by Jacob Spadt
“They do not seem like they want guests, do they?” I chimed in and suddenly felt a twinge behind me outside. Chills covered me. Something unexplainable watched us from the woods. Unable to crane my head further, I whispered, “Roll up the window now.” The feeling of chill turned to a definite sense that something was behind the car.
The speaker box crackled to life.
“Welcome, Travelers. The feeling you are experiencing is normal. Just relax, it will pass. Stay in the car and do not get out yet.”
“She is not for real,” I said. “Something is behind us not in front of us.” I felt nothing from the darkened drive way, but a presence behind me told me something was indeed there. I twisted my torso for a better look. The light from the street lamps was nonexistent. Normally one would be able to see the street lamps from the shadows.
Darkness behind was impenetrable.
The speaker box remained silent for several more minutes. I could hear Eryn muttering something under hear breath that sounded like the “Lord’s Prayer.” She was worried now. The energy in the car changed. I patted her shoulder and returned to front facing in the car, the vehicle rocked in protest in my doing so. Her hand took mine and she hummed a few bars of something to reclaim what the silence had stolen. Moments passed. The squawk of the box began again, much more distinct and lower in volume.
“Pull forward now.”
The air fluxed with energy making my skin tingle.
Movement on the white mail box right by the speaker caught my eye. The numbers written in the odd spacing moved closer together and did not have the same pattern anymore. “one four eight seven four” became one, then four hundred and eighty seven, then four.” I blinked my eyes, thinking I was seeing things and heard a gasp from the front to signify otherwise. The numbers moved and regrouped themselves into a different arrangement. Could someone from the road see that amidst the strange darkness?
A sound came from beyond the gate. The area slowly began to illuminate.
The presence behind us came back, but the feeling was one of dread, like earlier. Some event took place. I could not glance behind anymore, but something told me we had just passed through some sort of protections set in place by this. The thought made me smile slightly. Not knowing what we were rolling into did have me on edge. Protecting Eryn was all that mattered to me, above all else. If she got hurt here, I would take this place apart. This thought kept coming to mind as my senses reached out. All seemed to be okay.
Eryn opened the car door. With the keys in the ignition and the lights still on, the dinging jingled out into the night. She left them on and stepped out to open my door. Out I crawled slowly like a snake shedding its skin. My ability to fit in the back seat probably compared to a clown car. I kept waiting for a game show host to jump out and hand us money for the feat.
My feet touched down. Something raced up my legs like chi, right to about my chest before a popping sound snapped in my head. As I stood up to my full height, I felt it again, this time it didn’t make it past my abdominal area before it felt like something inside me pushed back whatever just travelled up me.
Then it hit me. There was no rain falling. The clear skies showed stars twinkling above. A feeling of longing followed by peace calmed my mind. The truth was there was a feeling as if I did not belong here on earth and had no idea why. The oddities of my life were in the back of my mind, and I was always analyzing my surroundings. My hands went up to show the universal sign for rain and shrugged my shoulders when I made eye contact with Eryn. This place had me curious.
Eryn was uneasy and took my hand. “I don’t like this, Tathlyn. This was a bad idea. We should go.” Before I could answer, from the shadows came a plain voice, female and soothing.
“Please don’t. It is an honor to meet such a being,” it said.
Eryn started to laugh. I was sure she had told them something to get a meeting. It had to be good enough to pique the interest of such a group...especially one so secluded from the public. A middle aged woman stepped from the shadow as the area lit up like daylight rather suddenly. Instinctively, my hand covered my eyes as they adjusted moments later. Eryn's hands went up to deflect the sudden brilliance as well.
Her breathing quickened. That bothered me. Because she was afraid, that put me on the defensive. I stepped forward to impose myself between the light this woman had brought forth and Eryn.
