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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Canaan" data-source="post: 4338073" data-attributes="member: 40239">Chapter 38: IllyriaI was vaguely aware of movement and a shout.  Or was it a gasp?    As I opened the book, bright light cascaded from its pages; its color that of a shallow tropical ocean on a sunny day.  Words drifted in the sea of color, red and spidery.  I couldn’t make them out at first, but I felt an urgency to decipher the words.  I had the book gripped with both hands.  My knuckles white with the exertion.  My mind was suddenly filled with distractions; distractions seemingly fired at me from within the book.  I felt pressure, as though the book was trying to assert its will over mine, bombarding me with disjointed thoughts.  I felt my sanity slipping away even as I was drowning in a sea of color.Everything outside of the book was faint, distant somehow, unreal.  Did Lilian’s corpse just move?  I shook the thought out of my head.  The book was toying with me, trying to get me to lose my concentration.  Just then, I felt, more than saw, hands, black and inky rise from the depths of the book to grasp mine.  As they clasped my hands, they started to pull.  I suddenly realized I was being pulled into the book!My first instinct was to release the book and pull away.  But I couldn’t.  The more I tried, the more my muscles refused to respond.  My head was pounding and I was beginning to lose consciousness.  I knew in that moment that if I passed out of consciousness, I would fall into oblivion.  If my will was not strong enough, I would be consumed by whatever entity it was that was within the pages of the book.  Gathering all of the will I could muster, I focused on the red, spidery words, trying to make them clear, understandable.Blackness was quickly descending on me.  With one last burst of effort and a silent prayer to Canaan, I focused all of my will on seeing the words clearly.  And all was made clear in that moment.  The unfocused, hazy lines became crisp.  Words formed from images.  I spoke the words in a whisper, not being able to manage anything louder.The hands retreated and the pounding in my temple ceased.  The sea of color faded and the book became merely a book, its pages covered in a strange and esoteric form of handwriting, sprinkled here and there with Balian’s notes.I immersed myself in the tome.  For the most part, it was the product of either insane ramblings or unique genius.  But several passages caught my interest.  The book described the ritual we had just performed with Balian back at his tower, the Ritual to Summon and Bind the Horror.  It described the Ebon Mirror and explained its nature and uses.My heart sank as I read on, knowing what must be done, knowing that we were woefully unequipped to do what was required and knowing what would happen first to Goldfire Glen, then to the rest of Turgos, if the chain reaction could not be stopped.  We must close the Ebon Mirror.Then I heard it, an ethereal echo in my mind.  Something trying to get through to my consciousness.  I focused on the sound.  What was it?“Evora!” Came Shallahai’s warning cry.  It was a mixture of astonishment, hope and terror, wrapped in pain.I ripped my concentration from the book and the color faded.  The druid’s eyes were wide and fixed on the road a dozen feet or so from us, his hands clutched his stomach, as before.  I followed his gaze, a silent prayer to Canaan on my lips.She was beautiful, and alien.  Instead of long golden tresses, her hair was dark as midnight, streaked with iridescent purple.  Instead of a glowing expression of peace and love, she wore a mien of uncaring curiosity.  Her blue eyes, deep as the ocean itself, a window to her beatific soul, now flat mirrors of lavender, frightful to look into for fear of what would be found staring back. Markings of purple and black framed her face, blotches etched into her skin at regular intervals.  Her once full, red lips were now deflated and blue.  She had discarded her armor and clothing and now crouched before us, naked.  Her soft white skin had turned cobalt blue.  Her head cocked to the side like a dog trying to understand something incomprehensible, she observed us, wary. As my mind processed the abomination before me, filling me with terror, I had the temerity to hope.  My heart leapt as it sunk in my chest.“Lilian?” I dared ask.Nothing.“How can it be!” Shallahai gasped as his stomach spasmed.“This is not Lilian.” Rin calmly observed, referring to the creature before us.  The creature’s eyes followed his movements and observed his expression.I glared at Rin.  “Surely, it is Lilian.  