Hidden Portal

Atasha’s Point of View

Just when we thought we could temporarily live in the moment that was free of worries and trouble, I had to say that everything had changed when we started following the same trail the witches went on.

The trail no longer even had that distinct smell anymore. It slowly faded away in the thin air. The same went for their footsteps, which sent shivers scurrying down my spine. Even my arms could feel an unfamiliar chill at the moment.

“They are completely a different creature, aren’t they, Elijah?” I looked at Elijah. “It amazed me how well they were able to conceal their footsteps. They appeared to be aware that somebody could follow them at any moment.”

They were no doubt wise, but I won’t give up that easily. I continued walking to the trail while Elijah was following me. Minutes passed, and we were able to reach the heart of the forest. The trail seemed to be getting strangely narrower. I couldn’t look at Elijah in his eyes to tell him straight away that we were in trouble. From our direction, I could no longer detect even a little scent emanating from the witches from the first time we saw them. The only thing I could do was to look for any kind of indication that they had wandered into this area. But, as I checked the trail, there were no signs of foot routes to be found anywhere.

A pang of anxiety went through me, thinking that my plan of following the witches would be in vain, until I heard something from a long distance away. It was the sound of a squeaking door from afar, but with my enhanced hearing it was so distinct that it echoed in my ear.

"Did you happen to hear something just now?" I asked curiously.

His jaw clenched as he looked around the area. Perhaps he also heard it as it was so distinct.

“It sounded like a piece of wood slamming on the ground,” he responded in his serious tone.

“Could it be a door?” On the ground? Here in the middle of the forest? How was it possible?

"Perhaps, there is an underground tunnel somewhere. It might be a secret path leading into the land of the werewolf," Elijah commented.

We stopped for a brief moment and tried to use our enhanced hearing to see if we could hear another sound, but to no avail. We decided to trek once again, trying to follow my gut feeling as to where the screeching sound came from. But it took almost an hour and we couldn’t find any doors or pieces of wood along our way.

I let out a huge sigh and looked at Elijah, biting my lips frustratedly.

“I can’t detect any witch’s scent anymore—” I screamed when I felt my feet sinking into the moving mud. My eyes widened when I looked at it. The mud had turned into hands and was gripping my feet tightly. “Elijah! Please, help me! D-Do something!”

A strike of panic hit my chest in an instant.

“Elijah!” I turned to him and saw that he had the same situation. We were both captivated by these mud-hands, keeping our feet struggling in place.

It wasn't just an ordinary mud, either, for it had the strength to hold us down. I lost my balance and ended up sitting on the ground. Despite my best efforts, their hold on my feet was far too tight.

"Elijah, what are your plans?" I asked and I let out a scream, almost tearing up.

“Don’t do any move, Atasha. Just wait,” Elijah advised me firmly.

I swallowed hard and nodded. I stopped attempting to move my feet and took several deep breaths to calm myself down. I watched Elijah and noticed that he was slowly removing the pair of boots he was wearing.

He took a strong stride out of them, and as soon as his feet touched the ground, he sprang onto a branch of a tree and grasped them before climbing to the top.

"Calm down, take your shoes off, and then jump here on the tree,” Elijah let out a yell. "It is like a trap; whatever foot stepped into the mud would be trapped there indefinitely.”

My eyes widened as I looked down at the mud-hands on my feet. I took a deep breath and untied my boots. Once done, I removed my feet from it and leaped up a tree that was on top of me, as the tree where Elijah climbed was a bit far from where I stood. I jumped and reached for the branch over my head, using both of my hands to support my weight. I screamed when I heard a cracking sound and noticed that the branch was slowly descending to the ground.

“Jump right here, Atasha!" Elijah yelled at me.

When I looked down, I noticed the mud-hands, which were waiting for my feet to land on them. I glanced in front of me. Elijah was sitting on a branch of a tree, looking at me and reaching out his hand. I inhaled sharply, then swung my body backward and jumped across to him like a wild monkey leaping from one tree to the next. The fact that Elijah quickly took my hand and dragged me over next to him was a lifesaver.

"My! That was a lot of pressure!" I exclaimed, a grin stretching from ear to ear on my face.

“This might be the reason as to why we are unable to follow the witches’ footsteps. They may have already set up this trap for intruders like us,” he said.

