The hot Australian breeze did little to help as the sun felt like it was slowly cooking Aidan Thornheart from the outside in. The car’s A/C had given up somewhere before the town of Alice Springs was even a spot in the review mirror. Aidan grunted as his head hit the car roof again, another bump in the poorly maintained road.

He looked over at the bag on the passenger seat. The postcard that had led him to where he was now was still sticking out, even though the GPS had started to lose signal ages ago as the road turned into a dusty trail. The red landscape only adds to Aidan’s growing concern as the surroundings merge.

‘God, I hope this is it this time. I am getting desperate now if I’m following a damned postcard to the other side of the world. I have spent more than I want to think about looking for him.’ sighed Aidan as his thoughts returned to when he had received the postcard.

The mailman had told him that he must sign for the card. Sign for a postcard. Aidan shook his head as if it still baffled him. The card hadn’t said much. It just listed GPS coordinates in Australia and said he would need to head there if he wanted to find his brother’s grave. This led him to have his people track the postcard’s origin. Which only led to another dead end. An empty address with a message written on the wall. ‘Head to the GPS coordinates.’

So, despite everyone telling him it was a crazy idea, Aidan booked the next flight to Australia and told his managers he was taking leave. They weren’t happy he was taking off suddenly again, but it wasn’t like they could stop him. It was his company, after all.

The GPS beeped, drawing Aidan’s attention away from the track. Looking down at the problem, his body suddenly smacked hard into the car’s dash. The car groaned loudly as it flipped over. Glass flew everywhere as the contents bounced around its interior before settling with a loud bang.

Aidan grunted as he slowly opened his eyes, pain coursing through his body. Everything was upside down as he struggled to understand what had happened. Flys buzzed around his head, annoying him further as the heat only added to the discomfort.

“Shit.” Cursed Aidan loudly. “What did I hit? I only looked away for a second.”

He cursed again as he struggled to undo the stubborn seatbelt. After fighting with the clasp for a few minutes, Aidan shouted triumphantly as he finally managed to free the seatbelt. He landed hard on his shoulder as the released belt stopped holding him to the seat. He tried to untangle his legs, as pain coursed through his body again as the extent of the bruises made themselves known.

Sliding out the broken driver’s door window, the pieces of Glass caught on his pants. Small tears in the expensive clothing failed to stop the Glass from cutting into his skin as blood began to weep from the new cuts.

“God fucking damn it.” Shouted Aidan as he pulled himself up to lean against the car door. The sun beat down on his head, forcing Aidan to get up and slowly make his way to the back of the car. Looking at where he had just come from, he noticed something sticking up in the middle of his two tyre tracks.

Stumbling, Aidan pushed himself away from the wrecked car, stepping over the car’s parts thrown across the surrounding area. After what felt like hours, but was probably closer to only 30 seconds, he stood over the reason for his new condition. A tree stump stood proud from the sandy ground. One side of it had deep gouges into the timber. The car had left its mark before being flipped.

Aidan screamed as he clenched his fists. Anger rose as he looked up at the sky.“Why does everything you are involved in go wrong, brother? How much more can you hurt me? I swear. After everything I have had to deal with looking for you. If this is your grave, I will piss all over it.”

Turning back to the wrecked car. Aidan could hear a beeping noise coming from the interior. As he made his way closer, He could hear the GPS voice of his mobile. “Your destination will be on the right in five hundred meters.”

“Finally.” Said Aidan. “I’ll go find this grave first, and then I can figure out how to get out of here.”

Pulling his backpack from the wreck, Aidan slowly made his way forward, Grunting with each step as the pain pulsed as he moved. Stabbing pains ran up his left leg as he walked. His back felt on fire as the bag rested against it.

After walking awhile, Aidan looked at his phone as the GPS chimed. “You have arrived at your destination.” Looking up, Aidan searched around him. The barren landscape was littered with short-looking shrubs. After a few minutes of walking around, he found a marker. An arrow pointed him further away from the track he had been on.

Shrugging his shoulders, he began to follow the direction the arrow suggested. The sun’s heat only added to his pain as sweat mixed into the open cuts across his body. The stinging pain was stacked on top of the pain already coming from his muscles.

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Stumbling along, Aidan pulled his water bottle from the backpack’s side pocket and drained the contents. He stared at the landscape before him as he wiped his mouth. “This place is one giant waste of time.” Said Aidan with a sigh. Shaking his head as he let out a laugh. “Should have known it was a shit lead. You’re getting desperate, Aidan. Stupid, too.”

Just as Aidan started to turn, he saw something near a rocky outcrop. Shrubs were growing around whatever it was. Aidan felt excited as he hobbled to the outcrop as fast as he could. Standing right in front of him was a tombstone. A tombstone that had his brother’s name on it.

‘Hear lies Eldrian Thornheart. Three steps to the left, four steps to the right, In the land where shadows meet the light. Seek the symbol of eternity, where time stands still, and beneath the earth lies what you will.’

