The Road
To Illsmore
Written By: Charles Corren, Copyright December 2002
Chapter 4 - The Path More Travelled
Sleep is always a rejuvenator, and Aris found this to be so especially in her condition.
The bumbledon had given her some hope of getting help to get out of here.
Wherever here was.
She was convinced and resigned to the fact that she may never get out of here.
At least not without help.
She tried to take stock of what she had, what she knew and what she didn't.
It didn't matter how you cut it, her case was not looking very good at all.
She was in a place where she didn't know, no ever more basic than that, she didn't even understand the rules when she found out what they were.
She had no weapon, nothing to defend herself, no place to go that she could identify, and how could she get somewhere if she didn't know where that was.
She stood up, and noticed that there was a pile of fruit sitting on a plate.
Next to the plate was a note.
"Aris, don't worry about the problems you are encountering, they will work themselves out. We will meet again soon. In the meantime, please eat this food. it will keep you well." it was signed with an unusual set of symbols that she didn't recognize.
She assumed that this was RicheMalo's signature in his own language. ???? ?????? was at the bottom of the page. It looked so odd, but she thought her own language must have looked odd to him as well.
Then she realized that he had written most of it in english.
She could read it.
She understood everything except the signature, and she could guess at that.
She examined the fruit.
It was different than the fruit she had picked off the tree, but looked edible, and smelled even better.
Each piece of fruit offered her a new taste.
A taste she could not describe if her life depended on it.
Very nice, very unusual, and very different.
One thing for sure, she would remember these tastes.
They were that different
Full, rested, and contented, she picked herself up and moved towards the dense forest.
The trees were getting more and more dense as she moved into the forest, and the quality of light was affected.
She noticed that she could see as well, but everything was looking very washed out and colorless.
She continued on in the direction she had been travelling and soon was lost in thoughts. Thoughts of the bat beast, and John, and RicheMalo, and the creature in the wheat fields.
It was all too strange to consider at once.
She had to take things just a little at a time.
Her thoughts were still in the midst of considering her plight when she stopped dead in her tracks.
She looked behind her.
She couldn't place it exactly.
But she had seen it.
She started to retrace her steps.
Backward she went.
Frantically looking for where it was.
She had seen it.
It was easy to miss.
In her world she saw them everyday.
Here, they were as out of place as a raccoon would be driving a New York city bus.
But where was it?
She couldn't remember.
Back she went.
It didn't take long to get all the way back to where the bumbledon had left her.
This brought on more sadness.
Now she was looking her mind as well.
But she had seen it, she was sure.
She turned and made forced herself to continue on the way she had just covered.
She was part way back when she spotted it.
It was lying on the leaves and brush right out in the open.
How had she missed it the second time?
She had heard of not being able to see the forest for the trees, but she was already in a forest.
And she had missed it, on the way back.
She knelt down on the brush and picked it up.
On the bottom was written the number 4
On the sides was written one word Nike.
She had found a running shoe.
And it was from her world
Others had been here before her.
She was not the only one.
Perhaps whomever had lost the shoe was still here.
Five feet away, she spotted the other shoe.
Now she had a pair of shoes.
Due to the size, she could understand a small child loosing one shoe, but not both.
That seemed very remote.
Unless they were left there for her to find.
She turned them over, both were the same, and were much too small for her to wear.
And she had a pair of runners anyway.
But it might not be the shoes, it might be what is inside them.
That thought was not a thought at all, but a voice, inside her head.
And it hadn't been hers.
Her hands were shaking now as she put her hand inside the left shoe.
There was something in there.
It was cold and metallic.
She put her fingers around it and took it out.
What she had was a coin.
With the same strange symbols RicheMalo had used at the bottom of the note.
It looked like it was made of silver.
It was shiny, and looked polished.
Silver, she knew tarnished when exposed to the air, so she had to concede it was most likely not silver.
Platinum was the same color, and if she remembered correctly, it didn't tarnish at all.
She was at a real loss because she didn't know how to tell whether it was either metals.
She put that shoe down and took the other one.
Inside that shoe she found three more coins the same as the first.
She now had four coins, and three keys.
What they hell were they for?
And where did they belong?
She gave it some thought, she really did.
Sitting there on the ground in a forest located in a world that held her she thought.
