Tasia Kelley

Maggie stared at the journal, her eyes felt so tired from just a few moments of reading. She had not prompted herself to turning to the last passage of the dairy, she opened the pages and it just leapt out at her as she examined the decomposing book. Adam panted still limping on his bad leg, and covered his mouth again as he stared at the dead, mostly skeletal, remains of the hiker. She rubbed her eyes and tried to contain her emotions enough to go on. The words were hastily scribbled by a runny pen, splotches of ink caked much of the page, but the words were still there and legible.

She began to read aloud, the forest hushed and silent like she was reciting an evil spell.

“I’m worried I won’t make it out alive. The Huirun have found my trail and are now pursing me. I must get to the transportation stone and block it so no other creature can get out. I was wrong to let them out. I should have never tampered with the stone. I can hear the camps the Huirun make, I hear their chants as they pray to their dark lord. I can only hope that I can get out of this place and seal the stone so that no creature can ever get out of that terrible place again.”

Maggie read. A chill had run down her spine and decided that was the best place to stay.

Adam closed his mouth and shook his head. “What the…he-” he began but Maggie hushed him. She stared at the remains of the hiker and felt like she should do something.

“Come on. Let’s get going. We should keep walking north, to the river, and then we’ll follow the river to a town.” She told him standing from the boulder she had sat on. It felt wrong to leave the poor man, but she could do nothing. Not while Adam needed to get to the hospital. His boot was off only because his foot had swelled only an hour ago when he had tripped and sprained it badly. Out of just a reflex she put the journal in her bag.

“What are you doing?” Adam snapped. “We shouldn’t steal from the dead…” he told her angrily.

“What is he going to do about it?” she snapped back. “We can’t do anything to help him. We can’t bury his body 'cause we have no shovels. So let’s get going.” Maggie reasoned. She lopped her arm under his and lifted him up so that he wasn’t on his wounded ankle anymore. Slowly, ever slowly, they began their progress to the river that should be north.

Maggie sighed and sipped again from her cupped hand. A little stream gurgled and giggled as it went on its merry way. Adam grunted as he shifted his weight a little downstream shoving his ankle into the cold mountain water. He sighed at the cold flowing over his ankle. Maggie drank a little more and pulled out her water pack, and began to fill it with the stream water. Dirt would get into her water but that mattered little to her. All that mattered was the water. “Give me your pack.” She told Adam who complied. She filled his too.

It wasn’t long before they were off again. But only a few yards into the forest a clearing charged upon them. Adam stared into the perfect circle of the clearing and grunted. Maggie nearly gasped at the giant rock placed in the exact middle. It was definitely carved, by something other than human for the outlines of the pictures and runes etched into the rock glowed a faint blue in the fading light. It was glowing so bright that even the sun could not dim the blue-glow. Above the conflicting light from the sun and the stone made a green halo around the top at least eight feet from the ground. Adam stared at it in wonder while Maggie seemed a little horrified.

Adam pulled away from her and limped into the clearing, the stone grew brighter as he neared it. “Stop Adam!” she called from the fringes of the forest. But he seemed not to hear her as he got closer to the stone. “ADAM!” she screamed as loud as she could when his hand rose to touch it. He turned his head towards her his hand going down. The moment his skin touched the stone he vanished in a flash of blue light. Maggie turned her back to the stone and furiously blinked her eyes. “Adam?” she called softly. But the forest was ever silent.

Maggie turned back around and stared at the stone, Adam was gone with no trace. Not even the grass that he had stepped on was bent. All seemed right and in place, untouched by any mortal man. She held onto the nearest tree as a fit of dizziness swept over her. The bark bit into her skin almost as if the tree was attacking her. She shook her head and took a step towards the stone. The stone flared brighter and she stepped back, and the stone dimmed as she stepped back. “Adam?” she called just once more. But still... absolutely nothing.

Maggie sat down and hugged her knees. Slowly she shrugged her pack off and opened it up, pulling out the weathered journal. She turned to the first page and gulped down a rock in her throat before she began to read.

