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Trinity
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I followed Nathair out of the house, the other three that had searched inside with me were following behind at my back. They were just as curious as I was about what this mysterious magic door meant and where it might lead.
The two buildings that were outside were: a large barn and a small storage shed. I figured that Nathair would be taking us to the barn to investigate this magic door, however, he led us straight toward the storage shed instead. That was interesting, but I guess it made sense. The barn was the first place that I suspected, it was probably the place that most other people would have suspected as well.
The shed was like any other shed you would expect to see. It was designed like a miniature barn, it was maybe ten feet by twelve feet. There was a set of double doors that had half of an 'X' on each one so that when they were closed they could form the completed pattern. They also swung out toward us rather than sliding like most barns..
The difference about this shed compared to most others was that it was, just like the house, made completely of different metals. It appeared that Alloy and Sterling have made the house, the shed, and the barn with their magic.
The shed wasn't exactly big enough for all eight of us to be inside comfortably so Nathair, Kayda and Rahim waited outside while those that were more part of my inner circle stayed inside the shed with me and Reece. Still, with large men such as Reece, Trevor, Landon, and Vincent, the inside of the shed was quite cramped.
There was blood on the floor in this shed, so it was clear that whoever had been in the house had been in here. It seemed that either someone escaped into this place, or the fight spilled over into the shed, whichever it was this place was an important clue for us.
"So, Reece, where is this door?" I asked him as soon as I entered the shed.
"Right here." He said as he pulled aside a false panel on the wall.
"Well, I am quite impressed with your level of scrutiny. Thank you for not overlooking anything." I smiled at them all and thought about how many people would have overlooked something like this.
"We didn't want to disappoint our Queen." Landon smirked at me. "There is no telling what punishments we might receive if we were to fail her."
"Yes, I heard she can be quite vengeful. Using animal names for you is just the start of it, it gets much worse from there."
"Oh, hush you two." I laughed and shook my head at them. "You're making me sound truly diabolical and evil."
"Aren't you, though?" They asked me together as they laughed. I swear sometimes the two of them sounded more like twins than friends.
"This isn't the time for this, you know that, right?" I leveled a serious stare at them and watched as the nearly tripped over themselves to straighten up.
"Yes Ma'am."
"Sorry Ma'am." I rolled my eyes again and turned away from them.
I walked to the door and let my magic reach out towards it. I needed to get a feel for it, so that I could determine the best way to open it, and find out what was beyond it.
"Have you tried to open the door yet?" I asked them as I placed my hand against the surface and listened.
"We wanted to try." I heard Reece's words and it took me a minute to understand what it was that he was saying, the thrum of the magic that I was feeling was so much stronger than I expected.
"What do you mean that you wanted to try?" I turned to look at him, letting my hand drop from the door.
"We can't even touch the door." He looked at me with shock with just a little bit of fear and awe mixed in.
"What do you mean? How could you not touch the door? It's right here." I was confused by his words. I wasn't having any trouble touching the door so they obviously hadn't even tried to open it yet.
"What I mean is…" he started, while looking me in the eyes with not a hint of laughter or joking in his voice, "…that, whenever we tried to touch the door, it threw us away from it."
Now that I looked at Reece, and Trevor, I saw that the two of them were covered in dust, and there were marks on the floor that showed where someone or something had been moved across it. Honestly, I just thought that they had been searching thoroughly. I never once thought that they had been thrown away by a magical door.
"This makes no sense to me." I turned back to look at the door. It was shimmering and glowing, gold and silver, that seemed to be lit by some kind of magical light within the door itself. The door was thrumming with immense magical power that felt like it was calm and pleasant. If this door seemed so calm and pleasant, why would it throw the others away from it? Oh, and there was no knob or handle on the door to try and open it with.
"This is just a thought, Trinity, but perhaps the door will allow you to touch it because you are part Fae, unlike any of the rest of us. You are the only one part Fae among us." Vincent's words seemed to stab me in the gut. He was right, I was the only part Fae among this group. If that was the reason that I was able to touch the door then, I should have been able to think of that reason myself. Why was it that I tended to forget that the others weren't quite like me?
"Trinity? Do you think that might be the reason?" Reece looked at me with wide eyes. "I mean, it makes sense to me."
"Yeah, now that Vincent mentions it, that seems like the only logical thing." Trevor added as both he, and Reece, looked at me with curious eyes.
"I think it is a good thing that we have a Fae with us then." Landon grinned.
"Are you going to try and open the door?" Reece asked me.
"I am." My voice was steady and my resolve was firm. I would do what I needed to do because I was a strong, warrior queen. This was what I could do that they couldn't. This was my time to prove that I was more than capable.
I turned my back to them so that I could concentrate on my task. When I placed my hand on the door, I poured just a little bit of my magic into it. I was doing my best to make sure that it would open for me and not push me back.
I felt the magic in the door reach out and touch the power that I was pouring into it. I felt that it was skittish and afraid at first, but the moment that it sensed that I meant it no harm, it started to feel as if it were warming up to me. The magic within the door felt like that of a scared little animal that was nervous around people.
After that magic seemed to welcome me and accept me, I felt as if it were smiling with relief and gratitude. What exactly was going on here? Since when did magic have a mind and emotions of its own?
With that acceptance and gratitude the door was giving me I felt the seal on it break. With my hand still pressed against it the door began to open or, should I say, disappear. It was there one second and gone the next. And, on instinct, I walked forward into the shining white light that it revealed.
As that light surrounded me, I felt a comforting warmth spread through my entire body. It was like I was being taken to some sort of paradise. Though, I was certain that no paradise would smell like blood this much. Whatever had happened in the house and the shed had moved to this place too. Before that bright light faded, I started to wonder just what was waiting for me on this side of the door.
The next chapter will repeat a little of this chapter but hopefully not too much. It will be Reece and the others searching the buildings outside and finding the door along with their reactions when Trinity opens that door.
