The World Outside The Shell

Chapter 11

Lady Ri searched the cottage for tea, hot water, cups and a kettle. She appeared busy while avoiding eye contact. “The concentric circle on the map appeared because the story of the world is in the process of changing.”

“Yes.”

“Do you want honey in the tea?”

“Please, yes.”

Lady Ri prepared the tea and shared her story at the kitchen table. The lifelong series of adventures, the companions, the goal of reaching the Lake of the Lost Kingdom before the flood, and more. I began to feel an understanding of her world view.

In the attempt to feel empathy for her position as the hero, I did not say a word. I listened. “I believe you now hold a key to the inside of the cottage.”

Lady Ri said, “I do and chose to go where I please.”

I said, “And you are welcome to visit anytime to discuss your plans to save the world.”

Lady Ri said, “Do you think I need your help?”

I said, “If you no longer need my help, why are you here?”

Lady Ri said, “I want you to see the inside of my shell one day.”

I dropped the tea cup .

Lady Ri pointed to a place on the map. She said, “The mind and the mirror. The real and the reflection.”

I said, “Who are you?”

The room began to shake and Lady Ri held onto the table. She looked at me with concern in her eyes and said, “Tamm, I need a hero not a friend.”

“The influence of the OTHER is the reason we keep meeting. Lady Ri was the hero of this world.”

“Was.”

“And she made herself at home in my cottage without an invitation.”

Lady Ri was silent for a long couple of minutes, then said, “If you cannot be serious, I will find another turtle to save the world.”

The room shifted as an unknown magic surrounded Lady Ri, the form of her body splitting into a series of mirror images.

Lady Ri said, “Goodbye.” The map burst into a rain of blue pixels with the touch of her hand.

The StarStone began to glow as she held the staff high and commanded the door to open.

I could hear the sound of the waterfall and realized we had returned to the base of the temple, but instead of protesting my attempts to stop her from leaving, we kissed.

The cottage dissolved in a blur of mist and blue pixels. I stood in human form inside the temple with Lady Ri beside me, our white robes were the same, without decoration.

I could feel her tighten the grip on my hand and was pulled through a large stone archway to a sun-pool behind the waterfall, a structure much larger than a turtle sized pool. I watched as the pool began to glow with a soft light.

Lady Ri said, “The door to the beginning.”

I looked around, humbled by the architecture, the stones, the mosaics, the pure light from crystals on the walls, the room was not ancient. I was in the human form, cloaked in a green robe.

Lady Ri smiled. “The unchanging place, where time cannot reach the worlds connected to the temple.”

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