The primary reason that I say that it was too short is that it does not give any details about how a being which crossed the ASTRAL plane was utterly destroyed by the destruction of its PRIME MATERIAL plane body. Normally, the only beings which can cause such destruction are the Gith with their silver swords.

Of course, there are methods which will allow the permanent destruction of entities from the lower planes but those generally require contracts and other VERY specific conditions or the entity simply gets banished back to from where they came (with whatever penalties to their status for having been destroyed in their PM body).

grumble - I wanna know what the beast within actually is, why it is not possible for Elsa to exist (according to Malevolence), how long it will take for her to regain the abilities which were lost to the life drinker, when her priestly aspect will kick in, what will be required to REMOVE that beast which is within, etc.
You are publishing this story toooooooooooooo (Hoover, Aswan and the entire TVA) slow.

 

Sigh,

Very well, I shall post another section that will reveal a few answers: try to not be too shocked by one connection of Elsa...

 

₰₰ Book One: Chapter Twenty five ₰₰
​

Elsa hurried along the twisting passages, chambers and caverns; crossed newly rent chasms, and skirted lakes of boiling, frothing acid which glowed. Time and again, great regions were found to have been collapsed, forcing even more delays, as she moved this way and that, ever more desperate to reach the grotto.

Finally, luck and fortune seemed to favor her efforts, for a flat-out run opened which led straight towards the grotto. The glass-smooth surface would allow for rapid progress, and so she sped down it on a flat-out run. At one point, she whirled around a hair-pin turn and discovered to her consternation that the entire passage was filled with a solid mass of unyielding, collapsed stone.

Blam!

She groaned for a moment as she pulled herself up to a seated position; and painfully examined her face for any lasting damage. Once she shook her head clear of the stars that appeared, she said: “Never, never, slam face-first into a solid stone wall!” Just then, via their shared mind-to-mind link arrived Chippers words of: “Oh pretty!”

Elsa sat there, unsure and torn between two different courses that opened up before her – does she go to help her spirit-companion, or does she try to bypass the stone collapse and get to Nelson first? For one of the few times in her life, she hesitated, bodily rocked in place, and chewed on her lower lip as tears began to fill her eyes; she desperately needed to know, was Nelson alive? Was the grotto even intact given the massive earthquake set off by Chipper?

For that matter, might Nelson, trapped within the Grotto, assume she and Chipper had perished, crushed under incalculable weight of stone and attempt to leave the labyrinth? So what should she do?

Then, thoroughly enjoying her misery, the beast-within howled in delight and said: “Oh the hopelessness of one who has lost ‘love’ and ‘hope’ and ‘the will to live’…”

Enraged beyond measure, Elsa unleashed a primal blast of psychic energy at the beast-within, and pitched face-first to the floor as the energy wracked her body almost as great as that of the beast. As she picked herself up again, a lone tear of blood upon her cheek, she smiled, pleased at the unholy howl of the beast that reverberated through her very being.

“Fine, I’ll start with the easy stuff first,” she said.

She opened her mind to reach Chipper and asked of him: “Chipper, are you alright! Blast it, open up to me, I know you can mind-speak to me even if your rodent body is out…” She waited for a minute, then two, and finally a third until the first glimmer of response arrived.

“Ugh, no need to shout Elsa. First I’m alright; second, I accidently brought down more of the area than I had anticipated, even with the earth primordial assisting. THAT was the ‘big brother’ the shrine earth-spirits had told us of; and because you will ask, it has relayed a message to me from them via ‘the song of stone within stone’ – I have no idea so don’t ask.” Elsa smiled as she sensed a mental shrug from Chipper. He continued: “Nelson and Sparkle are alive; the grotto is intact and the area I’m stuck in is just to the north of it but can make it there via the rat-tunnels; give me about three days to make it.”


“Is Nelson alright? And of Sparkle?”she asked her spirit-companion.

He replied, “I believe so, for the earth-spirits message said none within the grotto were injured…” for a moment Elsa wondered why he paused. She mulled it over and nodded; Chipper was in communion with the earth-spirits and held her peace until he continued. “Nelson has been permitted entry to the second shrine, same as us when we return to the grotto. Most of the connecting passages are collapsed Elsa, you have a day or more of travel to reach any that lead back here. Do not worry about Mechanus. The Guardians forces are already clashing with his, and over half the mechanical contraptions perished in my earthquake.”

Elsa shook her head and rolled her eyes to the heavens. “Fine then, I’ll head on my way. I want to see that stuff you discovered Chipper. It may have information we need; if anything, duplicate it with your magic and head to the grotto at your fastest speed. We still have to watch for any automata of Mechanus or other creatures which may find the grotto after this quake; and try, please try, not to bring down the house again.”

Chipper tentatively said to her: “I’ll try my best not to set off another collapse…”

Elsa face-palmed herself, cursed and understood that was the best deal she would get from her rather unstable and eccentric companion. “Fine then Chipper, fine, just do the best you can; and at the least give me any bit of warning you can if the house has to come down. I have this thing about dodging massive boulders and getting squished between them: it hurts rather badly.”

She turned to the wall of debris, examined it and then drew a spell-endowed gemstone from a pouch.

“Hope this will open it up,” she whispered and focused her will upon the gemstone. The magic within flared to life and leaped from her hand to the debris; white-hot tendrils of fire struck against stone, time and again, as it stove to overcome and force a breach in the unyielding material. On and on it went, until a half-minute passed and the spell expired, unable to complete its designated function.

In wide-eyed disbelief and incomprehension Elsa looked from the debris, to the now shattered gemstone, then back to the debris. Time and again she repeated this, unable to figure out how such powerful magic could fail so utterly; she looked at the walls and ceiling, confirmed that in this region the crystalline-webs were intact. In the end, she used up five more spell-endowed gemstones; to no effect.

Finally, Elsa looked at the debris itself and face-palmed herself a moment later. “Flowstone, it’s a blasted area of flowstone! The blasted stuff absorbs magic hurled at it and only grows denser as a result. Like normal I just act first and think second, when in the cosmos am I going to learn?”

“Blast it, blast it, blast it all,” Elsa cursed as she pounded the walls with such force that stone spider-webbed or was reduced to fine dust. As her eyes blazed with eldritch power, she grabbed a boulder and hurled it as if made of parchment, then a second, a third, and more. Fifteen minute of hard-exertion opened a hole wide enough for her to squeeze through and she raced on her way.

No matter what, she had to get to Nelson and be with her beloved; for he represented the one thing she had so long ago abandoned: hope.

As for the few monsters, the living dead, and other beasts too obscure or bizarre to describe, they faced one of two choices: let her pass in peace, or perish at her hands. Though all too soon she gasped, for on her forearm she beheld the image of a jade tiger that had never been there before.

₰


​

Chipper stood there, unable to believe the simple mandate given to him by Elsa. He rolled his eyes and shook his head as his tail wind milled from his frustration. “She simply said for me to make a copy of the entire area with my magic so it can be examined and used later on. Will she ever stop being so stubborn headed, and just one time consider that I may actually know what I’m talking about…”

He sighed and threw his forepaws wide as he took in the entire old tomb he had burrowed into. The main hall alone stood three hundred paces long, thirty wide and twice that in height; every square inch was covered in softly glowing hieroglyphs. Of more importance to him though, were the seven tiger-statues which stood one after another alongside the walls; one of them had a barely-legible inscription at the bottom that read: Keeper of the gate. Politeness is the key, when violence abides not, courtesy will yield much goodness and generosity.

Chipper sighed again and said: “Time to get to work, here is another day or three in delays to me getting back with the others.” He paused for a moment, and pondered the jade tiger which had appeared on his forepaw, then, with a shrug of his shoulders, he selected a portion of the wall, paced off the area his best magic would cover, and started the long chain of tasks ahead of him.

₰


​

The great complex of interconnected chambers echoed with the din of battle being waged. From atop a stone outcropping The Guardian watched as his minions struck hard at the swarms of Horrors; time and again his shock troops, aided by the terrible magic of the manta-like Cloakers worked in conjunction to annihilate one such gathering after another of the mechanical beings.

A great shout and screech of bending metal drew his attention to the side, and he shouted in joy, his great axe held high, as three of the great mechanical giant-like Horrors collapsed. He watched as a half-dozen beetle like creatures swarmed over the metallic remains and caressed the shells with feathery antennae; instantly, wherever they touched, metal was reduced to fine rust.

He turned to one cavern entrance and beheld a score or more of the giant-like Horrors advance. He motioned for other rust-inducing beetles to be loosed upon them; but first he focused his will and called upon his mental magic and clenched his fist. Five of their number halted, and struggled against invisible bands of force which ensnared them. A heartbeat later, all five were crushed, reduced to scrap and twisted mechanisms. Inspired by the great display of their liege, more of the Guardians minions surged forward and breached the front line.

The Guardian leaped to the ground, willed the endowed magic of his great axe to life and charged into the mass of giant-like creatures. “Forward my minions, forward, the hour of our victory is now at hand!” In a whirlwind of devastation Horrors fell by the score, great and small alike, and soon his forces cleared nearly half of the interconnected chambers of their fell enemies.

The Guardian called forward a portion of his reserves, determined to finish this once and for all, when, from the largest passage came the tauroid creature he hoped to face and at defeat: Mechanus.

At long last, fires alive in their eyes, the two beings roared and charged, and as great axe crossed against trident, the final battle between The Guardian and Mechanus had begun.

₰₰


​

The pentagon-shaped shrine measured thirty paces across, and half that in height; the great cathedral ceiling supported by beams of carved golden-wood five feet thick, between them were set a thousand gleaming veins of precious gems and metals that highlighted scenes from a thousand worlds. Each of the six walls was carved in scenes of great primordial forests, untouched by the hands of sentient beings; intermixed with them, legendary creatures great and small pranced, played, flew or courted without fear or interruption.

Nelson stood at the entrance, slack-jawed at the sheer magnificence he beheld. “And I thought the first shrine was spectacular. Even the twin doors, with the great figures made of precious gems, pale before this.” He let Sparkle slide out from his sleeve, and checked that the magical defenses he had emplaced – protections against fire, acid, and other elemental forces; the stone-hard skin defense, and more. He was taking no chances with her safety.

He stepped forward, the steady, rhythmic bubbling of sparkling waters from five majestic fountains in the centre of the shrine. Inward facing phoenix statues of pure gold protected them, along with three rings of phoenixes carved into the shrines floor. Nelson sensed that the entire mixture of fountains, statues and carvings held great magic within their depths; nevertheless he was unable to discern even the least clue from his first examination.

The first glance he took of the floor caused him to do a double-take, for he had assumed, wrongly, the carvings thereupon were great gardens rich in life. Upon a closer examination, each portion of a scene turned out to be a text written in a unique language. Some he could read, others suspected, and a few he believed to be magical lore or spells awaiting translation. On one occasion, when his hand brushed on one shrub, there played a haunting melody so longing that even the emotionless earth-spirits who guarded the shrine were moved.

Intrigued and encouraged by this oddity, Sparkle slipped free of his robe sleeve and began to move from spot to spot, turning it into a game to activate the most melodious and haunting of songs. She quickly discerned how to achieve this, and finally began to draw forth those which reminded her of Elsa’s mannerism of speech, laughter, cries of joy and despair, and on one occasion the wails of rapturous bliss when she and Nelson were deep in a moment of intimacy.

Nelson shook his head, and as the heat of his cheeks build, recalled seeing some of the writings in the ancient journal. He said: “This would be a linguists dream come true. Enough languages are here as to keep a thousand people filled with work and hope for their lifetimes, and even only a small amount of knowledge may be gained.”

He turned to the boulder-shaped, two-legged, wide-grinning, earth-spirit who stood next to him, bowed to the creature and said: “Thank you shrine-guardian. This will take us days, or even weeks, to decipher even one small portion of all within these walls; I hope we can solve it, though at this time I have no idea where to even begin.”

Nelson paused and asked of the shrine-guardian: “Will we be allowed to exit, and to return to, the shrine as needed?”

The shrine-guardian nodded, and Nelson gave off a great sigh of relief, glad to know he will not be cooped up in this place for weeks on end as with the first shrine. “Good, Elsa and Chipper are at least a day or more out from the grotto; this will give me some time to get an idea for what mysteries are present. I hope they do not run into Mechanus or his minions. If that happens, I see no way I can crack this mystery on my own…and other reasons as well.”

The earth-spirit, guardian of the shrine said in a voice of akin to stone grinding on stone: “Mechanus battles with the Guardian; one shall emerge victorious before the day is out. The ones called Elsa, and Chipper the insane squirrel will be safe for the most part. There is another who watches, who aids the Guardian and who in turn, will come to aid you in the future, if you make it to the gateway.” With that the shrine-guardian turned around and strode out of the shrine, leaving Nelson quite confounded.

₰

​

Over the next two days Nelson moved from spot to spot, a large journal floating at his side, Elsa’s journal open before him, each suspended on magical hands of transparent force. In each area examined, anything which drew his interest, attention, hunches and the like were magically written into the regular journal; before long, he had several hundred pages of information, and wracked his brain to find even the simplest of solutions to anything he was seeing.

No matter what, after experiencing the terrifying might which protected the Labyrinths secrets, he determined that only a systematic investigation would yield results. One area held his interest more than the rest, an ancient writing in the script of the angels; taught to him as a first-language by his mother, he discovered much of the ruined cities history, how the shrines had been built, and even the fact a being with her name had been involved in the effort.

Within the hauntingly beautiful melodies he recorded the formula for over three-score and twelve new magical spells. Those he set aside for later study, yet he felt the power of the song in his blood, and grew a bit fearful when Sparkle commented on how his eyes glowed with golden fire as the melodies played.

“Sparkle,” he said, and looked around to ensure she was staying out of trouble. He had forbidden her to get close to the fountains or the phoenix carvings. He watched as she stood a short distance from one, her forepaws going through the complex passes for a simple spell; then, to his consternation, he watched a small, dragon-paw of magical force appear and approach the phoenix-symbol which glowed with iridescent fires.

