Adam (Episode 6)

by Chrif Elidrissi

ours" Said the mother.

  "How do you know? Have you been there?" Asked the intrigued Eva.

  "I didn’t, but I know somebody who did" Replied the mother.

  "You’re just trying to stop me from going" Said Eva.

  "No! She was my father’s cousin and if you go with me I’ll tell you what happen to her" Said the mother.

  "Tell me now!" Said Eva.

  "Only if you promise to go back with me" Said the mother.

  "I can’t do that" Replied Eva.

  "Then you must know what happen to her, she was your age and was kidnapped from here by some organization from another world" Said the mother.

  "You’re trying to scare me, how do know there is all that beyond the glass door" Said Eva.

  "Because she told us, and there is more if you want to know, I’ll tell you everything" Said the mother.

  "I want to see by myself" Said Eva before touching the glass door that reacted to her touch by glowing then absorbing her to the other side of it, all that under the terrified eyes of her mother.

  On the other side of the glass door, Eva found herself in a room that was bigger than the one in the cave, and outside the room was a long tunnel on both sides, hesitating to go she spent few minutes exploring the room to discover some strange symbols all along the frame of the doorway, and moments after, she was going along the tunnel to see what lays beyond.

  Room after room, she was exploring them to see what mystery they were holding, but every room she saw was the same as the first one she left, she then decided to mark the room she came from so she wouldn’t get lost, and right after, she went to the other side to see more rooms that looked all alike, getting bored and not finding any creature there, she continued on the same way, and an hour later the tunnel felt like curving into a circle and she noticed a different shape door right at the end of it.

  In front of that door, she noticed that it wasn’t made of dark glass like the others, but wood like it was coming out of the rocky wall, and touching it didn’t do anything, so she turned to the right and continued to discover a bigger room where was sitting a giant tree with the same wooden door like shape, in the middle of it.

  Suddenly, a voice said "I can feel your presence, who are you?".

  "My name is Eva, who are you?" Replied the girl.

  "I am the tree of Mazer" Replied the voice.

  "What are you doing here? " Asked Eva.

  "I was born here, how about you? How did you get here? " Asked the tree.

  "I am looking for some creatures I heard about, but tell me first, what is this place? " Asked Eva.

  "It’s my home…" Replied the tree, before adding "Tell me where do you come from, and what kind of creatures you are looking for?".

  "I come from a place called Even…" Replied Eva.

  "Ah! I remember that one, almost the same as mine… There was evil in it too…" Said the tree.

  "Evil? What do you mean? " Asked Eva.

  "Before I tell you about that, let me ask first about you and what you know" said the tree, before adding "I witnessed many things through my long life, but I still have to see more".

  "Well, my name is Eva, my father is Dean and you already know my world…" Replied the girl.

  "Yes! How about your mother, and your ancestors?" Asked the tree.

  "My mother told me that we are descending from a man who was not born in our world, but came through the doorway to save us from the evil creatures" Replied Eva.

  "And what was his name? " Asked the tree.

  "I don’t know! She didn’t tell me" Replied Eva.

  "I remember many guardians who went through the gates and many who didn’t come back" said the tree, before adding "I can tell you all about them but it would take a life time to count, all you need to know is when you go to a different world than yours, you should never forget the way back, because if you get lost, no one can help you return".

  "You mean all those rooms and glass doors are worlds I can go to? What about the creatures from my world? Are they here? Did they go to another world? What happen to them? " Asked the intrigued Eva.

  "In this world, there are no more evil creatures except a few who escaped and live far away, that’s what Seth told me, but the ones from your world are different yet the same as the ones who lived here, and both are living in my prison world" said the tree.

  "Your prison world? Can I go there and see them? " Said Eva while her eyes widened up.

  "Yes! If you wish, but what do you want with them? Usually, the guardians bring them to me and I absorb them to my prison" Said the tree.

  "Guardians? You mean that my grandfather was here? But there is no more of them in my world" Said Eva.

  "You don’t think that you are the only guardian in existence, do you? " Asked the tree.

  "Well! I’m the only one left with my mom, no one else have the power to make the glass door work in my family" Replied Eva.