And she decided that the shoes had to stay.
There was no reason for her decision aside from a feeling.
But it felt right.
She left the shoes together.
For some other traveler to find, just as she had done.
Wait, she thought.
She had found coins, but the next person would find nothing.
The logic was simple.
Three keys, three coins.
The three from the one shoe.
Leave the one coin for someone else.
And so she did.
And left them there on the ground near the giant oak tree that the bumbeldon's called Elias.
Travelling was very easy, there were none of the pitfalls of a normal forest where she came from.
After all, most of the things in a forest back home that would cause you grief were animals.
True most of them would be small, like mosquitoes and flies, and things that wanted to bite you, like spiders, and scorpions .
There were some plants that would sting you, and cause you some pain, but you learned to stay away from them very quickly.
Here, she hadn't encountered any of these pests at all.
The forest colors were still washed out and to the point of being black and white.
It was very odd.
First full, rich color.
Then little to nothing
And it was getting worse.
Five hundred feet from where the shoe was she found the coat.
The coat was the right size, but a god awful shade of pale green that she didn't care for.
She put it on and hardly noticed the noise at all.
Didn't in fact until she had walked a distance with it on.
Timidly, she reached into the pocket and took out a perfectly good Mars Bar.
Good old Mars chocolate bar.
Now she was sure of it.
Someone was leaving things for her to find.
And right at the moment she was very grateful
For although the fruit was very tasty, there was nothing like a Mars bar for taste.
Damn the calories.
She would have eaten five of them if she had them
She was moving again.
Certain that she was doing the right thing
All things considered, things hadn't been so bad thus far.
Weird yes, but not too bad
Not bad at all.
The forest floor was covered with the leaves, broken branches and scraps all decaying to food for the next generation of plants and trees.
She kicked through the debris as she walked.
The path took her by surprise.
It was off to her left about 100 feet.
She stopped when she first saw it and looked at it.
She had not seen this before.
This was not there.
She looked back towards where she had come from.
From this vantage point, she could still see the bridge into the forest.
She had not gone move than 500 feet.
The problem was that she had not gone in a straight line.
As she got closer to the path she realized that this was not quite right.
The path had not gone in a straight line.
In fact, it took a very hard left as soon as you cleared the bridge.
It wound its way to where she was now.
Very crooked.
Like the person who had built it had been drinking while he did it.
And the colors.
What the hell was up with that?
The path started at the bridge with green stones.
Which would explain why she hadn't seen it too clearly.
It nearly matched the debris on the ground.
From there, it turned into a very bright yellow, which was what she had seen first.
She turned her head to follow the path, and saw the yellow fade into deep blue, and she thought she could see red in the distance.
She noticed one other thing behind her.
It was a sign.
She had seen enough of talking signs, but thought she had nothing to loose, and it might help her in her quest to know where she was going.
She backtracked the 400 feet or so to look at the sign.
The sign was upright, and about 10 feet high, and 10 feet wide.
Written on the sign was "Working Well" 4,000
Underneath that was "Tremble Brush Crossing" 5
Underneath that was "The Twin Temptresses" 8
Underneath that was "Staynor Town" 167
The sign didn't tell her anything she wanted to know.
The problem was that she didn't know where any of these things was, or if that was where she was supposed to go in the first place.
Think of it.
Working Well?
What or where the hell was that.
Well obviously 4,000 miles in this direction.
She hoped that this was not where she was supposed to go.
If it was, she might as well sit down here and die now
4,000 miles to travel?
She would never make it.
Maybe she was supposed to go to Tremble Brush Crossing.
Now that sounded pleasant, and it was so much closer that Working Well.
Only 5miles for that one.
She could do 5 miles.
Hell she could do the 8 to The Twin Temptresses if she had to.
But not to Working Well.
That, she decided, was out of the question.
Back on the path, she made her way towards wherever it was she would end up first.
Where was that?
Tremble Brush Crossing.
That was it.
What a nice name.
What a nice place that would be to live.
"Where do you live?" she imagined someone asking her "Why in Stately Tremble Brush Crossing my friend" she would reply.
The color of the path was a transition she could see now.
The green at the bridge was dark
Very dark
As she progressed it got lighter and lighter until the shades of yellow started.
The change was very gradual.