“Noble. Even now you protect her from nothing,” she replied as she lowered a scarf from her face to reveal her gaunt features as if someone had stretched skin over a skeleton. Her eyes glowed as if something back lit them, giving her a mystical appearance, which made her look powerful. As she blinked, it became obvious there was light emitting. Her clothes seemed plain enough. A green dress flowed to the ground with a shawl over her shoulders colored an earthen tone. She held her hands out to her side and nodded her head with slight bow. “Blessings to you Eryn…and Tathlyn…is it? My, you are big indeed,” she said with a toothy smile.
Her tone felt creepy. The kid of creeping feeling you get when something is not right. My view had to change, though. This was her house. This woman chose a way of life that was a bit off from the world. She probably dealt with things that would baffle me. I extended my hand to her.
“Come with me both of you, we have much to discuss. You may lower your hand there Tathlyn.” She turned and walked away.
My hand returned to my side and I looked at Eryn, a puzzled look on my face. She smacked my rear to get me moving and tried to fake a smile. I could see through it. She was scared. Something was definitely off about this place. My senses were all over the place. My hand grabbed Eryn’s and we followed gingerly behind our host.
It is funny how the mind misses certain things in new situations. I did not see a house when we pulled up, only a light that came on later. As we walked forward, I realized I did not know where or what we walked towards in this darkness. Diane's shape stayed ahead as an outline even in this strange light. We followed in her stead as she moved. Eryn’s foot falls came behind mine and I made sure to keep pace with her. The air around us seemed thick like it hung heavier here on the ground. There were noises ahead...a murmur grew.
Light ahead appeared and grew, taking any peripheral vision away...not even the figure of our host. The murmur was now consistent with the droning of many voices that caught my ears. Crackles came from a fire appeared as we cleared the walkway. That had been diluting the many voices we heard on the way in. Diane walked into what looked like a clearing. She was about twenty feet ahead and moved towards a few shadows that within a few steps melded into the form of two people on either side of her now. All three faced our direction as we entered whatever this was.
A quick glance revealed a clearing about a hundred yards across. I could see several structures of odd design made with branched woven together, sort of like wicker. Hut like roofs on all of them hid a lot of the features with hanging debris and decorations of one sort or another. It appeared to be a village, almost medieval in design and décor. My unease turned to comfort and that troubled me. I did my best to hide it and stayed alert. The trio ahead now walked the ten or so feet forward, and all bowed.
“Welcome Honored guests to Shan Garran, may you find solace and tranquility while you are here.”
She had a look in her eye that I could not explain. The bumps, where the hairs on my neck would have been, stood upright even though there was no threat. I pushed the urge down and she was still talking, missing a few words. “…make your time here more of an experience. Do not hesitate to ask.“
She gestured to her left. “This is Tolman. The other is Syreena, our leader.” Her gesture went to the right. Both bowed again, and I locked eyes with the second woman. They felt vacuous and cold to me. There was still nothing obvious to detect. There was no response from her, simply a hand extended in a friendly gesture. I stepped forward and nodded my head. Her hand hung in the air so I gently took it.
Images hit me harder than any of my memories. I felt
slammed with psychic wrecking balls. They hammered my defenses. The skin on my face felt like it was burning. I blinked my eyes a few times and suddenly Tolman was next to me with my other hand in his. Diane was watching from behind.
“This will take but a moment. We apologize for any discomfort you may be feeling. It will be over soon,” Tolman said. I heard Eryn gasp behind me and tried to look, finding out my head would not move. It was stuck forward looking into Syreena’s eyes. The pounding attempts to get in my mind and the burning sensation continued to grow. An object fell to the ground behind me. A third presence joined in the on the mental bombardment. Something inside me weakened.
“You got here just in time to help us finish the ritual, Tathlyn. Let us find out what you are. The power I sense inside of you is stronger than anything I have ever heard of. It is like a drug. We want it all.”
A wave of energy rolled over me and turned the intensity up even more. My mind was on fire. I could not move and I struggled to breathe. No sound came from Eryn. She was behind me, where my eyes could not see. Anger raged inside of me and threatened to overcome me if they continued. I had to calm myself down to continue to fight whatever these people were attempting. My mind tried to find my Zen place where meditation was possible.
