Here's chapter 1. It's not as good or as long as I planned but time's been a bit short lately. I promise that my next one will be better. As always, comments and the like are more than welcome! ^_^

Tertek closed his eyes to ward the slight disorientation associated with portal hopping. A tingling sensation flowed through his body as he leapt through the threshold of the portal. As soon as the feeling passed, the tiefling's eyes flew open. Barely a second later, his clawed feet hit the ground hard. Instinctively, he fell to his side and tried rolling to absorb some of the impact. He managed to soften the impact a bit, though his feet felt as if someone had shoved daggers through them. Climbing to his feet, Tertek dusted himself off and took a quick survey of his surroundings. He stood in the heart of a forest. The portal he had jumped through had appeared in an archway formed by the branches of two trees. Well, he thought to himself, at least this wasn't the Abyss or Baator or some other Lower Plane. For a moment, because of the serene beauty of the woods, he thought he might be in Elysium or Arborea, or even the Beastlands, but this place didn't carry that sensation of "goodness" that all the Upper Planes radiated. This place, wherever it was, felt like a Prime.

"Bleedin' portal!" Tertek snapped angrily at nothing in particular. The last place he wanted to be was a Prime. Natives on Primes possessed a tendency to be very unfriendly to planars, especially planars that looked like Tertek. The tiefling sighed and supposed he'd better thank whatever powers that be that he hadn't been dumped in the middle of a city. The citizens would probably have tried to kill him on sight.

Tertek sighed again and stared at the inert portal. His legs still tingled and his body still felt light with the Jump spell. Unfortunately, staring at the portal didn't seem to be the key to open it. The tiefling fervently hoped the portal wasn't one-way. He'd have to use his magic to try and crack the portal.

He walked forward, his mind sorting through the spells he prepared that would allow him to divine information about a portal. The spells he knew didn't guarantee success but they were better than nothing. First, he needed to try and open the portal again without using up his spells.

The tiefling stopped several feet before the archway the portal had opened in. He cocked his head to the side. The sunlight above filtered through the trees and reflected off his ramlike horns. The portal didn't react to the Jump magic enchanting Tertek's body, as he expected, though he figured he might have to jump through the portal again. Heaving another sigh, he crouched and sprang into the air, closing his eyes.

Tertek felt the soft dirt of the forest floor beneath his feet once he hit ground again. He cursed and whirled about to look at the arch. Grumbling beneath his breath, the tiefling stomped toward the space and stood right inside the archway. If the inert portal decided to open again, he'd make sure he went through. In the meantime, he had many spells to weave to try and get the bloody thing to open.

The tiefling raised his hands before his chest and cleared his mind, calling forth a spell that would enable him to determine the key to the portal. The syllables of the incantation flowed melodically from his throat as his hands flicked through the gestures necessary to cast the spell. He reached out with his mind as he chanted, grasping for the portal he had just passed through. He sensed the portal and lunged out for it but it remained just beyond his grasp. Dropping his hands, Tertek felt the incantation fade from his memory. From the results of his spell, the tiefling guessed the portal was indeed one-way. However, he had one more spell to try.

The spell he intended to use had been designed to force a portal to open without a key. However, the spell drained a lot of energy from the spellcaster. Tertek hesitated before casting the spell. If the magic succeeded and the portal took him back to Sigil, he still had the matter of the portal guards he had fled from. He didn't want to have to face them in a weakened state. He'd encountered similar experiences before and they weren't pleasant at all.

The tiefling had just decided to cast the spell when the arch shimmered and contorted. Tertek's lava-colored eyes flew wide in surprise. His spirits lifted and he dove at the portal, expecting to pass through and be in Sigil once more. Unfortunately, all he found on the other side was a face full of dirt. He cursed and stood, wrapping his hands around the hilts of his short swords. Most likely, one of his assailants had found the means to open the portal and come after the tiefling. If that were the case, Tertek would be ready.

The tiefling fell into a fighting crouch, prepared to lash out at whatever stepped through the portal.