Dreamscape

by Philip R Benge

  Chapter One

  Moira Bourbon

  The night was just falling and a cool breeze had sprung up in the state of New York, but all was not quiet, gun shots shattered the darkening streets of the small village of Morrisville. Hidden behind an aging Buick, Brad Stirling stood up to return the fire coming towards him from the agents of the FBI, it was now that he felt the bullets enter his body, pushing deep into his vitals, he felt his legs buckling under him, he knew that death was very close, in fact he died before his body hit the ground. An FBI agent walked towards Stirling`s still body, his gun still in his hand and aimed at the fallen man.

  ‘Finally,’ the agent thought. ‘They had nailed the serial killer who had taken so many innocent lives.’

  In the land known as the Dreamscape a dark swirling mass of smoke appeared on the cold hard floor, the being known as Brad Stirling formed within the smoke. He was amazed to wake up, for he had been sure that the bullets that he had felt tear into his body would have killed him, he was even more amazed to find himself lying on the stone floor of a large hall, he sat up and looked around him, he saw a massive throne in the middle of the equally massive grand hall. He slowly stood up, he felt no pain whatsoever, not even a dull ache, he looked around him and saw that the walls of the room were built of very large cut stones, Cyclopean walls, he thought, such as those spoken of by Homer, for he was not uneducated, merely evil. Tall narrow windows pierced the walls to allow light to enter the Cyclopean room, one shaft of light lighting up a beautiful woman with red flowing hair who was standing silently in a doorway, seeing him notice her she walked towards him. Stirling smiled for he liked redheads, and this one only stopped walking when her body was touching his.

  “Welcome to my fortress.” Moira Bourbon said in a deep husky voice that sent tremors down Stirling`s spine.

  Then he heard heavy footsteps approaching from behind him, he spun round ready to greet whoever it was, his hand reaching for his sharp hunting knife and pulling it free from its sheath, standing before him was Lord Asbaritch. He was olive green in colour, very tall and well-muscled, and with eyes that were large brilliant yellow glowing orbs and that were boring into those of Stirling. Stirling was stunned to see such a creature, he could not even think about pushing his knife into the giant facing him, it was then that he felt a pain shoot from his head and rush down through his body and he screamed. Moira Bourbon had just sank her fingers deep inside the side of Stirling`s head, her beautiful face marred by the evil gleam in her eyes. Lord Asbaritch reached out and crushed the wrist that held the knife, which in any case had only been an image of the real thing, the ghostly weapon dropped slowly to the floor, it faded away as it fell until finally it disappeared just inches away from the floor.

  “Did no one ever tell you fool, the dead cannot bring anything with them, except their memories, and maybe a few unrealistic hopes?” Lord Asbaritch whispered into Stirling`s ear.

  The demon lord then joined Moira in draining Stirling`s evil soul, their victim screamed so very loudly as the very essence that powered his soul was taken from him. His evil soul quickly shrunk and became translucent, no longer did he have the allusion of clothing, now he looked very much like Casper the ghost, but with legs, a being in a white bedsheet with cut outs where his facial features were. Stirling looked up at the grinning beings who now appeared as giants to him, for what remained of his malignant soul had shrunk to resemble a two feet high ghost-like figure. Stirling ran for the open doorway and into the outer hall and then out through the courtyard to the desert land that was incorrectly named the Dreamscape, for the real Dreamscape was within this cold and forbidding fortress. Even then Stirling did not realise that he had no real body, just what was left of his black soul, for he was a Shade, the only other inhabitants of this terrible land. Shades had once been human beings, but evil ones such as Satanists, or in his case a serial killer, who were being punished for their sins. They may have enjoyed their lives as mortals, but with their deaths they had been sent to this land for eternity, there to be preyed upon by its ruler or left to slowly fade away as they went insane.

