Princess Valkyrie yelped as she bumped into Matt’s back. Kurtis was next, followed by Fallyn—human dominoes.

Kurtis looked desperately ahead to the freedom of the meadow.

“What’s the hold-up?” Val asked.

“Uh, force field?” Matt said sheepishly.

He reached forward with his hands to explore the invisible barrier. Tingles crept through his fingers, and he shivered as they traveled up his arm. There was no distortion—nothing visible—yet this threshold was as solid as the rocks.

“You’re messing with me,” Kurtis said.

“I’m really not… I’m sorry. It’s a magical wall or something. I don’t know. Force field? You’re the one who shoots purple bolts at things.”

Kurtis grabbed his tail and, holding it, turned to lean against the rock face on their left. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths.

“It’s really a force field?” Fallyn asked with narrowed eyes. Then she silently mouthed, ‘Is he okay?’

“I don’t know what it is,” Matt admitted. “But it’s definitely blocked.” Then he glanced over at Kurtis and grimaced in answer to Fallyn’s silent query.

Val stretched out an arm, reaching around Matt to feel the invisible wall for herself. She recoiled with a squeak but then tried again.

Matt turned to his side and sucked in, trying to give her more room. Then he edged back, swapping places.

Val, poked at the air in dedicated exploration, looking like a professional mime. Then she backed into Matt and—mime turned hockey player—she hurled herself at the barrier in a shoulder check.

“Ow,” Val moaned as she slid to the ground. She rubbed her shoulder, and then a purple haze rushed in around her, healing.

“Ideas anyone?” Matt asked. “We need a plan.”

“Can’t we just call Scotty?” Val said, offering a hand for Matt to help her up.

He pulled. “I forgot my communicator back at camp.” He smiled at Val, then at Kurtis but the cat-man didn’t react. He was still leaning, eyes closed, tail in hand.

“Can you see anyone on the other side?” Fallyn asked. “Maybe they have to let us in.”

Matt hadn’t seen anyone before but it was worth a shot.

“Nope,” Val said.

Damn.

Matt tried to think back to the video games he’d played in school. It had been so long ago, and his roommates had played way more than he did. He’d been so focused on his studies, preparing for a successful career—a successful life.

Who would’ve thought that video games were the part of university that would really count?

He started searching the dark gray rocks, inch by inch, running his fingertips along them, not just trusting his eyes.

“Whatcha lookin’ at?” Val asked with a smile.

“Walls,” Matt replied. He brushed his curs back and sighed. “I’m looking for… I don’t know, a lever, a clue… There’s got to be something.”

“Okay.” Val shrugged and joined him.

Soon Fallyn was searching too. Kurtis twitched and opened an eye as Fallyn inspected the area at his feet.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“It’s hopeless isn’t it,” Kurtis said. “Should we go back? We should go back, right? I need to get outa here.” Then he squished past Fallyn with an awkward hop.

This can’t be it, Matt thought. There has to be a way. And we need to stick together.

“Kurtis stop!” Fallyn yelled—the loudest that Matt had yet to hear her speak. “Kurtis, I’ve found something!”

The spot that Kurtis had been leaning on contained a carving. They lined up shoulder-to-shoulder to study it. Eight cylinders were cut into the rock in a ring around a ninth circle that slightly protruded.

“Moon phases,” Fallyn observed.

She was right. Matt leaned closer and hunched for a better view. At the back of the cutouts, about two inches deep, rested inlays of pink quartz. The full moon was shown in the far-right position, with a full circle of the gem. The opposite position was the only one with no inlay at all.

Matt knew what the gemstone was instantly. Emily had gone on about it on one of their dates. He had complimented her necklace and that had turned into a roller coaster lecture about the mystical powers of crystals and the importance of meditation.

He had tried to listen politely but had zoned out for most of it. The following day he’d received three text messages with images of the rock and links for further reading.

I wonder what she’d think of this? he thought. Matt was relieved he didn’t have to find out, but then he felt instantly guilty. I hope she’s okay, he silently told the universe.

Then Matt was struck by an idea. He reached forward to feel around the center circle; he could just barely grip the few millimeters that protruded. It wasn’t enough to be able to pull it out directly but… Matt used the blades of his hands to push the disc counterclockwise—it turned.

Over the next few minutes, Matt worked the center stone out of its hole. When it finally protruded about an inch, he adjusted his grip and pulled. The release shot Matt back to the opposite wall and the cylinder was surprisingly heavy.

“I think it goes in one of these spots,” Matt explained.

“There are only eight,” Kurtis urged. “Just try them.”

Matt started at the top. He pushed the rock all the way in—as far as it would go—until it just stuck out by a hair. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected but nothing seemed to have happened. “Hey Val, can you check?”

She nodded and took the few steps back to the end of the passage. She approached hands first. And then her fingers arced back, bending farther than any normal digits should go. “Ow!” she screamed. Then she cradled her hand and cast her heal. “Stupid force field,” she muttered.

“Thanks, Val.” Matt grimaced. “I guess it’s not the top one?”

Matt began the slow process of working the cylinder out of the hole. It ground as he turned. “There’s got to be a trick to this. While I get it out, can you see what phase the moon is in?”

“Which moon?” Fallyn asked.

Shit.

“The pink one!” Val chimed in.

It was pink quarts in those holes. Val and Fallyn tried to angle themselves to spy the moons, but the rock walls were too high and the moons weren’t in their slit of sky.

So much for that, Matt thought adjusting his grip to try and pull. The stone wouldn’t come out so he returned to his turning strategy for a few more rotations.

“This one,” Kurtis said, pointing to the hole below the full moon when Matt had worked the cylinder out. “I was watching it all morning.”

Matt pushed in the cylinder. Worst case scenario: they would try six more times and Val would get better at knowing where the barrier is and not twisting up her fingers. “You’re up, Val,” said Matt.

“Okay…” she complied. Val inched forward with a new technique. She leaned back, but then reached forward, rapidly pawing at the air with her hands.

Did she just get past it? Matt realized he wasn’t exactly sure where the barrier was either.

Val continued to inch forward, fingers flapping, one tiny step at a time. Then she stepped into the grass.

“Oh my gosh get me out of here,” Kurtis said.

They all hurried after Val into the dandelions and the sunshine. Maybe it was the effect of being trapped for all that time, but the yellow flowers didn’t even look like weeds.

Kurtis seemed much more like himself in the open meadow. The cat-man smiled and spread his arms wide. Matt half expected him to start twirling and singing ‘The hills are alive,’ and Matt was half inclined to join him.

The sun was getting low and Matt glanced at the time. He’d enabled the clock but it wasn’t too useful. It said ‘13.5’ and seemed to be on some sort of weird twenty-hour count. He hoped there were tents ahead.

The house he’d spied was really more of a castle, several stories high and much larger than any family would need. It even had two towers with little cone-shaped roofs, making the overall design symmetrical. The materials and colors had an austere quality—tall grays and blacks—which matched the mountains in behind.

The closer Matt got, the more he felt dwarfed by the structure. What had looked like a front door from a distance turned out to be much, much larger than any door Matt had ever seen. A lump of worry traveled from his throat down to his stomach.

What kind of creature needs a door this big?

That door loomed tall and black in front of him. A knocker the size of his head hung just above it, black like the door and carved into an intricate owl. Matt checked his map. This was the place.

“I guess we knock?” he said, glancing over at Fallyn.

“Guess so!” encouraged Val.

Kurtis made an ‘I don’t know’ gesture.

Matt slowly reached up for the owl knocker. But, before he could lift it, the door swung open a crack.