“I am writing this journal to record the events that have taken place around me. My name is Jessie, I hope to one day be famous for my find. As you can see by my rough sketches I have found a strange glowing stone. This stone glows blue, red, green, and lately black. I do not know how it glows, but it does. Just a day ago when the blue cycle started I decided to touch the stone as it seemed to brighten as I neared it. The blue cycle lasts only for an hour at exactly twelve-o’clock Am till exactly one-o’clock Pm everyday. Then it turns red until midnight when it turns green. Only lately at three-o’clock Am does it turn black for that hour then back to red.

When I touched that stone….The most amazing things happened.”

Maggie looked up at the stone and fidgeted. How long did she have to touch the stone? She did not know. What if they could not get back once she got Adam? The journal was here and said that the hiker must have gotten out. She shuddered trying to make up her mind. She closed her eyes and stood sharply; only opening her eyes just a peek she set her feet and began to walk towards the stone keeping her eyes closed to its glow. She left her camel-pack and only took the journal.

She could feel warmth rushing through her veins as she stepped closer to the stone, her exhaustion faded away as the glow warmed her skin. For just a moment she stopped to savor the wondrous feeling of peace and tranquility that crept over her. It was all right. Nothing would happen, Adam was fine, and there was no need to worry. Maggie reached her hand out and opened her eyes. The blue glow had consumed her and it seemed as if she too, were glowing like the stone.

Hesitantly she let her hand get closer to the stone with a few more steps. Seconds ticked by as she tried to let herself touch the stone. Even the feeling of peace could not overwrite her fear of the stone. Closing her eyes again she took a single deep breath and snaked her hand towards the stone. The moment her hand met the surprisingly cold stone she opened her eyes to a bright bloody red glow. The light flared and just once, she screamed.

Maggie groaned and blinked her eyes open. She slowly flexed as she let her eyes close again. Her hand was tightly clasped around a book. For a few moments she did not know what had happened. She snapped up and looked around at the place she was at.

Everything seemed to be glowing faintly red, making everything become shades of red. The grass was a darker red then the leaves of the trees and the bark on the trees was the darkest of all. The sky was a light red blanketed by slightly darker red clouds seemingly filled with rain. But this place had a desolate feel to it a barrenness of all life. The stone which she was laying at was glowing green and for a moment she thought to touch the stone but held her hand back. First she had to find out what this whole thing was about. She pushed herself up and immediately turned to the journal.

A twig snapped and it was only then she realized how quiet this place was. The sound carried on forever it seemed. Maggie froze and slowly raised her head and looked around the desolate, life filled, place. Nothing. “Hello?” she called softly. Her voice seemed foreign to this place, and the world was still hushed. Standing she looked around even more.

Maggie was on a rise like a hill looking out at a vast plain to her right while a small forest on her left. In between was bare ground scoured of life. She did not look behind her at the approaching creature. The large rust colored eyes of the creature locked on the journal and widened. It reached a vaguely human hand out to the journal and tried to grasp it but Maggie took a step forward. The creature lopped forward on its long arms like a monkey. Once again it reached out for the journal and gripped its edge and pulled lightly. Maggie froze and clamped her hand on the journal.

The creature seemed not to notice the difference and tugged again at the journal. Her eyes moved to look at it but from the field of her vision she could not see it. Her head moved inch by inch as the creature tried to take the journal. She bit back a scream at what it looked like. It looked very much like Gollum from Lord of the Rings but with larger eyes, and no-gender. Plus his skin was hair-less and the color of blood. The creature looked up and for a moment their eyes locked, sparks of intelligence flew and the creature shrieked like an animal and ran away. Maggie stared after it in fear and wonderment. She looked down at the journal in her hands quizzically; the creature must have wanted it.

Maggie looked around and positioned herself so that her back was to the glowing green stone and opened the journal. Another shiver ran her spine as she skimmed through the blue world, that the hiker explored. Just from that she relaxed visibly, he made no mention of anything harmful. Then she came to a sketch of the little creature. She quickly read the entry.