Nelson leaped forward, landed in a roll and picked up a squealing, alarmed Sparkle with one hand as he spoke a single word of power and clenched into a ball. A mystical shield of golden light flowed over them, followed a moment later by a second as the magical trap detonated: hellish forces of pressure, heat, force, lightning and more enveloped the shrine; Nelson held Sparkle closer to his chest as he struggled for breath, the very air sucked out of his lungs, and moisture sucked out of his exposed flesh.

Finally, after nearly half a minute, the holocaust ceased and Nelson lowered the magical barrier. He sat up and gasped for air, his lungs heaved like a bellows, and a quick examination showed his entire exposed facial and arm hairs reduced to ash by the intense heat, his hair had been rendered in half, and smoldered for some time despite his best efforts to extinguish it.

Sparkle looked at him and asked via their mind-to-mind link: “Are you alright? I didn’t mean to trigger that fire papa; I didn’t mean to…” She began to sniffle and cry from the nightmare she had inadvertently unleashed.

Nelson worked for nearly an hour to calm her down, and was relieved to see that not only had Elsa’s journal been untouched, but his own as well. He called his rams-headed staff to his hand and snorted brimstone from his nose as he said: “Sparkle, this is why I keep such magical protections on you. This place can be extremely dangerous. Consider this a learning experience; speaking of which, how could you cast that spell, very few dragons can do that until their second or third decade of life.”

Sparkle looked at him and said: “The songs. They teach me how to do this and that, I try many but I cannot make them work.” She explained, and shared via their mind-to-mind link, all she had learned and discovered in the songs. He was stunned to discover her new-found knowledge, some two-hundred magical spells, many of which she would be centuries away from casting as normal dragon abilities developed.

She warbled at him afraid she had done something wrong.

He picked her up and looked into her eyes, she asked via their shared mind-to-mind link: “We make our home here? Much knowledge and magic; much song and happiness, you and Elsa cat-girl mate make other playmates for me? Have nice home, good lair for Sparkle to grow up in and gather all bits of treasure? Nelson and Elsa live here and have much treasure, as well as furry meal on legs with whirling tail stays with us?”

Nelson chuckled, amazed at the view of his little spirit-companion. He put his staff down beside him and again tried to convince Sparkle that Chipper was not a meal or a chew toy, he was a friend. Yet she still insisted on calling him ‘furry meal on legs’ or ‘playmate to gnaw on’ and such.

Determined to change the subject he said to her: “Sparkle, the shrine is not going to be our permanent home. A few days, or weeks at most; depending on when Elsa and Chipper get here and how long it takes to solve all the secrets of this place to get to the next shrine. Again Sparkle, I have to warn you, touch nothing unless I or Elsa say to do so; I do not want you to suffer for triggering a trap or more like Chipper has done a couple of times. This last one was too close by far; and unlike Chipper, you are not immortal. I said this from the beginning, there is great danger in this place, along with great wonder you will get to see with your own eyes in due time.”

Sparkle licked her lips as a small blast of brimstone-filled flame escaped, and she sent to him: “Chipper, yes, the furry little one who is fun to chase, to play with and turn into dinner; you want part?”

She looked at Nelson with some confusion as he blanched at the thought of roasted squirrel. Then, at long last, as Nelson opened his mind in full to her, she understood Chipper was Elsa’s spirit-companion.

Her eyes flared with power and she crawled from Nelsons shoulder to his forearm and apologetically said: “Oh. No eat little furry dingbat pest who is companion of Elsa cat-girl. Humble dragon apologizes for my misunderstanding.”

He laughed as she stood and gave him a cute little bow, almost falling off of his arm in the process. He said to her: “Right, no eating Chipper for Elsa would get mad at you and me.” Nelson shook his head as the shrine-guardian chuckled from just outside the door.

He double-checked that his magical wards, defenses and other prepared spells were at the ready. The time had arrived in which he dreaded and feared the most – time to explore the deeper secrets of the shrine, and hoped he did not accidentally annihilate himself in the process. He said to Sparkle: “Its time to delve deeper into the shrines secrets. Again, do not touch anything unless I or Elsa tells you. It is vital that you understand this Sparkle; I and Elsa have nearly perished many a time due to Chippers overexcited ways and eccentric nature. We have enough mysteries this last couple of days…”

Nelson looked at his forearm, where, just a day before, appeared a jade-tiger tattoo, and he still wondered what its meaning was. Sparkle leaned close to it and ran her dainty talons over the intricate design, then quickly pulled back as it glowed, and faintly growled in warning.

He said to Sparkle: “That’s a mystery for a later time. I wonder if the Phoenix-statues around the grotto are linked to the shrine in some unexpected way.”

He shrugged his shoulders and took a seat before one fountain. With a deep breath he called his journal and that of Elsa’s over to his side. With infinite care he took the ancient book into his hands and began to read the great mass of material within. For hours on end he compared words, images and symbols written on paper to that on the floor, walls and ceiling; and to those in his journal, then, and at long last, rubbed weary eyes as he conceded defeat for the day.

After stowing the journal he took up his rams-headed staff, and exited the shrine. Nelson bowed to the shrine-guardian and said: “I shall return in the morning, if anything occurs please let me know so I can be of any assistance. I have the feeling that this shrine and whatever Chipper has discovered is more important than we realize at the moment. If it’s this hard to find the gateway, I cannot imagine what challenges await us when we find the first of the seven tigers; assuming we actually do.”

Sparkle alighted upon his shoulder and she pointed to the nearby phoenix-statues which pulsated and glowed with an inner flame. Nelson nodded and thanked her as he yawned, then said: “Another mystery for later, thanks for spotting it Sparkle.”

₰


​

Halfway back to camp Sparkle screamed, Nelson whirled and saw a shadowy figure, almost a wraith-like form emerge from the heap of boulders and debris behind him. As he cursed himself for lowering his guard in the grotto, his hand came up and he shouted a cabalistic word of power, and unleashed the enhanced magic upon the figure.

A white-hot blast of lightning shot forth, forked and forked again to impale the figure ten times in a heartbeat; then the savage forces, enhanced to rend and dissipate ghost-like undead struck again. As the figure staggered under the reaveing magic, he unleashed two brilliant gold ribbons of sacred fire and mentally guided them to attack his foe.

As the ribbons advanced, he called six more, each of faceted diamond-ice mixed with golden fire and struck, for he was determined to annihilate this foe once and for all. But to his consternation, he witnessed his foe continue forward, apparently unfazed by the lightning; and banished each ribbon of sacred fire with a shouted word of power.

He leveled his staff at the creature, prepared to unleash the ultimate ghost-rending magic stored within, when he recognized the melodious laughter of the damned that suddenly erupted. Suddenly excited, and chagrinned at how close he came to blasting her, he asked: “Elsa? What in the blasted realm of Hades happened to you?”

Elsa stood before him and shook a vast amount of soot, ash and the like from her cloak and armor. She gave off a snort of disgust filled with brimstone and pulled back her hood as she declared: “Blasted thing nearly charred all of my stuff.” She looked at Nelson, grinned and let him look her over.

Nelson cringed, for he beheld the damage wrought upon her. Luscious hair, eyelashes, brows and most of her tail fur were reduced to ash and soot; her exposed skin showed more pink of recent healing than not, and the rest was a canvas of bruising to one degree or another. As she stripped off her cloak, armor and other gear when they walked to their camp, he cringed again at the sight of her clothing reduced to little more than smoldering rags.

She limped so badly that he gently took her into his arms, and carried her, the rest of the way, and laid her down upon their bedrolls.

When he sat next to her, Nelson reached out with his hands and said: “Elsa, I know I’m only a second rate priest as of today, let me do for you what I can. You’ve been pounded worse than I assumed anyone could survive, even one with your considerable stamina…”

Elsa grabbed his wrist, and then withdrew it as fast when he hissed. She gulped as he clutched it, the area now blackened and smoldering though it was coated with frost. “I’m sorry Nelson, I never meant to hurt you; but I had to keep you from using any healing magic on me…”

He looked at her, and shook his head when he saw the fear and pain in her eyes. Sparkle came over and rubbed her head against Elsa, which seemed to reassure her that all was fine. He said to Elsa: “Please Elsa, if you truly trust me by now, will you tell me. What happened just now: is this part of the beast that is within you and a part of you? Or is there something else, as I have suspected for a time…”

She lowered her head as a tear of blood flowed down her cheek. She said: “In part Nelson, I’m not sure of all of it; long ago I awoke into this world, almost fully grown and, as you know, enslaved by those same magicians for their foul ends. The creature, the ‘beast-within’ is a being of the Far Realms…”

At Nelson’s curious look, she explained: “The Far Realms is a place beyond all known realities and dimensions. Even the gods, or the most powerful of elder titans, have no power in that place. All that I can definitely state is that any of the entities native to its depths are abominations: nightmares given life, shape, form and who often seek to destroy or pervert reality to their whim and wishes.”

Nelson silently nodded, and waited for her to continue.

After composing her thought, she did: “The beast-within is a part of me. It is as much a part of my heritage as is the cat-folk and Rashaska blood in me. For want of a better term, I am a mixture of the living dead and the fully living: a half-blood, or vampere, to use the more ancient elven-term.”

She sighed, not wanting to reveal any more, but committed to the path, for he did have a right to know. He had earned that level of trust many times over. “When an opportunity arose – no I will say no more on that part – I did battle with the ‘beast-within’ and defeated it. In that victory I won my freedom and a fair degree of control over old beastie.”

Nelson gently touched her cheek: “So now I understand how you are affected by healing magic: it is a bane to your very existence.”

Elsa nodded: “Yes, you have it right. I can wield a fair range of priestly magic, being a Sh’air after all, as you now are. The problem is, since our patron power is a deity of knowledge, goodness, and such, the act of using that magic causes me much harm: just as you seen with the effigy near the old tower. Again, when magical healing is used upon me, the kind which restores health, stamina, cures blindness and sickness or the like; it has the reverse effect on me. That is why I had to stop you Nelson; to my system such is poisonous, and probably would have finished me off indeed.”

She looked upon him with tear-filled eyes, and wondered if she would lose his love for good. “As you know, I can regenerate from the most terrific of wounds to one degree or another; yet in the tunnels shy of the grotto, I ran into a small problem on the way back. An overgrown fire-breathing monstrosity of the Far Realm; big, bad, ugly, foul-smelling, meaner than the devil, and overbearing in its gloating; oh and it had sixteen heads that breathed dark-fire.”


“My stars Elsa,” Nelson said as he shook his head and cuddled Sparkle in his lap. “You call such a brute a ‘small problem’? I would hate to see what you call a major one then? Of course, between you, me, Chipper and Sparkle it would not remain a ‘major problem’ for long.”

Elsa grinned: “If Malevolence had not been weakened as much as he had by Gloom, then my battle with him would have been much harder. That blasted Duke of Hell underestimated me. When I chose to, my mere touch can drain the life-essence of a being completely: nothing is left, save for a desiccated husk. What terrifies those who are true immortals, such a devil or demon, is that if they had been physically brought to another reality, such as in the Labyrinth, then the death I deal kills them for eternity.”

“So the Duke of Hell is gone for good?” Nelson asked, his voice filled with awe at what Elsa had done. He held out his hand to her and the two clasped hands. “I said before Elsa, I will never leave your side of my own violation; I’m in this with you to the end. I know the seven Jade Tigers are needed to free you from the brute inside.”

He paused, and asked: “Would I be wrong in assuming the ‘beast-within’ is going to be under control for a time?”

When she nodded he asked of her, “How did you come to be Elsa? I have heard of reincarnation magic, but not like you describe; if you know anything of it…”

“I was ‘created’ or ‘birthed’ into this form by magical reincarnation. My old self, for want of a better term, was but a young child when a magical plague claimed my life and probably of my mother as well.” Elsa folded her legs and let her tail twitch.

She continued: “I found the original village where I was birthed and lived until the plague came, and that my childhood name was Nia; I don’t even know my actual age, save that the first real memory I recall is from about one-hundred fifty years ago. That’s all I can say on my heritage…other than having been given, to torment me one time by Hedrick, a name: my mothers…”

“Who was she?” Nelson asked.

“Her name was Charity, other than that I know nothing more,” Elsa said. “So tell me of what you found in the shrine, or the area around it.”

She slowly drifted off to sleep as he excitedly detailed everything, and smiled as he described the musical magic revealed to Sparkle.

“The songs are one of the keys, of that much we can be assured of…” she muttered as sleep finally claimed her.

Nelson covered her up, amazed at how fast her injuries were healing, and lay down next to her. No matter what, he resolved then and there that the seven Jade Tigers would be found to free her from the beast-within.

₰₰​

The strange man roamed amidst the great gardens and smiled; a move that caused many to scramble out of his way. He paused in the midst of a great grove of multi-hued roses, and went to one knee before the statue of a great female angel who held a young babe in her arms. He laid at the base of her sandaled feet a lone crystalline lily that shone like a thousand diamonds in the daylight.

As he stood, people watched, for even the most dark-hearted devil of Hades recognized and respected both the solemnity of the moment, and the absolute power of the man himself. The strange man stood, faced the statue and bowed as he said: “Soon, my mother, soon. Justice has been denied for too long; and I have no idea why father has not allowed me to extract it by my own hand. I still don’t understand why you left father and me, and why in time you choose to bear another child that cost you your life…”

With that the strange man withdrew from the rose garden, and sent a telepathic message to the Guardian as he strolled along: “Congratulations on your defeat of Mechanus and its minions. The Labyrinth has almost been secured and scourged of the minions of Sojourner and Primus. The lesser warlords who could have challenged you are destroyed, or scattered to the furthest recesses they can flee to; no matter what, you are the master of the place again. Only the recharge mage remains, and this one must be left to Elsa and her companions; only she has the ability to destroy it for good. Of course, this assumes they make it from the second to the third shrine. I wonder how much of the magical treasures they will acquire from the shrine before they depart?”