  Lord Asbaritch felt much better after finishing his meal of Stirling`s life-force, far more sated than he did when he partook of food in the traditional way. As usual after consuming the life-force of one of his guests, as he liked to call them, he needed a drink, he particularly liked the green coloured Rakiremanin, however he had consumed his last keg, instead he had to make do with the rather tame drink known by the Cretans as Raki.

  When Moira had first come to the Netherworld, Lord Asbaritch had shown her how to acquire nourishment in another way to one that she had just enjoyed. He had taken her through to the heart of his fortress, into the land of dreams, the actual Dreamscape. They walked together through a misty veil, a force field that only they could pass through, and in doing so Moira had felt a tingle travel throughout her body, it had refreshed her much like a cool shower would have done had she been a mere mortal. Moira had looked in awe at what she had seen before her, and where she was, for she was literally floating above the Earth in the dream dimension. Beneath them stretched the night side of the Earth, and she could see anyone and everyone who was dreaming, their astral forms lit up by an incandescent light that left a slight trail behind them as they moved through the Dreamscape. Lord Asbaritch had taken her down to visit the dreamers, and he had showed her how to turn their dreams into the most frightening of nightmares; they could then draw energy from their victims, energy in the form of fear. Sometimes the dreamer was brought back to their own dry world to feast upon, they could then draw even more of their victim`s energy from them, but the dreamer was always released before death overtook them. If they continued to feed off a single victim`s nightmare, the person would finally die, being too exhausted to live, however, Lord Asbaritch had never been known to do such a thing, and he now forbid Moira to do so. The reason he gave her was that while the Christian god allowed them to dine off the mortals` nightmares, for god realised that all things must eat, if they began killing the mortals in this fashion there was every chance that god would react in a way not very beneficial to the rulers of the Dreamscape.

  If Lord Asbaritch chose to bring the dreamer to the Netherworld, then the Shades were also able to drain a little of the dreamers` life-force, if they caught the dreamers in their terrible world, but the dreamers soon awoke, their hearts racing, and feeling totally drained. Another Shade might then drain this life-force from the first evil soul, for they were never allowed to keep it for long. At the top of this weird food chain was Lord Asbaritch himself, who would feast upon whichever Shade had any life giving energy at the time, much as a vampire is said to feed upon its victims, except Lord Asbaritch`s victims did not possess any blood.

  On the second day of her life within the Netherworld, Moira Bourbon, its new first lady, had asked a question of her lord and master.

  “My Lord, I want to drag Rob Hinds through into our world, along with a few other people who assisted him, so that I can torture them for all eternity, will you assist me in this task?”

  “My love, it is simply not allowed to drag people from the mortal world, just to satisfy oneself.” Lord Asbaritch replied. “We are allowed to join them in their dreams where we can feed off their fears. Apart from that succulent meal Moira, if a living Satanist requests that we visit a particular person, or asks us to transport them somewhere, the Satanist may allow us to feed upon their victim, but only to the extent that they allow, as a Satanist in your old life surely you know this?” Lord Asbaritch asked but then carried on speaking without waiting for an answer.

  “However should we try to appear in world of the humans without either a satanic request or through their dreams, then we stand a good chance of being chastised severely. We could even be transported to Tartarus as prisoners, there we would be punished, pain worse than even you could imagine would race through our bodies for as long as Lucifer or God ordained.” He replied sorrowfully.

  “M
oira, the laws laid down by the all-powerful Christian god, with the agreement of Lucifer who spoke on behalf of Demon kind, are binding to all who reside in any of the realms of Hell.” He warned his first lady. “Take care that you do not break them.”

  “My Lord, did you not enter my chateau and bring my body and soul back to your realm, and without the aid of a Satanist?” Moira asked quizzically. “In fact you allowed Rob Hinds to kill me.” Moira said accusingly.

  “It was your dying soul that called to me Moira, and so I answered its summons and appeared before you, however up until that moment I could only watch what was happening around you through the Dreamscape.” Lord Asbaritch replied. “I was powerless to act on your behalf.” He said so apologetically, with his head bowed and his arms wide open in a suggestion of helplessness.

