Hell's Belles Chapter Five: We're Off to See the Wizard
Rahsas could feel himself falling..........or was he flying? It was impossible to tell. He looked around and wondered if his eyes were even open. He could see nothing. This was darkness, completely devoid of light. This was darkness so complete that the sense of sight was rendered useless. This was a realm of pure night, unbroken by the interruption of day. So this was the darkness from which he gained his power. This darkness, that was so deep it confounded the eyes and stilled the heart. How easy it would be to just give in to it....to let it take him......to let its velvet arms surround him...and then to sleep....but his journey was not yet complete. Just as he was about to give up, he saw the way out. At first it was a pinpoint.....then a distant beacon. Closer and closer he came to it. It's shining brightness calling him into it's warmth. Rahsas began to fight against the darkness. It's touch that had once been velvet, became shards of glass tearing at his clothes and skin trying to keep him from the light. Rahsas fought with all his strength to reach the light. He was within a few hundred yards now. He could see the source of the light. It seemed to be coming from a mirrored pyramid floating in the stygian blackness. The light begin to take on a rhythmic thrumming noise.....as he reached its source....almost like a heartbeat. With the last of his will, Rahsas stretched his malleable form toward the pyramid and touched the edge with his fingertip...suddenly there was a bright flash...and Rahsas found himself in the unlikeliest place of all. He looked around at his new surrounding. Low intimate lighting glittered against jeweled stone work floors. Every wall was a huge mirror, with freestanding mirrors placed between the walls to make a veritable maze of glass. Huge velvet cushions littered the room and there at the center on a stone pedestal sat the girl from his memory flashes, and in her hand, the staff from his visions.
The woman looked at him with a coy smile on her beautiful face and said, "Welcome home........BROTHER," and then he felt rough hands grab him from behind and the world once again went black.
Gomurr had managed to revive the girls by this time and had erected a mystical dome-shield to protect them from the blowing sand. Bux was unable to explain how and why they had traveled here, and more importantly could give no explanation on where "here" was. This left Gomurr little choice. He had to find help somewhere or they would all die here in this howling wilderness. The ancient mage concentrated, and once again his astral self left its physical housing and rose up through the ethers of the astral plane.
The first thing Gomurr noticed was the extreme amount of mystical energy being bandied around on the astral plane. In this form he could see the environment for what it should be, and not what it was. Whatever the source of this mystical presence was, Gomurr realized that it had somehow shaped the realm's ecology to fit its own needs. This fetid burning land was only supposed to be a small portion of this place, but that was a worry for another time. He had to find help for his students and he had to find it quickly. His ancient eyes scanned the horizon, and in the distance he saw what seemed to be a huge black monolith jutting into the sky. An old clichˇ' ran though Gomurr's mind.........Any port in a storm......and thus Gomurr returned to his body and informed the girls of what he had seen.
"Although I am loathe to do this thing," Gomurr stated, "there is only one way for us to reach that structure quickly. I must transport us through the shadows by utilizing the Crimson Dawn."
Gomurr reached out with his aspect, but found no trace of the pulsing vein of light and darkness that was the Crimson Dawn. How could this be possible? The Crimson Dawn existed in all realms and dimensions. Why couldn't he find it here? Then he realized, whatever force that was changing the weather, was also controlling every magical source of energy in this realm, from the Crimson Dawn to the Earth Energies of Gaia. What sort of being could gather and control all these types of magics, and did he really want to know?
"So what's the holdup, Gomster," quipped Rita. "The sooner we find out where we are the sooner we can get home."
Gomurr looked at girls and explained the situation to them. They could hear the hint of fear in his voice, and this scared them more than the dangerous situation the storm caused. Although, they sometimes made light of Gomurr's abilities, they knew that within his tiny ancient frame dwelled tremendous mystical power. They wondered in stunned silence, what force could block him.
Rita turned toward the rest of the group and finally said, "Well chicos y chicas, it's not gonna be easy going, but if you people think I'm gonna let a little sand keep me from getting home to watch Melrose Place, you think wrong. Gotta have my Rob Estes fix..........YUUUMMMY!"
All parties concerned could hear the ring of false bravado in her voice, but it served to get them moving, so off they trudged with Gomurr providing what protection he could with a magical shield placed before them like an umbrella.
On to Chapter 6.
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