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Sample:
Four teenage friends discover that two elemental forces are warring and they are caught in this war for reasons they do not yet know. People from a world very similar to our own are also involved in this war; they are headed by a strong woman named Sarah. She is Queen of a city holding out against the Wrong and human enemies. We also meet her Council: a small group from a world destroyed by the Wrong a few years before; also meeting her brother Joseph who is not the support she needs. Within these conflicts of politics and family, the four children learn that they must travel to a small town on the outskirts of Aylesbury in order to wage their own war.
They will learn what morality and love are, what sacrifice means and they will learn what it means to be brave and how strong friendship can be.
Chapter One
They came through smoothly, stepping from world to world with very little sensation of moving. Chris held Rob with one hand and Steph with another, and though he knew they didn't exist for that time in the Out as anything physical, it was still a huge comfort to feel his friends' presence and to know they were joined by hands and by will.
He was the first to see when they came through as he was the first to step out of the air. There was the slightest jolt, a tremor through his mid-section and then stillness. He took a few steps forward to make room for the others coming behind him and shivered. Sarah had said the time in this world was different to their own and he'd come prepared-or so he thought. His jacket was far too thin for this world. He hoped they wouldn't stay too long and bit back a grin at that thought. Even just a few months ago, he wouldn't have had that thought. Any chance to be in a world that resembled his was a chance to be taken. And this place certainly resembled everything he knew. He looked about as he felt Rob bump against him.
A school, quite obviously. A field just behind them, the outline of houses at its end; bright lights close by, probably a main road connecting suburbia to the town centre.
It would be a school, he thought with strong sadness.
"Make some space, man," Rob said and Chris moved to his left.
"Shit, it's cold here," Steph muttered from a few feet back.
"They're here," Sarah said. They looked, seeing the four kids at the far end of the grounds: two boys with bikes standing in between two girls, all four with the same look of disbelief and fear on their faces. Rob raised a hand in a wave. The kids looked ready to bolt. Sarah saw this and stepped forward quickly, brushing past Rob and Chris. Jon, Steph, Dave and Sal stood close together; Sal rubbing her hands together.
"Lucy!" Sarah called. Her voice dropped and ran across the cold concrete. "It's Sarah!"
One of the girls, the small one, took a step forward. The boy closest to her put out his hand and took hold of her arm.
"We're friends," Sarah called to the four.
The Council watched the four kids look at each other and confer. After a few seconds, they began to walk slowly across the grounds in a tight group. Rob felt a coil of fear in his stomach and didn't know why.
Sarah took a few steps forward to meet them and the Council followed slowly. The two groups met and stood silently facing each other. Sarah spoke first and each member of the Council was surprised to hear an uncertainty in her voice, something they'd never heard before.
"Hello. Again."
"Hi," said Harris. His grip on his bike was rock-tight. "I think we've got some things to talk about."
Sarah nodded. "That's why we're here. Introductions first." She watched Harris shift his eyes from her. "I'm Sarah, as you know. You also know Rob Harrison." As she mentioned his name, Rob smiled and gave his small wave a second time. "And now you meet Chris and Dave Launer, Sal Lawrence, Steph Westcott and Jon Faycher."
The group stepped forward or smiled or waved as Rob had when Sarah said their name. She finished and looked at the four.
"And you are Lucy Adams, Sue Browning, Kevin Yates and Mark Harris."
"Yeah, but nobody calls me Mark," Harris said without thinking. "Apart from my mum."
Sarah nodded as if this was no surprise. "Well, then. Harris it is."
The wind gusted through the school and they all heard the bushes next to the pool rustle.
"So, what next?" Lucy said when Sarah looked at her and said nothing. "You told us to be here at seven, and here-"
"Wait a minute," Rob said, frowning. "We told you to be here?" He looked at Sarah and saw his own confusion on her face. "Did we?"
"I sent no message," Sarah said. "How could I? We couldn't get through."
Sal stepped forward. "Tanya?" she said. "Is it possible that she-"
"Tanya's in the hills," Rob said shortly. "She couldn't do anything from there."
"I know I've said this before, but could someone tell me what the hell's going on?" Harris said with forced pleasantness. "Because we haven't got a clue."
"Hang on. How the hell did they know to be here now?" Chris asked, looking directly at Sarah who was again looking only at Lucy.
"We had a letter," Lucy said. "Well, it came to me this afternoon." She pulled out the single sheet of paper from her coat pocket and held it out. The wind flapped at it. Sarah took it, unfolded it and read the single line.
"This is not from me," she said. "Someone else is at work."
"Kempton?" Jon said quietly.
Sarah shook her head. "With Tanya," she said and passed the paper back to Lucy. "This was given to you?"
Lucy nodded. "Yeah.......I.....well, I saw something this afternoon in my house. I'm not sure what it was. It wasn't there long enough." She swallowed, conscious of all the eyes on her. "It was like a shape of a girl in the air and it said two things and that was it. It was gone and I had this message by my chair. We came here tonight, thinking this letter was from you."
"What did it say?" Sarah asked quietly.
Lucy frowned. "I'm probably getting the pronunciation wrong, but.....the first word was gaol and the second was two words, really. Deis-de."
"My God," Sarah breathed. Sue, Lucy, Harris and Kev did not miss the looks of shock and fear that shot around the strangers' faces.
"That note isn't from us," Jon said quickly. "So that means someone else knew you would get here at seven."
"What the hell's going on?" Harris asked. "And what do those words mean?"
"Time enough later," Sarah replied. "We came to talk to you because we were wrong about......the danger here."
Lucy rubbed her hands together and shivered. "Can we get out of the wind? I'm freezing."
"Try coming from July to this," Chris said moodily. He was clearly unhappy. Before anyone could comment on his words, Sarah pointed to the pool.
"Outside there," she said. "We will be less obvious, as well."
She started walking without waiting for a response; Dave and Chris followed immediately while Lucy's group looked at Rob, Jon and the two girls. Rob nodded his head to the walking others.
"Better follow," he said gently. "We've got things to talk about."
"Like where you're from?" Harris said and Rob nodded without smiling.
Lucy stirred as the phone rang. Her legs were stiff and slow to uncurl as she dropped her arms. The ringing
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