It was like the color green was washed away a little at a time, and then the yellow added latter.
She had it!
The person who painted this was clearly running out of paint.
As he moved farther and father along, he was trying to stretch the paint farther and farther until her had no more.
Then he simply used another color.
That sounded about right except for one problem.
The bricks used in the path were not painted.
They were color through.
She could see that.
It wasn't like the color was worn off or missing as it got lighter, there just wasn't as much color.
Then the next color.
That was odd.
All of this thinking had taken her almost exactly the same amount of time as it had to walk to the point where the yellow took over.
She was looking down at the path, and had a strange feeling come over her.
Like she was going to walk into something
She looked up just in time to stop herself from walking into the sign.
This sign was the same as the last sign.
Except, that the numbers were changed.
Now she saw that she was…..
Ok this made no sense at all.
Written on the sign was "Working Well" 3,500
Underneath that was "Tremble Brush Crossing" 5
Underneath that was "The Twin Temptresses" 8
Underneath that was "Staynor Town" 167
She thought back to the last sign.
It had said "Working Well" 4,000
Now it said 3,500.
But all the other numbers were the same.
By all counts she was 500 miles closer to Working Well.
Now that was progress.
But why no progress on the other three towns?
That made no sense.
The yellow path mad a slight curve to the left and passed through some trees overhanging the path.
She couldn't see beyond that except for the path color.
She could see the transition to blue starting just after the bend.
She followed the path, looking intently at the path stones, but keeping one eye on upcoming items like signs or airplanes or whatever else she might encounter.
The next sign was located just after the bend
Where the path color went from yellow to blue
This one said.
"Working Well" 3,000
Underneath that was "Tremble Brush Crossing" 5
Underneath that was "The Twin Temptresses" 8
Underneath that was "Staynor Town" 167
Now there was no way she had covered that much distance.
Wait, perhaps these signs were listing the distances in the metric system.
She had heard of that in school
What were they, kilo cups? or klick o matics ?
No that wasn't right.
Kilo-matrics?
Kilometers.
That was it.
Kilometers.
Now that made some sense.
But what was a kilometer?
Was it longer, or shorter than a mile?
If this sign was to be believed, it was a lot shorter than a mile.
Must be close to a foot or something.
But then, why did the other listings not show any decrease in how far she was from them?
Back to the path, where blue led into red.
And the next sign proclaimed
"Working Well" 2,5000
"Tremble Brush Crossing" 5
"The Twin Temptresses" 8
"Staynor Town" 167
The red path led into a purple path
And the next sign said
"Working Well" 2,000
"Tremble Brush Crossing" 5
"The Twin Temptresses" 8
"Staynor Town" 167
Purple led into orange
And Working Well was not 1,500
Orange led into brown
And Working Well was 1,000
Brown led into black
And Working Well was 500
Black let into white
And the next sign said.
"Working Well" not working
"Tremble Brush Crossing" 4
"The Twin Temptresses" 7
"Staynor Town" 166
The "not working" was written in using large letters hand painted.
Staring at the sign, she could thing of no possible reason for what she had been seeing along the path.
She turned to her left, and saw a stationary bicycle sitting by an old well.
On the bicycle was another hand painted sign that said "Out of Order"
She walked over to it, and saw that the bicycle had the wheel part attached to a generator looking device that had pulleys attached to a rope that went down the well.
She worked out the logistics fairly quickly
The pulleys controlled the rope and the rope hoisted the bucket from the well.
That was how you got the water to the top.
By using the bicycle.
But why?
Why not just pull the rope up?
That would make more sense.
And be easier to boot.
She went to the well edge and peered down inside.
It was dark, and looked very cold.
But she could smell the water.
Cool, and crisp, and clean
At least she thought it was water she was smelling.
She reached for the rope and pulled.
Nothing.
Not even a budge.
She pulled again, harder.
Same thing
Now this was odd.
Why could she not pull this up?
Or at least move it?
She went to the bicycle, moved the sign from the seat, cleaned off the seat and sat down.
She put her feet to the pedals and started to push
At first she felt nothing, then a slight give.
Either this was going to be terrible difficult to work, or it was indeed broken.
She felt another little give, then another as the wheel jerked ahead slowly.
With a final groan, the wheel started to turn free, and movement was very easy.
