"What a horrible place to live in..." I scrunch my nose when smelling the stinky swamp hidden in the trees while I stare at the dark tower, it looks like a bright grey index pointing at the clouded sky accusingly. "How are we supposed to get up there?"
But my wife doesn't answer and moves closer to the base of the tower cautiously after checking that walking across the circle of stones is safe and we won't fall into another trap. The truth is that this forest is full of unpleasant surprises and we've been lucky to reach the centre unharmed, even if a damned vine tried to kill me suffocating me... I can't wait to leave this place but we need to find those children first. Ruby seems to be thinking about what to do next while her fingertips graze the cold stone and Luna explores around, the cat looks calmed which means she can't smell goblins or wolves close, Malizia has done us a favour sending them to the other side of the forest unwittingly.
Minutes tick by while the witch walks around the stone tower, whispering who knows what while looking for a door or a way to climb up, it's getting cold in this clearing now that the tree branches don't protect us and I wrap the jacket around my torso while waiting, sitting on a rock patiently and looking up, worried in case Malizia sticks her head through the window or one of the crows flies away and notices us. My wife seems to be frustrated and bewildered but she's still the most beautiful woman in the world and I can't help sighing dreamily when the clouds move away and a moonbeam lights up her pretty face... Suddenly, I turn my head, scared... I could swear I saw something sparkling out of the corner of my eye but it has vanished...
"I don't think that's going to work..." Ruby whispers but the cat ignores her and jumps on the polished surface of the tower, trying to sink her claws desperately to climb but she's barely managed to go up half a meter when Luna slips down falling on her back on the ground and letting out a pathetic meowing. "I told you but it's okay, I guess we needed to try it anyways... Damn it..." My wife leans her tattooed hands on her hips and frowns, staring at the grey stone as if she could drill a hole with her beautiful eyes, tapping the ground with the tip of her boot while clenching her chiselled jaw... She looks so beautiful under the soft light of...
"Fuck!" I whisper getting up abruptly.
"What's wrong?" Ruby looks around on alert, trying to find enemies that could've scared me but I shake my head pointing at the tower.
"I've seen something sparkling on the grey stone... I'm not sure of what it was, I only saw it for a moment but this is the second time..." My girl stands next to me and looks at the spot I'm pointing at, an uninteresting polished surface because there's not even moss in the cracks. Luna watches me puzzled and the witch shrugs but keeps her eyes fixed on the tower. "I've seen it, babe, I swear."
"All right, I believe you. Tell me what you were doing and what you think you saw..."I take a deep breathe, thinking about it.
"I was looking at you while you were focused on the stone, thinking that you're beautiful and I'm very lucky..." Ruby smiles shyly and I could swear she's blushing a little for a second but it's too dark to see her cheeks clearly, unfortunately, clouds are swirling in the sky and they make me frown. "Your skin seemed to glow like pearls under the moon light..." My wife's hand holding my arm hard cuts me off while she stares at me with her mouth wide open in shock. "What...?"
"You're amazing, princess, and I love you so much I can't even find the right words to explain it right now... It's brilliant..." Ruby whispers looking at the sky and again at the tower while shaking her head in disbelief. "It's a moon door..."
"A... what?" The cat and I stare at my girl confused.
"There're many ways of hiding a door using magic and it's very difficult to find them, some spells can reveal the location and I haven't casted one of those because I'm trying to keep my energy levels down so Malizia doesn't notice I'm here. I was hoping to find it the traditional way, watching and touching the stone, but I think you've found it. Now, we need to try to open it: there're doors that can be opened only at certain times of year, when stars are aligned in a certain way, if you say a specific password, only at noon or at midnight... Of course, I could force open it with magic but the bitch would know we're here... I think this door only opens when the moon illuminates it and what you saw is the doorknob sparkling..."
