissimilar to the ones at Stonehenge except there were many more and they were all arched, each one entwined with a different material and symbols were etched up the sides stone portals. Aubrey just gaped in awe as she spun around looking for something that would prove this dream impossible.

Tiberius watched for a moment revelling in the reaction of the new recruit like a father would indulge his child but after a minute or two he shook it off. Day was almost over and he had orders to return with the recruit by evening supper. Aubrey stopped when his hand dipped inside his tunic and furrowed her brows when he pulled out a whistle and after inserting it into his lips he blew but no sound came out. She looked around for the dog that it had surely heralded but nothing scampered up to their path. She looked at him disappointed before shaking her head, she instead cleared her throat asked what she had been eager to ask from the moment she laid eyes upon the place.

"Where are we?" her voice was quiet but it was as if she had shouted the words because of their isolation. Her turned around and smiled at her, a true genuine smile as he gestured behind him in a wide sweeping arc.

"We're here, in a place your people have deemed lost for centuries but it has merely been forgotten." He turned to face her once more just as the sound of beating wings came from behind her followed by a thud that she almost turned to look at but his next words caught her off guard. "We're in Atlantis."