Memories of watching the birds in their element hunting worms came forward. The rage reached a crescendo as the memory anchored my peace at that moment. Their assault continued to build, but my anger over it receded slowly. The words spoken by these three became blurry. It sounded like Latin at times but more guttural. My muscles went limp, yet I was still upright, unable to move. The fraction of time that exists between tranquility and acceptance held me in its sway. Energy rolled over me creating weakness that crept into my core. A fine red mist came from my skin, sapping my strength. My blood floated toward the fire.
A flash of heat came...then a voice, this time in English, “Diane, the portal is opening, his blood worked, its working, oh my ancestors, it is working. Fate has given us the divine energy source we needed to reach back to the past and avenge our fallen!”
Divine energy. What the hell is this weirdo saying?
My eyes opened and the entire area was bright. Energy was visibly swirly and building in intensity, above the bonfire in the middle of the clearing. For the first time, I could see hundreds of people in robes chanting and tracing symbols in the air. Strange symbols hung in the air for a moment before a swirling vortex in the middle of the fire sucked them in. The vortex grew with each symbol it swallowed.
The excitement in those around was evident. Their glee shone as this vortex collapsed into what appeared to be an opening torn into the very air itself. A loud whistling sound mixed with a buzzing sound and grew in my mind...along with a building sense of dread. I was about to witness something horrible before Eryn and I died. The peace that filled my heart gave way to a righteous fury, sudden and impacting. This simply was not acceptable.
Not if I could help it.
I felt a surge. My biceps flexed so hard they almost tore the tendons connecting to my forearm. A yell, much like a roar escaped my lips, and I felt eyes on me by the trio again. The mental weight of all three of them slammed me right in the forehead. This piecing sensation felt like the two hemispheres of my brain were about to be split in half. The pain was unbearable. My mind slid towards blackness. Like holes in Swiss cheese, the spots formed over my consciousness. Suddenly there was screaming. The pressure weakened a little. I could not see yet, but those screams were real.
“Something is coming through….”
“Everyone let ….”
“Stand your ground and contain it, we can’t allo….”
Something came close to me that did not feel like a human. Another scream and a gurgle came from right next to me.
“Oh my gods, Tolman!” The sound of tearing flesh and snapping tendon filled my ears. Psychic energy lessened its grasp on me, and I could finally open my eyes to the horrors that filled my vision. A floating curtain like opening stood in the middle of the area that looked like it revealed something on the other side. I could see creatures that resembled beasts from my dreams clawing their way out of it, leaping clear, and running on the ground at terrifying speeds. They took down a member of the coven and gored them with claws and teeth. Fine sprays of blood misted the air.
Next to me the two “witches” from the trio, Diane, and Syreena, were attempting to cast some sort of enchantment on the creature that I knew had to be a daemon. It was busy goring at the third witch and paid no heed to their feeble attempts. They did not see the two other monsters approach them from the side. They were gone in an instant.
Were we next? Suddenly I could move and turned my head quickly towards Eryn. She lay on the ground. The mass of moving monsters was eating the coven fast. I had to protect her. Time was running out. My feet found her side and crouched down.
A voice inside of me yelled that walking away from this situation would be a mistake. What could I do? I might be able to kill a few of them. My heart tore between saving my love and duty to kill what I somehow knew to be my mortal enemy. I felt the burning sensation in my mind growing stronger as the opening from God knows where got bigger. “Perhaps those visions were about this precise moment. Maybe this is why I became so big to deal with this situation. Was it my destiny?”
Daemons killed and fed upon coven members.
