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Message: <blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 3738784" data-attributes="member: 812">Another Fine Mess: 8"Hold hands. It is very important that you hang on during the travel."Nevid shook, paler than Isaac even. He hadn't been wounded but clearly the notion of sorcerous travel terrified him."I don't want to do this."Arrafin grabbed his hand."Come on, Nevid. This is important."Isaac took Nevid's other hand. Next to him, Elena, with that immense sword slung over her back, closed the circle with Etienne. The Lohanese woman and her guards faced them, showing no inclination to take their fallen comrades with them.Serrus stumbled out of the darkness towards them."But where are you going? We. What do we do now?"Isaac turned to him."Don't know. And, don't know. Sorry."Arrafin's face softened."Go with God, sir. I'm sorry we brought this upon you. You. You'll be safer without us around, I think."Serrus just stared, the shock and terror of the last few minutes plain on his lined face.And shadowy tendrils coiled up out of the ground around the group and swallowed them up. When he looked again, they were gone. Only footprints in the sand showed where they had once stood. Around him lay dead bodies and the remains of his terrified family."God, what have you done?"*****Like standing in the midst of a dark hurricane.Like a howling tornado of shadow.Like waves, black waves pounding down into rock.Arrafin understood they must be travelling along the "edge", as it were, of the Shadow Realm, able to move at great speed, propelled by the sorceress' will. There was a vague sense of landscapes hurtling by, half-glimpsed through the blinding whirl of shadowy chaos on all sides. Her owl clung to her shoulder, and she felt its strength helping her to understand what she was seeing.The others had no such context and just tried to hang on to whoever they were clutching, their clothes and gear whipped around them in the hellish gale.Except Nevid. After a few seconds of the freakish storm, the Saijadani youth had had enough. He yanked his hand free of Arrafin's grip and, as the wind sucked at him, dragging him outwards, tried to free himself from Isaac's much stronger hold."Nevid! Hang on!"Isaac cursed as suddenly Nevid's entire weight seemed to drag at his shoulder. The screaming wind grew even louder, and he could hear other voices crying out, telling him to hang on, but Nevid was slipping."Nevid!"Arrafin shrieked at the Lohanese woman."Stop! Nevid's falling!"The woman made no reaction. Arrafin wondered if shaking the woman out of her trance-like concentration was maybe not the best idea."Isaac!"Now Elena could feel Isaac being pulled out of the circle. She groaned and tried to heave her friend backwards."Nevid!"Pulled in two directions, Isaac swore creatively. He had a sure grip still on Nevid, but now the strain on Elena was growing."Elena! Let go!""No! Isaac! Hang on!""Send her to find us!"Isaac wrenched his wrist free from Elena's grasp, and then the shadows took hold of him and Nevid."Isaac!"Elena screamed, her voice barely registering above the howling wind. But Isaac and Nevid were gone.The circle was broken now, and Arrafin was grateful for the powerful grip of the guard beside her. Gral's talons dug into her shoulder. Elena clung to Etienne and the two of them hung on for dear life to the heavy-set guard on the other side of the Lohanese woman. Shadows whipped between them all, wild ribbons and banners of insubstantial darkness flailing in shrieking tides.There was a sudden sense of masses moving past them, mountains or great buildings, flashing past, and then the terrible gale receded on all sides and they stood in a great half-ruined hall of ancient stone.High overhead the arches were broken and crumbling. Early-morning sunlight emblazoned the stones with gold.The distant cries of seabirds seemed like silence after the dark storm they'd passed through. But as their hearing recovered, other sounds rose up.Faint voices hissed and echoed on all sides. Things rustled and chattered, just out of sight in the gloom. Something laughed, chuckling low and full of menace. On all sides Elena felt the sudden weight of thousands of unseen eyes.The Lohanese woman bowed with a mocking smile."Welcome to Castle Dannockshire."*****Shadows howled and bit and snarled at them. Isaac felt as if he were tumbling, unable to find anything to stand on, or cling to, flung back and forth in shrieking currents of dark hunger. The only solid, real thing in existence was Nevid's wrist and he clung to that with all his strength.The shock of the sudden brightness made him cry out and shield his eyes, and then he realised he was lying on his back on a solid surface.Sand.Isaac sat up."Oh, that's just great."He and Nevid sat side-by-side in the middle of a featureless expanse of sand. The sun was not quite over the horizon yet, and now that his eyes were adjusting he could see that it wasn't all that bright after all. Just that where they had been was very, very dark.They sat in the middle of the desert. No water. No food. Not a sign of civilization or even shade in any direction.He scowled at Nevid."I hope you're happy with yourself."