Chapter 4

The reminder of my brother gave me something to focus on as my mind spun around the unbelievable nature of my predicament. I turned back to find the man grabbing an odd green pack off the ground outside the circle of trees and rocks. He still had the look of concern on his face. But he was no longer seemed interested in grabbing me again, which I took as a sign of hope. He lifted his hand to me with his palm out as if he were trying to show me that he would not hurt me. He hissed something again. His tone sounded a bit more soothing than the other. If a hiss could sound soothing.

He waved me over to him and pointed to a path off to the side of the clearing.

“What?” I asked him. “You want me to follow you?”

He hissed again. This time it seemed more urgent and made the gesture again for me to come closer. Still unsure if I could trust him, I stood there looking between him and the path several times as I tried to get a read on the situation.

I guess I didn’t have much to lose, I thought almost hopelessly. I was stuck in this place, and I could only hope that the portal had brought me to the same place my brother was. After all, I didn’t know much about the… doorway, I guess it was. For all I knew, it could have simply dropped me off to a parallel dimension, and there was an infinite amount of those. The chance I had been able to actually reach the place I needed to be to find my brother was astronomical.

Even though I wanted nothing more than to sit in this clearing and watch the two trees like a hawk to see if the opening would come back. I knew that was a ridiculous and wasted endeavor. It took years for the conditions to be perfect this time. I wouldn’t survive that long on my own, and I wasn’t about to fool myself into thinking, otherwise.

I sighed, forcing myself to stand up, and trudged up to the behemoth.

“Alright, I’ll follow you,” I reluctantly agreed.

Even without completely comprehending what I had said, he seemed to understand my meaning anyway.

He quickly led the way down a well-worn path. Occasionally he would look back as if he were worried that I would stop following him, or maybe worried that I would disappear. Which, given the way I arrived, was much more likely.

I took my jacket off and looked down at my shredded blue sweater in chagrin. Useless now that it was one step away from being destroyed. It was also unnecessary due to the warm temperatures of the place that I had fallen into. I jerked it off, thanking the stars that I had put a tank top on underneath.

The walk gave me time to look around and take in the surroundings without freaking out too much. As I had briefly noted before, the leaves looked almost normal, except their coloring; the few green leaves were a shade or two duller than those I was used to. The reds and browns, however, were extremely vibrant and eye-catching.

I grabbed the nearest brown leaf and pulled it off the branch. I expected to find it either dead or dying. But from what I could tell, it was as alive as any green leaf. The veins that scattered through the brown leaf was what caught my attention the most since they seemed to be shaded or tinged orange in color.

"Fascinating," I murmured, staring at it from all angles as if the color would go back to normal if I just tilted my head.

My eyes caught the grass under my feet, and my mind immediately melted a bit. The grass was turquoise.

Not green, not blue, but a light blend of both.

I bent down and grabbed a few blades of it to look at closer, but even that didn't change the coloring of the grass. I pulled it apart and watched it excrete juices that were far milkier than any plant that I had ever seen.

The giant in front of me hissed in a tone that was obviously agitation, and I looked up to see him standing at the edge of the tree line looking at me expectantly.

"Sorry, sorry... I was just looking at the leaves and grass and... this is all so familiar, but not. It's crazy!" I told him despite knowing that he didn’t understand me.

He hissed again and pointed towards the tree line where the path tapered.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming," I said.

I hurried towards him and stepped through the opening to the top of a tall hillside. As I took in the view, my jaw hit the ground. The woods might have intrigued me, but the scene that unfolded before me took my breath away.

There was no natural path that cut through the large open plain, yet no path was absolutely necessary anyway. The large fortress that surrounded the enormous white towering castle was difficult to lose.

It was mind-blowing.

The brilliant white tapered tower sat far back from the front gates. Each circle around the structure grew smaller and smaller until it ended in a single perfect cap that was nothing but windows. It reminded me of a lighthouse, and I could almost see the light that would be shining from the top of the tower on the darkest of nights. It was absolutely, amazingly, beautiful.

The white exterior was a sharp contrast to the bluish-green sea of grass that stretched for as far as the eye could see. It made the fortress look like it was rising out of the ocean instead of on dry land.

I hadn’t realized that I had stopped to stare until I heard a hiss from farther down the hill, and my escort had already made it to the bottom and was waiting impatiently. Hurrying down towards him, my shoes that had seemed quite sensible for walking through the park were suddenly practically useless on the hillside. I slipped several times until my hands held a good number of scratches, and my backside was hurting from all the random rocks it had hit.