The Tree People - Part 3

Elonira and Luthien traveled deeper and deeper into the cave. They had decided to take the tunnel to the right if they came to any forks, but so far they had encountered none. After another hour of walking they were both about ready to turn back and then they saw it. In the cave wall ahead of them was a door with ancient symbols and inscriptions. Luthien stopped and grabbed Elonira's arm to stop her as well. She gave him a questioning glance, "This is what we've been looking for Luth."

"I know," he said, still looking at the door. "But don't you think we should look at the book your dad gave you to make sure we are not walking into any traps or spells the counsel may have used to guard the door?"

Elonira smiled, "I knew there was a reason I brought you along!" she said as she pulled the book out of her bag.

They looked through the book until they found a drawing of the door. The writing under the drawing read:

Two worlds linked by a common thread
One filled with hope, one filled with dread.
Two doors joined to make only one
One leads to darkness, one leads to sun.
Two knobs to turn, but which is right
The one down low, or the one up high?
The high will lead to a land you've seen
With trees so tall and grass so green.
With friends and foes, you've always known.
The same, it seems, but 'tis a clone.
The low will lead to an unknown land.
Where you can face the task at hand.
Though dark and different it seems to be,
A light will lead you to what you seek.
So choose wisely now, my friend,
The answer is simple, in the end.

"A riddle? I certainly hope you are better at those than me. Because I am horrible at them," Luthien said when she finished reading.

"I am not the greatest but I'm sure between the two of us we can figure it out."

They studied the riddle for several minutes and then decided to break it down into pieces.

"Okay, the first section says 'Two worlds linked by a common thread, one filled with hope, one filled with dread." Luthien read.

"That seems pretty straight forward. The door links two worlds, one is the right world and one is the wrong world.'" Elonira said

"Are you sure it is not just saying that this world and earth are connected and we should just stay here? Maybe it is just a warning."

"I guess that is possible, but that doesn't help us with the rest of the riddle so lets assume that it means the door connects our world to two different worlds. The next section says 'Two doors joined to make only one. One leads to darkness, one leads to sun."

"That sounds like the same as the first two lines. The door opens to two different worlds, one is the right world and one is the wrong world." He waited for Elonira to agree and then read the next section. "Two knobs to turn, but which is right? The one down low, or the one up high?"

"Look at the picture of the door. There are two doorknobs in the center of the door. One is above the other."

"So each doorknob takes us to a different world..."

"And the rest of the riddle tells us which to take!" She said excitedly, rushing on to read the next section, "The high will lead to a land you've seen; With trees so tall and grass so green. With friends and foes, you've always known. The same, it seems, but 'tis a clone."

"I do not understand that one at all. At first it makes it sound like it is talking about here, but then it goes on with the whole clone business." Luthien said when she finished reading.

"I agree, I'm not sure what to make of it. Do you want to come back to it?"

He knodded and read the next section, "The low will lead to an unknown land, where you can face the task at hand. Though dark and different it seems to be, a light will lead you to what you seek."

"So, the low handle will lead us somewhere we've never been before, where we can complete the 'task at hand'. Do you suppose that is talking about Almirecet?"

"Maybe. What about the light that will lead us to what we seek?"

"I have no idea. I guess the only way to find out is to try it."

Luthien thought for a minute and knodded. Yes, I think you are right. I still don't know what it means about the 'clone', but I am pretty sure we do not want to end up in a place similar to where we are now."

Elonira agreed and, holding hands, they walked forward to the door. Elonira reached forward and turned the lower handle.

"Here goes nothing," Elonira said. Then they looked at each other one more time, closed their eyes, and together pulled open the door.

* * * * * * * * *

Blaise Anderson pulled his airplane into the hangar and switched off the power. He had been our flying for most of the morning and was completely exhausted. He sat in the pilot seat and was about to doze off when his stomach grumbled. "I suppose I should eat something before I collapse for the day," he said to himself as he climbed out of the plane.

Blaise walked into his house, which was actually more of a mansion, and called out for Dennis. Dennis was the head of the five servants in the household, and was like a grandfather to Blaise. Blaise's mother and two sisters had disappeared while taking a walk in the nearby forest, nearly six months earlier, when Blaise. Soon after their disappearance, his father, Rick, had also disappeared, although Blaise knew it was not an accident. After his mother had disappeared Rick completely withdrew himself. He stayed at the office from early in the morning until late at night, and went out of town frequently. He rarely spoke to Blaise, and when he did it was only to tell him how he had his mother's eyes, or her hair, or some other feature of hers. Then one day he left for work and never came home. Blaise was not surprised, nor was he hurt. He was alone. After his father left, Dennis had come to live in the mansion with Blaise, rather than in the servant quarters. He had always taken care of Blaise, but now he took over the roll of family in Blaise's life.

