worry about what comes next. Thinking and arguing about the past will accomplish nothing.” As soon as the words came out of his mouth, they sounded foolish to him, but he knew he couldn’t take them back.
After a few moments, Humanius shook his head. “The boy is right. We might have taken different paths and made different choices in the past, but now we find ourselves standing on one path, and for the sake of this world, we must see it through.”
“So you will help me brother?” Belaroan said with an almost giddy laugh. “I am so happy to hear it. I do so hate it when we fight, and this one has gone on for far too long.”
The two gods didn’t hug, but Thad did feel an easing of the tension that had been in the air. Forgetting for a moment about the two beings that were with him, Thad turned back to where the window had once been and said a silent prayer that his son would hurry before the gods started fighting again.
Chapter 23
Just as Cass had said, it didn’t take long for them to reach the doorway that had been letting in the fresh air. Now the five stood before it, yet they still hadn’t walked through. Bren stood at the front, his hand lightly placed against the door as he remembered his dream from the night before.
“Bren,” Faye said her hand gently resting on his back.
Taking a deep breath, Bren pushed hard on the door, and as it swung open, his eyes were assaulted by the harsh sunlight coming from the other side. As his eyes adjusted, Bren saw a large open field filled with flowers of all different kinds.
After days in the darkness, it was a beautiful sight to behold, and Bren caught himself standing in the doorway of the tunnel just staring out at the field. He felt a nudge from behind him. “I don’t know about you, but I would like to feel the sunlight on my face again,” Brenda said as she pushed him again this time much harder.
As Bren walked into the large flower field, he looked around. The valley was much smaller than he had envisioned. With one look, he could see every side of the mountain wall. Looking straight up, Bren could see the sky, but most importantly, Bren could once again feel the touch of magic. He couldn’t just feel the touch of the magic; it was more like a grip. The magic was so strong it felt as if his head was slightly spinning. Bren shook the feeling aside and followed the source of the magic until he reached the center of the valley.
Unlike in his dream, the doorway he searched for was not made of gold, it was more like the heat coming from a fire slightly distorting the air. Bren reached out his hand and gently touched the wavering air. His hand passed through it as if nothing was there.
Afraid to pull in magical energy unaided, Bren used Thuraman and sent a wave of magical energy into the doorway, but once again, nothing happened. For hours, Bren tried to open the doorway, but nothing seemed to work.
“Give it a rest tonight, and give it another go in the morning,” Cass said once the sun began to fall out of the sky.
Luckily, the valley, while small, was filled with animals. None of them very large, but it was more than easy for them to grab a few rabbits for a stew. Bren had plenty of meat and other things within his pack, but fresh meat was still a nice treat.
For the first time, in what felt like a lifetime, the small group sat around a fire in the open air. Without the walls around them, Bren felt much better than he had in days, and the small amount of moonlight that streamed through the clouds lit up the area just enough so they could see each other without having to strain their eyes.
“I didn’t see another way out of here except the way we came in,” Cass said as he took a large bite of the rabbit stew that Faye had made for them. “I don’t know about everyone else, but you can take all the time you like playing around with your little door. I am in no hurry to go back into that pit under the mountain.”
“I second that,” Brenda said shivering slightly. “After this, I don’t think I will go into another