The Element Table

Chapter 5: On The Other Side

Jacquelyn's eyes widened at her best friend's words. She observed her surroundings too and realized Alianor was right. They were in North Luxia.

Long before, the forest was termed "The North" and the villages and towns "The South". When they were separated by Caine, the name for the places stuck.

It looked a bit different from what she thought. For one, the trees looked a bit bigger and taller. She was surprised she didn't see them all over the wall on their side of the force field.

The realization had hit her, and she quickly turned in the direction her best friend was still staring. A tall thick wall stood before them. It looked exactly like the wall on the other side. Caine must have built one here too. Right behind the wall, just a few inches away, was the thin lavender wall. She had never been this close to it, she made it an effort to never get near it, and stayed behind when Alianor dared to. It looked more opaque and wavy up close.

They stood there and stared.

"I can't believe we're on the other side" Jacquelyn finally said

"I know" Alianor agreed

They both turned and looked at the trees.

"What do we do now?" Jacquelyn asked looking in between the trees, trying to find any indication of movement

"We can go find someone and tell them what's going on" Alianor suggested, thinking there had to be people around

"It doesn't look like people live here" Jacquelyn pointed out

Alianor sighed, her best friend was right. The only sign of life was trees and more trees. Maybe the people who were banished died out. Maybe some horrid creature attacked and killed them all. They wouldn't know, they never communicated with the Northside before.

But they had to do something, they couldn't just stand there staring at the trees. There had to be someone who could help them.

"Let's just go, maybe we'll find someone," Alianor said

"Which way do we go?" Jacquelyn asked

Alianor looked through the trees, hoping for some hint. She wished there was a sign that said "This way to people". She walked across the plain and towards what looked like a wall of trees. Maybe she'd come across some path that would lead them somewhere. To her relief, she did. On the ground between the trees and shrubs, she saw a path made through the sparse grass. She followed the path with her eyes, hoping to see where it lead, but all she could see was more trees and then darkness due to the gloomy environment.

"I guess this is our best bet," she said to her best friend who was standing behind her

They were about to step on the path when something caught Jacquelyn's eyes.

"What's that?" she asked

"What?" Alianor asked looking around frantically

"That twinkling light thing. Right there" she described, pointing to the front of them

In front of them, in the darkness of the trees, a small light could be seen.

"It's probably a firefly"

But there was something off about this firefly. It didn't fly around wildly like a normal firefly, it kept steady like it was flying in a straight line.

"I don't think that's a firefly," Jacquelyn said

The two stood there, staring at the glowing light coming towards them. As it came closer, and away from the darkness, a silhouette could be seen around the light.