The shape of her face, her figure—she is standing where her corpse was just a few moments ago!” I argued, even has my heart told me this animalistic creature standing before us was not Lilian.Hu Li, all but forgotten, started giggling then.  “What is it!” Shallahai demanded of Hu Li, his pain—the affect of the unnatural taint on the Green—apparently shortening his fuse.Hu Li only giggled more loudly. “He is insane.” Rin observed. This was madness.  The druid continued to berate Hu Li and Hu Li continued, laughing more loudly, but it became a haze in the background of my thoughts as it began to sink in what was happening.  Hu Li knew it, too.  I felt the weight of despair and I could not move out from under it.  This creature was not Lilian.I sighed and stepped forward, wary, clutching my holy symbol in one hand.  “I am Evora.  We mean you no harm.” I slowly approached the creature.  I was immediately hit by the sensation of fear and power.  It emanated from the creature in waves and hit my mind like pricks of light.  My instincts—  No, she somehow relayed to me that I had to quickly make it clear to her that she had nothing to fear from me.  If I made the wrong move, I sensed she would rip me apart.  Somehow her emotions were being imparted to me.  Perhaps this was how she communicated.The creature observed me, warily.  It seemed uncomfortable and shivered slightly, as if cold, despite the warm day and sun beating down on the road.I went to one of the packs we carried and produced a blanket, one that Lilian and Gabriel had brought with them from Goldfire Glen all those months ago.  Unfolding it, I slowly approached the creature.  “This will keep you warm.” I stated.  Then, I wrapped the blanket around me to show her what I had intended.She let me put the blanket on her, gathering it around her and held it tightly.  Though she said nothing, waves of relief bombarded my consciousness.  Yes, I was correct.  It was empathy.  She was using empathy to communicate with me.  It suddenly occurred to me that the reason she did not attack us was because she was sensing our love for Lilian and our hope that this creature was her. “Look!” Rin pointed down the road behind her.  I saw a lone figure on the road coming toward us quickly.  It was coming at a fast pace, running at great speed.“It’s Talon!” Shallahai exclaimed.  “He’s alive!”I looked at the creature before me and skeptically looked at the figure of Talon approaching.  I made a silent prayer to Canaan that the figure approaching was indeed Talon and not some other abomination.The creature sensed our attention drawn down the road and whirled around to meet the incoming monk.  “He is a friend.” I explained.  “He will not harm you.”She seemed unaffected by my words.  I sensed only wariness and a build up of power.I placed my hand on her shoulder to emphasize that I needed her to listen to me.  My mind was assaulted by waves of surprise, followed by disgust, annoyance and hate.  She whirled around and prepared to smack me.  I cringed and quickly removed my hand from her shoulder, sorry for the perceived offense.  Her hand stopped in mid-air.  The blow never came.Moments later, Talon arrived.  “Hello, friends.” Talon bowed.  “I must apologize for my hasty exit earlier.  I had the most interesting sensation that I could not properly process.  My heart wanted to stay and complete the ritual, but my mind told my feet to run.”  Talon explained as if completely unaware of the mayhem his action caused.  He simply explained his lapse of judgment as one would explain the first time one rode a horse or made love to a woman.  “This strange environment is overtaking the land.  I seem to have made a mess of things.”  He observed, matter-of-factly.  Then he noticed that Lilian was standing, and not a corpse.  He inched closer to her, observing, studying her.“Fascinating.” He breathed.  “I don’t think she’s human.”Clearly I misjudged Talon.  He wasn’t oblivious to what was going on, he was naïve or not socially programmed to react the way a normal person would react to such things.  Ever since he had returned as a half Faean creature he seemed steeped in his own experience, more concerned with the experience than the effect of his actions.  “How far does this insanity reach, Talon.” Shallahai asked, pain evident on his face.“A few miles, at least.  I believe that if unchecked, it will reach Goldfire Glen in a matter of hours.”  Talon stated matter-of-factly.“We can’t let that happen.” Shallahai announced, gritting his teeth.“What can we do about it?” Rin asked.  “We seem woefully unequipped to stop this—this thing from spreading.  Do we even know what is causing it?” “Yes.” I answered.All eyes turned to me, then.“The realm of insanity is bleeding into our dimension.  Based on my interpretation of the Book of Abu-Abai, the ritual to summon and bind the Horror has four parts.  