“There is only one creature here in this…lonely world. They could be humans, mutated by unknown means. Theses creatures and speak and reason but are animal and weary also. It is strange to converse with them because of their voices, they seem curious of my clothes and other things. I can not distinguish the genders of these creatures; maybe they have no gender and do not need to reproduce…”

The entry stopped there for a while as the hiker sketched the creatures again, and their dwellings. High up in trees linked together with roped and vines. But hastily scribbled was an agonizing entry.

“I was so scared. The creatures want to sacrifice me to their god. I have learned that they call themselves Huirun and they are savages. I said they can speak and reason, sure they can speak. But reason holds no place in their world….Gods I left my mothers ring with them. I have to get it back.”

Maggie shivered and looked up and screamed. A group of twenty or more of the creatures had gotten close to her. They shrieked and fled away a distance. She panted and stood; only one of them had clothing, one that walked erect towards her very slowly. He wore an elaborate headdress of long reeds and grasses and a tunic. All were the same pale red of the sky. He raised a spear and Maggie flinched back reaching for the stone.

“Stop!” the clothed creature called to her in a human voice. She turned back to him but kept her hand near the stone. “We mean no harm…” he said and neared her. As he got closer she saw that he WAS human. “We see you have book. That book does not belong to you.” Maggie clutched her book closer to her.

“I found it…” she whispered, her voice still loud in the silence. A few of the creatures backed away again, but the human did not he slowly approached her like she was a feral animal. “My friend…he’s…not here…” she said numbly. “He touched the stone…it was blue.” The human nodded.

“Yes.” He replied. “The Lord had told me of him…and you. He wants to see you.” Maggie flinched backwards as he got close enough to see his white eyes. His skin was pale white, such a contrast to the red of this place. She saw a ring shining on a string around his neck. He saw her staring and smiled. “Like pretty things?” he asked and pulled it off. He held it in his hand. He was barely two yards from her when he reached a long arm out with the necklace-ring to her. He stepped forward again still holding out the necklace.

Maggie felt a surge of panic, but she also felt a rush of something else. With her free hand she reached towards the necklace keeping her eyes always on it. Before she could notice he pulled the necklace towards him slowly as she reached for it making her lean towards him. The humans other hand rose up from her blind spot. Her hand gently closed around the ring and she pulled it towards her just as he rapped her skull with the wood shaft. Her eyes rolled up into the back of her skull and she collapsed into the human totally unconscious.

"Master Aral...is she going to go to the Lord?" asked one of the creatures in English. Though something was wrong about the voice, it sounded as if it was spoken in raspy breaths. Aral, the human looked at the creature narrowing his eyes. It fled away from him in fright. No other creature dared to speak to him.

Maggie groaned as she woke, her head throbbed dully and she felt unpleasantly hot. She raised her hand and put it to her forehead, she’d have to get into her pack for the aspirin but realized that she gave Adam the aspirin and groaned again. Every beat of her heart seemed to worsen the throb’s of pain slowly she pushed herself up blinking her eyes open. They adjusted a little too quickly for her taste; she was in a red tent. Maggie slowly examined the tent thinking. Panic then surged through her heart as her memory came back to her with a vengeance.

Only common sense prevented her from screaming. Desperately she gazed around looking for a weapon of some sort. Nothing, always nothing. Maggie heard quiet footsteps and crashed her head into the pillow shuddering at the deep throb of pain. “I know you’re awake.” She the voice of the human that was with the creatures. Maggie lifted her head up and stared at Aral as he stared at her tiredly. “It’s been a long time since I saw another human.” He said simply. Maggie sat up and winced as another throb of pain smashed into her brain.

“Wh…” she started stuttering but stopping before a word came out. Aral kept staring at her. He threw something at her and out of reflex she caught it. It was the hiker’s journal. Something brushed her neck and she looked down to find the ring-necklace around her own neck.

“So, you came here for the glory didn’t you?” Aral asked her. Maggie shook her head. She opened her mouth to speak and closed it again. “Money?” she shook her head again.

“I’m lost…” she mumbled slowly. Aral narrowed his eyes and stepped up towards her. She flinched back but he didn’t stop. Maggie felt another throb as he took her head gently and pulled it slightly forward tilting her head down to look at the bump on the back of her head. He let her go and stepped away.