"Blaise, my boy, how was your flight this morning?" Dennis asked as he walked into the room.

"It was good, Dennis. Has the search team located anything of interest?" Since his mother and sisters' disappearance, he had hired three teams to search the forest surrounding the mansion, for any sign of what had happened.

Dennis shook his head sadly and started to speak when his cell phone began to ring. He took it out, checked the caller ID and answered with a raised eyebrow, "This is Dennis."

Blaise waited impatiently for Dennis to finish the call, "Who was that?" He asked, as soon as the call was over.

"The search team found something." He said simply.

"What?! What did they find?!"

"He said you would not believe him unless you saw it for yourself. They are on the way to pick you up."

"Wonderful! I will wait outside for them."

Soon after he got outside the team picked him up and drove out into the center of the Redwood Forest. After about 15 minutes of driving, the driver pulled to a stop and they got out.

"So what is it you found?"

"Come this way," the driver said, walking away from the road and into the trees. Finally they came to a stop and motioned for Blaise to walk ahead of him. "We will leave you here to look around alone. The car will be parked where I just left it, keys are under the seat." He turned to leave and then paused, looking over his shoulder, "Oh, and just so you know, we haven't touched anything. We left it all for you."

Blaise nodded, slightly confused, and thanked them. When they were gone he turned and took a few steps forward. That was when he saw it. In the base of the largest Redwood tree he had ever seen was a door.

The door was about five feet tall and four feet wide. It almost looked as if it was carved into the tree. On the door were symbols and writings in languages that Blaise had only before seen in museums. He stepped closer and ran his hand across the smooth, polished wood. He noticed that the door had not one, but two doorknobs, both in the center of the door, one a few inches higher than the other. Before he had the chance to investigate further, the botton knob began to turn.

* * * * * * * * *

"Here goes nothing," Elonira said. Then they looked at each other one more time, closed their eyes, and together pulled open the door.

Elonira was the first to open her eyes and when she did she screamed, causing Luthien to jump and open his eyes. When he did, he almost screamed as well. Standing in front of them, was a human. He was about six feet tall, with wavy, dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was gaping at Elonira and Luthien, so shocked that he could not move, much less speak.

Elonira moved closer to Luthien. "What do we do? My father said that not all humans are dangerous, but I don't want to find out one way or the other," Elonira whispered to him.

Luthien nodded, "I know, but I suppose we're going to have to talk to him. He is blocking our only pathway."

Elonira took a deep breath and stepped forward. "Sir, could you please step aside and allow us to pass. We have urgent business to attend to."

The man still just stood there, now gaping even more, if that were possible, as if he did not expect them to be able to speak. Elonira glanced back at Luthien and shrugged. He stepped forward to stand beside her.

"Sir, please, if you wouldn't mind. We really must get past. It's quite important." Luthien said.

The man looked back and forth between them before closing his eyes and shaking his head. He opened his eyes and took a deep breath. "My name is Blaise. Who are you?" He asked, his voice slightly shaky.

Luthien and Elonira glanced at each other, then Elonira spoke, "I'm Elonira, and this is Luthien. We are on an urgent mission, could you please move to the side so we can continue on our journey?"

Blaise nodded, stepped to the side of the path, and watched as they walked past. Just before they were out of sight Blaise snapped to his senses, "Wait!"

They stopped, "What is it?" They said together.

"Where are you from? How did you get here? What is your mission? Where are you going?"
He paused, amazed at the flow of questions he had. He took another deep breath, "Did you see a woman and two female children?"

"We should just keep walking. Who knows what he will do if we don't answer all his questions." Luthien whispered as he held onto Elonira's arm and gently pulled her back.

"Luth, I don't think he will hurt us. Besides, we can easily get away from him if he does try anything." She pulled away from his grasp and stepped toward Blaise. "We are from a city called Degliar. We got here through that doorway, which in our world is inside a cave. I do not feel inclined to tell you what our mission is, or where we are going, seeing as we have only just met. And no, we have not seen anyone except the soldiers who were chasing us."