They walked, and as they walked the landscape around them changed—no more forest or ferns or dripping leaves, just damp earth and sharp boulders, though the fog wasn’t as thick as it had been across the lake, but still there, gray and swirling around the boulders and their ankles and over their heads. Their walk slowed to a cautious crawl, with Ezzie leading the way, though they didn’t come across any spinning world arches, much to Ava’s relief. She wished they could walk faster though. She wished they could run! They had to get to that shimmering archway Elu had mentioned, from that myth her mom had told her. Ava had to get home! But Ezzie led them at a slow pace, and soon they came to the start of a hard cement road and stopped.
Ava took out a cigarette, lit it, and inhaled deeply. She was long over do. She ignored Ezzie’s look of wrinkled disgust.
“This street leads north,” said Ezzie, looking at the compass Aryana had given her.
“Good. Let’s follow it then,” said Ava.
She finished her cigarette as they walked, following close behind Ezzie and careful not to trip over any cement or cracks, where bright green moss grew, and Ava hoped they wouldn’t come across a patch of mushrooms, and after walking for what felt like hours and probably was, they came to a large archway in a cement wall. The road continued on through it. The wall seemed to go on forever in both directions, as far as Ava could see in the fog anyway. Through the archway was twilight nothing, and she wondered with alarm if it led to a huge spinning world they’d have no choice but entering. Fog and dirt and moss was in cracks in the wall and all around was just chilly grayness.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
They stopped.
“Through that archway is still direct north,” said Ezzie, holding the compass in her hand.
“What do you think is through the archway? A spinning world?”
“I-I don’t know,” said Ezzie, putting the compass back in her pocket. “I’ve never seen an archway like this one. Normally the spinning world archways are see through, but this one isn’t. Maybe we can follow the wall around.”
“Okay,” said Ava.
They followed the wall, so close Ava could touch its cold surface with her fingertips, and soon came back to the archway and the strange twilight beyond.
“Did we go in a circle?” asked Ava.
“No. The compass never changed.” Ezzie held the compass. “North is still beyond this wall.”
“Let’s try again, but the other way.” Ava really did not want to walk through that archway.
They tried again, Ezzie gazing at the compass the whole time, but just came back to the archway again. It was like the wall had no end.
“We have to follow the road through!” said Ava in dismay.
“Yeah. I guess so,” said Ezzie, sounding as equally unhappy about it as Ava.
“What do you think is through it?”
“I don’t know.”
It looked like just inky, twilight blackness, but at least there was no fog. Ava didn’t think this was on the map either. She took out the still damp book and flipped to the map page. The map still showed nothingness at the northern edges of the fog lands, but it only showed two oases in this direction—the tower oasis and the candle oasis. Maybe this led to the tower oasis. Ava showed the map to Ezzie.
“Do you think this leads to the tower oasis?” she asked.
“Maybe.”
Ava frowned and studied the map and frustrated put it back in her bag. Stupid map! This had seemed so simple when they’d crossed the lake. She hadn’t expected it to be so complicated.
“Well, I guess we might as well go through,” said Ava. “Fuck!”
“Yeah. I guess so,” said Ezzie quietly. “Take my hand.” Ava took Ezzie’s cold, bony hand. And they stepped through the strange stone archway that led north.