Clash of the Otherworlds: Book 3, Portal Guardians by Elle Casey Read Free Book Online

have stayed in the Here and Now.

CHAPTER FIVE

    TRIDEN DIDN'T ASK US ANY more questions the rest of the way to his mountain home.   It took us what felt like about an hour, which in reality was probably half that, but I had a hungry pixie in my hand who would not shut up the entire way.
    "What's the matter?" asked Spike as we approached a large cliff face that looked like it had been cut into the side of a huge foothill of an even huger mountain that rose up into the sun and clouds so high I couldn't see the top of it.
    "Just tired of the baby whining all the time.   I don't know how Abby does it," I whispered.   I didn't want Willy to hear me because it would probably send him off into another wail-fest about his momma and wanting to be with her.
    Spike nodded before raising his voice a little to be heard by our guide.   "Excuse me, Triden?   Do you have any fruit or berries or anything we can feed this baby pixie?"
    "Inside," was all he said, staring at the cliff face, glancing back to follow our progress in his direction.   Once we were standing just behind him, he turned fully to face us.   "And now the moment of truth.   Enter if ye have pure intentions.   Be repulsed if ye do not."
    My jaw dropped open.   "I thought you said no friggin riddles!"
    Triden frowned at me.   "I thought you said it was a freggon dragon not a freggon riddle.   Ye need to make up yer mind, lassy."
    I rolled my eyes.   "Spike, help me out before I say something stupid."
    Spike squeezed my hand once and then let it go.   "What she wants to know is whether this is a riddle we have to solve or something else?   Do we have to say something or press some buttons or, I don't know, unlock a door somewhere so we can get inside your mountain?"
    "There be no riddles in Sliabh gCuillinn.   Just an entrance and the purity of the stone it's made of."   Triden walked up to the face of the cliff and inserted his axe into a crack that looked like no keyhole I'd ever seen.   As soon as he let go of the weapon's handle, a huge section of the wall turned inward, revealing a tunnel or dark yawning hole in the side of the mountain.   It could have been a path there for us to walk down or just a huge pit - it was impossible to see more than a foot into the space it was so completely black inside.
    "After you," he gestured towards the opening, resting his hand on the handle of his axe.
    I got the distinct impression he was not just putting it there to get his key back.   If we got rejected at this point, we were probably going to be missing some kneecaps.
    I stepped forward, looking back over my shoulder at Spike.   "Here I go, I guess."
    "I'll be in right after you," said Spike, concern marring his features.
    I looked over at Triden right before crossing the threshold.   "Do I need to say or do anything special?"
    He shook his head, saying nothing, but flexing his hand on the axe a little.
    I took a deep breath and stepped forward, my foot crossing out of the light and into the darkness.   I felt a tingle throughout my body, as if it was waking up from having its circulation cut off for a few seconds, and then nothing.
    "Oooh, that tickles my tummy," said Willy, sounding much less anxious than he had in a while.
    I was fully inside now, and my body was back to its regular self.   I turned to face Spike.   "Your turn," I said, my voice echoing in the space around me a little.
    Spike took a deep breath and then strode into the space with me, not even hesitating at the line dividing the inside from the outside.   He stopped when he was next to me, pulling me into a hug.   "One down, hopefully none left to go," he said into my neck.
    "One what?   Door?"
    "Obstacle.   Door.   Magical mystery ... whatever," he said, standing straight again.   "I thought for a second there I was going to be stuck outside and you were going to be stuck in.   That would have made me crazy."
    "Yeah," I said absently, not having even considered the possibility of