Red Leaves and the Living Token by Benjamin David Burrell Read Free Book Online

He could be tortured. Several rather unpleasant scenarios played out in his head. And what was the best possible outcome?
    He remembered what had led him to this point, the larger context of the experience, his overwhelming need to find a solution for his son. A moment later he found himself hurrying down the strange and unexplainable path.

    -

    Rinacht    turned    the    corner    and    stopped    behind the    building    that Raj    had    stopped    at    only    moments    earlier. His employer    was    in the    middle    of the street in    front    of him. He    felt    the    automatic    urge    to    call    out to him but    suppressed    it. Raj    had    his    hands    up in the    air    as though he    were    leaning    on something.    Only    there    wasn't    anything    there. He    then    paced    back    and    forth,    circling    around as though there    were    an    object    in the    way. After what    appeared    to be a    moment    of    deliberation    he    turned    and    marched    straight    down the    road.
    Rinacht    tried    to    add    it up in his    head. He    found    something    highly    unusual    on the beach.    Now    here    he    was    wandering    about the    city    in the    middle    of the    night,    pantomiming    in the    empty    street.    The    worst    had    finally    come, he    feared, as he    slipped    into the    dark    and    followed    quietly    behind.

    -

    Raj rushed down the path rough cut rocks, anxious to get to where ever it may be leading him. He rounded a corner and found a heavy stone wall rising up in front of him. The high wall extended a considerable distance in both directions. A little way to his right, it wound around to a large gated entrance. The entrance looked familiar. Then it came to him. This was the old school that he'd recognized earlier.
    If that were true then would he see a second archway? He wondered. His path turned down an alley beside the school wall. At the end of the alley, the path turned again. He raced down the alley way and turned to follow the back of the school wall.
    About halfway down to the next building he found what he was looking for. A large white stone archway stretched half way across the road, making it difficult to go around. He approached quickly, checking behind him to see if anyone was around. The last thing he wanted was crowd. Fortunately there didn't seem to be anyone around.
    Up close the archway was quite different from the other. The white stone blocks were cut perfectly smooth and perfectly square. The stone gave off a glow like the little figurine he found. Cut into the stone on each pillar were two figures. One on each side, one male, one female. He studied their details. They weren't stooped over in posture like the Zo. Nor where they squat and rounded like the Petra or twisted and stretched like the Botann. They were unusual, to say the least, he thought.
    The pathway beyond the arch seemed to be made of the same white stone. Not surprising, it seemed to be playing the same visual trick. When viewed from the side, the path was the same as the one he was on. From through the arch it became white and glowed.
    The school to the side of him sat on a high point in the city. Through the archway, he could see the street drop off into the distant expanse of buildings and roads. He traced the glowing line of the path as it wound down into the city. He could see it emerge on the other side and disappear into the green line of the forest. Even from a distance he could spot where it peaked out here and there from under the trees, continuing with the forest as it lifted up into the maintain range. He could see it then rising up right up to one of the peaks.
    He blinked as