It took my brain a moment to properly process the sight, so I had to blink a few times. It was just so incredibly out of place. I had to take a moment to realize, that it looked like the stairs from a fire exit were crudely extending out of the swamp, as if there had once been a building that the door and stairs were a part of. Over eons of disrepair, the entirety of the building had simply vanished with time, leaving only the metal stairs and stone door.

“I’ve never seen metal craftsmanship this exquisite…” Amelia commented as she walked near the staircase. 

“W-what do you mean?” I staggered, slowly making my way to the stairs, following my knightly companion.

“Look at how thin, yet sturdy the metal is… How does one even craft this?” Amelia muttered, observing the stairs.

My confusion only grew as I got closer because Amelia was correct. The metal was really well crafted into pretty shapes along the railing leading up the stairs. Now, I hadn’t seen a whole lot of things in this world, but the overall feeling of things was always that of a medieval fantasy.

The kind of world where knights fight dragons and princesses know magic.

The way the stairs were made really reminded me of something more modern. It felt like it had been ripped straight out of my world and had simply been forgotten here for ages. The metal was still clean and not rusty at all, in addition to also remaining sturdy. There were tiny holes on the stairs to make them lighter without making them less structurally sound. I wondered if such science existed here?

The door on top of the stairs looked old and fantastical, which in turn made it mismatch with the steps even more.

All in all. It was a hauntingly mysterious sight.

“What… is this…?” I carefully slid my hand over the metallic support railing of the stairs.

“I was honestly hoping you’d have the answer to that…!” Amelia sighed.

“Unfortunately, I’m as lost as you are…!” I laughed nervously. But then, my attention was drawn to something. There was a noticeable increase in mana around the door. The sparkles were amassing there in considerable numbers. It was a bit difficult to see from the bottom of the stairs, but I was almost sure there was something up with the door. “The door…”

“What about it?”

“I think it has a high amount of magic concentrated around it.”

“Does it…?” Amelia peeked up at the door, gauging it a bit. “If I may be completely honest, I don’t like it at all.” The knight crossed her arms, causing her armor to clatter a bit.

“I couldn’t agree with you more!” I pointed at her, at which Amelia seemed almost surprised. “Hey! I don’t think witches are famous for being suicidal.”

“Psh…!” She chuckled a tad and we decided to head back home.

“I’ll write a memo on it, so if the situation calls for it, we can try to see what it’s about, but I’d really rather not just go poking at potentially dangerous things like that.”  I reassured the paladin.

Amelia and I returned to the hut and we had a quiet chat about our days. I explained my magic theory to her, but it seemed to fly over her head a bit. Somehow, she seemed content just listening to me gush about my discoveries nonetheless.

Maybe my constant blabbering helped her feel distracted from the grim reality of our situation.

We skinned the wolves Amelia brought into the hut earlier and turned their pelts into some bedding and crude clothing. The clothing was mostly for me because my outfit was coming apart at the seams.

Literally.

I got a wolf pelt coat to cover myself with. The coat was a bit heavy and smelly, but it was warm, so it did its duty perfectly well.

That night I felt warmer than ever, and it was a lot easier to experiment with magic without being constantly chilly. Amelia seemed to get some proper rest too… Or so I thought, until said paladin suddenly barged into the pantry where I was studying in the middle of the night.

            “Yverna… Yverna!” She spoke sharply, but in a strangely hushed tone.

            “W-wh-what is it?!” I was a bit surprised by the sudden interruption.  

“We need to leave.” She whispered quietly. “There is a search group currently fighting some wolves not too far from us. I can hear them.”

I’ve heard of coffee and tea being mentioned as good ways to stay sharp. Fear of death seemed to work too. I sure as hell got focused instantly, and we made our way out. We were almost on our way away from the house, when I suddenly grasped Amelia’s hand.

            “W-what is it?” She whispered.