  "Every world in every room have its own guardians and its own monsters" said the tree, before adding "I think you never encountered a jinn monster before, right? ".

  "What is that? A jinn" Asked Eva.

  "That is what they are, the monsters you want to see, like you are human or almost" Replied the tree.

  "Almost? What do you mean? " Asked Eva.

  "How do you think you are able to activate the door to this world? " Asked the tree.

  "It’s a gift, from my ancestor" Replied Eva with confidence.

  "And where did he get it from? Do you know? " asked the tree.

  "I don’t know! " Replied Eva.

  "let me tell you a little story, long time ago when the jinn were alone in this world, they ravaged it and destroy almost everything, sounds familiar? " Said the tree.

  "Yes! Exactly like in my world, right? " Replied Eva.

  "Then, humans came along, and jinn tried to destroy them too" said the tree, before adding "One day, a man named Seth, came to me and tried to cut me down, and when I asked him why, he said that it was the only way for him to stop the jinn, and there was no other, because my wood absorb the jinn to another world, he thought he could make weapons out of my trunk and branches to get rid of the evil jinn, so I explained to him that the wood doesn’t work unless it is attached to the roots and that’s how the connection between this world and the others is made, and after he understood, he promised to never cut me down or let anyone do so, and in exchange, I had to take every jinn he brings to the prison world, he didn’t know that I had no control in that, and it was my nature to absorb them anyway".

  "Was he the first guardian? " Asked Eva.

  "No! He was full human…" Replied the tree.

  "Full? Is there half humans? And what is the other half? " Asked the intrigued Eva.

  "Jinn of course" Replied the tree.

  "What? " Shouted the surprised Eva, before adding "Is there such thing? You mean a mix between humans and jinn? And what would that be? Some other evil creatures? ".

  "That’s the guardians" Replied the tree.

  Eva was shocked, and couldn’t even speak, when the tree continued "How do you think you can access the glass door and activate it and go from world to world? "

  Eva was still under the shock, and the tree said "the human side protect you from being absorbed and the jinn side activate the absorption and that’s what make the glass glow, then all you have to do is touching it, and it takes your jinn side to here…".

  "You mean I am descending from those evil creatures too? " Asked Eva in despair.

  "If you can say that, but not all the jinn are evil you know, it’s just the Ifrit, and some others, but you are descending from the silla, the most human like of the jinn" Replied the tree.

  "How can you be sure they are not evil? " Asked Eva.

  "Because they are the ones who helped Seth defeat the other Jinn" Replied the tree.

  "How come? " Asked Eva.

  "I don’t know everyone’s intentions but if you are driven by a good heart, you can’t see pain and
suffering and stay apart without acting, the least you can do is advise, and that’s what they did" Replied the tree, before adding "they told Seth about me".

  "The Silla are imprisoned in your world too?" Asked Eva.

  "Every Jinn who comes near me is absorbed into the prison" Replied the tree, then added "Yes there are some unfortunate souls too but only a guardian can go in and bring them back".

  "You mean I can bring them to this world from the prison? " Asked Eva happily.

  "Yes! But there is a method you have to learn" Replied the tree.

  "What is it? " Asked Eva.

  "The bounding" Replied the tree.

  "What is that? " Asked Eva again.

  "You put a jinn body in a solid object, preferably metal, so it wouldn’t break, and the jinn won’t escape until you release it" Replied the tree.

  "How do I put the jinn in there? " Asked Eva.

  "There is a spell of some sort, but I don’t know it" replied the tree.

  "And who does? " Asked Eva.

  "Only a guardian would know" Replied the tree.

  "But, I am a guardian, and I don’t know it" Said Eva.

  "How did you become a guardian" Asked the tree.

  "I was born that way I guess, until today I was thinking that it was a gift of some sort, but now I know how I came to be" Replied Eva.

  At that moment, Eva heard steps approaching the tree room, then turned back to see a man wearing strange clothes and holding a shield and a sword, when he said "Good day O holly tree, I bring you gifts from the world of Azima" before adding "I can wait my turn until this young guardian is finished her delivery".

  "I am not delivering anything" Said Eva.

  "Then step aside young one, because I am in a hurry" Said the strange man.

  "Are you a guardian? " Asked Eva.

  "Well!