First, the Opening of the Mirror, next the Summoning, then the Binding, then the Closing of the Mirror.  The last two parts of the ritual were not completed due to its disruption.”  I explained.I glanced at Talon and quickly looked away, shamed at the small display of judgment conveyed by my glance.  I was weak.  My faith was shaken.  My mind was on the verge of breaking, and I was exhausted.Thankfully, he seemed unaffected by my words.  “The Opening of the Mirror creates a conduit between our dimension and the Realm of Insanity, which from what I can make out is both a far off dimension and one that wraps our world like a cocoon.  I don’t quite understand it.  And it could just be the insane ramblings of the author of this book.  But I am willing to believe anything at this point.”  I was, too.  What was happening was so alien, so beyond my experience, I could only draw at straws.  I thanked Canaan for my ability to put faith in the unknown.  Otherwise, I think I might have discarded the Book of Abu Abai as nothing but ramblings of a mad man.Shallahai shifted uncomfortably at my words.  Rin just listened.  And Talon merely stared at the abomination that Lilian had become.  Thankfully, Hu Li was silent.I wearily continued.  “Once the Horror has been bound, the ritual leader must close the Mirror to seal away the far Realm of Insanity from our dimension.  If that last step is not taken, a door will remain open between that alien realm and ours.  That realm will continue to bleed into our world until the Ebon Mirror is closed.”“Balian failed then.” Rin said.  “He was unable to contain the Horror.”  He stated what all of us had been thinking.  “It does not surprise me.  You saw what that creature did to Hu Li with one swift movement.”Rin echoed what I have feared ever since I read that passage in the Book of Abu Abai.  The Ebon Mirror has not been closed because Balian is unable to perform the final part of the ritual.  I prayed to Canaan that Balian was not dead.Balian was odd, for sure.  And despite what Hu Li would have us believe, I think Hu Li’s apprenticeship to the scabrous summoner would have been bearable, had Hu Li not been certifiably insane and so constitutionally incapable of following orders from the very beginning.  There was a fatherly aspect to the old mage that I just couldn’t put my finger on.  Yes, he was ornery and arrogant.  He definitely had no sense of propriety.  And I’m not even sure he was one of Canaan’s creatures, what with the talking tentacles coming out of his back.  I can’t be sure that Balian was merely one creature.  But…I sigh as I write this…I liked him.I liked Balian.  I wanted to learn from him.  He was my best chance at becoming an arcanist.  His knowledge was so vast and his power so profound, that I could have become one of Turgos’ greatest wizards under his tutelage.  This is a completely selfish thought, I realize this.  And thankfully, enough time has gone by since I experienced these thoughts that I have been able to process them and acknowledge my own weakness.  I have prayed for forgiveness, and I dare say it was granted.  Canaan had other plans for me, of this I was sure.  The path I would have gone down had Balian become my teacher would have lead to oblivion.  But I get ahead of myself. The abomination that Lilian had become seemed to observe all of us intently.  She ignored Talon’s attentions and focused instead on our communications.  I remember doubting at the time that she could possibly understand us.  In retrospect, it was quite a foolish underestimation.Lilian quietly moved with the grace of a cat over to Hu Li and observed him, cocking her head slightly as she moved up and down his length.  Her hand shot out so quickly, nobody could stop her.  She grabbed Hu Li’s chest in her hand.  What happened next is hard to explain.  Pulses of purple energy shot down her arm into Hu Li.  Hu Li’s body jerked with each pulse and he screamed.It was over in seconds.  Everyone was stunned, uncomprehending of what had just happened.Hu Li opened his eyes then.  His irises had turned purple!“You, my dear, are a goddess.” Hu Li rose as he spoke, apparently cured of his afflictions.The abomination that Lilian had become merely turned and looked at me.  “Take me home.” It said without expression.I was silent, stunned.  We must have looked absurd to this creature with our mouths agape in uncomprehending wonder.“This body is cold, like your world.  And your minds are puny.  Take me to this Ebon Mirror.  I must cross The Threshold.  You will help me.”  It continued in a flat, emotionless voice.Gathering composure somewhat, I ventured a question.  “W-who are you?”  I asked.“My name is impossible to pronounce in your language.  Adress me as…Illyria.”  This couldn’t be good.</blockquote>

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