"I thought it was just a straight path to the castle?" Kaitlyn asked their new guide.
"Yes, well there is a portal in the mountains there that will take us there faster." Maximus explained.
They walked until they reached a stone structure in the middle of the mountains. "It was only a half day's walk." Zell said. "That's a pretty good short cut."
"Indeed." Maximus replied. "Let me just activate it." He walked over to a stone archway and pressed symbols that were engraved on it.
[Must be a password.] Zell thought to himself.
The archway arced with red lightning as a crimson portal formed inside of it. "Here it is human." Maximus said. "I will go first and let the lord know of your arrival. Wait a moment and then follow after me."
"Alright." Zell said. "I appreciate the help."
"It's really no problem." Maximus said. "I owe you one for not killing me. Well, I'm off, see you soon." Maximus walked up to the portal and vanished from sight.
"I guess we will wait a couple of minutes." Zell said.
"Are you sure we can trust him?" Kaitlyn asked. "He could be preparing an ambush on the other side of the portal. I doubt he would take you to the demon lord so easily."
"No, I think my words and actions touched him last night." Zell replied. "I think he will be a significant help to us."
"If you say so," Kaitlyn sighed. "All my instincts are telling me; this is a trap."
"Even if it is, I doubt there is any stronger than me." Zell said. "At least from what I have seen. It will only bolster my position of power in negotiations."
"I think that's enough time." Kaitlyn said. "If we wait too long the portal might close."
"That's right." Zell said. "Let's head on through."
The two of them walked into the portal side by side. On the other end of the portal, they found themselves in the middle of a lush green forest, filled with exotic flowers and towering trees creating a canopy in the forest. They stood in the middle of a clearing, with only the archway behind them. As they turned to look at it, the portal closed.
"I think he may have tricked us." Kaitlyn sighed.
"Appears so." Zell said. "I should have trusted your instincts. I promise I will in the future."
"Guess we should find out where we are." Zell said. "Do you know of this place at all?"
"No, grandpa never mentioned any place like this, and it looks entirely different from our forest." Kaitlyn replied.
"Which way do you want to go?" Zell asked.
"Why are you asking me?" Kaitlyn asked.
"Instincts." Zell said. "I am hoping you have directional instincts as well."
"Doesn't work like that." Kaitlyn said. "Oh, I know, why not just use the portal stone and teleport us back to the village or even the inn."
"That's a great idea!" Zell said excitedly. He reached into his pocket and grabbed hold of the stone. He put his hand on Kaitlyn's shoulder and poured mana into the stone. Nothing happened. "Well, that's not good."
"Not working?" Kaitlyn asked.
"No, it isn't," Zell let out a sigh. "Any idea why it wouldn't work?"
"Grandpa said the stones are linked to the ley lines of the planet." Kaitlyn explained. "So, we must not be on the planet anymore."
"There's magic that can do that?!" Zell shouted.
"I guess?" Kaitlyn shrugged her shoulders in response. "I have never heard of anything like that, but how would you explain why our stone isn't working?"
"Hmm, then there is the matter of Maximus." Zell said. "I don't think he actually went into the portal. I think he just used a portal stone and made it look like he did. Why did I trust him?"
"I told you not to." Kaitlyn said smugly.
"So, the question is still, where are we?" Zell pondered. "It has to be a place that the demon lord and his general's know about. So, it must be linked to the nonhumans in some way."
"Oh!" Kaitlyn shouted. "I remember an old bedtime story that grandpa used to tell me. I always thought he was referring to our people, but this makes more sense."
"What is the story?" Zell asked.
"Once upon a time, in our world lived a race of chosen." Kaitlyn started.
"Skip ahead to the relevant part." Zell said. "Sounds like it has a bit of fluff added to it."
"Fine." Kaitlyn said. "Give me a minute to think then." She sat down and closed her eyes for a few minutes. "Okay the gist of the story was, a group of nonhumans, called the chosen, decided the best way to deal with the human threat was to run away and live in isolation. That's why I thought it was about our people, because we also live in isolation, in the forbidden forest."
"So, a race of nonhumans made a portal to a different planet?" Zell said. "I guess that would definitely count as isolation. But how would Maximus know the spell?"
"Maybe the chosen are related to the demon race somehow?" Kaitlyn said. "Look, I know just as much as you do. We need to pick a direction and head that way. Hopefully, we will run into a settlement."
"I say we go that way." Zell pointed. "It looks like the trees are artificially straight. As if someone intended them to be that way, like a path. All the other trees have more of a random distribution pattern."
"Sounds good to me." Kaitlyn said.
The pair began to walk through the trees, the air was heavy with the scents of flora. Large flowers covered the forest floor and filled the air with their fragrance.
"I have never seen flowers such as these." Zell said. "Not in either life."
"Backs up the other world theory then." Kaitlyn said.
They walked and walked. The light that showed through the canopy was slowly fading. "Night is coming soon. I hope this planet has a moon, otherwise it is going to get very dark." Zell said. "There is a bit of a clearing over there, at least enough space to build a fire without catching the trees on fire. We should gather some wood."
The ground had many broken branches that had fallen from the trees. Kaitlyn and Zell gathered them up and built a fire. Not knowing the type of animals, or monsters that roamed the forest, they took turns sleeping in shifts until daybreak. Luckily, they had no encounters throughout the night.