The Guardian responded: “Knowing them, quite a bit; I imagine the human lad has already acquired many magical spells; his little dragon the same. I hope they survive the mysteries they will confront between the second and third shrines. Old Sparky shall put them to the test in and of itself; and thank you for the usage of the primordial’s, thanks to the efforts of that insane squirrel, I only had to call upon one of them to aid in the final battle. The companions shall be reunited within a hand count of days; from there, no telling what will happen.”

The strange man said: “True, very true. That band has been a non-stop stream of surprises from day to day; the labyrinth has been changed forever by their efforts. I wonder what else shall come in the next few days.”

He shook his head: “I never expected that Elsa would have become so much in command of the ‘beast-within’ or that she even knew of Charity. I only fear what father will attempt to do to Elsa should she ever reach the limits of Stars Rift…’

He cleared his thoughts of the matter, having to begin the day’s classes before him.

 

Sparkle has become my favourite character, now.
"Dinner..."
LOL

 

Glad you like Sparkle, she has a few more surprises in store. Aside from 'Dinner...'

 

₰₰ Book One: Twenty Six ₰₰
​

In the endless maze of rat-tunnels Chipper ran afoul of one more dead end and cursed his ill-fortune. “Blast this mess, it took me nearly three days to copy all of the stuff in the tomb, and to get this far. By now those two love birds have established a gaggle of kids to the third and fourth generation….” He paused, held his forepaws to the stone and silently cast a magical spell; from the subtle vibrations he picked up in the stone, a rough map of the surrounding caverns, chambers and tunnels formed in his mind.

“Oh well,” he said, “once again I wound up majorly off-course in these blasted tunnels. Good thing Elsa does not know I’m all but lost in this region or she would never let me hear the end of it.” He headed off in a blur of hyper-excited energy and bypassed many a startled creature that would have enjoyed a quick snack. No matter how he moved, high or low, one compass point to another, he could make no progress; even with his map-generating magic employed, no direct route to the grotto could be found.

Finally, again faced with a wall of solid flowstone, he paced about in pure frustration, debating and analyzing all he knew of the problem. He rapped his fist on his head, he concluded: “I am a fool; the grotto had magic surrounding it which prevents it from being detected in this means. It’s the same reason I cannot directly contact Elsa or her pesky mate. So I have to do this the old fashion way, pick a direction and head out to see where it goes; I have to get this information to Elsa, she is going to flip when she understands what I found in that tomb.”

In his moment of inattention Chipper allowed a predator to close, undetected until it was far too late.

The strange-looking creature resembled a gaunt, fleshy spider with four legs instead of eight. Twin tentacles protruded from its shoulders, swung high over its head and dripped with caustic slime that dissolved stone. A bluish-green glow emanated from its armored hide, while sickly blue-grey lightning danced in the air around it.

Chipper backed up, knowing the monstrosity he faced would be a major challenge for him: “Of all my ill-born luck, it had to be a Mind Shredder.”

He knew these beings, creatures from the Far Realms, were formidable mind mages, even a runt such as stood before him. “Fine then, down to business!” he shouted and brought his forepaws up, shouted out words of power that shook the surrounding stones and unleashed a gray beam of deadly reaveing magic. He watched the beam surge towards his deadly adversary, who reared back in shock and horror, for it knew the fate that was moments away: utter annihilation as its body was systematically torn apart, atom by atom, under the magical onslaught…

Normally that is; for Chipper howled in rage as the beam bent, warped and flowed into the flowstone just shy of the creature. He said: “Blast it already, damn that magic absorbing flowstone…” twice more in rapid succession he unleashed the greatest annihilating magic he knew; determined to destroy the Mind Shredder while he held the slim edge of surprise over it; again to no effect, for the flowstone drank the magic like water cast upon parched earth.

“Oh nuts!” he screamed as his fur stood on end, the Mind Shredder reared back, great sparkles of lights floated around its body and a great mind-rending psychic scream surged forth; the purple-tinted wave swept down the tunnel with such speed Chipper knew he would not escape the brunt of its wrath…

Then, as the Mind Shredder reared in confusion and shock, Chipper howled and hooted, knowing the tables have decisively turned in his favor. For the very same accursed flowstone that sucked up his magic; absorbed the psychic energy with contemptible ease, and thus rendered his foes most potent attacks utterly irrelevant.

Chipper grinned, and let his eyes gleam with pure delight. “Alright, time to do this the old fashion way…”

He leaped forward in a blur of motion and became a whirlwind of claws and teeth that tore into the nightmare given life. The creature fought hard for its life, and scored many a vicious, flesh-dissolving hit upon the squirrel, yet in the end it succumbed to the massive hole bored into its body by an enraged rodent.

Chipper climbed upon its carcass, covered in hissing blue-green gunk that stank like nothing else, and gave off a whoop of victory. He carried on a great dance of delight for some time, and wondered what Elsa would think once he found her again.

Unfortunately his noise-making drew the attention of another five Mind Shredders, each much larger and far more deadly than the first, and battle was swiftly, savagely joined for a second time that day.

Minutes later Chipper raced on down the tunnel covered in gunk that came from the now sundered aberrations; he struggled to hold his breath as he ran, and had to repeatedly stop to suck in desperately needed air. After each such instant, he nearly retched, for no matter how hard he tried, he could not get the foul-smelling gunk off of his fur and paws.

“At the least, no insane creature will come within half a mile of me. The smell alone will be enough to keep them at bay…” He said after entering a small cavern, and looked around as his chest heaved like a bellows; then he heard the soft plop-plopping of a creature on the approach, and one not concerned with stealth. He moved from one spot to another, and spied the next rat-tunnel entrance amidst heaps of rotting organic material.

“Time to go…” he said to himself as he sped straight for the hole; then screamed and dove aside as not one but ten of the heaps stirred, and rose to three times the size of a man. “Oh nuts,” he shouted, for he knew the beasts of organic refuse were sentient plants, and nigh unstoppable. “Shamblers, this is not going to be easy…”

So began another chaos-filled moment in Chippers already hectic day.

₰₰



​

Nelson watched as Elsa examined one set of floor-carved inscriptions. “Anything?” he asked of her, as usual she simply shook her head in the negative.

For three days, while they waited for the return of Chipper, the two of them had concentrated on cracking the shrines secrets. As usual, they teased a few of the easiest out, the melodies and script which held magical knowledge; discerned that some of the hieroglyphic combinations, when touched in the proper sequence, revealed deeper mysteries that remained unsolved.

At the same time, as Nelson watched Elsa’s ears flare back against her skull, and her tail nervously tap on the floor, he reminded himself: the shrine guarded its secrets with deadly traps. Already they had, just this day, done battle with a half dozen summoned creature of living stone, and one great beast made of living light that neither had seen before. They had won, but still, as he observed that Elsa kept one hand on the hem of her cloak, anything can happen with little warning.

Elsa smiled as she tapped a sequence of images, and called forth a chain of melodies that quickened his blood, and inspired his soul; and he asked: “Any idea what we have Elsa? More magical lore or unknown spells? Maybe this time we have a means to open the door, wherever it is in this place?”

Elsa simply ignored him, for she discerned something greater before her. In a moment of pure impish humor she muttered loud enough for Nelson to hear: “Push here and summon one demon lord capable of destroying the entire cosmos? Okay…”

She put her fingertip above the image and smiled as Nelson screamed for her to halt, and then laughed hard and long at the chagrinned look on his face when he understood she had been joking all along. She said, “Actually Nelson, we have something here…”

He gave her a lecherous look and said, “Indeed, your breasts are as lovely as ever my dear. Though how you keep from feeling a draught without any clothing on is beyond me my love…”

In a moment of confusion Elsa looked down and saw all of her clothing, cloak and armor had vanished; and then she saw them neatly stacked by the rest of her gear. She sat up, touched her bared skin and stammered: “How, how did you…of course, I should have known.”

She shook her head as Nelson dismissed the illusion he had woven around her. “Well done Nelson,” she said and double-checked that her real clothing and armor were just that. Then she burst out into sensuous laughter as Nelson, now calmly floating yoga-style in the air, graced her skin with tiny electric sensations that thrilled each erotic portion he knew of; in moments she was gasping, cooing and mewling in passionate delight until she hit her climax moments later.

On her hands and knees she gave him a coy look that promised pleasure and doom in equal measure and said: “You do know I intend to get back at you for that?” When he grinned she returned to the matter at hand and tapped one hieroglyph twice, paused, and tapped it again, the garden displayed on the floor morphed into another set of carved script.

Elsa examined them and looked at the central fountains, then to the phoenix-statues. “Look here Nelson,” she said as she indicated a sequence of hieroglyphs, “it’s the same as the other three parts we cracked. Tap in the right sequence, or coordinates, for arrival and departure, and you can cross the areas of the Labyrinth instantly. Remember how that priest escaped through the shrine as Mechanus overran the city? He used one or more of these to control the means of egress from the region – to near, or, hopefully, into the third shrine.”

Nelson looked at her, and ensured Sparkle continued to slumber within his robes, for her safety. He bent down and studied the patterns, then nodded: “I think your right. The crystalline-webs, the phoenix-statues, and so much more are interlinked; that’s how the city fell to Mechanus. The question is, how much remains intact, which we can use? What survived the fall of the city, subsequent centuries, and our own upheaval of the region may not get us anywhere. To be honest, I don’t even know where to begin if we had to rebuild even a small portion of it.”

₰


​

Chipper leaped from one rocky outcropping to the next, always one step ahead of his numerous foes. Time and again the brutes - demon-headed, human-sized, gaunt-bodied, magic-wielding, bat-creatures called Varran – unleashed volley upon volley of magical death. White-hot lightning arced out, great blasts of stone-melting fire, caustic acid, and deadly clouds of smoke sought to end his life; yet not one came close, no matter what pattern or techniques employed.

Finally, one of the elders of their species understood what was happening, and unleashed a gray beam upon the squirrel. Instantly, the magical illusion, so well woven as to fool them for many a minute, vanished into thin air.

Of course, having anticipated they would employ this very tactic, the multiple death-dealing spells Chipper had woven into it struck, and struck hard.

A tempest of lightning, fire, acid and concussive force destroyed over thirty of their number. Others, gravely wounded, were set upon by their merciless kin, torn to pieces, and became an instant, grizzly feast. The others spotted the real form of Chipper as he scrambled from cover to cover.

“Augh, enough already,” Chipper howled as he fled across the chamber, desperate to reach the next entrance to the rat-tunnels. The all-too-early destruction of his illusionary distraction complicated his plan immensely; he had barely reached the half way point of the great cavern, when the remaining Varran rushed at him. With a quickly cast spell, his speed redoubled and the world around him slowed to a crawl as he accelerated in time and space.

The Varran managed to close the distance though, and unleashed two dozen barrages of magic; one close burst of lightning hurled him through the air, and he had to halt long enough to unleash a chain of deadly lightning and sun-hot fire to scatter them. In an instant, he bolted for his life, and dove into the rat-tunnels just moments before the lead beast would have snared him in its claws.

The Varran halted, flew around, and gave off shrill cries of anger, rage and disgust at their prey having escaped; all of this redoubled a moment later when Chipper rushed back into the open, and stuck his tongue at them, only to disappear into the tunnels as the Varran chief, a sorcerer equal to Elsa in power and ability, unleashed a great magical curse at the squirrel, and laughed as it took effect.

₰


​

Elsa stood and shook her head. She said: “Even with my knowledge of portals, teleportation devices and the like I would be hard pressed to repair the system. As for fabricating one from scratch; forget it; that is well past my ability. This system used a hundred or more magicians and creatures greater than them to create it in the first place.”

She ran her fingers through the stubble of Nelsons hair and kissed him, “Are you still having those dreams of the angels? I had hoped they would not trouble you so.”

“I don’t get it myself Elsa; this place is holy to angelic beings. We have uncovered over a thousand new spells; and even more esoteric lore.” He hesitated, and then said to her, “last night, as with the vision I had at the first set of double-doors, the angels in my dream spoke to me. They guided me though the magical spells we have recovered, and showed me new variations of them, or ways to use them. Much of it is illusionary magic greater than my current skills allow usage of; yet they are there for when I reach that ability.”

Elsa nodded excitedly, smiled and said: “And you are learning new magic of the priesthood; in the process the knowledge, magical and esoteric, has become a portion of your being. That’s why you are finding less and less need to study your spell book; and for that matter, already have mastered the new magic you recovered before I got back to the grotto, almost instinctive?”

He looked at her, shocked and asked: “How did you know?”

She kissed him on the forehead and said: “Because, I have been where you are previously, soon after my own magical abilities. Each of us, the few beings in the cosmos, who employ priestly and wizardly magic in one, began with one or the other as our chosen profession. When our higher, divine patrons call to us and we join in their service, then we slowly grow and transform; both kinds of magic become open to us; and the very magic we learn is mastered many times quicker than normal magicians or priests can.”

She continued, “Back at the first double doors, you learned some advanced magic you cannot use as of now; same with what you have learned in the shrine, and from your dreams.” Elsa gently tapped him on his forehead and said: “All of those cabalistic words, gestures, and such are in here; every one of them, yet it takes a great amount of LIFE being LIVED, to grow and command them. That is why I still wish I had never run into that damned life drinker; it took so much of that life from me, and while the magic I learned is still there; it will be years before I can actually wield it again.”

Nelson gestured at the stack of Elsa’s spell books atop her gear and asked, “Then why the ones you keep, if you have them known by heart? Why? I use gestures and cabalistic words; you simply use words of power; and old Chipper…he just uses plain old insanity.”

Elsa put her hands behind her back, shifted seductively on her heels and let her tail caress his thigh as she said to him: “First of all, the spells recorded in my books are there if I need to reference one, to trade one or more for new magic I have not seen and desire, or for general studies. there is always something to learn even for an old cat-girl like me. Also, while we master magic quickly, some magic we find still takes old fashion study of a few days or months to master. As for my own magic, lets leave it at this – we have separate recipes to the same results.”

