章 17: The Gate
The breeze was gentle, the floral smell of flowers and the warmth of the suns overhead kissed the boy's skin. The rustling of the grass was calming and the sound of the creek trickling with water only added to the ambiance. The boy was no older than twelve with curly sandy brown hair opened his eyes which looked like diamonds sparkling in the light. He saw the aether wisp in the air singing its unheard song which held everything together like great stings from the sky.
"Hey guys he's over here." A familiar voice called and the pattering of feet soon drew closer.
The boy smiled and the aether vanished, his eyes returning their normal dark brown. He sat up and saw his friends rushing down the riverbank to join him. Martin, the oldest by two years and often the leader of their group. Pavel the son of the baker and most well dressed, his linen garb being the only in the group with colorful beads. Jiri is his best friend who would stand out of a crowd because of his red hair, the only one in the village beside his dad with the odd color.
"I told you I knew where he was." Jiri said as he ran.
Jiri tripped and started tumbling only to fall into the resting boy. The two almost fell into the creek if not for the quick actions of Martin who held out his hand causing the wind to catch the two boys. They hovered right above the water and slowly floated back to the shore where they were abruptly dropped.
"Wow, you have gotten really good." Pavel said.
Martin puffed out his chest a little. "Yeah, that was really good wasn't it? My dad is the town magecrafter so it only makes sense I would be able to do it too." He approached the two boys on the ground. "Are you two okay?"
The boy with sandy brown hair sat up untangling himself from Jiri with sparkles in his eye. "Can you do that again, Martin?"
"Yeah. I was floating for a minute." Jiri agreed.
"I can't, we will need magecraft to do you know what today." Martin stated.
"Oh yeah." The boy with the sandy brown hair responded.
Pavel looked unsure. "Are you guys really sure about this? The grown ups always said…"
Martin cut him off. "You don't have to come if you don't want to. You can go back to the bakery and if anyone is looking for us just tell them we are down at the creek."
Pavel looked towards the boy with the sandy brown hair, no doubt looking for backup in saying it was a bad idea. However the boy with the sandy brown hair wanted to go see the gate for himself. It may have been outside of the village but not very far. It is not like they would get lost since he could just follow the aether back home. He thought Martin was right, Pavel could just stay here if he didn't want to go. Pavel then looked to Jiri but no luck there either.
"Fine, I will go but how are we going to get out of the village anyway?" Pavel asked.
Martin smiled and walked up to the boy with sandy brown hair and threw a hand over his shoulder.
"Okay, show them." Martin said.
"You guys can't tell anyone, okay? I am serious, my mom said not to tell anyone." The boy responded a little embarrassed.
His eyes changed color, the pupils and iris becoming clear jewels that looked more like a sparkling diamond than eye. Jiri and Pavel were both in awe as his eyes were the same as the divine people from the sky. The boy quickly changed his eyes back to normal and blinked a few times.
"I can see the aether and I know where all of the alarms are." The boy with the sandy brown hair said quietly.
"Woah." Jiri exclaimed. "How long have you been able to do that?"
"That's awesome." Pavel stated.
Martin huddled everyone together so they wouldn't be speaking too loud.
"We already scouted out a spot we can all get through with my wind magecraft." Martin continued looking at each of his friends. "From there it will only take a few minutes to get to the gate. We see the gate and we come right back. No one will know. It is not like anything will go wrong. So, you guys ready?"
The village was small with only twenty or so families. Wheat grew in abundance year round and cows, chicken and other farm animals grazed happily on the wide pastures. The stream brought fresh water from far beyond the gate and out in the dangerous world the adults always warned about. In here was safety while out there is where the monsters hid.
Children weren't allowed outside of the village and especially not near the gate. However, that never stopped the young boys' curiosity. They all wanted to see what the gate was and waiting until they turned sixteen seemed like an eternity. It isn't like there are any monsters inside the gate.
A stone wall encircles the village which according to the elders was built long before the divine people blessed them with the gate. The massive structure is an edifice to a time of strife and fear when people had to fight to survive. Even given its age the wall stood strong. It was thirty feet high and only one way in and out.
The boys of course could not take the proper entrance as the adults wouldn't let them. Luckily thanks to Martin's wind magic they had another way out. All they needed to do was look out for any of the magical alarms placed near the wall. Which was done easily enough since they had their own secret weapon in detecting magical traps.
The boy with the sandy brown hair could see the aether swirl around invisible nodes on the ground and along the wall. To his sight each was a kaleidoscope of power and potential that sung to him in unheard whispers. He pointed out the locations where the nodes were active; not many of them were since there was no need for them in this peaceful place.
"Okay, everyone hold onto me." Martin said as he held out his arms. "I am going to take us over."
"That is really high guys are you all sure about this?" Pavel stated almost pleadingly.
Martin facepalms. "Divines, Pavel, just stay here if you are chicken. Keep a look out for us."
"Fine-fine, I'll go-I'll go, but I still think this is stupid." Pavel stated.
The group huddled up close to the wall as Martin channeled his magic. It was subtle at first, the wind becoming a breeze then a gale. All at once they started to lift off the ground hanging precariously in the air by the force of the wind alone. Then they shot upward over the thirty foot wall where all they saw was a dark forest to greet them. The fall was far less controlled than the launch; immediately they hit a branch and the group split as they fell. Martin was the only one that made it to the ground, his wind magic failing in the last second causing him to fall on his butt. Everyone else was stuck in the tree.
It took everyone a few minutes to climb down but aside from a few scratches everyone was okay. From here it wouldn't take too long to reach the gate. The overgrown forest outside of the village was dark but there wasn't any reason to be afraid. There were no predators, venomous animals or monsters in the gate so the boys marched on. The most dangerous part was already over now all they had to do was see it and get back before someone noticed they were gone.
Martin led the charge through the brush using a stick he found to beat back some of the foliage. There were no paths or roads to get them to the gate but it didn't matter since they could feel it in the air. Aether saturated the world in color, bright streams of magic crackled. The gate was impossible to miss at this point and soon they saw it. The edge of the gate. It looked like a nearly clear dome of rainbows which shimmered with the celestial symbols of the divine people from the sky. Unknown aetheric formulae from the higher planes winked in and out.
"We made it guys." Martin yelled in celebration. "See, it wasn't that bad was it Pavel?"
Pavel didn't respond; he was wonderstruck with his mouth wide open. Jiri found a rock and threw it at the gate only for it to bounce right back and hit him in the chest. The point of impact on the gate caused waves like water to spread out in every direction.
"Ouch." Jiri exclaimed.
"Oh let me try." Martin said as he dropped his stick and found a rock.
Soon everyone was finding rocks and throwing them at the barrier. Even making a game of it by seeing who could do trick shots by bouncing rocks off the gate and hitting trees and sticks they set up.
"Think I can touch it?" Jiri asked as he walked up to the barrier with a stick.
Before anyone could stop him he was already poking at the barrier. He then dropped the stick after there was no reaction and reached out with his hand. This time the boy with the sandy brown hair stopped him. However now that he was so close to the gate he couldn't help but use his aetheric eyes to look more closely at it. He hadn't attempted since the aether was already so prominent here everyone could see it.
When he did he felt a compulsion to get closer and soon he was the one touching the gate. Something felt familiar like he had come into contact with this exact aether before. No, more like he had come into contact with the source of this aether. The divine person that made it the creator of the barrier. With his jewel eyes he could feel the aether bend to him, it recognized him just as much as he recognized it. He probed the gate with aether of his own and felt something inside it shift then wink out of existence. The gate vanished all at once and on the other side they didn't see forest, they saw monsters.
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