Young Writers Society

Stean rejoined them, and the three headed deeper in the forest. It was still...spooky, but it wasn't anywhere as terrifying as it had been before. Maybe, Mage thought, seeing all of the different things that lurked inside of it had desensitized him. It was hard imagining strange, terrifying new enemies when they had already faced several.

After walking for a short time, a clearing began to appear on the horizon. There was a well sitting right in the center of it, thick vines climbing its old, worn stones. A surprisingly new-looking bell, matching the one that had been on his side of the ruins what felt like an eternity ago, hung from its tiny shingled roof.

Mage glanced over at Harry. Even though he wasn't scared of something else showing up, it didn't hurt to be a little cautious.

"Is it safe to take it?" he asked.

Harry looked at the old well they were currently standing in front of. The forest felt much less oppressive in this area for some reason and Harry didn't quite know what to make of it. It seemed strangely anticlimactic considering everything else they'd encountered so far.

Then Mage asked about the bell.

"Umm," said Harry, giving the air around them a cursory sniff to try and identify anything that could be wrong. It seemed like it should be booby trapped, especially with how easy it seemed for them to get the bell, just being on display quite so invitingly there. And yet he could detect nothing. He turned to Stean.

Stean nodded, also looking confused at the lack of any noticeable threats.

"I can't sense anything that could go wrong," said Harry," I think its safe, it seems like it shouldn't be. Its just so easy..and right there...but yeah, I can't sense or see anything off and neither can Stean."

"Yup," confirmed Stean with a nod.

Mage took a deep breath.

"Okay," he said. Giving one last glance over at Harry and Stean, Mage started to approach the well. He kept waiting for something to jump out at him, but nothing did. When he carefully removed the bell from its spot above the well, the bell just felt like a normal bell.

He turned back to Harry and Stean, a tiny smile on his lips.

"I guess the forest got tired of us taking care of its traps," he said.

"There are certainly rumors that this forest is sentient so that might actually be true," said Harry, "although I haven't looked into it so that's not for certain."

"Well, that was wonderfully anticlimactic," said Stean,"looks like I wasn't really needed after all. I believe you've just gotten what you needed?"

Harry nodded.

"Alright then, I'll get back to work," said Stean.

"Okay. Thank you for staying," said Harry, with a nod. Stean pressed a few buttons on his communicator and walked a few feet away to quickly call in a teleportation assist from someone before he then vanished into a green portal.

"Well...so that's the bell," began Harry, turning to Mage.

Mage muttered a quick, almost shy goodbye, but Stean was gone before he could finish it.

He turned to Harry, too, awkwardly holding the bell in his hands. He gave a nod. Once they returned to the ruins where he had first met Harry, they would be going their separate ways. It hurt thinking about not being able to see his friend again.

...But if the portal was there in the ruins and he was the only one who ever visited them, couldn't he come to visit?

He took a deep breath.

"Can I visit you sometime?" Mage impulsively asked, a hopeful, almost desperate expression on his face. "After I go back to my world?"

Harry gave him a kind smile.

"Sure," he said, before adding with a wink,"although I can't imagine you'd want to suffer through a bunch of nightmares like this once again."

Mage returned Harry's smile with one of his own. His heart swelled at the thought of being able to see his friend again after this—even though he knew he wouldn't be able to see Harry all the time.

"I want to avoid the nightmares next time," Mage agreed.

Harry's smile grew wider and a thought struck him.

"Hmm, that's a wise move," said Harry. "Maybe we can just go off this world and to one of the nicer ones where there aren't so many monsters."

It took a second for Mage's brain to process Harry's suggestion.

"We could go to other worlds?" he managed to get out, incredulous. He knew that other worlds existed. Harry had explained that right after they met. But he hadn't entirely registered the possibility of being able to travel to those worlds, and the thought made him anxious with excitement. "I'd like that."

"Oh yes. Its actually very easy. There are entire world designed just for holidaying," said Harry. "You will definitely like them."

Mage's eyes widened even more than they already have. He didn't entirely know what holidaying involved, but he guessed it had to do with some kind of vacation. They were rare in Infernum and even rarer in Medium, but he had always dreamed of being able to go on one with Kiera.

Harry smiled at Mage's expression. It looked like the poor guy had probably not been on too many actual vacations.

"Anyway, don't worry about it too much. I think we're getting a bit too far ahead of ourselves here. Why don't we get you home? I'm sure you're tired of this place by now," he said.

Mage gave a little nod.

He wasn't really all that ready to leave Harry, but he knew this world would never truly be his home. His home was the world that Kiera had raised him in. Even more so, he had started to realize he didn't know as much about his world as he thought he did. If he wanted to understand more about it and what the angels had kept hidden, he needed to go back home.

"I'm ready to go home," he agreed.

"Okay then," said Harry, nodding. "Hang onto that bell carefully. I think I remember where we need to be going, so umm, I guess follow me. It won't be that bad of a walk and if worse comes to worse, we could always use my car."

Mage was a little worried about Harry not knowing what direction they needed to be going, but this was Harry's world. He would trust his sense of direction.

"Okay," Mage said.