The Portal Key
Copyright© 2025 by Duncan7
Chapter 4: Escape from The Castle
Perhaps this time it wasn’t as dark. David still held a burning torch he had taken from the castle dungeon.
The torch helped him realize they were in a tunnel. The tunnel would be pitch-black without it.
He felt Saria’s small hand in his as they emerged blinking into the brightly lit office of Mrs. Ellis at CHI!
Mrs. Ellis sat behind a large desk, looking at a computer monitor.
She swiveled in her chair and looked at them, her eyes wide.
“Well, well, what have we here? Mr. Edwards and an álfar. Did you just come from my castle?” said Mrs. Ellis.
Saria pointed a trembling finger at a suit of armor on a mannequin behind her desk. “The Dark Queen!”
“That’s right, little one. In your world, I’m known as the Dark Queen.” Mrs. Ellis picked up her phone and dialed a number. “Hello, security. Can you send someone up to my office right away?”
Saria’s eyes widened in fear as she saw Mrs. Ellis’s cruel smile. Her grip on David’s hand tightened painfully.
They edged towards the door, but Mrs. Ellis moved to block their exit.
“I can’t have you leave that way. We’ll take you back to my castle. I have a nice cell for each of you.” She gestured to the wall behind them.
Saria and David turned to see a tapestry depicting a castle with “CK” emblazoned across it and an oil lamp stitched below.
“I disagree. We’re not going back,” said David, his voice firm.
Mrs. Ellis turned her gaze on David, her eyes glinting dangerously.
“I wonder how you made it to Elyria? And why isn’t that tabard working?”
“Perhaps I’m immune,” he said.
Mrs. Ellis waved a wand at David, muttering strange, sibilant words. David waited for her to finish, then shrugged.
David waited, then shrugged. “It didn’t work.” Saria looked confused.
Just then, the door behind Mrs. Ellis creaked open, and Gus, the grizzled old security guard, lumbered in. She stepped aside to let him pass.
David, seized by inspiration, tossed the burning torch, with its smoky scent, onto the tapestry behind them.
“Oh, no!” said Mrs. Ellis. She ran to protect her portal key.
“Run!” said David. He yanked Saria forward, and they dashed past the bewildered Gus before he could react.
David, his brow furrowed, dragged Saria along the aisles to the elevators.
He pressed the elevator call button, praying for a miracle.
“Now, what?” asked Saria, her voice trembling. Her heart pounded like a trapped bird in her chest. Mrs. Ellis was likely not far behind them.
A soft chime announced the elevator’s arrival, saving David from answering. He pulled her inside and pressed the button for the ground floor.
As the doors whispered shut and the elevator began its smooth descent, Saria clutched David with both hands. “What is this?”
“This is an elevator. Welcome to my world! We’re inside a tall building; we use this to go up and down,” said David.
“Is this magic?”
“No. But it may seem like it. The elevator takes us to the exit.”
Suddenly, a piercing alarm shrieked, and a red strobe light flashed. The elevator continued its descent.
“What’s that?” asked Saria. Her grip on him tightened.
“I think I triggered a fire alarm. Elevators always return to the ground floor when there’s a fire.”
She relaxed slightly, but didn’t release him until the doors slid open.
They walked out into the security/reception area.
“This is incredible! What happened to the other place?” asked Saria.
“Please come with me.”
The security station was unmanned, as Gus was on the eleventh floor. David walked behind his desk.
“I need to find some cab fare,” he said, rummaging through the cluttered drawers.
“What’s that?”
“We need money to get home.” His fingers closed on a small, locked petty cash box. He held it in both hands and smashed it on the counter. The loud crack echoed in the reception area. Saria stared in amazement at his barbaric move.
The box sprung open, and David took two bills.
“Let’s go,” he said.
By now, others were leaving the building. They paid no attention to David and Saria.
David and Saria walked outside onto the street, filled with honking cars and city noise.
The shrill fire alarm blared, and people streamed out of the building. David and Saria joined the anxious crowd spilling onto the sidewalk.
“We’ll get a cab back to my place,” said David, the city air heavy in his lungs.
“Your place?”
“My home. I think I understand how to return you to Elyria, and we need to go via my home.”
“Alright.”
A couple of blocks away, David raised his hand, and a yellow taxi screeched to a halt. David gave the driver directions after they settled into the back seat.
“Your world is amazing,” said Saria, watching the buildings blur past.
The cab driver glanced back at his passengers, his eyes lingering on the woman with green skin and pointy ears.
“We just attended a cosplay event,” David said to the driver, hoping to diffuse the attention.
“Her costume is fantastic. I don’t care so much for yours, though.”
Saria watched the city lights streak by outside the window. Less than half an hour later, they arrived outside the apartment building where he lived.
“Now we have a tricky bit.”
Holding hands, they approached the front door. David pressed the buzzer for the building superintendent. Soon, he emerged to meet them.
“Excuse me, but my cousin and I went to a cosplay event, and I forgot my keys. Can you let me into my unit?” asked David, with a practiced smile on his face.
“Sure, I know you.”
They followed the super up one flight of stairs, the smell of old carpet filling their nostrils, where he unlocked David’s unit. Saria stared at the electric lights everywhere.
“Thank you so much!”
“No worries. Don’t do it too often.” The super left them.
They entered, and David closed the door behind them.
“Saria, don’t touch that lamp on the table!” said David, his voice sharp. Touching it too soon could mess up his plans. He covered the lamp with a towel and moved it to the kitchen. While there, he discovered his kettle had boiled dry and shut itself off.
Saria wandered around the tiny unit, her footsteps muffled by the rug. “This is your place? It’s smaller than my auntie’s.”
“I need to prepare before we return you to your mother. Could you have a seat?”
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