Chapter 1
In a moonlit forest outside the sleepy town of Dearborn, New Jersey, a rift opened between two worlds.
It happened in a small, isolated clearing. Someone standing nearby would have felt a blast of wind and smelled a decaying swamp where, before, there had only been the country scents of grass and dew. The rift itself resembled an ink stain smeared across a pane of glass. It disappeared if it was looked at sideways.
The darkness on the other side shifted. Something large and bulky appeared in the rift, crunching dried leaves as it trotted forward. It neighed like a horse, but its eyes were the bright red slits of a demon. Its black coat blended with the night. As it crept forward, a pair of wings became visible, draped around its sides. The feathers were pure black and shone as if coated with oil.
The horse stuck a knobby leg through the opening. It moved hesitantly, testing the air.
“Onward,” came a raspy voice.
The moonlight revealed a cloaked man seated atop the creature’s spine. His hood was pulled forward, hiding his face, and yet the wind tugged incessantly at the fabric, revealing patches here and there of white, wrinkled flesh, along with a pair of thin lips pursed in indignation.
“I don’t have all night,” he said. “Move it.”
The horse squeezed itself through. The traveler reached down to touch a bulbous sack hanging from the saddle. He stroked it, pleased that his precious cargo had made the journey. Whatever hung inside the sack was very heavy. The horse hitched to one side as it stepped through, nearly buckling once it landed on the grass. The man urged it along with harsh whispers.
“Pick yourself up. Don’t buckle so much.”
The horse righted itself with a flutter of its wings, which were now free to stretch. A loud crack startled it. The creature jumped away from the rift, almost toppling over. The rider held on for dear life.
“Easy now!”
The noise had come from the rift, which was sewing itself back up. The wind pouring through it rose into a whine as the opening shrank into a pinprick. It disappeared, and the clearing was silent again.
The traveler had arrived.