“Respect the magic we wield, do not fear it but respect it,” he said. “Hence part of the reason why my illusion of you being nude only lasted for a moment; I still have much to learn about that spell. And I had wrongfully assumed I was onto something new. That spell I discovered in my book a few days ago, and until now have never really tried to cast.”

She shook her head, “That spell book of yours, I have to admit, it holds an almost unlimited amount of them. Plus all kinds of lore, knowledge, and much more that tells me that thing is greater than a commonplace spell book.”

He pulled the spell book from his pouch, and examined the small, stained, and battered book. “What makes this so special then?”

Elsa took it from him, opened it to a number of marked areas and had him look upon all within; each area held some of the newly uncovered spells from the shrine. “Do you see Nelson? Each one is perfectly copied, along with secrets, tips, insights and other esoteric lore of how the cabalistic words and gestures merge together. We have uncovered over a thousand new spells; and any traveling spell book, even a magical one, would have been filled twice over by this point. Yet this one holds over two-thousand spells that I can see of, and more advanced knowledge, lore and such in the back portions; and there is no limit to whatever it can hold.”

“You have a magical librarian, one of the rarest, and most prized of spell books you can imagine. I wish I had one for myself…” Elsa’s eyes flared wide in awe-struck wonder, her mouth hung slack as she beheld the book flare with golden fire and the book divided into two.

One floated into Nelsons hands, while the other left hers and floated to her spell books. Elsa watched with utter horror as the new book flared with a golden light and absorbed all of her magical lore within them, “NO! NOT all of that as well! That took me centuries to gather!” she screamed in rage.

She ranted and raged for some time, and howled in despair at all she assumed lost for good until a voice of absolute power called out to her, one with such force that shook the shrine to its foundations.

It said to her: “Fear not Elsa, for your wish has been granted. For over a century you have served me well; the magic which is yours is now contained in the one book. It is my gift to you, my faithful servant. You will need it, all that you have recovered from the shrine, and that which is still hidden within the journal.”

The voice continued “Chipper will be with you this night and has the secret of the gateway. Understand Elsa, long as your life has been, your truest trials will only commence when you reach and pass through the gateway to the greater cosmos; your final destination must be Stars Rift, and the Academy of the Arts; one who watches is waiting there for you, and much shall be made known. Understand Elsa, steel yourself well, for a terrible revelation will be encountered by you, and a greater evil revealed.”

“What terrible revelation?” Elsa whispered, shaken to the core of her being.

The voice replied: “A terrible one, be prepared for it Elsa.”

Elsa shuddered in absolute terror, for she seldom heard the clear voice of her patron deity as she had now. It thrilled and terrified her at the same time. Especially when she sensed there will be a day she shall need to deal with such a being in mortal combat.

Nelson wrapped his arms around her and asked: “Elsa, are you alright?”

She looked at Nelson and shook her head, her thoughts completely scrambled as the new spell book returned to her hands. It glistened with a jade tiger, akin to the one on her forearm, on its cover. “No Nelson, I’m not alright by a far. Please, just take me back to camp and make love to me for the night. I need to remember why I’m here and who I’m with; and that is you Nelson.”

“As you command my love,” Nelson said as he helped gather their gear, and swept her into his arms. He carried her back to their camp, and in the half-light of the campfire, serenaded by the waterfalls rhythmic melodies of life, they united as one in body and mind far into the night.

₰


​

Chipper raced down the tunnel and cursed every step of the way. “When, when will I learn not to be such a reckless fool and not do that again?” He paused, chuckled and said: “Yeah right; I’m a squirrel, yet I should have suspected one of those blasted Varran could employ cursed magic. I never expected one to be so, shall we say, creative?”

He looked at his fur and tail, and sighed, then wondered how he could undo this mess. “That blasted thing had to go and change my fur coloration to match every kind of iridescent fire possible; now I stand out like a lantern flame in the darkest of caverns. Elsa is going to tease me to no end of this…”

He shifted his head about, and then smiled, having recognized a particular cascading waterfall and the cries of joy coming from his Elsa and Nelson and sped on his way, moments later he skidded upon slickened stone and plunged into the flowing water, and was flung with them into the grotto.

Minutes later, he was welcomed by Elsa, Nelson and given a playful no-holds-bar chase by Sparkle, who wound up using him as a furry pillow for her slumber that night.

₰₰


​

In the night, unable to sleep Elsa wandered over to the shrine and spent several hours going over its surfaces. Time and again she sighed, shook her head, convinced that the secret for their continued travels were in plain sight. As her eyes fell upon the phoenix-statues and the fountains, she beheld something unusual: two of the statues had wings touching one upon the other; in partnership, and in defense of a nest carved with such skill and cunning she had almost missed it.

After pulling her cloak tight, incase she unleashed another holocaust or ten, she crouched before the nest area and lightly ran her fingers upon the surface. Golden and blue flames intertwined one with another, and played a soft, haunting melody of life, death and rebirth; a song she remembered faintly from a previous life that was and was not of her. She said: “Mama, I wish you could know me now; though I imagine you have been dead almost as long as I have lived. I cannot be sure even how long that has been, given so many things…”

Elsa gasped, as her words triggered the magic endowed in the statues and both phoenixes grew into a golden arch which filled with white mist. She recognized this as the true exit from the shrine, and gulped, unable to believe how simple this mystery had been solved. She thumped her forehead and said: “Stop dallying girl, get the others…”

She opened a telepathic communication to all of them, pure and simple: “Get up, gather our stuff and let’s get going everyone. The exit from the second shrine is open, and we need to go while it remains so. So move, move, move and move faster…”

Nelson, Sparkle and Chipper appeared at the shrine entrance in a blast of golden flames, the signature markings of a short-range teleportation magic. Elsa rolled her eyes, covered them with a hand and shook her head in sheer disbelief as all of their gear crashed to the floor around the trio; then she laughed loud and long when Nelson came up and said: “Nelsons Shipping Consortium, proprietor before you; we move stuff en mass, and get it there mostly intact…” His words trailed off as he beheld the exit.

Within a half hour, everything stowed and secured, gear worn and protective magic emplaced upon each of them, the companions passed through the white mist and into the land beyond where the third shrine awaited their discovery.

For that matter, so do many other dangerous foes, including the recharge mage ‘Old Sparky.’

 

Next chapter or two should be up this weekend.

 

₰₰ Book One: Chapter Twenty Seven ₰₰


​

“Blast it already,” Elsa shouted out as another minor rumbling swept the chamber from one end to another and back again. Her preternaturally keen hearing warned of immense changes coming and she held on for dear life at the entrance which faced over the limitless eternal abyss beyond; she glanced up in time to behold the final descent of many score of ice stalactites, each twice the size and mass of a mastodon. “Shish,” she softly said, and watched another score silently cleave through the air, each gleamed like a thousand-facetted diamond alive with inner rainbow fires.

Once the ice ceased to move, Elsa secured a magical rope to the wall, then to herself and cautiously stepped out of the chamber. The narrow, unstable, ice-covered pathway carved into the abyssal walls shifted and chipped even under her minimal weight; and she gave up after advancing no more than a half-hundred paces; as she turned to move back, the ice shook again and she sunk her nails fast into the ice to gain any extra purchase possible.

Off in the distance she watched as a massive iceberg calved free of the wall and slowly tumbled into the night. “Thank goodness that was not above me,” she said with a sigh of relief. Then she screamed in pure terror as a great stalactite of ice sped past, having missed her by mere inches.

Moments later she entered the chamber where the others sheltered, and shed herself of the magical rope.

She adjusted her cloak, goggles, and gloves and insulating scarf. A short walk brought her back to the others, and she sat next to Nelson, who warmed his gloved hands over a small magical fire. Nearby, eight small blue-white orbs of ghostly light slowly floated around him, and noticed the small kettle of stew that slowly cooked over a second flame.

Her breath misted before her as she said to him: “That’s the fifth quake since we arrived. One of those blasted falling heaps of ice nearly took me along for the final fall. So what do you think did I botch things up again and get us dumped in the wrong area of the Labyrinth, or are we on track and just completely confused as normal?”

Nelson looked at her, pushed up his goggles and gave a muffled laugh from beneath his thick scarf. “I think we are on the right course. Remember, we’ve only been here a couple of days; and it appears that mysterious part of the journal we could not make sense of covers THIS area of the labyrinth; and not that of the second shrine in and of itself. Remember that earlier passage which spoke of a ‘whirlwind of coloration’?”

When Elsa nodded, and as Sparkle alighted on his shoulder, unfazed by the intense cold, Nelson pointed to the ice around them. The ghostly light danced and shown in its facetted depths like a thousand living rainbows and he said: “I think this is the region the author spoke of. Another support to this theory is the journal itself; you saw how the pages transformed when first exposed to the light in this region. So now we have four hundred or more pages of information to go through and decipher what is real, what is distraction; and what is hidden in riddles upon riddles upon riddles?”

Chipper bounded over, his body still aglow from the magical curse emplaced upon him days before. He looked at the thick coat Elsa had crafted of magic to keep him from freezing and shook his head, then said: “At least we do not need to worry about any more welcoming committee like we discovered after passing through the portal. I don’t desire to appear in another ice cave, in bitter cold; in the middle of a massive ice quake that threatened to bring the chamber down; amidst a band of battle-hungry beetle-demons who favor the ice-filled eternities of the Hells; and who sought to turn me into a trophy.”

The squirrel looked over at Nelson after climbing to Elsa’s shoulder, his tail twitched here and there in display of his nervousness.

He continued: “ I have to give lover-boy over here,” he gestured to Nelson with a forepaw, “discovered for us to use any sound-based or harmonic-based magic with great care. Bringing down half of the devils with a chain of thundering booms was efficient; bringing down half of the chamber on top of their remains was unexpected, and no Nelson I am not faulting you for having done that, none of us could have perceived quick enough that danger inherit in the ice.”

Sparkle chimed in, saying: “Double-furred Chipper is right Papa-Nelson; the magic here is different. What is not real now is. The magic flows differently here, the threads of it turn differently, some areas nearby twisted in ways I sense, but cannot understand.” She shrugged her shoulders and trotted off to partake of the stew while the others continued their debate.

Nelson watched Sparkle for a time and turned to Elsa as he laid his rams-headed staff across his lap. He sensed in its depths a sentience rising to awareness, one not hostile, but joined to him in a symbiosis, as with the one in his magical robes. “What do you make of that Elsa? A region with wild-magic fields that twist everything around; or does that and yet some magic, such as illusions, are made more powerful, more real, and more potent than otherwise?”

₰


​

Step by step they advanced, each taking a turn to break trail along the icy cliff face. The dozen and three count of six-legged, blue-white, and heavily-armored Ice Salamanders closed upon the companions; long hours before they had isolated and determined the origins of their footfalls, conversations, and now, the closer they came, detected their ambient body heat in the unearthly cold.

The leader’s six multi-facetted eyes scanned the visual spectrum, then into the ultraviolet and infrared for any threats in the vicinity. Detecting none, it resonated a low growl that reached deep into the surrounding ice and caused a small avalanche to descend; but not one of the brood was even phased by the cascade, so sure was their grip on the ice, and so strong the nearly invulnerable armored hides to any form of assault.

Soon, the brood detected the companion’s faint scent born upon the eternal winds which swept the abyss. The leader growled a second time, and they began to form for an assault on their prey by burrowing through the ice and breaching the chamber from all angles in one coordinated rush. In such a way none of their prey would be able to escape, and they would feast well and long.

The Ice Salamanders soon learned, to their eternal regret, that others were on the hunt, but not for the four companions. The leader fell first as the six-legged, thick-club tailed, crystalline beast broached through the ice; its four long, lightning-quick arms struck out and speared the beast upon iron-hard, razor-sharp talons while the tail smashed a second one to pulp with one blow.

The thirteen Ice Salamanders rushed head-long into battle, figuring to swarm and overwhelm the creature and make a quick meal out of it. Instead, they quickly succumbed to the physical prowess, its breath of cold-fire, and mind-magic of the creature, a horror of the Far Realm called a Chill Blain.

Victorious, the horror dragged the deceased and tenderized (to its liking) carcasses far into the ice tunnels which connected to its lair. It was long aware of the companions presence, and had quickly taken measure of each member within their little band; it decided concealment and non-confrontation would ensure its continued to live a grand life in the eternal hell of ice and snow.

₰

​

Elsa pulled off her goggles and wiped them free of frost, mulled over the matter and said: “Yes, I think that’s what we face. The newly revealed pages, they describe changes to the common orders of magic; of how each is changed or altered in the region; and mentions of a new field called ‘wild-magic’ for want of another name. One field, divination, is all but useless; others such as illusions and cold-based magic are rendered much more powerful, as you have speculated.”

Chipper pointed to the blue-white orbs as he piped up: “Your ghostly lights demonstrate the heightening of any illusionary magic. They shine brighter, clearer, illuminate a larger region and so forth; others which allow any magician to summon monsters, unleash destructive forces, banish creatures from other dimensions, and defend ourselves from attacks and the like, are unaffected, or reduced only in minor degrees.” He gave a serious look to Elsa, Nelson and Sparkle. “Now another question has to be asked, how does this hamper, if at all, the mind magic the three of you employ?”

Nelson shrugged and said: “I have no idea, but given my warning instinct, that pressure which builds as a threat closes, is based on divination, we may need to find out as soon as possible. Yet when I use the same divination abilities for enhancing my normal senses, such as hearing, they seem to not be affected.” He looked at Elsa, in the hopes she had some answers.

She shook her head and said: “I have no idea save that telepathy, and the mind magic linked to it should be safe. I’ve already had half-a-dozen discussions with Nelson in that manner.”

Nelson gave her a lecherous grin and said, “I know, and each one was more than worth it!”