Elijah was right. Furthermore, they might have used their broomsticks to glide through the air. Because of the mud hands trying to captivate us, we had no choice but to jump over the branches of the trees.

"Please be extra careful. I'll start to move,” he stated before leaping to the top of big trees.

Elijah leaped on the first one, and as he did, I followed him and started jumping next to him.

"I’m worried you might fall, Atasha. Allow me to carry you on my back,” he offered but I refused since I didn't want him to put himself through any additional strain.

"There's no need to be concerned about me, alright? I already had improved physical strength and ability. I can jump over trees just fine, El," I responded.

Knowing that I would not allow him to treat me as though I was a wolf-less being anymore, he stroked the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a while. Starting by jumping from one tree to the next and gradually developing a rhythm that allowed me to move faster, I began exhibiting my ability to him.

He then followed me to another tree, where he stayed for a while. I turned back to see how he was reacting, and of course, he was upset.

"Don't be concerned! I shall not cause any trouble!" I let out a yell. “Don't make your gorgeous face appear wrinkly!” Then I chuckled.

I started moving and quickening my pace. We didn’t have any time to waste here. As time went on, I became more attentive than I'd ever been. My improved abilities allowed me to move much more quickly and powerfully than I had before. The training that we had was quite beneficial in getting me to this stage.

The fragrance of a wooden and rustic door in the middle of the forest gave me the impression that we were getting close to the secret door. I was right. I turned to look at Elijah, who was standing behind me. Then I got up on a branch and peered down at the ground below to determine if it was safe for us to descend. Elijah then jumped up beside me and tapped me on the shoulder.

“I believe we can jump down now. I don’t see any living mud here anymore. But still we're not certain whether or not they set any traps. We must proceed with caution,” he remarked as he reached for a small piece of branch from the tree and broke it.

He then threw it to the ground and waited to see whether anything would happen. It crashed down and the ground did not react strangely.

“Are you sure this is safe, Elijah?” I asked him.

"I will jump down first and see what happens,” he replied as he looked at the ground.

“But–”

“I will be alright. Don’t worry, alright?” He smiled at me.

I nodded in defeat. He inhaled sharply and jumped down. So I waited to see if there would be any kind of harm that would attack him, but so far he has been able to land without a hitch.

“Should I come down now?” I asked.

“No. Just stay right there first. I will give you a signal once I confirm the vicinity as safe.”

“Okay . . .” My voice lowered down and even though I wanted so badly to come down already, I waited patiently.

I watched his every move. He seemed to have followed the scent of the wooden door all the way to the left side. It was dark and eerie. Elijah continued walking over that trail. I felt that he wouldn’t give me any signal and would check the area on his own, so I decided to jump on the trees to follow him.

I pushed forward, keeping an eye on Elijah's every move and gesture.

He then looked up at me. “I found an entrance.”

As soon as he raised his hand and motioned for me to descend and join him at the bottom, I instantly landed down and ran towards him. When I arrived at his direction, he kneeled down and placed his hand on the ground.

“It appeared to be an entrance.”

He shoved the dirt on the ground using his hands, which appeared to be a rustic, wooden door, and I was intrigued to see how it was meant to function as the primary entry. Was it possible that the witches were the ones who used it? I didn’t know how they could easily open this door.

"Elijah, do you think this is an underground tunnel?" I inquired, my curiosity piqued.

When I asked Elijah, though, my nose responded to the smell, and it was clearly the witch's odor that I had been smelling. It was the same smell that we had smelled previously on the trail.

"Did you recognize it?" he said, to which I responded with a simple nod. In the same way that Elijah had done, I crouched and touched the ground, sensing a distinct aura about the area.

"It appears that the witches are the only ones who can open the main door," Elijah shared his thoughts.

"Can you tell me what we're supposed to do now?" I inquired.

“We have to wait for someone to arrive. A witch, to be exact. We will wait for a witch to come in through this door or walk out through it.”

"What if no one arrives or comes out? Can we just easily open this door?" I asked.

“You are getting so impatient,” he remarked as he stood up and grabbed my hand. "Let's go. We have to keep a distance on this door. We can't afford to have someone see us here. Obviously, this door can only be unlocked by a witch and we can't simply use our abilities and strength to open this,” he further explained.

We backed away from the front door and took refuge in one of the enormous trees in the nearby woodland.

"I wonder where that door leads to," I mumbled under my breath.