[continues from In the Mind of a Child: Desertscape.]
[read alongside In the Mind of a Child: Wasteland and Shadowlands.]
Torrinah waited, watching the gate close behind Marada and her daughter. She felt alone, now, though there were others still with her in the house; but something in her mind now recognized that these were all strangers, even the fellow goddess beside her. Without a word she rose, her pain pushed to the back of her mind, and began to try to walk to where the shell of her son lay. His mind stolen, all that was left was his body, and it pained her to think of what would happen should her mate, Marada, or her daghter, Angel, were to fail. //Please, Great One of Beyond, bring my family back to me... let them be safe, and let us be whole.//
The life inside her struggled to remain intact as well, and she knew she must rest. Slowly lowering herself to sit in a cushion meant for a dragonform, Torrinah looked at her son, then the white robed woman who tended him, and began to let silent tears stream down her face.
After a matter of moments, Rain moved to the side of the war serpent nearby, whispering to him. "You must set off before dawn; when the ground is still cold, and will leave less of a trail of your passing. And on your way, you and the other warriors may find those who can help you. Be swift, but be cautious, BlackFang, for if the Ebon Tower still stands when the Night Mistress's plans are ruined in her own realm, she will surely take up residence within its nearly impenetrable walls." Standing on tip-toe, the visionary gives the warrior a momento of affection. "Let no harm come to your allies, or yourself."
He grinned silently, he wanted to ask if there was a way to harm the Tower... a weakness, after all he believed nothing was impenetrable, he just could never prove that belief. He gave Rain an unexpected hug suddenly, feeling awkward since he still had a hard time thinking of her as a goddess as the others stated she was. He saw the proof, but the very concept of such a being just didn't 'click'. He turned and entered the portal, giving one last look out..
"Be well, dearest BlackFang. You do not know how great you have become, just for doing this simple act." Rain whispers, setting her shoulders and head to look his way. After his companions have stepped into the portal, it closes, with the warserpent getting one last look at the blank green eyes of the one woman who he had grown close to on this strange land.
As she gestures to him, watching him pass her, she pulls Lightening to her side, whispering, "Watch him closely... if you find he is turning to the darkness within his soul, use this on him." She then holds out a slender dirk made of pure crystal to the girl.
Lightning blinks, eyeing the beautiful clear dagger. After a moment's hesitation, her hand closes over it and she nods to Rain in understanding.
She casts a few sideways glances in the direction of Blackfang. //Darkness within his soul...?// she wonders, but any wry response she would have made is silenced by the grave atmosphere.
Heart-of-the-Storm, however, gazes at Rain with far more understanding than Lightning.
With an inward sigh, Rain nods to the girl, knowing that what she has seen can be prevented, but if it is not, then another option is presented to take a new turn in what she has forseen.
Ruffing the wolf's fur between his ears, the goddess then moves back inside to help care for the other lady within. ~AllFather, please watch over these children, and let their question come to fruition without too much pain. For their sakes, and that of my cousin.~ She sends her prayer outward, knowing that far away, Collin will hear it, and know he is still considered in this mad dash of the war of Light and Darkness.
//May they find their way through the darkness before them, Great One.// She pleads, inwardly, as they step from the other side of the portal. The smell of ozone hitting their sinus' immediately when the magical energy dissipates. There is a haze to the air around them, leaving the sky looking a dull dusty colour of greyish green, and the ground is barren, except for a few dull rocks. As they move closer to the tower, fine powder sifts upward from their steps, and a grinding of grit is heard with each movement.
Lightning can feel her stomach turn when she lays her eyes on the dead landscape. In an attempt to escape the sick feeling in her insides, she thinks wryly to herself why they couldn't place the Ebon tower in a sunny knoll somewhere in the tropics. She glances at the others to make sure they've made it through the portal safely.
There is a feeling of tension to the air, as if they are to be bombarded by someone, or something, from the teir above, and even Heart of the Storm is left feeling a bit vulnerable in such an oppresive atmosphere. For, he too now walks on the grounds under the power of the gods of darkness in this world.
"I don't like this place. Not at all," Lightning says, her voice hushed in reaction to the unnatural silence of the blasted landscape. Heart of the Storm growls under its breath, and searches the horizon grimly for any signs of the enemy. "Yes, you and me both," Lightning mutters, scratching the wolf guardian behind its ears.
The ground seems to hurt as the wolf and girl step upon it, as if it's concecrated for evil's aims. And even BlackFang feels a pull of something more vile that within the deepest recesses of him mind and soul. There are creatures that watch them from the gates, waiting to see just what these newcomers are doing here, and their echoed snuffling and hissing give tell-tale signs to the party that they are far from being human... let alone civilized.
BF trudges uneasily through the alien landscape, a sense of vague fears from his vacant past recalling themselves, like spectres that cling to their lives that do not exist anymore.