Elsa returned the grin, while a glimmer of primal lust grew in her liquid-moonlight eyes. She held her hands out before her, protectively, ready to counter any magical mischief Nelson had planned. Her warning was filled with a melodious, heated desire for him that grew by the moment: “No Nelson, no way, don’t you dare use any of your magic to disrobe, or do otherwise along those lines! If you do so, then I’ll deal with you in such a way as you will expire of sheer pleasure!”

Nelson grinned, held his hands palm-side forward, prepared to meet Elsa’s challenge.

Exasperated, Chipper groaned, flung his forepaws wide and shook his head as he rolled his eyes, “Honestly, can you two love-birds do anything without wanting to rut, rut and rut again? Even when you have a mind-to-mind discussion with each other; that’s all you youngsters ever do?”

Nelson almost snapped at Chipper until Elsa said: “No Nelson, Chipper is merely upset at being left out of our having fun. He secretly enjoys our couplings, it reminds him of his time among humanity and gives him a way to tease us and gripe about us all in one.”

Nelson looked from her to Chipper, and the squirrel shrugged, then honestly said: “What do you expect; I’m a former woodland priest, thus a voyeur by nature. And right now I growing hungry for something to eat, and your little dragon has just finished off the dinner you had prepared Nelson.”

Chipper grinned as he watched Nelson and Elsa race over to the now empty kettle and gripe aloud over the lost dinner. Sparkle, not understanding, simply said: “I thought the stew was for me, you should have said you wanted some instead of yap, yap, yap your jaws once it was ready. Next time, say something and I’ll leave a bit for you…”

Nelson and Elsa erupted in laughter, and soon after, Chipper and Sparkle joined in.

Chipper spoke up a moment later as he gave Elsa a serious look: “Elsa my dear, consider your actions and your moods over the last few days. I think your beginning to enter another time of your mating frenzy; if that’s the case, we need to find a place to hole up for a few days until the madness passes you by for a few more months.”

Nelson glanced at Elsa, clearly alarmed and concerned as he saw her ears flatten, eyes widen and shoulders slump. “Elsa is Chipper joking?”

Her ear-shattering shriek of consternation, rage and feminine pique confirmed the truth of the matter, and it lasted for some time, until the ice began to shake in sympathetic response. Elsa rapidly calmed down, and apologized to everyone as she realized how close of a catastrophe she had nearly initiated.

“Wonderful, one more complication to deal with in this frozen hell,” Nelson said.

₰


​

Across the many interconnecting trails, tunnels, passages, caverns and chambers of the icy abyss, Elsa’s cries of outrage rebounded. Many tribes of creatures, great and small, stirred and focused in upon the sounds origins; and soon had a multitude of scouts and war parties on the way.

Each of the tribes, packs, hunts and more knew fresh prey has entered the region, one that promised the pleasure of the hunt, the thrill of victory, the taste of fresh meat in this frozen hell, and of treasure to gain a decisive edge over their mortal foes. Of course they understood as well these same foes sought to acquire the companions’ magical gear for their own purposes; not one considered that the companions themselves might have other ideas than simply allowing themselves to be slaughtered.

Soon enough the various scouts, war parties, monstrosities and horrors began to converge and run afoul of one another. Echoed cries of challenge, threats and battle merged with the eternal winds of the abyss; and one by one, the number of foes fell dramatically, with only death gleefully clapping its hands.

₰
​

“It could be worse; it could be much, much worse. Imagine if she were a bear or insane and demonstrated her affection by incinerating you on the spot?” Chipper stated with a shrug of his shoulders. “Right now, I suggest you and Elsa get back to studying that journal; we need every edge we can find once we leave this chamber. There is no telling when, or even if, we shall find another sheltered spot.”

Elsa looked at her spirit-companion and nodded, then said: “The ice-paths along the abyssal walls are extremely fragile; they won’t even take my own weight for long.”

Chipper walked over to the wall and hammered his head upon it for some time, until, dizzy and almost crossed-eyed from the exertion, said: “No need to ask Elsa, give me a minute and the suicide scout squad of me, myself and I will head out and see what is around us. Or do you have a more specific location in mind?”

“As a matter of fact, yes, yes I do.” Elsa described the region she wanted Chipper to look for. Shortly after they arrived in this area of the Labyrinth, she sensed a wrongness manifest with such strength it was palatable. What made it worse for her, the beast-within demanded she find it and let it feast.

 

An unexpected guest comes to play...

₰₰ Book One: Chapter Twenty eight ₰₰


​

“How is the chamber now my dear?” Elsa asked as she sat next to Nelson on their bedrolls. Earlier, she cast a set of spells that screened the chamber entrance from passing sound, smell, and heat to anything watching beyond. She also figured out a means to increase the ambient temperature within, without undermining the integrity of the surrounding ice.

Nelson looked at her and grinned, glad for the time to no longer need a hood, scarf or goggles over his face. He still kept his gloves on, not desiring to lose them in a rushed vacating of the chamber if it became necessary. “It is fine Elsa, you have again demonstrated your magical abilities are greater than my own,” he said with a self-depreciated grin.

“Any word from Chipper?” he asked.

The insane squirrel departed on his recon-run several hours before, and Elsa had demanded he keep in constant contact. She did not want another repeat of the companions being cut off at different points as they were back in the grotto. “He’s reporting about ever ten minutes; not much to see, literally nothing but crumbling, unstable paths along an unending wall of ice above and below. To help him out, he has summoned to his side elemental-spirits who can operate well in extreme cold.”

“Anything more from the journal?” she asked of him.

Nelson gently ran one finger over the journals ancient pages; each word, each phrase, each idiosyncratic idea embodied within seemed to contradict all others. And yet, he sensed that this was one more puzzle which held a deeper truth concerning this region of the Labyrinth. He groaned, stretched and moved his arms about in order to relieve tired muscles; he could not get his mind to settle down though, no matter how tired he had become.

₰


​

Beneath the chamber the great creature lurked. Its multi-facetted eyes glared with inner flame as the ridged back and tri-frills that ran along each side flared like molten-iron. Thirty small legs propelled it forward through the tunnel created by the intense, focused and radiated heat projected around its body; every so often it paused, to focus upon the sounds generated by the companions.

Soon, it reached a point at which it emitted a chain of sub-harmonic calls which echoed through the great ice. Preternatural senses detected the return echoes; noted the faintest fracture lines through the ice, and soon began to advance along these routes.

₰


​

“Pretty much the same as ever; hundreds of pages of general information, of how the journalist wandered here and there unfazed by the cold; countless descriptions of monsters, flora and fauna of amazing diversity and of extreme deadliness; yet he distinctively detailed at least thirty areas in this region of the Labyrinth. There is a section of creatures from the Far Realm, and it’s fairly horrific to examine.”

“I know, remember we examined it together as you slid your arm around my waist and your hand up under the hem of my shirt.” Elsa blushed, shuddered and mewled at the memory of how that gentle move had set every bit of her being on fire.

Elsa looked at her mate and scooted around to his backside. She slid her hands up under his robes and furred vest, then began to gently massage one area at a time. “How is that?” she asked of him, and gave a grin of satisfaction when he nodded and all but melted away.

Nelson sighed and said: “One theme is consistent though, the ‘whirlwind of coloration’ and ‘recharge mage’. The latter we already figure to be one of the living dead; the former, appears to be near one of at least two sets of double-doors we have to find, open and pass through before the third shrine is to be found.” He looked back over his shoulder, and as the two shared a look of mutual desire, he continued: “In short, from what I can see here in the pages, we have a first double-door set to find, a second shortly afterward. Somewhere beyond, if we can find the right way through a massed maze of ice-tunnels, chambers and the like, is the third shrine.”

Elsa leaned forward and examined the pages he indicated and nodded in agreement. She sighed and said: “Here we go again. Once more from the frying pan and directly into the fires; so why, again, is the third shrine not nearby, and beyond such formidable challenges?”

“I have an idea, more of a confirmation of our earlier theory.” Nelson thumbed through the journal to another bookmarked area, held the journal up for easier reading by her, and indicated one passage: “Here, this may be a key we overlooked before.”

₰


​

Sparkle opened her eyes as the resonating harmonic cries continued. She looked down at the ice and observed the smallest flaks vibrate, fall silent, vibrate again and remain still; soon after this pattern the faint hissing and popping of ice being melted and cracked commenced, followed by the tap-tapping of the creature advancing.

Though she found this pattern disturbing, she dismissed it as another creature, as with the other nearby that held command of mind magic. Yet, she could not shake the feeling more was at work, and that something dangerous was closing upon them. As a precaution, she placed one paw upon the ice, and thus would sense any shifting in the harmonic cries, cracked ice or such if it reached a danger point.

Little did she know that the danger point had already been reached…

₰


​

Elsa read aloud: “Into the icy hells I had been warned existed by father now I have arrived and descended. It is with trepidation I do continue forward; the ancient pathway between the shrines has been twisted by the one called Mechanus. In the future I must end its existence, along with the one who enslaved the Guardian; any who use and twist ancient magic such as the inhabitants of the old city had built, before Mechanus delivered the end of their existence, must be destroyed. Such a true wonder of magic lost for the ages…”

She looked at Nelson and gulped: “Once again, this sounds like the words of Master Aden, a master of the Academy of the Arts in Stars Rift. He has a noted fondness for great works and wonders of magic; quite often he has even endured great dangers to save such for future generations of magic-users within the cosmos as a whole.” One hand came up and silenced Nelson as she continued: “Before you ask Nelson, I would not be at all surprised if Aden had discovered, and then hid a second time, each of the seven tigers we’re looking for. The journal is his means of testing any who follow in his footsteps.”

Nelson looked at her and asked: “So then, if this is the case, what of the great discovery Chipper made about the gateway and the seven tigers for that matter, in the old tomb? He copied the writings, images and all to the last detail; have they been duplicated again into our own journals or such means of storage?”

“Yes,” Elsa said with a disappointed sigh and shrug of her shoulders. “The matter is this; they hold only the names of past historians, rulers, and a lengthily detailed history of the fallen city. Apparently they venerated the seven tigers as servants of good, health, life, justice and the like; for all the good it did them in the end hours of their cities existence.”

“Which makes them of some importance,” Nelson said. “Nothing in the Labyrinth exists in such detail without concealing something of need or worth within its depths. I think I finally understand the magical transport system of the old city. The phoenix-statues served as anchor points, ready doorways in which someone could touch the column or statue, and, with but a thought, we whisked to a corresponding destination. The center of this system was the second shrine; hence the reason the priest who escaped the final demise and the control mechanisms we discovered but could never make work to full measure…”

Elsa pulled her legs against her chest, wrapped her arms around them and rested her head upon her knees. “In other words, if I had not jumped the gun; and opened that portal which dumped us here; we could have gotten right to the third shrine; and avoided these two double-doors and who knows how much more trouble.”

“No Elsa, that is not true.” Nelson wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Let me explain based on the entries of the journal…”

He presented his discourse for some time, shifting from page to page, passage to passage, and finally stated to her: “Here is the journalists major complaint and comment ‘from arriving in this eternal frozen hell until I reached the third shrine, walk, walk, and more walking; from the last means of ingress into the region from the second shrine, to discovery of the third more challenges faced me than in all other regions to date. Where I had hoped to shift close to the third shrine and quickly find the gateway and the guardian beyond, instead I closed on the Far Side nightmares.”

₰


​

The creature settled in just feet below the companions. It felt the vibrations of Elsa and Nelsons conversation though it could not comprehend speech from movement. All it knew was that three beings, two large and one small, lay above it, unprepared and off-guard.

It settled down to rest, and prepare for the opportunity to burst forth, cut off all routes of escape for them, and claim the three beings as its next meal.

For her part, Sparkle sensed the creature settle down, and monitored the ongoing harmonic cries it issued forth through the ice. Though she knew Elsa was concerned about sound and harmonics bringing down the ice that surrounded them, there was no chance of it happening unless by intentional design.

Still, she decided to monitor the creatures’ presence in case it did turn out to be hostile.

₰

​

“So you see, we were brought as close to the third shrine by the remaining parts of the system. From here on out we have to go it on foot.” He sighed and looked at her longingly, “I want to get out of this madhouse Elsa, this entire labyrinth is gnawing away at me one inch at a time. I hope the reference the journalist made that the gateway is just past the third shrine is real, otherwise I may go nuts even worse than Chipper.”

Elsa nodded and said: “It figures, we know each area of the Labyrinth tests us and pushes us to our limits and then some. Now it looks like we’re in for the test of ‘walk far, freeze much, solve mystery before monsters old and powerful eat you for a snack.’ I’m getting fairly sick and tired of this place; while the cold normally has no great hold over me, in this case, even my own natural tolerances for it may not aid me for long.”

She shook her head and blew a troublesome locket of hair out of her face. A great chill swept her from head to tip of her tail; the last words of the journalist at last sunk into her mind. “It figures, I think compared to the last area, with all the horrors and chaos we faced or caused, this area is going to be brutal; I have no idea what we shall face, but its not going to be easy, and we need to draw upon all of our efforts together.”

Elsa tapped the page with one finger and continued: “That last line, the one of ‘Far Side nightmares’ means we may have extra troubles to worry about. Especially if we have a direct means of entrance to our world, or into the Labyrinth, by those living nightmares.”

Nelson looked from the journal, to where Sparkle slept, and then to Elsa. He softly asked of her: “I’ve seen some of these things, such as the Cloakers and such from earlier in the Labyrinth; how much stronger are these ones? What can they do; what can they be harmed by; and for that matter, what can we reliably do to handle them? You sensed the outbursts of psychic power earlier this day Elsa. Same as I did, and Sparkle for that matter; we have creatures, sentient ones, alien in mind such as I cannot imagine, who are equal to either of us at the minimum…”

Elsa nodded and said: “I know Nelson, I know. Right now I have no ideas other than we may wind up winging it every step of the way. Now if you will excuse me Nelson, I’m going to make us some dinner. As much as I love your stews, after more than a few weeks of the same stuff, it gets rather repetitive.”

