Chapter 3

    Without warning, I went to sit down on an old tree stump covered with moss. The moss covered over the stump looked like a soft sheep’s wool blanket spread across a neatly made bed, making it ever so tempting to lie down on.

    The fox noticed that I was not following her anymore, making her stop dead in her tracks, retracing her steps back to me.  

   “ Come Meara, we must keep moving.”  She said, but I was too tired to even move.

   “ It is not far anymore. You just have to hold out a little while longer. The waterfall is just on the other side of those tall trees.”

     “ I understand that you want to continue walking, but I am just too tired to go any farther.”

    “ I understand that you are tired, but just think, when we reach our destination you would be that much closer to finding a nice comfortable bed to sleep in.” Hearing the fox say that, bought me a new found energy that I did not know I could conjure after walking almost the entire night.

   “ That’s the spirit!”  She said excitedly in our mind-link thing, which I still find very strange.

    Trying to distract myself from my sore feet and tired legs, I decided to start a conversation with the fox.

     “ So, do I get to know your name, seemingly that we are connected, and you know mine. I guess it is only fair I knew yours as well?”                  

     “ But of course. My name is Merilla.” She said proudly with her chest perked out.

    “ It is nice to meet you Merilla.” I say politely.

   We continued with our conversation as we walked through the forest into an opening with a big waterfall.     The rumbling sound of the water crashing onto the rocks is deafening, but the  view is absolutely spectacular.

    Who would have thought that this gem of a place was hidden inside the forest untouched by the ruining clutches of humans.

   Merilla didn’t wait for me as I stand awestruck, gazing into the hypnotizing water rolling off of the stones and into the deep blue depths of the water.

    I sprinted after Merilla, my breath catching up with my pace, as she led me on a wild chase, her tail disappearing into the cleft between the rock face and the waterfall’s spray, and I pursued, my feet slipping on the damp earth, until I plunged into the cool darkness, the water’s roar muffled, as I entered the secret entrance.

     I noticed that we were in a hidden cave behind the curtain of water’s and inside, Merilla was already waiting for me by a big stone wall with symbols on it.

    I looked around for some sort of door or entrance to some magical kingdom, but there was none. I came to a stop next to her, looking all confused.

   I thought she was going to take me to the place where I was born, but all I can see is some scribbly symbols on the wall that I can’t even make out.

    “ Where are we?” I asked confused.                            

    “ You will see soon enough.”  She said, not being very helpful.

As Merilla approached the ancient stone wall, her eyes blazed with an intense blue light, illuminating the strange symbols etched into the rock.

    I am not a genius, but I think she is the one making the wall lit up. To my shock, the wall starts to part, and a gap opens up, revealing bright light from the other side of the wall.

     I am shocked. How could there be light coming from inside the wall? From the outside, you could clearly see that there was a big mountain on the other side, making what I see now impossible.

Magic!

 There is no other explanation besides magic.

   Merilla stood up from my side and started walking into the light. The light is so bright that I couldn’t see her as she entered and vanished, leaving me behind in utter shock and speechless.

   “ Are you coming?” I hear her voice coming from inside the light, but I am too overwhelmed to answer

   “ Meara !” She shouts, and it is all it took for me to place a foot into the bright glowing light.

 It is too bright to look ahead, so I covered my eyes instead. Putting one foot in front of the other, I slowly walked forward. Even with my eyes shut tight, the light was still very bright. So, I placed my arm over my eyes instead, helping with the brightness.

    “ You can open your eyes now.” I hear Merilla say.

   To my surprise, when I opened them, it didn’t look that much different from where we just came. I don’t know why, but for some reason I expected something more, like a hidden kingdom or a magical world of some sort.

   “ Why the long face?” Merilla asked somewhat confused.

    “ I don’t know. I guess I was expecting something more than just more trees and unending forest.” I say disappointed.

    “ We are almost there; only then can you truly see the place for what it is after a nice long nap.” She is probably right, but I don’t say it. I just leave a heavy sigh and continue walking behind her as she led us down a long stone path into the forest.