She fell forward slightly when the wheel released, and had to catch herself.
She could see the mechanism starting up again.
There was the pulleys going to the generator, and then to the rope.
The rope was moving, and …what?
She could hear something.
Faint, far off, familiar.
She listened closer
And lost it.
She peddled again.
And it returned.
She continued peddling and it got louder
It didn't take long to understand what was happening.
The wheel attached to the generator thingy was also attached to a radio of some kind.
And the radio played louder as she peddled faster.
Something to enjoy while she worked away at getting water.
While you were waiting for the rope to pull the bucket up.
She kept on peddling and soon recognized what it was.
It was Frank Sinatra singing "My Way"
What an appropriate song for this.
She continued peddling and listening to the music
It was nice to be able to hear something, anything.
As the song was coming to a close, she could hear the bucket coming closer to the top of the well.
When she was sure it was very near the top, she jumped off the bicycle to go to the well edge and get the water.
As soon as she was off the bike, she realized her mistake.
At the same time as the bucket went plunging back into the well.
Back onto the bike and peddle some more.
Back came Frank and told her he did it his way.
Well damn it she needed it done her way.
When she was sure the bucket was close to the top again, she got off the bike, being careful to keep one foot on the pedal
She could not reach the well edge to get the bucket without letting go of the bike.
She looked around for something she could use. v
There was nothing.
Not one rock, not one stone, not one piece of rope, nothing.
Except for her jacket.
She took it off and tied on of the arms to the pedal, and the other arm to her leg.
This would have to do.
She was now able to move to the well edge and peer in.
The bucket was indeed right at the edge.
And it was about half full of water.
She cupped her hands and brought out some of the liquid.
It was indeed cool, and crisp, and clean,
Three more of those and she was filled.
She was surprised at her ingenuity at getting this problem solved with little support from anyone.
That was so unlike her.
She usually had to have someone there to tell her what to do, how to do it, or that she had done it wrong.
And she usually did it wrong she knew.
She stood up sharply.
That was John talking.
She did not do everything wrong.
She had just proved it to herself.
When she needed it most, she was able to do it.
And do it well.
She untied her jacket from her leg, and then from the bike, and listened to the bucket fall into the well.
She was very surprised when she heard a splash.
She was so accustomed to not hearing anything.
She tied the coat around her waist and went back to the path again.
The laughter was quick in coming, and very hearty.
She was doubling up.
She laughed until she cried, and with tears streaming down her face, she went to the sign and understood.
Understood exactly what "Working Well" meant.
And that when no one was here, the "not working" sign was put up.
Now that, she decided was very funny.
And logical all at the same time.
She decided she didn't even want to consider why the "out of order" sign was put on the bike.
She would leave that one alone.
Back to the path where the white lead to green and the green led to …..
The same thing all over again.
She could see the path for quite a distance from here.
She could see the color changes quite well.
And they repeated with great regularity.
She could also see the next sign
It was a considerable distance away.
The sign was a considerable distance away.
And when she got there it said.
"Tremble Brush Crossing" 3
"The Twin Temptresses" 6
"Staynor Town" 165
She kept herself amused trying not to think about this place and how she was going to get out of it.
After all, it really wasn't all that bad a place.
I mean noting really bad had happened to her.
There was the bat beast, but that had just scared her.
It could have been a lot worse.
The walking was easy.
Time past in this place of eternal noon.
The time got away from you here.
She was amazed at how odd it felt to have the sun overhead always.
And how she relied on that even without thinking about it.
Probably goes back to some inbred instinct that all people share.
She wondered how long she had been here?
Could it have been an whole day?
Two days?
A week?
She didn't know.
It felt like a little over a day.
She thought so because she wasn't tired.
True she had already slept for a bit, but she was feeling like it was a new day.
Ahead, far ahead she could see a growth of trees, trees that had overgrown the path.
More accurately, the branches from the trees had grown to the point where they hung over top of the path and obscured some of the sunlight from getting in.
She watched the area grow larger and larger as she got close.
Just as she arrived, there was a sign.
It said "Tremble Brush Crossing"
Ok, now she was at the second point listed on the signs.
Only what another three to go.
And then she would be…where?
The sign itself was small, like a real estate for sale sign in size, but lower to the ground.
