Loren held Hermione's hand as they Apparated all the way there.
Passing through howling windblown sand and scorching sunlight, they arrived where magical radiance gleamed. Several dunes rose near their landing spot, arranged in an orderly ring around the canyon within. Before them lay a narrow passage, only around ten feet wide. Cool, moist air drifted from its depths, refreshing them to the core.
As they stepped into the passage, they found that though it had no forks, it was far from straight. It twisted and turned, making it impossible to tell how far it extended. Yet the distinctive fragrance of plants gradually grew clearer through the veil, while the loose, soft sand beneath their feet slowly became firm soil.
Inside was like an entirely different world.
Loren sniffed the air in the passage, feeling the lingering heat in his body dispelled by the gentle moisture.
After countless twists and turns, the dry, hardened earth beneath them gradually became damp and soft. Flecks of green appeared in their sight—moss and wild grass, even aloe. After walking for roughly ten minutes and completing a sharp right turn, their view suddenly opened up. Lush greenery filled their entire field of vision, and even the sunlight overhead seemed a little gentler.
Loren and Hermione exchanged a glance, the same thought flashing through their minds—
The magical fountain really was inside a garden.
Loren looked around, studying the oasis.
Not far away stood low, flourishing Bushes, thick and emerald-green. Farther off, taller crowns of trees rose serenely, with birds occasionally fluttering between their branches. Rustling came from the grass on the ground, where lizards darted about.
The magical radiance they had seen from afar had dispersed into several beams, each landing in a different place. Pure magical fluctuations rippled through the air. There was