“Lost…I was lost.” He said distantly as he took on a pensive stance. “But now… well… I was hoping to be able to leave this place.” He said thoughtfully. Maggie blinked uncomprehendingly. This person was so different than the man she had saw before. He noticed her puzzled look and sighed. “The creatures, the Huirun, will chase anything that leaves their land…” he held up his hand. “If they do not have the permission of the Lord of the Black land.” She still felt confused. "The Lord of the Black Land is their deity." he explained. "Even if he is an actual person...or close to being a person.”

“What are you?” she questioned quickly. He blinked at her and smiled. “Why did you hit me? Aren’t you like part of this whole thing?” she spoke quickly. Aral sighed and sat down on the bed near her. Maggie was too preoccupied with the questions forming in her head to care. “Who are you?”

“Call me Aral and I’m a human just like you. I came to this place oh…nineteen years ago. That’s barely a year in your time. And I hit you because if I didn’t keep up the act of being what they want they would kill you and me. I am no part of the Huirun, they are not human.” He told her slowly. “You should know that as long as you’re in this place you never age.” He told her. “And no matter what wound you receive, no matter how terrible, you WILL heal from.”

Maggie felt a slight chill down her spine and stayed silent for awhile. “What about my friend? You said you knew about him? Is he okay? Did anything else happen to him?” she asked in a rush. Aral sighed shaking his head.

“I know nothing about your friend. I have never talked to the stupid dark lord. I hardly even know about the other worlds, but thanks you bringing that book…” he said. Maggie looked at the journal and ran a hand down its cover. “I know that the portal in this world only opens once for several minutes, every twenty years. It will be twenty years soon, very soon. I plan to leave this place, you can come as well.” Maggie stared at the journal, could that man have been here for twenty years? Or had he been extremely lucky? The first entry of the red world said nothing about years or large amount of time passing. He stood and held out his hand. “I am sorry for hitting you but I had to. To save you…” she hesitantly took his hand and let him pull her up.

Aral was soon at work gathering a few items, his spear, a bag, provisions, and a strange looking flute. It wasn’t long before he ushered her out and began to run. Maggie stared for just a second at him before she followed him, she was glad that she was a track star because he ran very fast. There were shrieks behind them and Aral paused to grab her hand and then start running again. Maggie did not want to speak and instead just breathed in and out as the shrieks grew louder.

When they climbed the hill they were able to look down at a huge force of the Huirun gathering towards them, wielding terrible looking weapons. Aral cursed swiftly and nearly ran into the stone. “They’ll kill us before the portal opens up.” He told her dispassionately. Maggie shuddered and looked back at the slightly glowing stone. It was brighter than before because of their proximity. She grabbed his arm and jumped towards the stone as a few spears whizzed by. They vanished into a flash of green light. The Huirun shrieked in rage and ran at the stone, they pounded on it and hit it with their rocks but for some reason even if the portal was open they could not pass.

Maggie woke to a soft low voice and a slightly rough shaking; her head no longer throbbed as she blinked her eyes open. She found herself staring into the white eyes of Aral and nearly screamed, but he clamped a hand on her mouth and motioned for silence. She nodded and he took his hand off and pointed down a hill.

She found herself staring at a large crowd of moving plants with human faces. They murmured slowly to on another as they went along their ways. They did not seem to notice the humans sitting on top of the green hill by the black-glowing stone. This world unlike the red world, everything was shades of green, and here a cool wind blew over them to keep out the jungle heat. Aral stared at the creatures and then pointed to the journal somehow still in her hands.

Maggie opened it up as silently as possible and handed it to Aral. As she did so a scent wafted into the world. Almost immediately she felt lightheaded, she felt a sort of calling and was about to stand when Aral grabbed her hand to stop her. He had a cloth over his mouth and pulled hr collar over her mouth and nose. She froze and shook her head to clear her mind of the scent. The plant-creatures must have smelled it too because now they were all walking away with a slow gait. Once they were gone Aral pointed to the journal and tilted it so that she could see the entry.