The shades move closer, watching... waiting for the right moment to act. They know their mission in this land, and it strikes them with wrath to their very cores that the _beasts_ that move through their land are so brazen. They must be stopped, but the shadows cannot act until their mistress has allowed them to.
Heart-of-the-Storm, originally a few feet ahead of the others, in order to sniff out a safe trail, moves back and hovers near Lightning's side. The girl can sense its agitation, and her eyes dart around the landscape, taking in anything even the least bit suspicious. They were being followed, she was relatively sure of that. The only question was if their welcome party was planning to attack. She really didn't feel like being attacked today. Again.
Memories or just thoughts haunt him and his vision becomes clouded with parts of the past and his own mind's musing rather then that path a head although his feet still move him forward.
The figure in the rear seems to be lackluster for this whole affair, while the morsel, and her mutt show signs of discomfort but also alertness. Should the dark ones be able to get him alone, they could attack easily, perhaps even working their magics to turn him to be one with them.
"Ya know what I think, Shawn?" a wirey youth in combat fatigues asked him while walking along side him in his mind's eye. Shawn was just one of several alias he used in his humanform. "I think you think too much. Its more about just doing the eating and the drinking and just having a good time." he said in a wistful tone. "But we'll be dead anyways." his voice became a little quieter.
The ghost in his imagination existed a few seconds longer and then wavered. It wasn't two days later that the poor kid was gun down by an Imperial sniper.
A song is begun from further on their path... beautiful, enticing... making the WarSerpent recall the lady who has recently shown him great affection. So beautiful, yet, so untouchable to him.
Lightning starts at the sudden sound, immediately suspicious. The song is lovely--pulling, even--but what was it doing here? The last thing she expected when traveling across a desolate landscape on the way to do battle was for someone to randomly break into song.
The noises in the distance wake him up from his self-absorbtion and he focuses again on the trail. ::Live and then die..::, he thinks and then mumbles quietly, "Yeah.. that's all we really have to do.."
The voice haunts the wilderness, making it hard to think. Signs that one would normally note of an ambush go unnoticed to the young warrior, as he plods along the path his companions are upon.
Lightning's feet fall a bit heavier as the song starts to blur the edge of her senses--but she forces herself to snap back to attention. She turns to her companion. "BlackFang, keep alert! Something's up. ...BlackFang?" She notices her fellow warrior looking a bit out of it. Next to her, Heart-of-the-Storm growls low, sensing something near them.
The song continues, a beautiful lady dancing before the vision of the WarSerpent and Lightening. Her soft and graceful entrance more elegant than even the Mistress Sarah had been, she works to entice the pair to her will. The sirine smiles to Lightening, offering her hand, to join in the dance. //Two more pawns and a fur on the wall, nearly brought to her Mistress without a weapon drawn.//
However, what the wolf sees is entirely different... a shade more malevolent than anything it has ever encountered on this bizarre land, yet. The horrendously dark scales seem to warp and bend the light, absorbing it into the vitrol form as if sucking in all energies to be utilized by its strange being.
Heart-of-the-Storm senses all of this, and its growling becomes a fearful baying. Fearful, of course, only to those who heard it. Lightning jumps at the sudden sound. In the back of her mind, she can sense her guardian warning her to resist the enticer.
The shadows wait, hissing with anticipation; watching to see if the party will take the bait that is laid for them...
She knows that the shades are waiting, itching for fight, should her talents fail with this one. For it was known that both went with the blessing of the Goddess of the Cleansing Rains... the One who wipes away the taint of evil. She inwardly re-focuses, doubling her efforts to make the WarSerpent and girl bend to her will.
Lightning continues along the path, for enticer or not, it was the path she was supposed to be taking. However, she can feel herself being pulled toward the being. Her mind races, knowing that even were she to get into danger, Heart of the Storm could only guide her; if she got caught, it couldn't physically intervene and save her. "Blackfang..." she says, looking for her companion.
A barrage of mental howls manages to pull her back from the enticer's psychic control. Lightning frowns, and looks around for other shadow beings. Was the enticer bait for an ambush? She glares at the Enticer, and decides that sounding corny is better than ending up a mindless slave of the dance, and yelled, "O-KAY, you! You're not going to ensnare my mind and that's final!" She deliberately pitches her voice loud enough to drown out the singing. And besides, perhaps if she yells loud enough, she might be able to convince herself of what she's saying.
As Lightening and Heart-of-the-Storm continued toward the black spire with it's hordes, something began holding the War-Serpent back. Was it fear, or something else, he could not say, but he knew he was not to go through with this venture. With kindly words to his mind, Rain, goddess of cleansing purity let him slip into an ambiguous dream.
As a mist came between the wolf, girl and serpentine form, Heart-of-the-Storm felt the gentle caress from the goddess as she lifted the warrior away from them and set him down in a new place... a dimension where he would never have to face those same shades, or deal with her world again.
The fog still covered Lightening's path, however, and she knew there was danger about from the hissing through the thick wisps of mist.
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