  “In any case Moira, I did warn you, when you were a mortal, that you should not concern yourself with Rob Hinds, he defeated your father, a worthy adversary, and while, initially, you were doing quite well, you would not leave him be. You should have killed him immediately if that is what you desired, but no you wanted him to suffer for eternity for the death of your father. So you see, you only have yourself to blame for your current situation, at least you have a body, not like the other pathetic creatures that are sent to my realm for punishment, all they have is a black soul that we drain of its life-force the instant that they arrive here.” Lord Asbaritch reminded a rather sulky first lady.

  Tartarus, the hell dimension mentioned earlier by Lord Asbaritch, is a world of terrible torment and immeasurable suffering set aside for those wicked souls who were not sent to the Dreamscape, but was also an ancient god. The place is presided over by the ancient Greek god Kronos, with the assistance of the Cyclops, a one eyed giant, and an assortment of horrific Greek mythological monsters that come in so many fantastic and frightening forms, the sight of them would cause many to simply faint in fear, that or to stand there stupefied. Kronis answers only to one other, Lord Lucifer, who is the supreme ruler of all of the hell dimensions. The god is an actual part of this hell dimension, content to stay invisible, keeping the magical barrier that surrounds it in place, and occasionally allowing access into it when a powerful Satanist beseeches him while using the Key of Tartarus.

  With her status as the Lady of the Netherworld, Moira did not gain many new powers, except those to do with nightmares, and the ability to feed off the dreamers and the Shades, the only other permanent resident of the Netherworld. However, these were more than enough for her, for when she had died she had just fed off the accumulated life-forces held within the golden Ark of Ba’al Berith. It was a device that she had stolen from the gods of Tartarus, and it was this device that had made her the most powerful Satanist in existence. When she had been shot through the head by Rob, the extra life-force that she carried within her had mysteriously accompanied her on her journey to the Netherworld, for the mystical force that powered the Ark of Ba’al Berith had come to the aid of its present mistress.

  After she had asked her dark lord to assist her in her plans for revenge against her enemies, and had been refused, she had sulked, but then days later, a stranger appeared before her, it was while she worked from within her large study, a lavishly decorated room on the first floor of Lord Asbaritch`s fortress within the Netherworld. Indeed the whole fortress was now decorated and furnished, Moira having stolen everything from the other realms of Hell. The residents of these realms had complained bitterly to the great Lord Lucifer, but he had merely shrugged his massive shoulders and gone to dine at Fortress Asbaritch.

  Moira looked up at the stranger in surprise, for she had locked the door to her study against any surprise interruptions made by her lord and master. The stranger was a tall Adonis of a man and one who was much to the liking of the Satanist.

  “Who the hell are you and how did you enter my study?” Moira demanded to know as she stood up and walked towards the man, meaning to steal some of his energy and so gain control over him.

  “I am an answer to your prayers Satanist, I will give you your Ark, and the Key of Tartarus, all you have to do is give yourself to me.” The stranger said.

  “And just how are you going to do something that even Lord Asbaritch is incapable of doing?” Moira asked quizzically, her interest aroused in more than one way.

  “Put yourself in my hands Satanist, and we will use your remaining satanic powers to bring them through from their earthly dimension to this one.” The stranger replied.

  He reached out and grasped her head before she could stop him.

  “Hey!” Moira exclaimed angrily shaking him off and stepping away from the man Moira now thought of as Adonis, thinking this name was as good as another.

  “Fool of a woman, the only other way to open a portal between this world and the world of the mortals is if a Satanist bids you appear before him, and there are no Satanists down on the Earth who are willing, or able, to call upon the rulers of the Netherworld because of your past deeds. When you entered Tartarus and stole the golden Ark of Baʿal Berith, and then had the temerity to kill the goddess Hekate, it caused such ripples to flow, some of which have still not come to a rest. Satanists with any power have ceased their experiments in the dark arts and hidden away, they are fearful that Lord Lucifer will take your insolent actions out on them. The most powerful of them all, Malik Singh, has hidden himself away in the mountains of Tibet, waiting there until order returns and he can return to his temple to continue his experiments in the black arts.”

