Inheritance

Chapter 20: Barrier

After another day of traveling, the winding, gravelly path finally ended and connected to an open dirt road which led up to the castle situated on Eory's left. Eory couldn't get a very good look at it because a pine tree was blocking his view and, in front of him, something else was blocking his path.

The thing blocking the path was a clear distortion in the air which barred Eory's sequestered tower from the rest of the world. The barrier looked glassy with specks of blue wavering about in it--they shimmered on and off. It could only be seen if one knew to look for it.

Eory was curious and stuck his hands in. They got entrapped within the barrier and he couldn't remove them. He was too embarrassed to cry for help.

Pollyanna rolled her eyes and unsheathed her blade. She had come through this same barrier earlier. On the other side of the barrier, it was disguised by magic to look like a heavily forested area which hid the gravelly path leading to Eory's tower.

Pollyanna looked at Kori and grinned. "Your magical distortion couldn't keep me out before and it can't keep me out now. It was rather clever, though; if I hadn't heard rumors of the tower being hidden by illusory magic, I never would have seen past your magic trick."

Kori knitted her brows furiously but made no retort.

Pollyanna closed her eyes and chanted a few words in Gamayunian—the bird-like species that had made the blade and who specialized in making weapons that dispelled magic.

Her blade pulsed with red energy and then she opened her eyes and swung it at the magical barrier. The sword sunk into the barrier like gelatin and got caught in it. The distortion bent around her blade and did not disappear as she hoped it would.

Sweat dripped down her forehead as she grunted.

The red power around the sword bloomed into a roaring fire.

With a mighty yell she pulled the sword back toward herself and then swung it again. The barrier split the air with the sound of a chime, and then it sizzled and evaporated.

Kori watched in misery. She was hoping the barrier would hold, but it stood no chance against Pollyanna's blade. She sheathed her sword and Eory thanked her for freeing him from the barrier.

He stepped out on the dirt path leading to the castle and a giant smile dawned on his face.

A few yard ahead, the dirt path ended and there was a long gorge separating the patch of land Eory stood on from the land the castle stood on on the other side. However, there was picturesque cobblestone bridge bathed in the sun connecting the two patches of land together.

Past the bridge, the castle loomed in the distance.

It was an idyllic castle surrounded by giant trees on either side of the outer wall which encased the castle.

The trees shot into the sky--some taller than the castle--they were ash trees, pine trees, and mesquites.

There was a pristine, circular moat surrounding the beautiful, ivory outer wall of the castle and a drawbridge which was kept open during the day.

Eory looked at it and sniffled with memories that he had almost forgotten. Tears flowed from his eyes for a moment as he buried his head in his hands and wept.

Gershom whimpered at his side in empathy as Kori put a comforting hand on his arm.

"It's good to see it again, isn't it, Eory?" Kori asked him. He nodded and knelt so she could comfort him with a hug.

Kori patted his back. She gazed past Eory's shoulder at the castle and worried what the king would do to all of them once he saw Pollyanna.

In a moment, she turned to Pollyanna and said angrily, "if you must come along, we should at least have a plan to quell the king's fears. Your plan of coming into the castle will get us all killed. Don't you think, Eory?"

Eory took a moment to think, and then he nodded. "Kori's right. We should have a plan to keep us all safe."