A Magical World Revealed: A New Era

Day Twelve, Chapter Twenty Six, The Pendragon Residence

Pendragon Household, Woodrow, Northern Territory, Australia

Monday, 12/2/2024

10:38

Talia Morticaya stood in front of the ornate metal gate. It looked like the sort of thing you would see in front of a historic English estate. Nathan's property was unrecognisable. The entire thirty acre section of rural land had once been ringed by basic barbed wire fencing. Now, it was surrounded by high, decorated stone walls topped by ornamental iron spikes. And most surreptitiously of all, the entire property was covered in a thick white fog. It was impossible to see in or out. The three Morticaya sisters, Talia, Alexandria and Aurora, had decided to visit. They were now being kept out by the colossal gate.

'Why are we just standing here? Can't we fly in?'

Alexandria was frustrated. She was tapping her foot impatiently, glaring at the gate. Talia shook her head.

'I'm betting that if we try to enter through anywhere other than the gate, something will stop us. You weren't there for the incursion onto his property. He had set up so many traps. Invisible walls, hidden blades, alarm systems, momentum modifiers, sleeping gas and so much more. And that is when he had a fraction of his current powers. I'm pretty confident that if we evenly slightly touch that mist, we will be in for a world of pain. Opening the gate will probably make a safe path through, therefore we must enter through this gate.'

'Yes, but how do we get this stupid gate to open? Should we break it?'

Aurora scoffed at her sister's suggestion.

'If we break this gate, we are dead. Nathan's a huge fan of riddles and puzzles, so he probably has some clever little trick to open this gate. Give me a second.'

Attached to and curving through the bars of the gate were many decorative pieces of metal. If looked at individually, they were just random geometric shapes. If looked at as a collective, kind of like a mosaic, it became an image. A large, curved, winding line stretching across both sides of the gate It had four odd little spikes shooting off from it, spikes which branched out into four distinct triangular points. And oddly, the centre of the gate, the part where it split open, was almost completely clear of jagged metal tiles, leaving two undecorated vertical bars..

'Oh, ha ha. How original.'

Aurora sounded a little derisive.

'What?' Talia asked.

'Pendragon. When translated literally, it means 'head dragon' or 'dragon's head'. Watch this.'

Aurora strode up to the gate. At about shoulder height, there was a large, upside down triangular slab of metal. It had two sunken cone-like sections on its face and two raised ones attached to its top. Aurora grabbed it and began to slide it upward. Oddly, it slid freely along the vertical bars. Using the decorative plates as footholds, she began to climb up the gate, sliding the triangle upwards. Eventually, she reached the top of the gate. Coincidentally, the triangle had ended up at the end of the twisting line. No, not coincidentally. It became clear. The twisting line was the body of a Chinese dragon, the four offshoots being stubby clawed legs. The triangle was the rather simplistic head of this simple geometric dragon. Aurora slid back down the vertical bars.

'And there we go. Puzzle solved.'

With a loud creaking, the gate slowly opened. The triangular dragon head split in half as the gate curved outwards. A cylindrical section of fog cleared, creating a sort of misty tunnel. A long, cobblestone path stretched into it, lined by two gurgling streams of water. Talia had to admit, Nathan definitely had style.

'I guess we go in,' she said.

They began to walk down the tunnel. The gate closed itself behind them, resetting the puzzle mechanism. Despite this, the walk through the tunnel was quite relaxing. It was cool, and the sound of the two small streams had a calming effect. It was almost disappointing when the journey ended and they stepped out into the sunlight. Sunlight? The entire property had been covered in fog, so why?