Sparkle opened her eyes and stretched out like an awakened feline, and piped in: “Mama Elsa will see us along, we will find many tasty monsters, cook them good and feast well. You want Sparkle find and drag back monster who lair in ice below us? It sings through the ice and has listened to us since we arrived…”

The little dragon ceased to speak, confused and fearful due to the alarmed reaction of Nelson and Elsa. She sensed the two of them held a quick telepathic discussion; and then, upon Nelson’s request, she opened her mind to convey between them the sensations she had felt through the ice.

Her scream of protest was muffled by Nelsons robes, which he shoved her under, and by his command for his rams-headed staff to appear in his hand. The ground began to shake, heave and dance as a sudden low-pitched roar grew in force and nearness.

Elsa dove for her twin axes as Nelson shouted in alarm: ‘It’s nearly here!”

Then the wall exploded into the chamber and the creature beyond emerged, and roared its challenge to the three companions present before it.

₰₰

​

In the distance from the rest Chipper, accompanied by a dozen ghostly, cold-loving, elemental-spirits moved through the region. Time and again the unending maze of trails, tunnels, small draws, and the like came to an abrupt end: collapses, solid walls of ice, ferociously flowing rivers, or simply opened into the eternal abyss.

Each ending cost them time and effort in backtracking, seeking another route, and then exploring the newest of ways; after a time, Chipper began to wonder if this region of the Labyrinth was recreating itself ever few hours to protect or guard some greater secrets. Of course, the perceptive and eccentric squirrel was right.

As the group came across another break in the icy tunnels, Chipper howled in frustration.

The ghostly-spirits softly hissed, moaned, and gestured as they debated how to proceed from here; Chipper simply said: “I think its time we just return to the others. Come on, we’re making no more progress in trying to ascend in the abyss; I fear we will have to descend into the depths after all. Elsa is not going to be happy…”

He opened up a mind-to-mind link with Elsa and began to report upon another delay in their journey. “Elsa, this is not going to…” He paused, suddenly aware of the battle being joined between the others and the great creature. “Oh nuts…” he called out, and made ready to race off. One elemental-spirit howled out a warning, and the squirrel saw ghostly shapes begin to emerge from the icy walls, floor and ceiling…

“Oh nuts, nuts, nuts, this is not good…” his words trailed off, for moments later he and his elemental-spirits met the living dead, creatures called Cold Wraiths, head on in battle. Devastating magic was unleashed, and the living dead tore into one another; for some time Chipper and his minions held the upper hand, despite being outnumbered nearly five to one, by executing a "controlled withdraw" (he refused to call it a retreat or 'flee for your life' movement), back the way they came.

All too soon things grew even more complicated, for other monsters, living dead and things best left forgotten and undisturbed were drawn to the sound of battle, and commenced to join in the fun.

 

To answer a multiple of PM's I have received concerning Sparkle:

She is a dragon, one just hatched not long before in the story. Her species is called a 'gem-dragon' due to her appearing as a 'living gemstone' in coloration.
And yes, she has, as do the others, plenty of surprises coming.

 

Could I ask what type of gem she most resembles?
BTW & FYI, the gem dragons have been removed from the D&D SRD

 

Emerald-dragon. I have a section from Ch twenty-two below.
Here is a link to a wikipedia description for the various 'gem-dragons.'

Here is an image of an adult emerald dragon:

 

And thus we have proof that I can miss information.
LOL & thanks for the refresher.

 

It can happen to anyone.

 

₰₰ Book One: Chapter Twenty Nine ₰₰


​

Great waves of heat assailed Nelson as he called out cabalistic words of power. In answer to his will and desire, four diamond-blue, multi-facetted ribbons of holy ice appeared; they pulsated twice, and grew in power. At his silent command, the ribbons struck out at the great beast just as he held one hand forward and unleashed multi-arched chain of prismatic lightning. The chamber shook as it impacted the beast, but to no effect. The creature turned upon him, and, as it advanced, he unleashed the same lightning three more times to the same results.

The beast, commonly called a Polar Worm, lunged and Nelson barely escaped its crushing jaws. He managed to strike it hard with his rams-headed staff, which thundered on impact, and bodily tossed it into the far wall. It was slammed twice more into it as the ribbons of ice hammered upon its armored hide. Part of the ceiling tore free and crashed upon it, only to find the ice dissipate into a hissing cloud of steam. Its frilled sides and ridged back flared hotter than molten iron, and it roared with such force Elsa and Nelson struggled to keep their footing as it rejoined the battle.

Elsa charged and struck with her axes, the double impact wracked the brutes frame with lightning, pulverizing sound and one thundering detonation. One great gash sizzled and hissed as caustic acid dissolved muscle and flesh beneath armored hide. This great wound was exploited by the ribbons of ice, and further damage was born upon the Polar Worm.

She entered into a dance with the beast, one made all the greater and more confusing as a dozen identical images of her appeared. The beast struck time and again, to miss and roar, and then be battered by the onslaught of Nelsons magic and Elsa’s axes. Still, no matter how much injury they delivered, they shivered at the sight of its savage wounds healing before their eyes.

“What does it take to drop this thing?” Nelson shouted as he leveled his staff at it. A glistening, facetted-diamond colored ray shot forth; it struck the beast, and deflected away to impact against the ice in a rainbow cascade of ultimate-cold-generated mist and ice. Twice more he unleashed the cold-magic, and combined it with the ribbons of ice in a grand onslaught; this time the magic worked and again gravely injured the brute.

Elsa drew upon her mental magic, focused upon the beasts mind, and unleashed a primal blast of power that staggered it for a few crucial seconds. A moment later, as her eyes shed tears of blood, she called forth one of her most deadly of mental powers: the very air imploded twice upon the creature with such force that bone broke, muscles pulverized, organs burst and the very ice shook for miles.

And yet the beast fought on.

Nelson recalled the earlier discussion with Elsa, leveled his staff and called forth a clutch of shadowy, wraith-like apparitions. Two-dozen in count, they grew in form, substance and deadliness; for each of them were illusions granted life, power, and reality in this icy hell. He shouted to them: “Strike, Strike hard and hold nothing back…”

With cackles of malevolent glee, the apparitions struck and began to tear into the beast as Elsa hammered it with another chain of air-implosions. The Polar worm danced, thrashed and fought for its life; its limited bit of intelligence denied it the ability to discern the multiple-images of Elsa or the apparitions as illusions.

However, as it demonstrated a moment later, it needed no such ability as Elsa unleashed blast after reaveing blast of amethyst lightning and Nelson struck with blasts of mystical force, ultimate cold, and swarming orbs of black nothingness. It shrugged off most of this magic, for the beast itself was, by its very nature, immune to all but magic wielded by a very skilled and powerful magician.

Time and again their deadly dance continued, the great beast striking at either Nelson or Elsa, and connecting more often than not. In turn, as their magical defenses were slowly ground down, the two worked in harmony to distract, decoy or divert the beasts’ attention; the other would either strike with weapons, or with magic of spell and mind.

Yet they still could not tell how much more the beast could withstand. For despite a score and more of recently inflicted, utterly savage wounds, the beast continued to fight, and fight hard. A blow of its tail and fins catapulted Elsa into the walls, and it lunged with such speed at Nelson, he barely evaded the crushing jaws. The creature was catapulted into the ceiling by a sudden burst of multi-hued lights which erupted from the ground, to which Nelson had the soon-to-fade ribbons of holy ice continue their relentless assault.

“Keep it distracted Nelson!” Elsa called from one side as she rushed past.

Elsa entered into a deadly dance with the Polar Worm, and spun, leaped, dodged and ducked as it sought to close those great jaws, or slam home its devastating tail or superheated frills that ran along its sides. Twice in a row, multi-hued lightning savaged the creature; she raced in and delivered a series of devastating blows, which, when combined with the axes endowed magic, shook the great beast from one end to the other. Elsa lunged for the base of its head, just to the side of its spine, in hopes of delivering the death blow and ending the fight.

Unfortunately she did not recognize the trap of feigned weakness until she was committed. The creatures red hot frills slammed into, and catapulted her hard into the far wall. Elsa was saved grievous harm due to the stone-hard skin spell that barely retained any strength; but it was enough, as she rolled to the side and regained her feet in time to evade the Polar Worms next lunge. It slammed head-first into the wall, and shattered it into a great spider web of destruction.

Elsa shouted out a single word of power, and cringed as she heard the ice begin to growl in protest. The Polar Worm howled as two great hands of glistening force, each three times her physical size, appeared and caught it in their grasp. She secured one axe to her belt, and joined with Nelson in bombarding the thing with multi-hued lightning; swarms of marble-sized orbs of shifting light; mystical bolts of force; blasts of utter cold; and mists of corrosive, poisonous acid, all of which wrought grievous injuries upon it.

The Polar Worm staggered, struggled to stand fully upright, and then collapsed to the ground; it breathed twice more, and then gave up the ghost.

Elsa and Nelson stood back for some time, unable to accept the thing was finally dead; and both watched as its body rapidly cooled, and became enshrouded in rapidly growing layers of ice.

They looked at one another, still unable to believe it was dead; then, as reality sunk in, danced around and gave off victory cries which grew all the louder when Sparkle, sheltered in Nelsons robes, joined in the fun. Finally, Elsa embraced Nelson and gave him a heated kiss which left him weak-kneed and drew a massive breath of air into his lungs as he staggered from the impact.

Nelson looked at her and saw her eyes danced with pure, raw, unrefined lust and she ran one finger teasingly under his chin, along his neck, and across the surface of his robes. He gasped and called out: “Uh, Elsa, is this the time for such…matters?”

Elsa stared at him incomprehensively, and then her ears and face became crestfallen as reality reasserted itself. She shook her head and said: “Blast it, we’re in the middle of the dangerous place I have ever seen and I’m acting like a free-skirt girl. I’m sorry Nelson; I’m so sorry, these next few weeks are going to drive me to the brink of madness…”

Nelson embraced her and stroked her hair and said: “It’s alright Elsa, it’s alright. Next time we find a small sheltered area we’ll deal with the matter.” He looked at her with a coy grin, “although we will have to ensure Chipper is let loose to deal with any monsters in the region while we have our fun…”

“Oh no, you don’t dare do that, I’m not putting up with that for a second time on this journey,” a very irate, frustrated and slime-coated Chipper said as he emerged from the tunnel created by the Polar Worm. He gestured at the tunnel and said: “That tunnel links to some further below us; the trails and other paths that head up are unsafe to say the least, and the entire region is infested with the living dead plus other things that now are just plain dead.”

Elsa shuddered, which caused the others to look at her in true perplexity as she said: “Great, downward, where that thing is located…I don’t want to face it, not anything like that again; a life-drinker was bad enough…”

Chipper filled the others in on his misadventures as they rushed to gather and stow their gear, to extinguish the magical cook fires, and ensure their cold-climate cloths and such were firmly in place. Elsa asked about little Sparkle and Nelson touched one open pouch on his haversacks bandolier, from it emitted the soft snores of a content, safe, and happy little dragon.

In the meantime the eccentric squirrel explained all that he had encountered, including several creatures of the Far Realm, many of which Elsa and Nelson recognized from the journals writings. Between them, they cast any defensive spells which may come in handy, and Nelson prepared some that can be unleashed by a mere thought; they paid keen attention to the magic which allowed for secure footing, climbing of walls like a spider, and to keep the ultimately deadly cold winds and temperatures at bay.

A series of growls outside the chamber caught their attention, and before Elsa could say anything, Nelson gave off a growl from below his protective scarf, dug out five magical beads, one bespelled gemstone, and a trio of small feather-tipped sticks.

“Enough of this already,” Nelson roared as he willed the magic to life, and flung it out the doorway into the abyss beyond. He cringed as the hellish forces erupted in a brilliant burst of flame, heat, pressures and light to rival the sun; then two great bells rang as they entered into their eternal descent into the abyss, along with whatever creature had been growling moments before.

Chipper gestured with a forepaw at Nelson, his fur still shifting hues left and right in his agitated state, “and you say I am the crazy one of our band?”

Elsa put her hands on her hips and stared at her spirit-companion, “And you wonder why I fell in love with him long ago?”

“Elsa, Chipper, I think its time for us to get going,” Nelson called out as he gestured to the entrance.

Outside of the chamber, they heard the great howl of ice snapping free, and watched as a chain of massive icy stalactites fell into the eternal abyss; they needed no other motivation, and dove into the tunnel with relish, not desiring to deal with the dangers of the eternal abyss itself.

₰₰


​

Further below the companion’s area, the Chill Blain listened in upon their planning with keen interest. Within moments it debated, calculated and rejected a hundred plans; and then settled upon one which promised to provide it with endless entertainment, and to advance its own goals within the hellish region of the Labyrinth. It had no desire to confront them head on, yet it would manipulate and maneuver them into disposing of many other threats and adversaries it possessed…

It gave off a telepathic call to several creatures in the area, and then alerted some other beings from the Far Realms of the approaching danger. Then, in a calculated gamble of great risk, for greater reward, it alerted the recharge mage ‘Old Sparky’ to the exact location and path of the companions. No matter the outcome when these two clashed, if one or both were weakened or fell, it would gain in the end.

Or so it assumed…

For one of the Guardians minions listened in on the telepathic communiqués and passed the information onto its liege lord; it then returned to its duty of screening the companion’s travels.

₰


​

The Guardian wondered what to do, for while the Labyrinth belonged almost in full to it again; the clear fact was that ‘Old Sparky’, the recharge mage, still answered to the Primus. “No, I cannot interfere in the inevitable fight between Old Sparky and the companions; but once they defeat that one, if they have come across the old outpost, I can present to them two ways: the hidden path, or the next set of double-doors which will speed them on their way….”