Growths of vines had crept up the sides of the sign threatening to obscure the letters if left unattended for much longer.
The path went directly through the trees, with an equal amount of trees on each side of the path.
There was the usual foliage that she had encountered throughout the forest, and some new growths she hadn't seen before.
She crossed over into the wooded area.
As soon as she did, she heard it.
Well, felt it was more accurate.
It was like a low humming.
Kind of like the feeling you get when there is a lot of static electricity in the air.
Your hair kind of stands up, and you feel tingly.
With each step the feeling grew stronger.
The sound was getting louder as well.
But she couldn't tell where it was coming from.
It seemed anywhere and everywhere at the same time
She stopped to listen for the source of the sound.
Although she was paying a lot more attention to her surroundings she did not notice her feet much at all.
The vine had encircled her left ankle three times very loosely and was now starting to tighten.
As it did, it touched the skin around her ankle.
She jumped.
As she did, the vine tightened with astounding speed.
It had her in its grasp.
She looked down, and instinctively pulled her leg away from the vine.
It held tight
She could not even budge it.
Again, this time with more force.
It held.
A second vine was slinking towards her left ankle.
She watched it get closer and closer.
She moved her foot away as the vine was about to encircle her foot.
Another vine made its way from just behind the first, and one from just in front of the first.
Now she had three to dodge.
And she did, for about ten seconds.
the vines had some form of instinct on hunting.
The first made a move, and the second and third attacked from each side.
The pressure increased on her other ankle holding her in place.
Now the vine made the same three time encircling of her foot, and there was nothing she could do.
She could feel the contents of her stomach starting to rise.
Not this time.
She fought it down and tried to jump away.
As she did, the vine tightened very quickly, pinning her in one spot.
Now she could not move at all.
In fact, she had to fight to keep her balance.
As if on some unheard cue, the vines pulled forward at the same time, and she went down.
Hard on her ass.
The plant was pulling her forward.
She could only guess that if this was the appendages, what the hell would the eating part be like?
It must be huge.
And powerful.
She turned to the right to try to grab onto one of the stones and hold herself there.
She found that the stones were too smooth to get a grip on.
She turned her head to move towards the left to look for something on that side, and saw the vine creeping towards her head. v
She moved her head, and it missed her.
The second one did not.
She saw it as if in slow motion.
Coming towards her at amazing speed.
She waited for the expected crack and the blackness that would follow.
At least she wouldn't have to watch it devour her.
When the vine hit her forehead, it was surprisingly gently, as if it had anticipated the distance to her head.
Or it wanted to make sure she stayed alive
As before, the vine encircled her three times just above her eyebrows.
She could not just sit here and let this happen.
With a great jolt of energy, she jerked her head to the right.
As she did, her body turned slightly.
The vine took the opportunity to tighten.
She was now held in place.
She jerked her head to the left.
As she did, the vine took up the slack, and tightened.
She could feel a hot spot on her chest, but with the vine holding her could not see what it was.
She jerked her head to the right again, and managed to turn over.
The vine had not quite taken up all of the slack.
She was face down, and breathing hard her breath being expelled against the stones of the path.
The vine tightened to the point where it was putting pressure on her skin.
And kept tightening.
When the grip was secure, it pulled slightly, as if to turn her over again.
She jerked herself over the other way, and managed to lay face down on the other side.
The vine was loosened a bit by the movement, but quickly rectified that.
She was in a very uncomfortable position, her legs were crossed and she was facing down.
When the vine started to pull her, no drag her was more like it, she decided she had to face upward again.
At least she would be able to breath again.
She turned in one motion and was on her back facing upward.
The vines grip on her head tightened.
Because the vine was pulling from below the top of her head, each time it tightened is slid down a bit.
It was on her nose, then fell to her mouth.
She did not wish to taste this thing, and moved her head upward, and at the same time tightened her lips.
It crested over her lips, but she could still feel the little hair like fur on the side of it.
It reached her chin, and with more pressure, passed over her chin, a soft "pop" sound as it hit her neck.
As soon as it did, she realized that this was the end.
Her neck was vital to her breathing.
If it tightened too much , she would suffocate.
If it pulled on her head this way, it would break her neck.
Either way meant death, and she did not relish the thought of either way.