“This world is so peaceful. I can even feel the plants grow here. Maybe I can come back here and live. But no…”

Maggie felt like the hiker must have smelled the same thing she had smelled at that point. She stared down at the entry sadly, and then turned to the next frantic sweep of words.

“I can not describe what had happened to me….the scent that called the plant-people was a pheromone that calls you or anything sentient towards the central point. This point is a great tree and the plant people all nourish the tree with some kind of power. Some on the plant-people die from this which make me think that they use their own life to nourish this horrific tree. Dead creatures are all around this place; it seems like the plant people take their life to give to the tree. They almost caught me but somehow, I escaped. I wish I could destroy the tree but somehow...I think hardly anything with make it die. I met another human here, his name is Tavarius. He tells me only things from the red world can destroy the tree. I must try that…”

Aral pulled off his cloth mask and sniffed the air experimentally, “It’s all gone.” He told her and she quickly uncovered her face. Maggie scowled and closed the journal. “Are you alright?” he asked her gently. “I did hit you pretty hard.” Maggie shook her head and stood.

“I want to kill that tree he talks about.” She told Aral. “I want it dead so that those creatures can stop hurting the animals.” She could see the scenes of the creatures giving life-force to a great black tree. Aral stood and raised his spear. He smiled and shrugged.

“I got the weapon right here.” He said simply and tapped the spear butt on the ground.

Aral stabbed into the tree root and watched as blood leaked out from it. Maggie leaned it and saw it too, the large tree moaned into the wind and they blinked up at the branches above them. The black tree was indeed black, there were no leaves that were familiar with a tree and skeletons, half rotted corpses, and new bodies littered the ground. She had no need to hold her breath for there was no smell that came from the bodies. She did find it strange but, no matter. Aral stabbed the tree again and again until a large blood pool formed.

“So how are we supposed to kill a tree like this?” He asked her. Maggie shrugged and passed the journal from hand to hand. “It would be difficult to slowly hack away with my spear.” He told her. She sighed and opened the journal again, reading by the green suns light.

“I have asked Tavarius what I should do once I had the weapon…He told me, ‘Son, if you ever can get a weapon from the red lands you should hack out at the large knot in the center of the tree, it is there you will find the black crystal. The source of the trees power. I have been here long enough to have seen the Dark Lord plant that crystal and watch it grow into a tree. Take the black Crystal and you will destroy the tree. But be wary my son, for once you hold that power, you may go mad.’ I merely nodded and left him for the stone, I would have to get a weapon from those red lands. I shudder at the prospect.”

She read the passage aloud while walking around the tree. There was no mar as she paced around its massive bulk, until….Maggie stared at a large somewhat circular hole in the tree exactly where a large knot was formed. Dried blood caked around the cut away part like it was only cut a few hours ago. This did not bother her either; maybe time was much slower here. “Aral!” she called. He quickly leapt over the blood soaked ground and roots to her.

A scent began to fill the air, a sent much like the one before, but more urgent. “Aral here!” she told him panic making her words stumble. She pointed to the hole and as she drew away he attacked the wounded tree. The scent tripled and the two humans covered their mouths before the scent could overpower their senses. The sound of approaching things began to resonate through the green world. Blood flew around spattering all over the two.

A dark light began to shine from the hole, “Stop!” Maggie called to Aral and reached her hand to the hole that was gushing blood. She gagged as her hand was plunged into the warm blood, but she searched the hole feeling for anything out of place. A few creatures screamed as her hand clasped around something burning hot. She could feel pain lance up her arm as she pulled at the stone, but she did not let it go. Screaming aloud she yanked her hand from the tree and shook violently going to her knees. The journal dropped from her grip and Aral bent down to see if she was okay.

The plant-men stopped their movements towards them and seemed to blink dazedly before looking around with more purpose. All their eyes lingered on the black tree and the two humans that were by it. One stepped forward and spoke in a low whisper of a voice. “What is this…dark…thing?” he asked slowly. Aral helped Maggie to stand and she looked down at her clenched fist finding it empty and whole, not a single burn on her skin. She could feel something rushing through her veins as she slowly looked up at the black tree already withering and dying.