He nodded his head and said, ‘Yes, that is what I shall do…”

The Guardian paused, snorted contemptuously at his last statement and laughed, and then he said: “I will attempt to do so; given the luck of that band of adventurers, and the capabilities of 'Old Sparky’, anything may happen. It just matters if they choose the more dangerous route by the hidden path or the double-doors on the way to the third shrine…”

The mysterious mans voice spoke to him from across the cosmos: “If they reach the old outpost, and if they can solve the song of the song, then the third path may open before them. Many great secrets lay in store for them in the outpost if they dare to seek; but the final path is theirs and theirs alone to choose: If they understand the rules and the laws in that area beyond the outpost, then they can transit to the gateway with but a twisting of reality.”

The Guardian nodded and said: “Agreed. That is the ultimate test, to see how deep they perceive the mysteries of the labyrinth. In the last few centuries, few have done so, but I sense the companions, if they can work together as one, will succeed.”

With that, the Guardian settled into a meditative stance, and began to contemplate other mysteries of the cosmos at large.

 

₰₰ Book One: Chapter Thirty ₰₰


​

Under the brilliant illumination of four snow-white ghostly orbs Nelson and Chipper examined with great care the exposed segments of stone before them. Hundreds of carved figures, of men and women from a thousand diverse sentient, humanoid species, were shown in stately lines and to each side were chiseled writing of some unknown language. When hand or furry forepaw came to rest just above the surface, the intricately carved figures below them glowed in an ever-shifting weave of light and sound.

Chipper sighed and asked Nelson: “What do you think? I have exhausted all the magical translation spells that are at my disposal. Something is blocking or altering such magic; and needless to say, the last time I tried to use a revelation spell to find out what this force is…”

He looked and gestured at the massive display of snow white roses that hummed gentle songs of love which spontaneously appeared moments before.

Nelson and Sparkle, who alighted herself on his shoulder, chuckled and he said to Chipper: “Oh I understand: I can sense it, even Sparkle senses it. The area has small, unusually shaped and empowered areas of wild magic. It twists, deforms, and alters any normal magic; and from what I can sense, certain aspects of mind magic are affected. The one which transited this area when you cast that spell only twisted it into musical flowers.”

“At the least, that was much better than the bit of trouble which showed up with my last effort…” He nodded towards the bared, brilliantly white gigantic skull of a bear-like beast to one side. It still radiated such heat that the air rippled and shimmered in writhing waves, while moisture condensed and flowed in simmering columns of superheated steam and mists. Yet so twisted was the magic itself that caused this, the icy floor remained completely untouched.

Sparkle warbled: “Papa Nelson brought big ugly thing to his side for Sparkle to play with; but it didn’t want to play, instead it tried to eat furry four-legged sleeping-pillow that-panics who is named Chipper.”

She said to the fairly erratic squirrel: “Papa blasted it good, cooked it just right so Sparkle feasted well. You only scream, run around and cause creature to make funny sounds after you bit its tail. Why you and Papa Nelson bother with funny stone-shaped creatures that walk like Papa Nelson?”

Furious, Chipper screeched at Sparkle: “Then why do you not show us what to do you little whelp, your only a short time out of your shell, and you dare to assume that you know more than me? I’ve lived centuries more than you, Elsa and lover-boy Nelson COMBINED…”

He screamed, roared, and raced about, his tail smoldering. Sparkle, fed up beyond restraint, chased after him and breathed little gouts of flame whenever she was close enough. Nelson laughed, knowing that Chipper was in no real danger, but glad the recently irritated squirrel had been checked in his latest foul-tempered onslaught.

₰₰


​

Others monitored the conversation of Elsa and Nelson; and one such creature, drawn by the magic of the mind she employed like a moth to the flames of a bonfire, commenced to pursue from the far ends of its territory. Move by move it stopped at multiple points, slowly triangulating upon her location.

Once assured it knew just which tunnels she was within; and where they led to; the creature focused upon the magic inherit in its kind and teleported to an adjoining tunnel where it would wait in surprise. It prepared its favored ambush trick: to enter an echo-dimension and pass through the walls of ice and stone as if they were but wisps of smoke and vapor. It would then appear just behind her, and unleash its blast of focused sound.

₰

​

Elsa’s melodious, comforting and loving voice telepathically sounded in his mind, “Nelson, Chipper is all but terrified to paralysis of the living dead. He had a rather bad experience with them when he was still a human long ago; its something which carried over to his current form, and he still has it even in my presence since he can feel the beast-within, though its not a living dead per se…”

Nelson chuckled, and conveyed to her the scene of Chipper and Sparkle at play – play from the little dragon’s point-of-view that is. He sensed her hysterical laughter, and learned that Chipper was thoroughly enjoying it as well, allowing Sparkle to have some fun so long as Nelson kept her in check. He telepathically responded to Elsa, “Will do just that. How soon will you be back from checking that area of the tunnels? I think we have something here.”

“Give me about a half-hour; depending on how the tunnels twist and turn, right now I’m roughly above and to the north of your location.” She paused, sudden concern conveyed in her telepathic link, before she continued: “Check out the pictures, compare them to the old city history Chipper stumbled upon in the tomb, and then do a comparison of them with the key passages in the journal. The journal and history match exactly, while there are some subtle changes in the pictures on the wall. Just be careful in examining them. And again, recount the same passages from the journal…”

She went over them in detail until she was satisfied Nelson had them clearly in his memory.

“So we have yet another mystery before us? Another portal, means of passage, hidden riches or what? With the labyrinth it could be another trap, a decoy, and a portal to elsewhere all in one…” Nelson shook his head as he stepped back to examine the stone in better detail. Something continued to nag at him in the back of his mind, a feeling unlike any other time in his life. It almost felt as though the images called out to him and wished to tell their story.

He paid no attention to the frenzied screams of Chipper as Sparkle kept up her game of ‘fry-the-squirrel’ and ‘catch-dinner-as-catch-can…’

Nelson followed up on a sudden hunch. He closed his eyes, held his hand forward just shy of touching the wall, and called upon the magic of the mind. He sought by divination to learn the truth of the images, how they had been made and why, plus any other lore connected to them. At the same time, suddenly aided by his rams-headed staff and the esoteric magic of his robes, he cast a powerful cabalistic enchantment which boosted the strength of his divination.

In less time than it took for his heart to beat, he beheld and comprehended centuries of information. As he came back to the here and now, he shook his head and heavily sighed; for he learned that the right sequence of figures being touched would open a portal to bring them closer to the shrine, just as the journalist mentioned. Only two complications remained – to discover the exact key to activate the portal, and to do so without setting off one of a dozen or more deadly traps as are the normal within the Labyrinth.

Nelson extended his mind to Elsa via their growing telepathic bond, another unusual ability he has recently learned to employ, and conveyed all he had learned. He continued: “So you see what we have, a means to either speed us on the way, or dump us under miles of ice after we are duly incinerated.”

He paused, for the area was backlit by brilliant yellows, oranges, reds and greens as Chipper yowled and leaped onto Nelsons shoulder, his thick coat, fur and tail covered in ash and soot.

Nelson mentally heard the wild laughter of Elsa as Chipper speared Nelson with a look and said, forepaw pointed at Sparkle, “Will you please remind her there is a difference between play-play and cook-cook! She keeps demanding I hold still so she can do 'a controlled burn for her meal to be just so...' Honestly what kind of pint sized fire-breathing incineration machine did you have to find for a spirit-companion...”

With a smile of pure delight Nelson said, “Chipper, of all beings in our party you should remember, to her you are prey. Small as she is at this time, she is still an apex predator. When you begin to imitate her usual diet in the wilderness, her instincts take over.”

Sparkle alighted on the forearm of Nelson, reached her paws out and began to stroke Chippers fur to put out the last smoldering areas. Soon enough, as Chipper batted her paws away with his, it entered into another game that Sparkle won hands down: she hog tied Chipper with a small length of magical string she conjured from thin air. The little dragon then dragged Chipper off, warbling all manner of recepies for 'torched squirrel under glass...'

“Problem solved…” Nelson began to say to Elsa, then gasped, for he sensed the sudden wave of terror from her as a great beast appeared, close enough he could feel the roar vibrate through the thick ice and stone.

Sparkle untied Chipper and helped him to his feet. Then the two paused and looked around; as they too felt the rumbling. Then came the great retort of blast upon magical blast; chunks of ice and stone descended from above; and sections of the wall and floor began to spider web for tens of yards in each direction. One huge stone smashed into Nelson, and only the stone-hard skin spell combined with the protective magic of his robes saved him from death; instead, he fell to the ground, unconscious, bloodied and bruised, but alive.

Sparkle landed on the floor beside him and plaintively called out to him while Chipper laid his forepaws upon his face and neck, and commenced to employ his healing magic. The squirrel just hoped the ceiling did not come down upon them until after he finished when anther slab of ice tore loose and fell mere feet away from them.

Chipper sensed the desperate telepathic call of Elsa, then reached to her via their mind-to-mind link and said: “he’s been clobbered in the head Elsa by some ice; we need you here now!”

₰

​

“I’ll be there as fast as I can, in the meantime, get him better and that portal open, I have company hot on my heels,” Elsa telepathically sent to her friends as she ran down the tunnel for her very life. She leaped and spun, grabbed wall and icy outcroppings to fling herself around hairpin corners; and yet the beast refused to give up.

“It’s not like I did all that much damage to its hide anyhow? I mean, who could have figured that thing was all but immune to magic and my axes?” she said to no one in particular.

A deep, long, low resonated sound flowed through, and filled the area. It unleashed a deluge of icy chunks and flakes; and filled the region with a fine, wintery mist. In the obscuring clouds Elsa leapt to the side, crawled into a small niche, and pulled her cloak close and activated its camouflage magic.

Akin to the wail of a thousand Banshees, the blast of sound cleaved through the very air, shook the ice and just missed her by less than an inch. Sixteen inches of ice was pulverized. She cringed as she beheld great cracks spider-web across the walls, floor and the ceiling; and soon after, she felt the first distinctive vibrations of that which she dreaded most in the tunnels: ice moved against ice, and she silently mouthed curse after curse and once again wishing that the beast would just leave her alone.

“Right, like that’s going to happen,” she said as, once again, she leaped forward and bolted for her life.

The beast roared and continued its relentless pursuit; the click-clicking of its iron-hard claws drew closer by the second. Then the vibrations ceased, and did not begin again. Elsa cursed the perpetual bad luck she has been experiencing and shook her head. Then the ice shifted and warped, as the very air alive with electricity that set her hair on edge. The air behind her popped, crackled, hissed and sizzled; for the creature had bodily vanished from its old location and began to pass through the ice as if it were a ghost.

“Blast it already, this thing is dislocating itself again. What does it take to stop it?” she howled in the purest of rage and frustration mixed in equal measure. She could not believe the creature, some form of great salamander and dragon-like hybrid, with six-legs, armored-hide impervious to any weapon she had, and an attitude to match either of its progenitors.

Elsa began a quick countdown, calculating just when and roughly where the brute should reappear in the real world. Her estimate left her no room for error, and, as she took a hairpin corner a little too sharp and rebounded off the opposing wall, she saw her chance…

Sinking her nails into the ice, she ceased her forward momentum, stood and whirled around and flung one hand wide as she shouted out a lone word of power. The ice shook again from reality being distorted as six small orbs of ever-shifting light appeared; on top of this, she created a sphere of absolute silence over them, and grinned as she imagined the creatures surprise in the next few seconds.

Needless to say, knowing the coming catastrophe, Elsa decided to be elsewhere while time remained.

Behind her, on schedule, the creature appeared as the orbs of light erupted into multi-hued blasts of light that inflicted savage burns and subjected it to hellish pressures and heat. Such was the combined force its body up and dissolved a moment before the tunnels, their structural integrity compromised, collapsed.

She sped off, tripped over a small outcropping and bodily tumbled, screaming, into the darkened shaft of ice and stone just beyond…

Her screams echoed long, loud and far throughout the ice and stone; she grasped at the smooth walls for any purchase, to save her from a bone-shattering impact, and failed. Finally, the inevitable happened and she fell clear of the shaft into the open and slammed hard enough onto the ice to shatter it for some distance.

Stunned, the wind knocked out of her lungs, it took Elsa many a minute to get the strength to sit upright, and then grab her tush in pain. “It figures, the most heavily padded section of my anatomy happened to absorb the brunt of the impact. Now I have to figure out where in the heck I’m at and then get to the others…”

She paused, her preternaturally keen hearing detecting the frantic battle occurring nearby. Howls, roars, and the shrill battle cry of a small dragon confirmed her location. In a heartbeat she raced off, to add her considerable repertoire of magic and arms to the ongoing battle of her friends and the newest band of monsters.

“Nelson, Chipper, Sparkle I’m on the way!” she shouted, and when the first Salamander-Dragon appeared, she took it down with a great blast of flame, which duplicated itself again mere seconds later; the beast succumbed to the illusion, and Elsa beheld the smoldering remains with a shake of her head.

“Got to remember, illusions in this area of the Labyrinth are given reality and even more power to do harm,” she said. The last thing she desired is to be blasted by one of her own fire-based magical spells; she had done that once in the past, and that was one time too many. “Wasted my entire wardrobe and library in that tower, not one of my better moments…” she muttered.

Five more of the brutes fell to her magic of mind and spell, and three more to her axes before she could rejoin Nelson and the others. When she caught sight of him, he stood tall and regal atop a dead Salamander-Dragon with his rams-headed staff in hand; in that instant, as Chipper alighted onto her shoulder and cried out in sheer triumph, she beheld a momentary vision of Nelson in the future: the day in which he finally became an grand magician, an arch-mage, among the best of the best in the cosmos.

She saw herself at his side, the two in love and with another being…

Such was her shock and surprise at this revelation that her twin axes slipped from her limp hands to crash upon the floor. She shook her head and said, over and over, “Mama, mama….why don’t you know me…I'm your little one Nia, why won't you recognize me...” Finally, overcome with grief, she curled up against a wall, covered her face, cried, and fell into an unending nightmare: "Why won't Charity recognize her own daughter...little Nia, who I once was..."

