In the distance, she could just make out another land. She assumed that it was Avalon, though in truth it could have been any one of the many isles in that area. She considered pushing her boat back out and trying to get back to Avalon, but she highly doubted she could get back there, without even a paddle to steer her. In fact, it was rather amazing that she had wound up anywhere at all, rather than still adrift out in the channels.
Evadne climbed out of the boat, and turned her attention to this strange, new land. She could not see much of it, due to the high evergreen forest that rose up, nearly touching the water. One thing she could see though, four grey towers rose up, higher than the forest that seemed to cover much of the land. It was comforting to think that wherever she was, it was inhabited.
She would have gone to the towers first, but she had a great curiosity as to whether she was on one of the isles, or some larger continent. She walked along the beach and came back to the boat in two hours, more or less. It was an isle, and a very small one.
The next thing to do was to get to the towers and find people. Evadne gazed at the forest for a time, she had a strange feeling about it. She drew a deep breath and stepped forward, plunging herself into the trees.
The forest had the deep, woody smell, of damp earth and wild things that grow. Evadne breathed it deeply. It was delicious. The trees were huge, with trunks so wide she couldn't fit her arms around them if she tried. It was silent, too, except for the occasional gusts of wind that would ripple through the branches.
Evadne couldn't help the feeling that there was something mystical about it. She wasn't sure what, but the whole island seemed...enchanted somehow. When the wind came through the trees, it felt as though it blew around her in circles, playing with her hair and caressing her cheeks. It was mostly dark in the forest, though in places the wood would thin out and the sun would come streaming down with warmth and light.
Evadne had no idea how long she walked, but after a time, she reached one of the towers. It was very, very tall and had a high, sharp-looking spire. Evadne went to the high, arched door and raised the knocker, then let it fall against the wood. It made a very loud, pounding sound; she was sure that whoever lived there would hear it. She stood for a long while, and no sound came. Not the footsteps of someone come to meet her, not even the call of a bird.
Well, I'm sure I'll have better luck at the next tower, she thought, and started to make her way once more. As she turned to go, she saw an enormous garden of beautiful flowers. She frowned; she did not recall it being there before, though she might have simply not noticed.
Evadne walked to them, it was not as if it would deter her for long. There were all types of flowers, daisies, roses, lilies, forget-me-knots, and many she did not know the names of. They were all arrayed and dotted about in a way that was mostly pleasing to the eye and their sweet perfume lazily drifted up to her. The wind came in gently breezes, making the flowers bow and quiver.
Evadne stayed wandering among them for longer than she had first envisioned, but soon enough she remembered her mission and started in the direction of the next tower. She walked quickly, not taking much notice of her surroundings this time, and soon arrived at the second tower. It was almost an exact replica of the first. It was grey, with the spire on top, and the garden of flowers nearby it.
Once again, Evadne lifted the knocker and let it fall back with a loud clang. Again she stood in silence. No one came, nothing moved, absolutely nothing happened. She didn't dally in the garden, she started off to the next tower immediately. It had to be inhabited, didn't it? But she had a growing sense of unease.
The scene was repeated at the third tower, and she took off running to the fourth. When she was within site of the fourth grey tower, she slowed down, trying to calm herself. But again, the only answer to her knock was the wind's melancholy whistle. Evadne looked about, desperately, nearly in tears. She didn't know what to do, and there was something about the isle that just didn't seem quite right.
Eventually, she made up her mind to go inside the tower. She grabbed the handle of the door, readying herself to try and thrust it open. To her surprise, it slid open easily. She walked inside. First, there was a long, winding staircase. When Evadne finally reached the top, she was breathing hard. For all her work to get there, there was very little to see. It looked as though it had gone untouched by human hands for years. There was hardly any furniture, just one table and one chair. Leaves were scattered on the floor, no doubt from the open window she could now see.
She rushed to the window, hoping that from there she could see another building, one that people did live in. There was nothing but trees. Then she looked closer. There was something there, something hardly recognizable to the eye, but she could just make it out. She had no idea what it was. It was a circular shape, that almost seemed to glow. Evadne decided that she must go to it and see for herself what strange thing it might be.