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As we reached the base of the athered s up… a lot Besides, I hadn’t exactly been eating much recently, and even if I was fueled on protein bars, there was obviously no way I could climb the e of the mountain until we reached five oak trees where, after I had shifted to his back, he i the side of atrees He gripped the rocks with ease, lifting us gracefully several feet at a tih up this round I dared pry aze around For a few seconds, I lost her than the her than any treetop he had taken e point from which I had ever witnessed The Woodlands Beneath the ical Mystical A world of exploration I wondered how large The Woodlands was compared to the United States or some other earthly country And how much of it I had traversed with Bastien over the last few days

Bastien continued clie Brucella had described, an overhanging plateau, which was actually er than I had expected it to be Even despite ate, I couldn’t stop ain, now more spectacular than ever I was not sure if I had ever witnessed stars truly glitter, but the stars in this clear sky tonight were like shih up, the breeze was not overbearing It was almost pleasant

"Over there" Bastien spoke behindabout fifteen feet away froround was a circular hole An abyss A gate

So Brucella was telling the truth It had really been her lucky day that she had itiet rid of me She knew that Bastien couldn’t object lest it look like ere ain

"I wonder if it really leads to where they say it leads," I mumbled

"There would only be one way to find out," he replied, looking atyou to disobey your parents"

"Yeah," I said "We will check it out with the down into the portal, the silence of the ht each other’s eye

"Uh, well," he said "We found it"

"Yeah," I said faintly

"I suppose we should return now" He spoke slowly, like he holly unenthusiastic about the suggestion

My eyes returned to the view We--or rather, Bastien--had climbed all this way It seemed a shame to leave so soon…

"We still have so a brow "Why don’t we sit for a while? It’s so beautiful up here"

"It is," he replied, his voice a tad croaky