A few minutes later.

Esmeralda exited the room holding two long black coats with a hood in her hands. "Wear these, girls, the night is a bit cold tonight. I will wait outside." After handing the coat to Kate, she exited the house.

Kate and Ivy donned the coat on their bodies.

"Ready?" Kate asked her older sister.

"Yes, let\'s go!" Ivy responded excitedly.

The sisters vacated the house and walked towards Esmeralda who is sitting on the wooden bench, waiting for them.

"Granny...we\'re ready!" Kate said excitedly.

"Alright, let\'s go girls!" Esmeralda said. She snapped her fingers and voila! A transparent box about 10 inches in height and length with silver frames appeared on the ground a few meters from where they stood. "Girls, get inside the box, it will take us to our destination," she said.

Kate dragged her sister towards the box, she pushed the door, it swung open, they entered inside, followed by Esmeralda who locked the door inside.

The box has holes in both sides which allows the air to circulate inside.

While the sisters were inspecting the inside of the box, Esmeralda waved her hand around the box coating it with an invisible shield, so that they can float in the air without getting seen by anyone in the ground.

The invisible box rises from the ground and began hovering in the air going to the specific direction based on Esmeralda\'s command.

Ivy and Kate were delighted to see the beautiful forest, rivers, and lakes below them. They passed among clouds and mountains. The landscape is beautiful but eerily haunting.

"Watch out girls, we got company!" Esmeralda alerted them.

The sisters grabbed the silver railings tightly upon seeing giant birds going their way.

Since the birds can\'t see the invisible box, Esmeralda acted quickly by wielding her power and steered the box out of the birds\' way, they rose higher in the air, until the twelve giant birds passed by smoothly below them.

"Wow! Giant birds! I\'ve never seen so many giant birds flying near me!" Ivy exclaimed in astonishment.

Kate smiled. While living in Esmeralda\'s floating piece of land, she was used to seeing giant birds flying nearby, but they never dare to venture or attempt to land on Granny\'s front yard. She just looked at them from afar.

Their travel went smoothly.

A few minutes later, they arrived at their destination, the silver box made a smooth landing on the grassy ground near the river bank.

Esmeralda opened the door. She looked at the girls and gestured at them. "Girls, we\'re finally here! Let\'s go outside...!" she commanded.

Kate and Ivy followed Esmeralda outside the silver box.

Ivy stared at the water. "Wow, the water is so calm! I can\'t see any movement, current or ripples, as if the water is sleeping!" she gushes.

"I can\'t see no fish swimming below either!" Kate interjected while peering at the crystal clear water below.

The sisters were intrigued by the pristine water in front of them, they failed to see that Esmeralda was already walking on the surface of the water effortlessly as if she was walking on solid ground.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Kate saw granny walking on the water about to reach the other side of the river! "OMG! Granny! Wait for us!" she shouted.

Esmeralda looked over her shoulder and looked at them. "Come here!" she responded.

"C-can we walk above the water as well?" Kate asked.

"Yes, you can!\' Esmeralda answered.

The sisters hold hands and began a tentative step walking on the surface of the water afraid to fall into the water and get wet. After five steps, and nothing happened, they already gained their confidence and walked straight towards Esmeralda, that was waiting for them on the other side.

"This is cool!" Kate raves.

A few minutes later, they finally reached the other side and stepped into the solid ground.

"Wait here...girls...you\'re going to see the invisible barrier...soon!" Esmeralda prevented them from advancing.

The sisters stopped walking and remained on the ground where they were standing.

Esmeralda stepped forward...

She raised her hands in the sky, her eyes were bright and intense in deep concentration and then all of a sudden...silver lights appeared from her fingertips and she directed them to space in front of them.

A blinding light made an explosion and there...in the area where the silver light had touched...the girls saw the fiery yellow-orange fire glistening in the night.

Esmeralda picked up a dry wood about one meter in length nearby and throw it at the fire, the wood was devoured by the fire and burn into ashes within seconds.

"OMG!" Kate exclaimed in shock.

"Oh my god! So scary!" Ivy said in a horrified tone.

Esmeralda looked at the girls smirking. "Now you see the deadly invisible barriers with all its glory! Come...try it...pick anything you can on the ground and throw it at the invisible shield and see what will happen next..."

Ivy picked up a stone the size of her palm and hurled it at the fiery barrier. The soonest the stone touches the barrier it turns into ashes!

"Oh, God!" Ivy\'s knees weakened. She\'s starting to lose hope in escaping the cursed castle.

Esmeralda fixed her eyes at Ivy. "These barriers surrounded this parallel world inside the castle. The biggest mystery is that anyone can enter this castle unharmed by the barrier but as soon anyone attempted to leave...it will burn everything it comes in contact with. The three elders who design this complicated mechanism centuries ago didn\'t tell me how they created the barrier. So, I have no idea how to escape from this castle," she declared.

Ivy\'s brows knitted together. "How about water, Granny? Will it burn the water as well?" she suggested.

Esmeralda directed her hands on the river and wielded her power and soon the water rises from the river and she hurled it at the barrier. The moment the water came in contact with the barrier it burns into ashes.

"What the heck!" Ivy was stunned.

Kate was shaking her head. The invisible barrier is powerful indeed. And the worst thing...it is invisible, if you don\'t know where its location and accidentally come into contact with it you will get roasted alive for sure! "Granny, how did the inhabitants of this castle avoid this deadly thing?" she asked curiously.

"Long ago, I warned them the areas that they should avoid going to and just stay in the safe zone cause I\'m the only one who can see the invisible barrier. That is how the majority of the inhabitants of this castle survived by staying in the safety zone. But some creatures can\'t help themselves and tried outsmarting the invisible barrier and met their ultimate demised," Esmeralda replied.

Ivy can\'t accept the painful truth. No! She can\'t accept this! There\'s got to be some other way to get out of this castle without getting roasted alive!

"How about in the air, up there!" Ivy pointed at the horizon above.

"See for yourself!" Esmeralda directed her hands at the plant nearby about three meters tall and wielded her power...uprooting the tree in the process...she hurled the tree up in the air...it came soaring up into the air in lightning speed and eventually meet the invisible barrier above...turning into ashes.

Ivy shut off her eyes in defeat. Oh my God! There is no escape!

It\'s now Kate\'s turn to ask. "How about digging underground, Granny? Have anyone tried it before?"

Esmeralda nodded her head. "Yes, many attempted to do just that...unfortunately they all suffered the same tragic fate! Because even deep under the ground the barrier still exists," she concluded.

Kate and Ivy were silent, they were sporting a huge disappointment in their faces after seeing Granny\'s spectacular efforts for their benefits.

Esmeralda waved her hands at the blazing barrier and it becomes invisible again. She turned around and stared at the girls\' petrified faces. They were wearing a dejected expression on their countenance. "Girls, I\'m done showing you the invisible barrier. Do you have any questions? If no more, then let\'s go home!" she finally said.

With heavy feet, Ivy and Kate moved towards the river and walked on the surface of the water, they reached the other end in no time and entered the silver box. Esmeralda followed them inside.

The box rises in the air and it hovered back to the direction where it comes from at a steady pace.

Inside the silver box, the three passengers were engrossed with different thoughts running in their minds, they were shrouded with silence on the rest of their journey.