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Seven children with silvery-white hair and clouded blue eyes stood at the gate between the worlds, staring up at the roses carved delicately into its golden frame. Little speckles of silver shone throughout the golden gate's frame, making it look almost magical as the sun began to rise. Slowly, as though afraid, the tallest child, a young girl with braided hair, reached out, almost touching the gate. Just beyond it stood two grand, dark wood doors made from mahogany.
"Tori," a small round-eyed child called, watching her. He watched her, as the others were, and trembled. "Are we going to die?"
Tori blinked at him, hugging her cloak closer as she eyed the door again. "I don't think so," she answered him quietly. She was actually a little worried about dying, herself. It was just rotten luck that they had to flee their homes. But now, the stories of the door floated into their heads.
She remembered looking at the old books her mother had kept when she had been small. There had been several pictures of the gate with its barred entrance, its door behind it. Tori clearly remembered reading about its bloody past, and how the gods had punished the people by sealing the gate to all of those without an absolute pure heart. Sinners could not completely pass through; they died if they tried to, and sometimes, by simply touching the door.
Valun, the young boy boy grasping Tori's arm, had heard of the door from his older brother. He had been up late playing when his brother had told him that naughty children got dragged to the gate by Bacil, the Spirit of the Gate, and died if they touched it.
Nadir, a young boy not much taller than Tori, watched ahead with a hopeless expression and swallowed. He had seen the gate many times in his life, but it had never scared him until now. He glanced at the others worriedly, taking Sana's hand as she shivered.
Sana's hair was pulled into a ponytail at the top left side of her head. A butterfly barette was placed just about the lavender bow that held her hair up. She was one of the younger children, lacking both strength and any will to fight. She flinched, looking back the way they had come as the howling of the strange beasts got closer, the same beasts that had destroyed their homes.
"We can't stay here forever," a fifth child, Gus said. He fidgeted nervously, glancing around the barren land for any sign of the monsters, pushing bangs from his eyes, and rubbing the prickly back of his head. His face was thin and dirty from starvation and running. Never before had he missed his sisters and mother so much.
"He's right, you know," Bess, a tall, terrified girl whimpered. Her shoulder length hair took her abuse as she twisted it in her hands. She was nearly crying as they all took hands, approaching the gate.
By now, the sun had risen, casting shadows everywhere. The scared children looked over one another, half expecting the dark figures to emerge from the shadows, howling as they moved in to destroy the remaining villagers. Looking over one another for the last time, they each took a breath, wishing the others the best of luck.
All at once, they pushed the normally beautiful gate open, watching it close behind them. There was no escape for them after it clacked, signaling the locking of the gate. Valun and Bess cried as they reached the door, pushing it open next.
The sight and smell of open, green fields filled their senses when they were allowed to see passed the slowly opening doors. Hope caressed their spirits, making their hearts beat faster with the visions of a new, threat-free life. It would only take one step further to grant their wishes now, and their fear vanished from their minds. Holding hands, seven children stepped passed the door; but as the fresh air hit them, they let go.
There were singing birds, sunny fields, and flowers all around them, creating one new experience after another. Trees with leaves the greenest they had ever seen sprouted in a few areas in the open fields, but then there were trees clumped tightly together in the distance.
"Wow!" Valun cried, turning back to face the others. "Tori, look-"
His deep blue eyes grew wide as he took everything in. He did not even notice it when a bigger hand took his own small one.
Valun's expression melted into despair as he looked to his side to find Sana. He could not help but notice her tears as she took in the scene before them. Slowly, he forced himself to look back into the world he had been born into and face the reality, to watch the peaceful expressions of their glassy-eyed friends as the doors began to close. He knew that once the door vanished, the animals would eat the dead, spreading their bones outside of the gate; he knew this as he watched the doors slowly shut.
Finally, the clicking of the doors echoed through the land, and the gate vanished before the very eyes of the survivors. They dropped to their knees, yanking out the grass, pulling at their cloaks and strange, silver-white hair, their screams filling the air as they mourned the loss of their comrades.
Seven children had challenged the gate, but only two remained.