Irena's Tale - Part 3

Disclaimers may be viewed in the previous posts or accessed here: Disclaimers.

Once again the strange sound echoed around her as she faded onto the mossy ground of the cloud island. She sucked in deep breaths, waiting for the adrenaline rush of the transition to fade. Slowly her pounding heart returned to normal.

The first time she had been too panicked to look around. This time, knowing she wasn't trapped, she surveyed her new surroundings. Up the rise was the small building, she had thought it to be of stone, but on closer look, it seemed to be fashioned of adobe. Thick wooden poles supported the thatched roof. Two braziers, on high walls, glowed with a steady light against the twilight of the sky. The door was closed and the shutters down but the roof had holes and the shutters were torn. All the trees looked young and there was no sign older ones had died or been cut, either for clearing or to provide the roof poles, yet the building looked old and worn.

A strange stone pillar, carved with intricate symbols, poked up from the ground in front of the door to the building. Beyond the pillar the ground sloped to another abrupt edge. Two small stone islands poked up from the empty cloud sea beyond. A third baren spiral peak poked up from the clouds to her left, off another edge of her island. Heading toward the two small islands she found a narrow path that threaded its way through a rock outcropping to her right. Along this side of the building she could see where the adobe had flaked away from the stacked stones forming the core of the walls. Through the gaps and tears in the shutters she could see glimpses of the area inside. The path wound around the edge of the island and ended abruptly in a grove of trees. Peering through the trunks she saw only the cloud sea beyond. For a moment she settled to the ground and beathed in the pine scent of the trees and stared up at the thin clouds drifting in the sky above.

Rising slowly, she walked back around the building and up to the higher plateau she had seen from the arrival point. The view from the upper plateau was even more sectacular, in an empty and alone sort of way. After staring out over the expanse of clouds for a few moments, she turned and walked to the closed building door. It slid open at her touch revealing the small interior space. There was an empty bookshelf on the wall to her right, a bookshelf with a single book on the wall to her left, and a large wooden wardrobe directly ahead. What immediately struck her was no bathroom, no bedroom, and no kitchen. Apparently this wasn't a place to live, but only a place to stop for a short time.

Small metal braziers, sitting on wall mounts, provided the same steady light as the larger ones outside. When she jumped up and tried to look inside, she saw a small glowing rock marble. A small lever near the door opened the window shutters. Late sunlight streamed in, flashing on the small dust motes her bare feet kicked up. Crossing to the only book she pulled it out and opened it to reveal an image of a small square and cluster of buildings.

She slipped the book back on the shelf and walked slowly outside. Directly in front of her was the large stone pillar. The main part of it was about three feet in diameter and five feet tall. It tapered in to a center section that rose another three feet and was maybe a foot around. On the face she approached a spiral pattern formed a stylized thumb and palm with four wide slashes above for fingers. Below this was a swirling pattern that might have been flowers or trees. Above the hand, on the section tapering in to the pole, was an open book. Going around to the left there was a pattern of triangles with a carving of mushrooms on the taper. Next was a carving of mushrooms on the bottom and a tree on the taper. The last patterns were a tree on the bottom and a fish on the taper. She walked around it several times, studying the detail and workmanship of the item. Uncertain, she walked toward the far edge of the island and settled down to look out over the edge.

Ahead of her clouds drifted through the setting sun, lit with warm purples and reds. The cloud sea shifted and flowed almost like an ocean. The breeze puffed through her hair as she sat and stared into the distance. Was this where Shandi kept disappearing to? Where was here and what was going on? The clouds gave back only calm silence.

Restless curiosity finally pulled her to her feet and back to the single book. This time she barely hesitated before placing her hand on the picture and fading out.