*****"You know, as scary and horrible as that whole trip was, I think this place is actually creepier."Elena and Arrafin helped Etienne follow their hostess. Arrafin nodded at Elena's comment."I know. I feel like. Like.""Like a million evil, hungry spirits are watching you from every corner?""About a million, yes. Maybe two.""Yeah."Elena raised her voice to reach the woman ahead of them."Uh. Excuse me. What about our friends?"The woman giggled."What about them? They're probably dead already.""What? No. We have to help them. You have to go get them."Their hostess whirled on them."Enough. I don't have to do a single thing you say. One more word, and I'll peel the skin off your t*ts."Arrafin and Elena just stared. The woman giggled again."But he did have that thing in his head, didn't he? Maybe I should. Maybe. Spells. You wanted spells."Arrafin hadn't quite kept up with the one-sided conversation."What?""You said you wanted spells. You'll need to copy them down. The formula. They're probably dead already. And that's a shame. She would be interested in his soul, I think. And your t*ts."The bizarre woman turned around and continued walking. Elena and Arrafin shared a confused glance. Etienne coughed and lolled his head at their hostess."I like her. She's got... pershonalini.""Put your friend in here."The woman gestured to a doorway. Inside, the three saw a dust-covered bedroom, crowded with rotting furniture and mouldy curtains."Uh.""Then I can teach you to find your friends yourself.""Elena, you can take Etienne, right? Here's the skull for him to drink from. Okay? Bye."Elena watched Arrafin's thin form, her tiny owl still clinging to her shoulder, disappear down the hall with the Lohanese woman and her hulking guards. Leaving her and Etienne alone in the gloomy hallway.Something chuckled. Elena dragged Etienne into the room and heaved him onto the bed. Clouds of dust rose up and bed half-collapsed with a series of grumbling cracks."Oh, I'm sure I'll get better here.""Why do you always get yourself killed? Seems like I'm always dragging your sorry butt somewhere.""Yeah. Me and my sorry butt."*****"Memorize this. This is a basic spell. It lets you see people at a distance."Arrafin nodded, already absorbed in the complicated text. Her little owl gave every appearance of reading along with her. The Lohanese woman watched for a few seconds, then spoke quietly to her guards. They nodded and left.Arrafin ignored them utterly. The math spoke to her. The rest of the world faded into insignificance as she sank into the forumla of the spell, folding it into her mind like a delicate paper flower.Power.*****Footsteps passed in the hall, but from where she sat, Elena could tell nobody had gone by. Voices called out overhead, louder then softer. At one point it sounded like a party going on next door, laughter and music, and then a shrill scream cut it all off.Elena sat perfectly still beside the bed. She couldn't even bring herself to get up and close the door.Something breathed heavily out in the hall, panting like an immense hound, its breath wet and fetid. Claws scrabbled on stone. Again that mocking chuckle she'd heard earlier."I've got an idea."Etienne croaked weakly from the bed."Next time Arrafin says, 'Let's go off with this total stranger who wants to kill us,' let's you and me hit her on the head until she shuts up."Elena swallowed. She realised she was clutching the marble skull in her lap and filled it from her waterskin. Her hands shook as she passed the skull to Etienne."That's a good plan. You can count on my support.""Although I guess if that crazy girl wanted to kill us, she'd have already done so."Etienne winced as his wounds knitted themselves closed."Well. Maybe. On the other hand, she's a lot of crazy in a small slutty package."A woman screamed nearby. Elena had just recovered from the shock when that woman, or possibly some other woman, appeared in the doorway.This woman was Shaeric, with long dark curls and green eyes. Her skin was pale and her heavy velvet dress looked as dusty as the bedspread Etienne lay sprawled on. The half-Kishak looked over at her."Hey. Elena.""What?"The woman drifted forward."You notice how her feet aren't touching the floor? That's weird.""Etienne, if she doesn't kill us, I'm going to beat your sorry butt."</blockquote>

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