《Path Between Realms (Choosing Magic)》Part 21
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She lifted one foot, pressing her lips together and keeping her head down, and moved it forward and let it fall to the ground. It made no sound as it collided with the dirt and fallen green leaves and vines and had been too close to the ground to send a shock wave up through her injured knee. Once the foot settled, she looked up.
Addison expected nothing. She had taken a step, but either this was all still a dream, or surely there would be someone standing by laughing at her gullibility. Yet there was no laughter, and when she looked for the fairy queen; the royal trickstress was gone. No one around at all, it seemed. She was on her own, just like she was told she would be.
It didn't really make her feel any better, especially since she wasn't sure what she was looking for; or how to go about looking for it. Not that far from when she was told to find her own way up the giant forsaken tree, and even fewer options to help achieve the goal. With no decision left but to go forward, she did.
Her other foot lifted and joined its twin.
The forest loomed around her. Distant sounds of something birdlike, and a breeze that she couldn’t feel — only see and heard among the branches. Life in the realm was continuing as normal, only disturbed by Addison, and the door she was supposed to find. There had been no information on how long it might take, or what she was supposed to do if it took her far too long. But it shouldn't have been surprising. As comfortable as the realm had been compared to the others, she had always been given small reminders that they had traded for her for a reason, and it wasn't to save her. This was her way out, but it was not a gift.
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No way but forward and out, she thought, and forced the fog out of her mind. It wouldn't do any good for her to stand around and debate the merits of decisions she had already made, and paths she hadn't gotten to yet. What mattered was that she moved, and so she did.
She walked, and it didn't take long to fall into a rhythm. Her eyes scanned around as she moved forward, hoping they missed nothing along the way. There was nothing out of the ordinary for the first little while.
No obvious clues, marked trees, or glowing paths. No fancy birds that looked ready to take her to her destination. No fantasy here, although she walked among a fantastical realm. The Fae could be boring, and usually at the worst times. It seemed as though she would have to scour the forest to find some type of door.
She pictured it as she moved, amused at the image of a giant steel gate in the middle of the forest. Or maybe it would be pale wood, with a frame and window in the middle. Standing there between the trees, maybe a mass of the thick vines that crossed around the floors and wrapped around the trees beside her.
It would have a dark metal doorknob, tightly secured for eternity, because what else was magic for?
The image came in clearer with every step — each tree that passed her on the left, and each hidden thing that rustled on her right, she saw more details. The stained glass in the mirror would look like a blackened cauldron, too heavy for her to hold, and the colors would drip red and black. A collective thing of all the realms that stole her time and childhood away from her.
Addison smiled. The loneliness here felt better than she had expected it to. No demons laughing at her fragility, no old hag ordering her around, no Fae playing tricks. On the path that was flattening out underneath her, there were no demands other than her survival, and that was entirely up to her. With so little directions, she wondered for a moment if she actually would survive the trial at hand.
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The question came and went round and round her head. Will I find the door before I starve to death?
Melodramatic, which is what drove it away each time, but she couldn't help its return every minute or so.
Just about the time her muscles ached, she came to something unexpected, and entirely on accident. The ground beneath her was beaten down into a dirt path, not even leaves landed on it as far as she could see. Several feet ahead of her, however, the path got even weirder, and it did something she'd never seen in the forest of that realm. It split into two perfectly level paths, each identical to the others and replicas of where she had come from.
The only thing that changed, as far as she could see, was the angles of the trees that arched over each piece of the fork. One was thin, with a handful of hidden flowers near the top, and the other was rounded at the bottom, and curved inward as it rose. It was a strange shape, almost like an upside cup, but when she blinked, the shape had disappeared.
There were two paths, and no sign that told her which to take. Which would lead to a door? And where would that door go? Addison took a deep breath and forced herself to toward the right, the image of the cup stuck in her mind.
Almost like a goblet, placed upside down to dry.
Doubt swarmed, but any other choice would lead into dense and viney forest, where magic grew in a different direction and wasn't likely to help her. Once she was past the arch and on her way to... somewhere, the doubt flooded back out of her thoughts, and she went back to envisioning the door. She pictured a swirl, somewhere in the middle.
Maybe on the opposite side of the doorknob, as if the wood split in half and one side got lonely. It created a shadow of the doorknob as if to trick someone someday. She laughed; the only nearby sound she heard since the queen had disappeared. It sounded strange, but she didn't mind hearing herself as much as she did most days. Rather than cringe at the sound of her own voice and childish laughter, she forced it out again.
"Ha! Haha!" she said, and real giggles followed. Her spirits were soaring, and again it didn't bother her. She couldn't pinpoint a reason, but it didn't matter. She felt good.
She could only hope that it would last awhile, rather than leaving as soon as it came.
Shaking her head at her own silliness and rolling her shoulders for a brief stretch, she paused. She arched her back, and let her neck to fall to one side, then the other.
When she felt a little more limber, she returned to her walk that had an unknown destination and noticed that the path was curving further into the forest, taking her farther away from the other fork in the road. It curved harshly, and for a moment she couldn't see beyond a foot in front of her. When it finally straightened out again, Addison gulped, trying to get rid of a sudden lump in her throat. There, in the middle of the path, was a door, and she had almost walked into it. It was the exact size and shape of the one she had pictured as she walked.
