Forgotten Realms: Portal of the Lost
In the dusky heart of an old forest, where the trees whispered secrets in a language forgotten by time, Leo and his friends, Mia, Jonah, and Cora, stumbled upon the remains of something utterly out of place. It was a structure made of stone and vines, interwoven in such intricate patterns that it blurred the line between natural and crafted. The air around it seemed to hum with a forgotten magic, a silent song only the wind dared to sing.
“Looks like we've found our Saturday adventure,” Leo joked, his eyes sparkling with reckless curiosity.
But Mia wasn’t so sure. Her fingers brushed against the cool, mossy stones. "It feels like... sorrow," she murmured, more to herself than to the others.
Jonah, ever the sceptic, rolled his eyes. "Or it's just cold. Come on, let's see if we can get it to do something."
The structure was circular, dominated by what appeared to be a dormant portal frame standing proudly yet eerily silent as if guarding the threshold to another world. At its base, ancient runes glowed faintly, as though woken from a deep slumber by the presence of the young adventurers.
Cora, who had been flipping through the pages of her worn, leather-bound notebook, snapped it shut. “It says here this portal is called 'The Gate of the Lost’. People used to believe it connected our world with somewhere… else."
“Somewhere like how?" Jonah asked, skepticism lacing his question.
Cora shrugged, "Legends say a 'world-between-worlds’. A place where all lost things end up. Socks, hopes, pirates, entire civilisations that vanish without trace – all supposedly end up there.”
Heartbeats ticked by like a metronome as they stared at the portal. It was Leo who moved first, stepping up to the arch and gingerly placing a hand on the stone. The runes sparked to life, radiantly blue, pulsing gently.
“Did anyone else see that?” he asked, barely a whisper.
Pulled as though by a unison of tide and moon, the four friends joined hands and touched the portal together. A flash of dazzling light swallowed them whole, and they were no longer in the forest, but somewhere altogether different.
They stood on the edge of a vast land, under a sky swirling with stars and colors alien to earthly eyes. Beneath their feet, a grassy plain stretched interminably, speckled with relics of myriad origins - a Viking shield here, a Victorian parasol there, and farther off, what seemed a digital watch still blinking its earthly time.
Jonah bent down, picking up a small, shimmering object. “Is this... a coin?” he wondered aloud. But it was unlike any currency they knew; it pulsed with a soft light.
Mia turned around, taking in their surroundings. "We're in the land of the lost. But how do we get back?" Her voice trembled slightly, the reality of their situation settling in.
From nowhere and everywhere, a whisper seemed to float towards them, “The way back is the way forward. What you seek, that you must give.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Cora asked the air, feeling slightly foolish.
Leo thought for a moment. "Maybe it means we need to lose something to find our way back. Like an exchange."
Reluctantly, they each took something precious out - a locket, a handwritten poem, a cherished book, and Jonah’s coin, setting them down on the ground respectfully.
The moment the last item touched the earth, the world shimmered around them. They felt a gentle pull, and suddenly, they were back in the forest, as though no time had passed at all.
The portal stood dormant once more, the runes dark and silent. But on the ground before it lay a single feather, iridescent and light as a forgotten dream.
“Guess it’s our turn to leave something behind,” Cora murmured, her eyes never leaving the feather.
And with a mix of awe and a newfound respect for the mysteries of the lost and found, they turned towards home, the quiet of the forest swallowing up their footfalls.