Aidan stared at the inscription, his mind racing as he tried to understand what he was reading. Aidan rubbed his face as he let out a groan. “Did he really put a riddle onto his stupid tombstone… A riddle. I spent the last twenty-something hours travelling to the middle of bum fuck nowhere for a riddle…”

“Might as well see if I can make any sense from this.” Said Aidan as he talked to himself. He examined the inscription on the tombstone, furrowing his brow as he tried to make sense of the cryptic message. He read it several times, turning the words over in his mind. As he ponders the meaning, a few key phrases catch his attention:

“Three steps to the left, four steps to the right…” “In the land where shadows meet the light…” “Seek the symbol of eternity…”

Aidan looked at the landscape around him, noting the sun’s position casting shadows in the late afternoon light. He calculated the steps mentioned in the puzzle, imagining himself standing before the tombstone and following the instructions.

With a sudden realization, Aidan took three steps to his left and then four steps to his right, positioning himself where the shadows of nearby rocks intersect with the fading sunlight. There, amidst the shifting patterns of light and shadow, he spotted a peculiar symbol etched into the ground—a circle with an infinity loop inside.

Recognizing the symbol as the “symbol of eternity” mentioned in the puzzle, Aidan’s heart raced with excitement. He knew he was on the right track. Determined to uncover the truth, he pulled out a compact shovel from his backpack and began digging at the spot where the symbol lay on the ground.

After a few minutes of digging, the shovel struck something solid buried beneath the earth. With a mix of anticipation and apprehension, Aidan dug furiously, unearthing a weathered wooden chest buried beneath the surface. With his hands trembling, he pulled the chest from the ground. Flipping the latch, he opened the chest and stared at his brother’s belongings.

A note and a pen were all that the chest held. “What… The…. Actual….” Aidan sighed as he sat down on the ground. His left leg and back protesting. “After everything, this is all he left. A note and a pen.”

Aidan wiped away the sweat forming on his brow as he lifted the note from the weathered wooden chest, his heart pounding as he steeled himself for whatever the note said. With cautious anticipation, he unfolded the yellowed paper and began to read:

“To my brother,

If you’re reading this, you’ve found your way to me, albeit not as I had hoped. I apologize for the cryptic nature of this message. Circumstances dictate caution. Know that I am with you in spirit, guiding you on this journey.

Use the pen enclosed to unlock the path to me. Twist it in your hands, and let its magic guide you home. Trust in its power, as I trust in your strength and determination.

Find me, Aidan. Together, we will uncover the truth that has eluded us for so long. Your brother, Eldrian.”

Aidan’s breath caught as he read the words, his eyes misting with emotion. The simplicity of the message belied its significance, and he realized that this pen held the key to finding his brother. With trembling fingers, he reached for the pen nestled within the chest and held it in his hands.

Closing his eyes, Aidan whispered a silent prayer, then began to twist the pen as instructed, trusting the words of the note. “I’m coming, brother.”

As he twisted, a subtle warmth spread through his fingers, and a soft glow enveloped the area around him. Aidan’s heart raced with anticipation, his senses heightened as if he were on the brink of uncovering a long-lost secret.

Suddenly, the glow intensified, forming a shimmering portal stretching before him. Aidan’s eyes widened in amazement as he stared at the rippling surface of the oval portal and slowly walked towards it.

Aidan tried to speak, but his words failed him. He brought his hand up and touched the shimmering portal. It had a coolness to it. Aidan pulled his hand back, expecting it to be wet, but his hand returned the same way it had before. His eyes glimmered at what this meant.

“Holy shit…” Said Aidan. “That thing is actually real. A real-life magic portal. Does this mean that magic is real? Can People learn magic? How did the pen create this? Where would it take me? Shit. I need to record this.”

Aidan pulled his mobile from his pocket and tried to turn it on to record, but it wouldn’t. The screen stayed black no matter what Aidan tried.

“The... The fuck. The stupid thing was working a minute ago.” Swore Aidan as he threw the mobile phone at the ground. Just as it hit the ground, the portal flickered before it slowly started to shrink.

Aidan watched as the portal became smaller. “Shit. Shit. Shit. Do I go through… Will I ever get another chance.” Said Aidan as he panicked about what to do. Running his hand down his face, Aidan nodded to himself. “Stuff it. I’ve gone this far already. Might as well see it through.”

With a final look at his surroundings, Aidan stepped through the portal. It flickered again before disappearing entirely after him—the Desert landscape where Aidan had just been glowed in the dying light of the day. The mobile Aidan had been swearing at glowed as the screen returned to life. A message icon flashed across the screen as someone tried to ring it again. The call went straight to voice mail, and another message icon flashed.

‘Aidan. We have just received notification of your rental car crashing…’

‘Aidan, we have sent the rescue helicopter…’

‘Don’t worry. We will be there soon. It will take us another forty-five minutes to get to your location. Hang in there, Aidan.’