Soon enough I saw the gate, and its guardian. I might have mistaken it for a smooth boulder bearing a long twig on top, save for the whirling thing that projected from its belly, for it stood very still. It was certainly no animal nor person, but looked like a shining pointed stone mounted on smaller stones. It stood directly in front of a gate made from some strange dark substance, like smoothed wood, and it watched the forest. At one point a low-flying bird darted through the clearing before the gate, and the strange guardian moved forward, rolling on the stones it used for feet. The top of the thing turned like a head, with its wand following the bird's course. After a moment it moved back to its first position and stood as still as before.
I wondered if a well-cast stone might break t