  “I am sorry my Lord.” Moira said bowing to the stranger standing before her. “I did not know, satanic news is in short supply here in the Netherworld. I humbly ask you for your help in restoring my satanic devices to me.”

  The stranger once more reached out and grabbed her head, and before she could do anything else, the room in which she was standing in changed to that of a dark vault. She felt the stranger use her powers to light up the room, and she was shaken for a moment, to see the two satanic devices she wanted more than anything else, they were sitting on a shelf in front of her. She watched as her hands reached out and touched the devices, they immediately glowed brightly, almost as if they recognized their mistress. A moment later and Moira found herself back in her study, and forming in front of her was the Key of Tartarus and golden Ark of Baʿal Berith.

  “How did you do that?” Moira asked just a little bewildered.

  “Later, Satanist, first you have to honour your side of the bargain, and do not attempt to use the Ark against me, for I am more powerful than you could ever imagine.” The stranger replied grimly.

  Moira led the stranger across to a day bed and there she undressed before him and lay on the soft bed.

  “Before we commence you will dance for me Lady of the Netherworld, dance as you have never danced before.” The stranger ordered.

  And so Moira rose from her bed and she did dance for the stranger, danced until her legs ached and she begged to be allowed to rest. The stranger now picked her up and lay her aching body upon her soft bed, and for the next three hours he used her body as he saw fit, hurting her at times, bringing her to powerful orgasms at other times. Not once did she complain for she was used to such lovemaking when Lord Asbaritch took her. When he had finished with her the stranger rose from her bed and smiled down upon her.

  Moira stood up and rubbed her naked body against his. “When I have need of your assistance again, how do I summon you my lord?” Moira asked as she kissed his handsome face.

  The stranger’s handsome face turned to one of such ugliness that even Moira could not look upon it.

  “Miserable Whore of Asbaritch you cannot summon such as I, did you really believe that I allowed you to get your trinkets just for the use of your body.” The stranger roared down at her. “Maybe if you survive in your new world for enough millennia you will finally understand all that I am and desire. I will take you when I please, be thankful that this time I paid you for your body.”

  The stranger then t
urned into a Cyclops, the one eyed giant of Greek mythology, but even this form was a disguise, for he had once been the pulsating mass of matter put in the Netherworld by Lord Lucifer himself, now grown into the sentient life-force standing before Moira, one with desires, and plans of his own.

  A smile appeared on Moira Bourbon`s face and she burst out laughing as the stranger began to fade away from view.

  “Do you really believe that I care an infinitesimal about what you want or desire beast. All I care about is what I, Moira Bourbon, the most powerful Satanist ever wants, and that is my father back where he belongs, at my side.” Moira screamed at the empty space that had just been occupied by the stranger.

  Moira though was a little troubled, for she did wonder just why the stranger had come to her and taken her, if not for the pleasure of her body then why?

  Later that night she used the golden Ark of Ba’al Berith to draw the life-force from countless victims residing in the other realms of Hell, ones that she was permitted to visit. Unfortunately when she tried to use it on her nightmare victims, she found that a hidden force prevented her from doing so, but one day she would have Rob Hinds in her power again, and then she would torture him and his two loved ones. When she bored of their screams she would open the Ark and laugh as she watched their bodies being sucked inside of it, with Rob being the last one to die, then she would feed off their life-forces.

  Moira knew that she had to keep her dark lord happy so that he did not interfere with her plans, so using her newly acquired power she searched the nearest demon kind town and managed to find all of the necessary ingredients that made up Lord Asbaritch`s favourite drink, Rakiremanin. The next day Moira made up a large amount of Rakiremanin in a keg that she had stolen from a town of demons and then she gave it to her lord, explaining just how she had managed to acquire the drink. Lord Asbaritch repaid his consort by taking her to bed.