When the vine hit her chest, she heard a hissing sound and the vine go slack.
It was like the sound a kettle made when it was boiling.
Then came the smell.
If you could combine the smell of rotten eggs, and ammonia together, you would be close.
This smell was awful.
And very strong.
She gasped for a big breath as she used her arms to sit up.
In her fear, she had failed to use them for little more than balance.
She tentatively reached up to touch the vine on her neck.
The first thing she noticed was that it was very hot.
The second was that it had gone completely slack.
It was like the vine had cut this section off.
She pulled towards her to give her enough slack to take it off from around her neck.
As she did, she could see the end coming towards her.
The vine had indeed just broken this section off.
the pulling from her legs had stopped as well.
Perhaps with this mishap it was re-evaluating what was happening.
She pulled the vine up and wound a section back around her neck to unwind the vine that was there.
On the second turn she brushed against her chest with her arm.
It was hot, very hot.
She looked down to see and saw that the blue key was glowing.
Only the blue.
She thought she understood what had happened.
Not why, but what.
The plant did not like, or could not tolerate what the blue key was made of.
She was moving to take the key from around her neck when the trees started to part.
Not move slightly, part.
Trunk and all.
Move over.
The whole tree.
At once.
What lay behind was coming.
The image that was presented to her was one with a face, and a human face.
It had very large eyes, that glowed with fire.
The nose was long and smoke care from the nostrils
The mouth was open as it to scream, but no noise came out
Inside she could she faces, picture like faces that came into view, and then disappeared.
The image of a woman agonizing in pain would cross between its lips, then disappear only to be replaced by one of a child, then a man, then a group of people.
These images had fire surrounding them as if they were burning, and she could see through the images to the distorted tongue behind.
And the teeth that surrounded them, and the smile.
The evil smile that rounded out the face.
The face she had seen before.
The face of the bat beast.
The face of her husband.
It didn't take long for the plant creature to come through the trees, and it made its way towards her the vines starting their pulling action speeding up the process.
She took the chain with the key on it and removed it from around her neck.
She held it out in front of her like a talisman to ward of the evil that was this plant creature.
Nothing.
Then she understood.
She had taken the red key.
She put the red one around her neck and took the blue one off.
Once again she held it out in front of her, and nothing happened
She remembered the reaction when the key touched the plant, so she touched it to the one holding her left foot.
The reaction was instantaneous and very powerful.
Once again the hissing sound where the key touched it, then the plant discarding the damaged vine section.
Before the vine could shoot out another one to replace it, she touched it to the vine holding her right foot.
Same thing as before.
The vine was released.
She was free now, and stood up.
She faced the plant creature, it being now 10 feet from her face.
It roared with anger.
It screamed with contempt.
It howled with disgust.
And it surged towards her.
It came at her with such velocity she had no time to react.
As it did, it must has touched the key for there was a field of color surrounding her as if the key put of a force field.
And the creature vanished.
Not faded, not ran away, not disappeared slowly.
It ceased to be.
It was coming towards her, the flash of light, then light a vapor it was gone.
Replaced with a mist that showered down and rolled over the shell of color that surrounded her.
The mist slowly dissipated and as it did, the color shell faded as well.
She was alone, alive, and grateful to be both.
The key had returned to its natural state.
She replaced it around her neck.
And made her way back the way she had come.
She would go around "Tremble Brush Crossing"
She was sure that no one would mind.
It was a short trip to circle around the growth of trees, and she rejoined the path at the other end of the crossing.
She kept watch behind her to ensure she was not being followed, but that feeling passed soon enough, and she made her way back into her thoughts and on towards the next stop.
The next stop came soon enough with sign proclaiming the imminent arrival for the traveler in only 3 then 2 then 1.
It came into view well ahead of the last sign that proclaimed this to be "The Twin Temptresses" .
It certainly didn't look like much.
A sort of small wooden building.
It stood six feet high, and was built on the left hand side of the path, about four feet from the path itself.
It was facing the path, and was ten feet long.
There was two slits about a foot square, one on each side.
The sign that rested on the top was a larger version of the one she had seen earlier.
It said "The Twin Temptresses" in letters that covered the top of the structure from one side to the other.
She examined the outside of the box, and could find nothing that would indicate what it was.
