We walk, bound together. Each step we take sends little puffs of silver dust into the air and it feels like the more I inhale it, the more insane I go. Gypsy, however, seems to be unaffected.
And then, just ahead, the landscape shifts. Towering shapes rise from the ground—monoliths of some kind, casting long shadows through the dust. They’re not like any stone I’ve ever seen. They’re translucent, with an almost crystalline sheen.
Gypsy halts, her eyes narrowing as she takes in the scene. The monoliths stand in a perfect circle, each one about twice my height.
The two of us stride forward, close enough to put palms on one of them. Gypsy’s fingers drift toward it, tracing its smooth, translucent surface. She leans in, observing it up close and then, she turns toward me.
“Look, Vini. There’s… a slot, right in the middle.”
I step closer, squinting. She’s right—a small, round indentation, perfectly formed inside it. I turn to another one, just to see that this one has it too. My hand drifts to my pocket, where I feel the slight weight of the pebble I’d picked up earlier. Could it…?
Gypsy glances at me, then at my pocket, and I nod, my heart pounding as I fish the stone out.
“Well,” I murmur, swallowing hard. “Destiny’s knocking again.”
She raises an eyebrow at the destiny word again, but there’s an edge of anticipation in her gaze. “Try it.”
I step forward, holding the pebble between my fingers, and with a deep breath, press it into the slot. The fit is perfect. A soft click echoes and moonlight lights up the monolith from the ground up.
As the first monolith lights up, Gypsy and I exchange a look—part excitement, part caution, and a good helping of outright terror. We both know that this kind of magic always comes with a riddle or two.
“Well, gotta keep going now,” she mutters, eyes shifting toward the other monoliths, each with its own little slot, waiting for its piece of the puzzle.
I nod, scooping up another pebble from the ground. The moment I grip it, though, a wave of dizziness rolls through me, and the stars above blur for a heartbeat before snapping back into place.
Just like before.
Gypsy catches the sway in my step. “You alright, Vini?”
“Seems like I know now what made me go crazy like that.”
Her brow furrows. “The pebbles?”
I laugh, though it’s a nervous, hollow sound. “Seems like they don’t like being carried around so much.”
“Well, fuck.”
I shake off the haze and press the pebble into the second monolith, feeling another soft click as it settles. A beam of moonlight shimmers up the length of the stone, joining the first one in the glow. One by one, we repeat the process, each stone bringing on a wave of dizziness. By the time we reach the last one, I’m fighting to keep my balance, but Gypsy’s steady hand on my shoulder pulls me through.
“Let me,” she says. But I refuse. What kind of man would I be to let her go through something so untimely?
I put the final pebble into its place, and the entire circle hums, and a faint vibration pulses beneath our feet. Then, all at once, the monoliths blaze with light, the beams bouncing off their surfaces and dancing over the ground between us.
Gypsy and I look down, eyes wide as the light shifts, and letters begin to appear in the dust.
The moon, the keeper of night’s domain,
Turns vision false and thoughts inane.
Hold what is his, and you’ll soon find,
All sense of place and path unwind.
To leave this isle, recall your way,
The path you took at close of day.
For though the world may circle round,
