"Why have I not seen your uncle before, has he been guarding this place all this while?" asked Gabriel
"They say my Grandaunt was a traitor of the institute and for that she was banished and her son, well he was left here" Gabriel did not know what to say 'what does one do to offer comfort for something like that'
"You better hurry Gabriel or you are going to get lost" Shi Ming said, unbothered by Gabriel lack of a response
"Shi Ming" Gabriel said suddenly, aware that he had slowed down. "I don't think; I wish to see whatever you want to show me again."
"Be patient! we are not that far off now"
Gabriel did not say anything again. he chose instead to trust his friend 'what was the worst that could happen' he thought.
They walked for a while and soon reached a clearing; it was more like stumbled onto the clearing for Gabriel because he hadn't really been paying much attention to the road for a while now so the appearance of the pillar came as more of a shock to him.
The pillar was wide and tall, so tall in fact that it rose past the tree line by more than a few inches and as tall as it was, its width was just as impressive. Gabriel was struggling to imagine if only five of himself would be able to wrap their arms all the way around the pillar
"What did it take to make something like this?" Gabriel asked unconsciously, his hand moving to caress the markings on the pillar, all instructions forgotten, was it just extra design or was it something else Gabriel couldn't be sure it stretched upward the full design lost in its magnitude.
"If only you knew." Ming muttered under his breath
Gabriel left Ming's words ignored even when he had heard it, it turned out he did not want to know. Ming had stopped beside him a frown now graced his popstar features.
"Are you done admiring the works of the ancients? Or should I wait another year." Ming said his joke not lighten the mood at all but it had succeeded in snapping Gabriel out of his reverent mood. "Okay focus, here comes the hard part."
"We are going to walk past this pillar" Shi Ming began "now, whatever happens, do not stop walking until you see the lake. Do you understand?" Ming asked facing Gabriel for the first time since they stepped into this space. The frown on his popstar features brought a frown to Gabriel's mild almost innocent features before he could ask for clarification, Shi Ming cut him off "I will explain when we cross, just remember don't stop walking." and stepped past the pillar walking with a purpose, to Gabriel's sight, Shi Ming vanished from the forest.
When Gabriel moved passed the pillar he felt it, a sudden change in space. Whatever ward divided the two sides of the pillar was subtle, subtle enough that he hadn't felt it even until he had passed through, granted his ability to sense aether wasn't anything to write home about compared to the majority of the world. Ambient aether filled this side of the pillar in densities many times more than what was present at the other side of the pillar, more so than what was present in the outside world. the aether was all around him, it converged on him like compressed air meeting a vacuum, it tried painfully to fill the empty spaces within his body from all sides, the worst was his nose he felt like he was breathing in scalding hot fumes, it stung But onward he went even when the heat built up around him, he continued even when his whole body his lungs especially grew heavy with Aether no longer leaving his body as it should, he continued even when a part of his soul incomplete as it was stirred up within him, he continued trust pushing him not to stop but to follow behind his friend, the same one who had brought him here, to this dangerous situation.