Into Faleya

The Gateway

I stopped running when I reached a section of the woods where the plants were even darker than the rest of the forest. Some of them even had small flames smoldering at their tips.

"Is this The Gateway?" I asked, exasperatedly.

"Looks like it!" Igg responded, "Now read from the book!"

I opened the book but found I was faced with the same problem as last time. The words made no sense.

"I can't read it!" I was starting to panic.

"WHAT! Why didn't you tell me this!" Igg said.

"You never...asked?" I managed to squeak. This was it. Not only was I going to perish in this strange land, I was going to doom the existence of all life here and on Earth! How does one girl, botch something so badly!

"Great!" Igg took off its floppy hat and scratched its messy hair. A pair of psychedelic, round, glasses fell onto the ground. Igg looked at them and slapped the side of its face.

"I am so mentally challenged!" Igg exclaimed.

"Of course you can't read it! You're human, and most of the book is written in sardonyx!"

"Like the stone?" I questioned.

"No, it's a color. You don't have it on earth." Igg said quickly, as he shoved the glasses onto my face. I looked at the page and started to read.

"Ktplr cqwn crrt." It was written in another language. Hopefully I didn't have to understand it for this to work.

"Kppl sqwn. Geeze! Don't you have vowels here?"

"Read!" Igg said urgently.

"Hdkl jrt!" I finished. A pulsing light appeared in front of me. The book I held in my hands shook violently. I dropped it. It rose above my head and started to glow. I backed away. There was a loud pop and a wave of white light swept through the land. As the light touched the darkened plants, their leaves became green once more. The book dropped and the light went away. The forest was now green.

"Did I do it?" I asked.

"I guess," Igg responded.

"Wait. How am I supposed to get home now?" Soon after I asked, there was a loud ripping sound and a portal appeared. I could see Zoë's house through it.

"I guess that's how," Igg said, pointing at the portal. I picked up the book and stood in front of the portal. I was going to miss this place. Though, all it had tried to do was kill me. I wasn't going to miss that part.

"Bye!" I waved.

"Thank you for not getting me killed!" I said. Igg waved back.

"Goodbye kitty cat!"

I turned to face the portal and jumped through.