So many thoughts rolled through my head, tearing me asunder between protecting Eryn and killing these foul beasts. My hands started to itch terribly. I reached out to grab a hold of Eryn’s clothing to drag her farther away from the horde that had completely overrun the area. It was time to be cautious while pulling her back. My eyes watched the horde of monsters the first fifteen feet or so without even looking down once. Then something happened. I suddenly felt incomplete, like something was forgotten or missing came over me. My mind started to long for something that I obviously did not have. The feeling crept down into my hands and an image appeared in my mind of those beautiful swords.
I did not even flinch when I felt them appear. Something cold and solid filled my grasp now and the feeling of something missing went away instantly. A surge of energy rolled from the ground up to my head. I felt complete.
Suddenly that presence from the road was behind me, and I spun ready to deal it due. To my surprise a man in plain clothes, very tall crouched down behind me, a look of surprise on his face. His brown hair was slightly hanging in his eyes, but I could see a glow similar to Diane’s there. He was looking at the carnage. His eyes snapped to, focusing on me being right in front of him brandishing my swords. Powerful eyes looked to my hands and his surprise turned to a smile.
“I do not know what you are, my large friend, but you appear to be better equipped to deal with this situation,” he whispered barely above the roar of the Wiccan feast going on behind me. His eyes moved to Eryn’s body. “You cannot protect her and fight them at the same time. Go. I will care for her,” he promised.
He understood my distrustful look by nodding and smiling. I looked at her then back to the horde in its blood frenzy. I glanced back to him. Again he spoke. “If you don’t do something now that rift may turn into a portal, and if that happens, this may get really bad.”
“It isn’t bad already?” I asked, partly grinning.
“I imagine this is nothing compared to what happens next. I have her. Go!” he yelled. He closed his eyes, uttered a word, a visible bubble popped up around him and Eryn, and he pulled her close right as a few strays from the pile of monsters leapt our direction. “You have to kill them all somehow!” he screamed. “All of them! Now go!”
The roar of the feast behind made it hard to hear anything else he said to me. I could, however, hear the protesting of the daemons that slammed into the newcomer’s shield. They began to circle him as if I was not even there. Funny I thought and stood up. They continued to claw and bite at the barrier. The cries brought the attention of two more of them to join in trying to break
the enchantment around this new friend.
I got a good look at them. Some of them had multiple sets of limbs. It was hard to tell how many because they moved so fast. Claws flashed out and energy crackled over the sphere, showering sparks of various colors. Limbs retracted fast, shaking. Smoke poured off of a few of them. The man smiled my direction while pointing at them and drew a line across his own throat in the universal “kill them” signal.
My eyes dropped to the majestic blades. They vibrated in my hands. A voice in my head said three words.
"Kill them all."
I hesitated for but a second before swinging at one of the beasts. My sword caught its center length wise on the torso. It dropped down. The blade passed through like it was cutting butter. A shower of ichorous blood sprayed the area. The creature fell dead. The remaining three turned and looked at me, with teeth bearing. Their human like faces had tongues and mouths, something I would have expected on a creature that was dog-like, mixed with lizard over tones. Speech came from them in chorus.
“Uut heeem. Keall heeeem,” the creature hissed through bloody teeth and cherry red gums. Molten saliva sprayed outward as it spoke.
Time’s mortal sway over my life came to a stop at that moment. I watched the muscles in their haunches tense up and ripple with the energy of the movement telegraphing what they were about to do. It was simple. They all readied for a leaping attack. As I watched the muscles slowly start to move, I could see the pressure of their movement ripple their skin as they sprang forward. Viscous spit dripping from their mouths caught the wind from their forward motion. The hanging saliva strings bent away from me as if the beasts had already reached full speed. I was still standing there watching this unfold.
I blinked.
Up came the left hand with the sword, taking the first one in the head, cleanly splitting its skull in two halves, still attached. The second caught the thrust of my right hand as it came behind my left with a stab that went right through the skull of the third with ease. I slid both of my blades free effortlessly and spun to my right taking the third with both strikes. I removed the head and the abdomen at the same time. I finished the spin, dropping to a knee before the pieces hit the ground in a sickening, squishing thud.