“A black tree.” Aral told them just as slowly. “The dark lord must have planted it.” He said simply. The plants began to murmur within themselves.

“We…want you to leave…” the plant-man spoke. Aral nodded and bent down to pick up the journal. “The stone will take you away…never come back here….” Aral nodded and began to usher the stunned Maggie away. The plant-men encircled the tree and opened their mouths. Slowly they drew the life force from the tree into themselves. Aral shook Maggie as they walked.

“Hey!” he yelled at her. She blinked furiously. The feeling would not fade from her, foreign to her senses she could not comprehend what she felt. But she found herself blood soaked just like Aral and stared into his eyes. “Do you have it?” he asked her. Maggie looked down at her empty hands.

“I think…it’s…inside me….” She whispered, horrified and fascinated at the same time. Aral frown at that prospect but kept her going towards the stone. As they got closer to it they found it glowed brighter. Aral took her hand and briefly looked at her stricken, slightly morbidly, fascinated face and touched the black glowing stone.

Moroii watched the stone flared to life in a rush of green light, the only light that would bring travelers in his realm. How many years had it been since the hiker had been here? It was unknown, for in this realm, time had no meaning, and it held little meaning anywhere in any of the realms. It could have been centuries, or it could have been days. He looked up at the sun-less sky and briefly thought about the long ago sun that he had saw. Then his eyes traveled back to the stone, now glowing blue and to the two people standing before it.

Aral spoke quietly to Maggie, “We should wait here for the stone to open.” He told her. Maggie seemed not to listen, she stared upwards at the black sky her eyes darkening with the color. Morroii could see as any dark-lander could see, tendrils of the same darkness in the sky coming from her. As it came from him, and all dark-landers. Maggie stepped forward away from the stone towards Morroii and towards the darklands. Her eyes slowly examined the place before her and it seemed to take her breath away.

Though in shades of black the dark-lands were one of the most beautiful places she had been. There was a soft thrumming within her veins, like a beating of another heart. The feeling extend into a feeling of limitless power, like she could do anything, it was amazing… and revolting. Maggie made a face and closed her darkened eyes to the blacklands. Slowly Morroii pulled at the necklace around his neck, made from the thinnest strands of darkness. He slowly felt each strand, some so thin they were night translucent, and selected a strand thicker than most. He gently and very lightly pulled it out from his necklace, an end of the strand vanished towards Maggie and Aral. He still had one end and he wrapped the string around his finger and drew it towards him.

Maggie jerked her head up and stared wide eyed into the darklands. Then came the feeling again, she felt pulled. The thrumming within her veins lurched forwards and she stumbled forward. Aral caught her a little too late. He stared at her with concern. “Are you alright?” he asked quietly. Maggie shook her head.

“I feel...like I’m being called…” she said lowly. “I…I….have…to leave…” she told him. Aral drew away from her like she was the plague. “I…” she stood and shuddered as she started to walk. The pulling came again making her feet move quicker. Soon she was at a dead run hardly tripping even though that she could not see a thing on the ground. A dark mist covered all the ground saw for the tops of taller hills and trees.

She stopped at least half a mile away breathless and uneasy. Gasping for breath she was staring down and noticed with a horror a sort of string was sticking out of her body leading towards a massive tree like the one in the green lands. It stuck out right by her heart, slightly slack. Slowly it began to be tightened, the line drawing her to the tree.

Maggie could only follow, she dreaded what would happen if she did not. The dark mist parted as she crept to the keeper of the line. Stopping again a slight hollow in the tree she felt the line almost pop out of her body and vanish into that hollow. Daring to look back she saw that here she had a clear view of the stone and Aral. He was peering into the darkness for her form, but with the mist she knew she could not be seen. Turning back to the hollow she was just in time to see a person in all semblance of a man creep out.

All semblance say, for the twisted horns that grew from his head and the stunted wings that drew from his bare back. He wore nothing above the waist; his body was crisscrossed with tattoos and long terrible looking scars. A soft smile was etched into his face. “Welcome home, Maggie.” He said in a smooth voice.