Portals CYOA CH 8
#8 of Portals CYOA
Head towards the light, as it is the only visible landmark. As for the portal, if we can sense it's location the close it.if we are sure it will remain to be opened again later and we can find its location again we can go ahead and close it.
I keep it at a state where I can open the portal again. Now that I know how to open this one, it seems to be pretty simple to do it again.
I start walking in the direction of the light, I mean, where else am I supposed to go?
I take it slowly, slowly pushing a foot out. Lightly scraping my toes along the ground, being careful about not,like, falling in a hole or something. It takes awhile to get there.
And by a while I mean a really long time. Probably at least two hours? Maybe two and a half, it's hard to tell with basically no light or a watch or anything.
Eventually I do make it close to the light, and can even tell what it is.
It looks to be some sort of city, surrounded with one massive wall, made entirely of a softly glowing stone. It's a light grey color, like if someone just barely made a mark on a piece of paper with a mechanical pencil. In the center of this city is a massive tower, with several different balconies along Its height. Overall it, as well as the wall, seem to be completely smooth and seamless. Unnaturally so.
I walk slowly and silently up to the wall surrounding this city, keeping low and, hopefully, unseen. The smell here is different, less sooty or clear. It smells like an attic that's been left to sit for a few decades, and hasn't been cleaned in even longer.
I walk along the perimeter of the wall.
And I walk.
And walk.
And walk.
If I hadn't gotten a fairly good amount of sleep before I got here i'd be on the verge of unconsciousness by now, and I have no doubt i'm gonna need to keep off of my feet for a good while after this bit of exploration is over with.
I put my hand to the wall, sliding it along the smooth, perfect surface as I walk, wondering how these people built this place. I'll be the first to say I don't know much about architecture, but from what I understand it's essentially impossible to make something seemless that big, otherwise it will simply fall apart.
Or at least, i'm pretty sure that's how it's supposed to work, but this kinda throws a wrench in
And with a FWISH i'm falling head-first onto hard stone.
I cough and sputter, the saving grace being the thick piles of dust all around me. I drag myself through this gate as quickly as I can, worried about it cutting me in half or something. The last thing I see is blood dripping in the swirling motes of dust. It looks sorta like moths...
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Gray. The whole world is nothing but gray. Some parts of it darker than others, some of it is thick dust, some of it is blood-stained stone.
Some of it is moths fluttering through the air.
In. Out.
It takes me a few moments to come all the way back to myself.
The "gate" must have activated on touch, but it's closed up behind me now. There are buildings, kind of like old-style brick buildings, tenement houses, just a little bit shorter than the wall, but they get taller closer to the tower, or i'm on a very subtle incline.
The wall at first seemed seamless but on this side I can see the "edge" of the gate, curved so that when it's open the top of the wall forms an archway. It leads perfectly into the road i'm on between the buildings.
The most notable things are the thick piles of dust around me, with none beneath me, and the thousands of gray moths fluttering around and above me. They they have small reddish markings, with light silvery-blue veins in their wings. They're actually kinda pretty.
They're also a little worrying, considering I don't see any blood on the ground or on my forehead.
Should I check the gate to make sure it still opens? go further into the city, check myself for wounds?