On each of the slits was a handle that would allow the door to be moved sideways to reveal what was inside.
Without knowing she was doing it, she had placed her hand around all three keys around her neck, and she moved towards the box.
She choose the slit closest to her.
Timidly she reached up and grabbed the handle.
At the same time she slid it sideways.
As she did, a light from inside illuminated a fog the swirled around on the interior.
"What is your question?" It asked.
The voice that came from the box was that of a woman.
It bore a very strong resemblance to a witches voice, all crackly and hoarse.
"I don't understand" she said in reply.
"What is your question?" it asked again.
She thought about this, and decided that the best approach was a direct one.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"I am the temptress of Saber Forest." it said
"What is a temptress?" she asked.
"I am what I am" it replied
She paused, not sure how to proceed.
"What is your question?" it began again
"How do I get out of here?" she asked.
"Through your guide" it said..
"Who is my guide?" she asked
"Mithrin" came the response.
Again she paused, and as if to fill the silence it shouted "You don't believe me? Ask the same of the other one"
"What other one?" she asked.
"The other temptress. Then you shall see who is the true teller and who be not" came the answer.
She thought about the answer, and decided that the other slit held the other temptress.
she moved to that side and pulled the handle across to reveal a mirror of the first.
"She can only lie" came the voice without prodding.
This voice was higher pitched than the first, and more raspy.
"I only tell the truth" it said again.
"What is you question?" it asked of her.
"How do I get out of here?" she asked
"Past Wanton field to Cromly " came the answer
"Who is my guide?" she asked
" Taltos" came the reply.
She was confused.
Both temptresses were asked the same questions, yet both gave different answers.
That could mean one of two things.
Either they didn't know, or one of them was lying.
She moved back to the first side.
"Who am I?" she asked.
"Aris" came the answer.
She moved to the other side.
"Who am I?" she asked
"Wife of man" was the answer.
This was odd.
Not wife of a man, no wife of man.
She moved back to the first.
She held out the red key.
"What color is this key?" she asked.
"Red" was the answer
To the second she asked the same.
"Rose" was the answer.
Now she had the answer she needed
The first one only told the truth, or at least had told the truth to question she could verify.
The second told either half truths or lies.
To the first "Am I going in the right direction?"
"You are" it said
"Will I get out of here and back home?" she asked
"You can" it said
"Are the bat beast and the plant creature really my husband John?" she asked
"They are evil. They do his bidding" came the response
"Who's bidding?" she asked
"Questions ten I am answered, no more" it said.
With that the light faded to darkness
She moved to the second temptress.
How many questions had she asked this one?
She couldn't remember but thought it was 5.
" Where will I find my guide?" she asked
"Past Wanton field " came the answer
"Who is Taltos?" she asked
Too late she realized her error.
"Your guide" it responded.
"Do you tell the truth?" she asked
"I do" it said
"Does the other temptress only lie?" she asked
"She does" came the answer.
This was getting no where.
But she wanted to know so many things
She counted and thought that she had at least one more question.
She had better make this one a good one
She thought about it, and could not decide what to ask something that lied that would provide her with information that was useful to her.
Unless you knew the answer was a lie to begin with.
Then, using natural logic, the real answer would be the opposite.
She thought this was pretty smart until she thought about the second temptresses answers so far.
Who am I brought the wife of man response.
Could be true, but most likely just not all true.
What color was the key brought rose as the answer.
Some roses were red, and rose was a color, just not red.
Well not red exactly.
So what to ask.
She decided to play it safe and said "Will I get out of here and back home safely?"
"You can" came the response.
She decided to push on.
"Will the keys protect me?" she asked
"The four will" it said
"Is there four?" she asked
"Questions ten I am answered, no more" it said.
With that the second side went dark.
And she was no farther ahead than when she arrived.
True to her spirit though, she thought she was not farther behind.
And with that she made off down the path.
The forest ended much the same as it had begun.
There was a bridge, and to each side of the bridge was shimmering like the effect of heat off of a road in the summertime,
Except this, you couldn't see through.
At the start of the bridge she paused to look back.
There was so much beauty here, and so much evil.
She was sure she would not miss this place.
She was wrong.
And with that she crossed the bridge.
Created by James Arrian............................................................................................................................................................Last Updated Decmber 2002