The Glassy Sky

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: The Old Man and the Cottage

We went outside to check our surroundings. We noticed that we're standing on top of the mountain. And there's a white looking forest filled with fog, then a big lake and a city right after the lake. I pointed my finger to the city. "I think we should all go to that city." I said. "Good idea." Sam said. There was a stair leading all the way down to the mountain, I'm glad there's a stair case that looks like it was made by a Japanese for its accuracy in terms of its design. We went down the stairs and as we go along, we saw a tall old man with shiny green eyes and pointed ears going up the mountain. He talks in a language that we can't understand. "I can't understand you!" I said. He gave me a golden ring with a leaf designed on the middle, and on its center is a green diamond. "Can you understand me now?" The old man asked.

"Yeah, what is this?"

"That's a universal language translator. You can now talk to us elves and even fairies with that on your hand."

"This is amazing!"

"How are you able to speak their language, brother?" Sam asked.

"Because of this ring, I guess."

"I see." The old man gave each one of them a ring that fits into any size of the finger, for them to understand what he's saying.

"Can you all understand me now?"

"This is awesome!" Hunter said with excitement.

"You're not from here, are you?" The old man asked.

"We're travelers." I said. "Are you the owner of the cottage upstairs?"

"Indeed, I am. Why do you ask?"

"We're very sorry if we stopped by your house last night. It rained so hard that we need to find a shelter for us to stay warm."

"It's fine, fairy's do it all the time when it rains. After all, I'm just an old elf with nothing to do but agree with the system."

"What system?" Sam asked.

"A system designed by the council of fairies and elves to maintain balance in this world. They made it to prevent war from happening again, they've made It because of the ancient war between the gods and the seraphs. It's been like this for eons, and I've lived like a millennia and noticed how they've maintained the balance. You're not fairies are you?"

"To tell you the truth," I said, "We're humans, we're about to go back to the dream world when we accidentally came into this world."

"If what you're saying is true, then it's not safe to talk here. Let's go back to the cottage." The old man said. So, we headed back to his cottage and the old man closed all the doors and the windows so no one can see and hear our conversation. "Now that we're safe, tell me why are you here?"

"We're about to go back to the dream world, when we're accidentally transported to this dimension." I said.

"Why are you in the dream world?"

"Because we have a mission to fulfill. We need to destroy a certain demon that lurks there so we can all go back to normal."

"I see."

"I'm sorry, but do you happen to know a way for us to leave this place?"

"I'm afraid the fairies have cut all the connections in all dimensions."

"What does that mean by that?" Sam asked.

"It means that they've secluded themselves from being reached by beings from different dimensions." The old man stated. "But I heard that if you touch the giant crystal from the City of Gaia, then you might be able to go back to where you came from."