World Of War (Arula: Three)

Chapter 14

After dinner that night, Jason went back to the deck and stared out into the woods. He wondered what could be out there that made someone want to go and disappear from their family. For a week Jason stood at the deck and looked into those woods and wondered the same thing every night. But for some reason as Jason stared ahead, the woods almost seemed to be calling him. Trying to lure him in with the sweetest voice. Jason shook his head. I must be going crazy, he mused to himself. The woods can't call you somewhere, can they? I've spent too much time in this town, that's what it is.

The crickets chirped around him, and fireflies blinked in the night air. It was a beautiful night, Jason had to admit. Looking back at the woods, Jason felt the pull of a mysterious force. The woods were really calling to him. Jason looked back at the house to make sure that Mrs. Lucas wasn't watching. He tapped his phone screen and saw that it was nearly nine o'clock at night. Mrs. Lucas was surely going to bed by now. Jason sprinted down the wooden deck stair and jogged up the woods. He could feel the lure of woods stronger now and it was still calling him. Wanting Jason to enter and explore its mysteries. Taking one last look at the house, Jason stepped forward and entered the woods.

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The crickets chirped and the fireflies lit the path ahead. The forest was so dense that it was hard to tell what was what. Jason had a very terrible time walking through it as he stumbled on loose sticks and rocks. He jumped at the slightest noise. Broken sticks echoed throughout the woods and an owl hooting screeched in all directions. It wasn't until Jason stumbled on a beaten path that he felt relieved. He no clue what had possessed him to wander in the woods in the middle of the night, but he knew there was no turning back now. Jason followed the path which led him over a small wooden bridge that went over a little creek. The further Jason ventured the darker and denser the woods around him became. After what seemed like a useless walk through the woods, Jason came across an old abandoned treehouse.

The treehouse looked like it was on the verge of falling apart. The wood was decaying with moss and possibly mold growing on it. Jason wouldn't had been surprised if termites were living in the treehouse. He walked around the treehouse and ran into something thin and light. Jason's first thought he ran into a huge spider web and he panicked. He danced around hoping to get the spider web, or spider, off him. When he was in the clear, Jason only saw that his panic dance was all for nothing. A rope ladder dangled and swayed beneath the treehouse. Three of the wooden steps were broken and dangled off to the side of the rope that barely held on to the wood itself. Feeling embarrassed, Jason was glad no one was around to witness his false alarm.

Jason inspected the ladder deciding whether or not if he should climb it. Curiosity got the better of him unfortunately and he climbed the ladder. The first step creaked and groaned, but it held. Jason took another step and had to double over to the next step. He stepped one more time and the wood broke with a loud CRACK! Jason gasped and held on to the rope as he slipped. His legs kicked and wiggled as they tried to find their footing. With no such luck, Jason had no other choice but pull himself up. He grabbed the edge of the opened latch and pulled himself through the hole. Jason landed on the treehouse floor with a WHACK! and an OOf! Jason didn't know how long he laid there but when he came back to his senses, he got up and dusted himself off. He took out his cell phone and turned on the flashlight.

Looking around the treehouse, Jason could tell no one has been in here a good couple of years. There was a wooden table with two wooden chairs. Both of the furniture was splintered, and termite eaten. A long counter with cabinets outlined the back of the treehouse, also splintered and termite eaten. At one of the walls was a map. It was torn down the middle and it hung off the sides of the treehouse. The map was filled with a strange looking country with territories mapped out on it. He grabbed the torn edges to get a better look at it. Jason thought this was strange. What, or who, was Arula? He had no clue. Releasing the map, Jason noticed the papers that littered the floor. He picked up one piece of paper that had a drawing of a castle on it. The next one he picked up was a drawing of some sort of monster or animal. Another one had a drawing of looked like some type of territory. "The Dwarf Clan." Jason read aloud.

As Jason walked among the paper, he kicked something and heard what sounded like glass rolling on the wooden floor. Out from the piles of paper, a colorful orb rolled and spun across the treehouse. It rolled over to the cabinets and hit it with a soft, clink. Jason picked up the strange object and examined it. The orb was definitely made from glass. The center of the orb though, Jason couldn't be sure what it was. It glowed different colors. From blue to red, from red to green, from green to yellow, and so on. Jason held it up to get a better look.

The orb was smooth and slick. So slick that he accidentally dropped it. It happened so fast that Jason didn't have time to think. When the orb touched the ground, it exploded into a million colors of light. The bright lights faded and formed a floating oval that shifted from color to color. Jason was in so much shock that he didn't even realized that his phone had dropped out of his hand and hit the floor. He took a step forward and examined the strange floating oval. What is this? He asked himself. Taking his hand, Jason put it through the oval. He was surprise to see that his arm did not go through the side. A doorway? He thought and with a quick decision, he stepped through.