The three of them left the big strange room and all its impossible contents reluctantly, each step pulling them away from mystery and wonder.
Scottie fell in behind Samara and beside Deborah as they passed beneath the arch and moved along the slightly curved hallway. There were no lights in the hallway, just an ambient glow from behind and another from ahead. It was darkest when they were equally distant from the door ahead and behind. As they progressed away from the lobby Samara noticed that the heat increased slightly. She was about to comment on it but before she could she stepped out of the hallway and into another impossible room, and her comment disappeared into the wonder that flooded her mind.
The room was big, at least as big as the first one, but it had an entirely different feel. The air was dry and warm and somehow smelled like a late, lazy afternoon. Ahead of them a path of hard packed dirt, seemingly as hard as stone, wound through a forest of narrow trees with black bark and deep green leaves. Samara heard the slow flow of water somewhere but could not see it. When she looked further into the forest she saw what looked like sandstone cliffs instead of walls. She wondered if they bordered the forest all the way around.
“There’s no lights in here.” Scottie said from beside her.
Samara followed his gaze to the ceiling and saw that he was right.
“So where is the light coming from?” Deborah asked.
“It’s coming from the trees, from the ground. From everywhere somehow.” Samara said.
The others saw that she was correct, even if it did not make any sense.
“This is so cool.” Scottie said.
“And so beautiful.” Deborah added.
One of the strange black trees waited only a few steps from the path. Samara stepped over to it and laid her hand on the trunk gently, as if scared it would disappear if she touched it. She murmured in surprise.
“What?” Deborah said.
“It’s warm.” She felt the tree with both hands. “And sticky.” Samara tried to wipe the sap off of her hands. To her surprise she saw that it was red and glowed ever so slightly.
“Check this out.” Scottie said from further along the path.
The two friends hurried to catch up to him. When they joined him he pointed wordlessly at the statue that was carved of the same sandstone-like rock that bordered the forest.
“That’s a dwarf right?” Scottie said,
It was indeed a dwarf, and like the elf from the lobby, he was over seven feet tall, incredibly detailed, and very imposing. Tattoos covered his bare arms all the way up to thick armor that had strange symbols carved into it. He had an impressive beard, an ornate helmet, and a vicious looking battle-axe in his hands. Like the elf, his eyes were fierce and confident.
“Wow.” Deborah said. “And why? Why a dwarf? Or an elf for that matter?”
Scottie grinned at her. “This is so awesome!”
His excitement was infectious, and Samara’s heart leapt in her chest as she thought of all the mysteries the Courts offered, but also the ones that existed in her own life. Maybe she would find out who her parents were and what happened to them. Maybe she could actually find out how Jake was associated with the Court. Maybe she could find a place here, a future she could look forward to.
“Let’s go!” Scottie said as he set off down the path past the dwarf and towards another hallway.
Deborah met Samara’s eyes and she smiled. The two of them hurried after him into the new hallway, eager to see what awaited them. Like the previous hallway, this one had no lights, and they relied on the ambient light ahead and behind them again. This time the air cooled as they approached the new entrance.
Once again the hallway opened into a large room with no lights that still managed to be bright. The light in this room was softer though, as if on the edge of evening, and the forest they emerged into was an astonishing mix of fall colors. It was like the forest was on fire. Deborah rolled onto the black-stone path with an open mouth and wide eyes. Pure black and bright white stones scattered around the path and highlighted the sheer vibrancy of the incredible mix of colors. The stones were large, and jagged, like they fell from the sky or grew out of the ground somehow.
“So where is the statue?” Scottie said, looking around.
“Gotta be one here somewhere.” Deborah replied.
The three of them walked along the stone pathway, built of the same obsidian-like rocks that littered the forest, Samara guessed. The underbrush was not very thick and the path was smooth and meandering. Samara savored the smell of the fading life of the leaves with several deep breaths. They emerged from the fiery forest into a small meadow speckled with white and black stones and bordered by fallen leaves. It was so quiet that none of them felt like speaking.
The statue that looked down on them was built and carved from the same white and black stones that they stood on. Somehow someone had melded the two colors of stone together seamlessly. The black stones formed the woman’s armor and hair, but the exposed skin on her arms and face was the pure white of the other stones. Like the elf and dwarf, tattoos curled around her arms and neck. Unlike them however, she was smiling, but smiling in a teasing way with a hint of menace. The eyes set into the white skin were black and glittered in the ambient light. A long sword with symbols carved into the blade rested casually in her hand. She was beautiful and unnerving.
“Wow. What is she?” Scottie said after a while. They all exchanged baffled looks without saying anything out loud. After a few moments of contemplation, they crossed the meadow together and headed for another hallway.
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