“I… I just… think.” I gulped, worried if I was overstepping my boundaries a bit… but I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t ask her. “Shouldn’t we say bye to Amy?”

The expression on Amelia’s face crumpled. It was more than clear she had forgotten about the situation, and was now feeling guilty over it. Almost in tears, she nodded shakily and we made our way to the grave.

“Amy, my dearest. Mom has to go now. There are bad people still after me. But it’s okay. Mom is strong…” Her voice cracked as she spoke. The tears drew pale streaks on the dried blood on her cheeks. “M-mom is strong, so one day I’ll return here… and give you a proper place to rest in. Please don’t worry too much. I… I did what you always scolded me about… and I’ll give it a shot! I promise.” Her smile was heart-wrenching to look at.

I reached for Amelia and patted her back. “Hey Amy. I’m Yverna. I won’t really go too much into detail, but I’ll do my very best to protect your mom. We’ll come get you soon! I promise!”

Amelia looked at me in surprise first, but her expression softened quickly. I helped Amelia wipe her tears on the wolf pelt, and then we were off.

            “Thank you…”

“Don’t worry about it. Let’s focus on surviving for now! We can get sentimental later.” I tried to be cheery, even though I was a bit nervous too.

“Mmmh… You’re right.” Amelia was still sniffling a bit… I felt a bit bad for ushering like this, but we were on the run.

Amelia glanced back at the hut as we vanished into the mists, but something about her expression changed as she saw some of the armored men approaching the building.

She seemed like she wanted to say something, but we had to stay silent as we ran further and further into the white veils of fog.

And then, it was there again. That haunting staircase sticking out of the swamp.

It felt as if the world was suddenly engulfed by a blanket of total silence. There was no wind, nor the usual bubbling of the swamp.

Simply total silence.

“You mentioned…the door has mana to it?” Amelia’s soft whisper pierced through the quiet.

“Mmh…” I nodded.

“Do you think it could be a transportation gate?” The paladin questioned.

“A what now?”

“A magical gateway connecting two places. It’s rather basic magic. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of them.”

“O-OOOHHH… T-those… right…!” I think even Amelia noticed I had no idea what they were until now.

“If it truly is one, we could escape our assailants rapidly! I’m sure they’d have to think twice before they’d touch something this eerie.” Amelia did make sense… but only if she was correct. I couldn’t help but wonder if this really was something that convenient.

“Mm. You have a point. I suppose we could at least open the door to see where it leads.” I agreed to go along with the paladin’s plans, but something in the back of my head was growing more and more nervous by the second.

From words to actions, we decided to give the door a go. Good thing I had Amelia with me because climbing up the steel stairs was surprisingly scary. They went a lot higher than it looked like from the ground.

After my shaky legs finally carried me up to the door, it was time for the next challenge. It seemed like Amelia knew how to play rock paper scissors, so we decided who touches the door-handle with it.

As usual, fortune didn’t smile upon me.

Now… When I imagined myself as a witch, I certainly had a cooler concept in mind. Wearing a big hat… maybe a staff made of some cursed old tree! A jet-black dress that turns into what looks almost like dark mist at the bottom…

Aaaaa…! How I wish I were that…

Instead of my reality of squealing like a little girl in terror over just touching the door handle while biting my lower lip to calm my nerves. It was by far the most terrifying door handle I had ever had to touch.

All jokes aside, it made every fiber in my body scream in horror. Something about the door felt fundamentally wrong. Not just visually, but there was like… an instinctive fear I felt towards it. It wasn’t much unlike the feeling I felt when I saw that sinister stone.

And it was completely warranted…

As soon as I touched the handle, all the light was suddenly gone. Within the space that the door previously occupied was now a pitch-black void.

An incredible pressure, almost like gravity, started forcing Amelia and me inside the darkness, and with a few silenced screams of horror, we disappeared within the murkiness of the doorway.

It wasn’t a transportation gate.

At least… not the kind we were hoping for.