A Crossroad

<p>Mair and Ein made it to their destination without incident (aside from Ein getting knocked off his horse by a branch when he was told he was a farie and getting the wind knocked out of him as he hit the ground while Mair struggled to contain a silent laugh by turning it into a scowl).<br/> Mair seemed to know exactly what must be done and where they were going Ein however, was a completely different case. He had never been to the Hedge before and only had old stories to go off of as to what he should expect. Perhaps when they went to water the horses a Nixie would drag him to the depths of the Water Pools or a redcap might catch him unawares gathering firewood. Needless to say he was a veritable ball of anxiety and would startle at the most minute of unexpected movements.<br/> They had arrived in a clearing surrounded by weeping cherry trees who's long willowy branches seemed to move like hula skirts in the light breeze. Around the edge of the clearing were perhaps 13 freestanding doors forming a circle each made of a different wood. On each door a tree was carved as were several symbols he was unfamiliar with reminding him of a Celtic tapestry. The center of the clearing had a mound where the spring burbled out of the earth spiraling around and down before flowing out of the clearing between two doors to the northwest into a patch of reeds and cattails where a door might have been. Above the water burbling from the mound a natural stone table covered in what appeared to be many small offerings with a silvery sheen wrapping in and around them like a river of mist awaited spirits unknown. To the left of the reeds from the center in the westernmost direction was a mausoleum overgrown with ivy where another door would sit and to the left of that was a large wild rose bush growing over and behind a door with thorns and roses carved into it. To the north was a white tree with black slashes bringing to mind eyes all up and down the trunk growing over a door; a large black burr festering from a split between two low branches and several roots with the same suggested a possible fungal infection. Other doors he recognized included a rowan, ash, alder, willow, hawthorn, oak, holly, and hazel.<br/> Mair stood watching as he took it all in. Ein found himself particularly drawn to the door with one vertical and 4 horizontal lines on the top and a beautiful image of a hazel tree with hazel nuts in a basket at the base of the carving. He could almost feel a pulse as he brushed his fingers across the grain as if a heart was beating within the wood. He hesitated looking at Mair and she urged him on.<br/> "This isn't going to have some sort of ogre waiting to eat me inside ...is it?" He asked Mair.<br/>Mair rolled her eyes and shook her head no then urged him again to open the door.<br/>Ein grabbed the handle turning it to reveal... nothing... the door swung open and the space inside was exactly like where he was at. He looked behind it and inside it and finally put his arm through and nothing happened so he stepped through the doorway.</p>