Her hand shook, unable to decide if the familiarity was comforting or terrifying.
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College Construction: My Principal System
Fang Yuan traveled through a parallel world and inherited the private high school founded by his late grandfather, Yun Ding High School. Due to its consistent ranking as the worst high school in Jingcheng City throughout the year, its qualification to be allowed to run as a school would soon be canceled. Fortunately, for Fang Yuan, the universe activated the Strongest Principal System. As long as the school gained prestige, it could establish buildings, summon famous talents, and redeem various God-level rewards. From the founding of the main teaching building to improving the efficiency of learning; constructing a library, improving overall intelligence, constructing a well-equipped hospital as well as ensuring health and safety standards are followed…the Strongest Principal System made everything possible. In addition, the System provided a concert hall, art gallery, a lake garden, an observatory, a cafeteria with five-star cuisine as well. However, this was not all, the System even allowed Fang Yuan to summon world-famous talents from parallel worlds to teach his students. He could summon Shakespeare to teach Literature, Gauss to teach Mathematics, Einstein for Physics, Curie for Chemistry, Darwin for Biology, and Nightingale for medicine. He could also summon Beethoven to teach music, Van Gogh for art, Spielberg for film, and Messi for football! Thus, a formidable high school that would shock the world was born. Students would go forth to win Nobel Prizes, Olympic Medals and break world records in all the manner of categories. Countless Hollywood celebrities and Silicon Valley geniuses would be produced by the school. “Bitcoin? Oh, you mean our IT Department teacher, Satoshi Nakamoto’s little experiment?” Even students from prestigious institutions such as Harvard, Cambridge, and Oxford would cry about wanting to attend Yun Ding High School.
8 800Empire at War
From the ashes of strife heroes will rise to glory and immortality. The Eternal Empire of Zenter is torn in a civil war in the wake of the Mad Emperor Eugeios Ohm Zenter's bid to engrave his name in history by unifying the entire continent of Yggdra under human rule. This results in a civil war between those who oppose the extermination of the peaceful mythical races inhabiting Yggdra, and those loyal to the empire. The Mad Emperor's death from a sickness he kept hidden all his life years later, with his endeavor unfinished, sets the stage for an era of chaos. Ambitions awaken not only within court officials and local feudal lords, but also in common soldiers, who see the opportunity to rise to power and glory. Lahya Eventyr, one of two only surviving members of the royal family of the Ljosalfar, the Light Elves, resurfaces after years of slavery, and sets out to find her younger brother. Her actions set destiny in motion and will shape the fate of the entire empire.
8 78[HIATUS] Dragon Scythe Online
-ON HIATUS. SORRY FOR THE SUPER LATE WARNING BUT I'M WAY TOO BUSY AT THE MOMENT TO KEEP UP WITH THIS. REST ASSURED, IT WILL BE FINISHED!- "We used to fear the Dragon God... and now we fear the one who saved us." Three young men take their first breaths in Dragon Scythe Online; a knight, a wizard, and a rouge, but all come from outside the world. All three meet mysterious outsiders from outsiders more like them than they know, and all have different goals and explanations as to why they are there. As they quest separately for the legendary Blade Against The Titans, The Dragon Scythe, it becomes readily appearent that some players of this game are more real than others; far more real. When blades are turned player against player, how will the three survive this dark world and come to terms with who they really are? This is a sci-fi fantasy novel with very heavy LITRPG themes. Expect a humorous exterior with a dark twist later on. If you're good with multiple MCs and interconnecting plotlines, then you have found a good read. *In current hiatus until I finish book two in my rebooted fantasy series on amazon, details to follow soon.* Note: big cameos from other Inkrealm Universe characters. The story can be enjoyed without reading the other novels in the universe, but do be aware.
8 59Reincarnate in Anime world
What would happen if you die and reincarnate in the anime world? A world which you dream of. A waifu that you dream of!!
8 130REJECTION
Have you ever fallen in love? I understand what rejection means yet forgetting how my heart uncontrollably beats... how a smile erases reason... how I wished for even one moment of acceptance...Have you ever fallen in love? I did. Still do.
8 140What Had Happened That Day : Before & After
[NEW UPDATE! : CHAPTER 4]📢ANNOUNCEMENT🎉The Letters, ARE NOW up for sale !!~💌Link in bio, it's on a Ko-Fi. ☕Happy reading, my Princesses :D🌹***'A wish that becomes true,To satisfy the curious heart of you.' Where art thou, I wonder?As a princess of a powerful kingdom, you've been dutifully fulfilling your roles as a part of royal family. You're;• Well behaved• Educated ( formal & informal )• Skilled in fighting, because your father, the King believes that, "When the time comes, there will be the need to protect. Everyone is capable of fighting, in any way they can." What a wise king, that man.Thus, those points are some of what makes you a respectable princess across the land, you're lovable, and admired by most. You're living a life expectedly, just a little bumps here and there, Then;A fate rolls out that day..You saved a man from falling off the rail. He thanked you, you both have a little chit chat and off he goes on his merry way. In a short time, you can't forget about him. Sleepless, you went to the kitchen and almost knocks out a night guard that sneak upon you." I know that man that you saved." Holding out a picture, he continues, his lip ring glimmers as he smirk; "There's some things that he wrote and left, but for you to have it, you'll have to pay the price." Now, what it is?
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