₰


​

Nelson took Elsa into his arms and looked her over as massive, desperation-filled sobs wracked her body one upon the next without cease. He checked her over and failed to discern the cause of her sudden despair. “Hey Chipper, Elsa’s had something come over her and we can use your expertise.”

Chipper, having already figured out the problem landed on Nelsons forearms moments after he began to speak and said to him and Sparkle: “In a short time she will be alright. Recall that this area is filled with small, mobile fields of wild magic that twist things around in unpredictable ways. Elsa has maintained contact with you all of the time she was trying to get here; and telepathy, though it is magic of the mind, is still affected by wild magic regions.”

All three cringed as Elsa wailed, curled up on herself and pushed her head into Nelsons shoulder. “What is the matter with her?” Nelson asked.

Nelson began to stroke her hair and softly mewled to her, as he had heard her do to him on occasions past. He looked at Chipper, who smiled and gave him thumbs up, and a nod of approval.

Chipper stated: “Good idea, it should help out. Now then, back to what I was saying. She ran through one of the wild magic areas and it twisted her telepathic ability for a moment; she beheld the distant future of you and her together Nelson. And I must say, you and her make a very cute couple; of course little Sparkle’ and me are still there to ensure you two don’t mess things up too much.”

Sparkle warbled in agreement and palm-bumped with Chipper.

Nelson asked: “So what was this about her mother?”

Chipper answered as he lowered his head and closed his eyes: “A hard truth she had learned of and assumed to be a closed chapter in her life. She will need you to help recover the pieces of her life when the moment comes to pass. It’s going to be that bad for her Nelson, by far. She passed from this world long before, Elsa that is, and was returned to life by the Primus and others. Some events are nightmares that might happen...sometimes not. Of course that assumes we can get past that portal before another group of monstrosities come to us for lunch…”

Chipper opened his eyes and gazed upon the wall carvings, and then nodded his head. “Time, that’s it, that’s the answer we have been looking for! “

Nelson cringed as Chipper ran for the wall. Sparkle, sensing his fear, simply screamed and wormed her way to shelter within his magical robes. He called out: “Chipper, don’t touch anything, your propensity for maelstrom level mayhem has been established.”

Chipper glared at him with a ‘I-know-that’ look of contempt, and said: “Look at the figures present; then each of the dates next to them. I happened to see an anomaly within their measurement of time. Its subtle, but still a clue to our way forward from here: the first date has missing within it a numeric value of three compared to the ones in the old tomb. That difference is vouched for by the journal entry; the journalist commented: “Prime route cubed date by date, from there the open book will declare ones individual fate save for that prime three the second is not to be.”

“Now if we touch in sequence the proper dates, we can speed upon our way…” Chipper held his next words in check, as he gazed upon the emotional mess Elsa remained in. “We can be on our way when Elsa is ready to travel again.”

A roar echoed from further down the tunnels, and great chunks of ice descended from the ceiling. Nelson did not hesitate; he secured his staff to his haversack, replaced Elsa’s axes to her belt and then lifted her into his arms. He looked at Chipper and asked: “Can you get that thing open?”

Chipper looked at the wall, his examination and calculations hastened as the volume and numbers of monstrous roars increased. He turned to Nelson and said: “I need a bit of time, we can call upon a few allies from another world or dimension; but I’m not sure if even that would…” He noted Nelson slip his hand out of a pouch, with three gemstones that pulsated with blue-red frost and flames.

Nelson looked deep into the gems; he focused his will and drew upon his own and the magical robes inherit esoteric lore. Next he called out cabalistic words of power that enhanced their infused magical might to levels of unprecedented magnitude. When he cast a second spell, the gems rose from his hand and spiraled within a matrix of golden fire.

Nelson looked at Chipper and said: “Get that portal open, this is all the time I can risk giving us without the roof coming down upon us.”

With that, Nelson flung the stones forward down the tunnel. Moments later, the roars of the approaching beasts shifted from ones of victory to that of pain, fear, despair and final death. Nelson shook his head, “Never figured I would have a use for those three, Frostfell Magma Wights, nasty brutes, but they will buy us a few minutes.”

Chipper, aided by Sparkle, hit the precise sequence of date markers the squirrel specified. There came a sudden burst of golden flame, which revealed a great archway of woven vines, in which were sheltered many open books of all sizes, shapes and styles. Chipper looked at Nelson and said: “Pick any one of the open books, we got time for one guess; hope it’s the right one or we’re all toasted. I can feel the power of the magical defenses in this portal already building and preparing for release; its time to go.”

Nelson spied one book different from the rest, one only written on one-half of a page, an ancient symbol for those who sought knowledge. After he adjusted his grip on Elsa, he motioned for Chipper and Sparkle to get on his shoulders, which they did and declared, “Here goes nothing…” He touched the book two places above the one-half page one, and pressed it: golden fire burst forth, and the four of them were sent elsewhere.

The great beasts clawed and pounded their armored heads upon the stone surface in frustration. A minute later, the magical traps that protected the area activated, and reduced them to charred skeletons.

₰₰

​

Amidst the icy tunnels and stone hallways, an ancient being wandered through the region. It had sensed the many telepathic communications going on around it; knew all of the monsters, aberrations and more which were seeking fresh prey; and knew almost everything about the prey – four eccentric, powerful, and far too fortunate adventurers who had turned the Labyrinth upon its head in recent weeks.

The Primus, its powerful master and controller, ordered it to destroy the four adventurers, in particular the one called Elsa the cat-girl. As did the Guardian, it sensed that Primus feared the cat-girl, though its vast intellect could fathom no logical or illogical reasoning. For as powerful as it was, its master was many folds greater in ability, wealth and commanded whole worlds filled with conquered slaves.

It paused, and considered for a moment: if one as powerful as Primus feared the cat-girl; then how would an immortal, undying being such itself manage?

‘Old Sparky’ the recharge mage, among the deadliest of its kind, decided that discretion was the better part of staying alive. It reconsidered its plans for a second, and a third time, and understood how much it had to lose from dealing with them; though it had no real choice, for the magic which enslaved it to the will of Primus remained too strong…

For the time being, since the Guardian had been so bound and yet won his freedom.

 

To the readers, with the coming of CAW 20's reading phase, the Chronicles will still be published, but on a slower basis for the first couple of weeks.
You may need to hunt for them around mid-way down on the first forum stories pages.

Thanks,
Snowleopard.

 

₰₰ Book One: Chapter Thirty One ₰₰


​

Nelson sat near the small cooking hearth, shook his head in despair and gave off a melancholy-filled sigh which filled the entire room. Within the stone hearth, his magical cook fire hissed, popped and crackled, above which hung a small kettle of steaming stew. In his mind, he replayed the last events before last portal, the means of egress that transported them to this multi-leveled, hand-built, thick-walled outpost. Even the passage of a gentle, heated breeze within the room failed to heighten his mood.

In the last three days he, Chipper and Sparkle had explored the place they have assumed to be a kind of outpost. Around the building exterior ran two wide spanned, stone-railed balconies which overlooked the eternal abyss beyond; shuttered windows lay magically sealed here and there. Each room, chamber, and main hall had in them doors reinforced with enchanted iron, all but indestructible. The place was barren of any furnishings, and to Nelson this indicated the original inhabitants had voluntarily left, and not in a rushed manner.

The only mysteries which remained, as far as he could tell, were the dozen archways. Each one was carved into the shape of ivy vines with open books held among their leaves and flowers. No matter what, he could not get the puzzle solved. Yet he knew, based on the last portal, that the information lay in the ancient journal and that which Chipper discovered in the old tomb.

He shook his head and said: “A dozen more means of movement through the Labyrinth. If they are based on a system of mathematical system, then we are in deep trouble. One mistake and the emplaced magical traps roast us alive.”

He suspected the dozen portals linked in turn to a dozen more, and in turn to another hundred or more. If so, there was no end to how far the companions, once Elsa recovered, needed to travel in this icy hell. The outpost shook as a minor quake swept the unending ice, and caused great chunks to calve off and descend into the eternal depths. Nelson clenched his fist, aware that the banshee-like winds were to come, winds so powerful and deadly that to be caught in them meant obliteration.

Nelson leaned back against the wall and watched the firelight cast its ever-shifting curtain of light and shadow across the stones. One hand rested upon his knee, the fingers gently tap-tapping away as he gave off a great melancholy-filled sigh. His thoughts drifted back over the last few months; from his death-duel with his old mentor, the first journey into the old tower, and subsequent events with Elsa, Chipper and Sparkle.

He felt as if he carried centuries of age upon his shoulders, and he wondered how Elsa managed it. For that matter, what was this nightmare that held her in its unending grip? No matter what course of action that he could devise, contemplate, or imagine, all seemed likely to end up doing more harm to Elsa than not. Defeat upon defeat, and with each one, his frustration continued to grow layer upon layer.

He growled in frustration and slammed his fist into the wall. Such was his strength that an area five inches across and half as deep were reduced to powder. He sighed and forced himself to calm down, “Talk about changes coming over each of us. For some reason my own physical abilities have become sharper, keener, and much more powerful.”

His rams-headed staff glowed and pulsated, and he wondered what new abilities endowed in it remained to be discovered? He had already established a connection to the intelligent spirit that presided in its depths, and had learned yet more of what it could do, along with its few limitations. Also, as it has revealed, it could be used as a final, and fantastically powerful, means of vengeance: the retributive strike.

Nelson shuttered at the thought of such devastation being wrought by his own hand. Yet, he knew in the depths of his soul and heart, if the worst-case came about, he would unleash the last strike. So long as Elsa, Chipper and Sparkle remained free, his death was a price he was fully prepared to pay.

₰


​

From atop their piled gear, Sparkle roused from a deep slumber. She rubbed sleep from her bleary eyes, and then stretched out her entire body. Through her shared mind-to-mind link with Nelson, she understood he was deeply troubled by many things: by Elsa’s condition, by their continued presence in the Labyrinth and so much more.

Deeply concerned, she reached out with a telepathic call to Chipper and said: “Papa-Nelson is upset about that which is not his fault. His memories speak of things long before you and Mama-Elsa meet him, before I even in this world; his angel-half sings to him, seeks to comfort him, and to guide him, why he not let it?”

Chipper responded to her inquiry: “Humans are very emotional beings Sparkle. As you grow older you will see this to be true. Nelson – sorry, Papa-Nelson, is good in heart; yet he is torn between his angel half which tells him to excel at all that is good, and his human half, which pulls him all over the place moment by moment. In this storm, his love for Mama-Elsa continues to grow.”

Satisfied for the moment Sparkle thanked Chipper, and decided to see if she could help Nelson get out of his glum mood. If anything, she could always resort to giving him a short blast of flame to the posterior and get his mind on other things.

₰


​

After his brief discussion with Sparkle, Chipper tried to resume his frenzied exploration of the outpost; for he sensed that a source of powerful magic lay hidden nearby. “Blast it already…” he said, frustrated beyond any measure due to his concern for Elsa and for Nelson.

He leaped from the wall and landed to race off full-speed ahead, determined to make some difference if at all possible.

₰


​

Nelson looked at his carefully folded robes, stacked upon his bedroll and shook his head. They had recently transformed into a complete set of winter clothing to protect him from the intense cold outside the outpost walls. He said, “One more magical capability that I still do not fully fathom. They’ve transformed before, yet I sense there is almost no limit to this ability. Secrets within secrets within secrets; my old mentor never could have dreamed of such power that they possess; if they had, he would have been unstoppable in our duel.”

He recalled an earlier discussion with Elsa, about the robes history. “The Grand Court Mage, or maybe the very ruler of that lost elven realm, wore these for centuries beyond count. How much they must have been loved by their people. So much in resources, time and effort went into making this…” His hand came to rest upon them, and the sentient force bound within their depths reached out to peacefully establish contact.

“Unbelievable. What destiny do I have that I need such magical might? What great good or great evil will I in the end bring down upon the universe as a whole? Or for that matter, am I just another connection in a line of them to another hero who will use them after I am gone?” Nelson speculated to himself.

His commiseration continued: “As I develop my own abilities, my knowledge, comprehension and the like all grow step by step…” he sighed, “more abilities endowed within the robes open before me, instinctively. New insights, new ways and techniques, new knowledge, esoteric lore and their entire ilk become available. Now, in my dreams I interact with ancient elves and angelic beings; they discuss many matters with me, and yet, I never can fully remember them upon awakening…”

With a shrug of his shoulders he looked over at Elsa, who tossed and turned, desperate mewls passed her lips. She continued to struggle under the grip of a magical nightmare; a nightmare he cannot free her of despite his best efforts. His next melancholy sigh echoed long and far across the outpost halls.

Sparkle alighted onto his shoulder, and stroked his cheek with her head and through their mind-to-mind link: “Papa-Nelson; Mama-Elsa still hurt? Why has mama-Elsa not wake up and play with Papa-Nelson, Sparkle and Chipper-whose-tail-I-love-to-torch?”

Nelson said to her: “Elsa has been caught up in a nightmare; the telepathic link she held at the time with me twisted; it became bad when she passed through the wild magic field before we came to this outpost.”

Chipper raced up, climbed onto Nelsons other shoulder, and said: “Exactly Nelson, exactly. I have some good news, I found out why the outpost here is so warm. A set of vents and pipes shift heat via the air and flowing water to heat the area; on the level below is a bathing chamber large enough for a hundred or more people. How we missed it on our first exploration I have no idea, though I wonder now…”

Nelson nodded: “If there are more hidden chambers and the like. We have to keep in mind, the Labyrinth tests us without end. I think this region will demand even more than before; as if were in the final stages of a smiths effort to forge a creation to endure for ages to come.”

He held out the ancient journal in his hands, and set it to one side. “I’ve examined the journalists’ writings about this region, and I think one part, about fifteen pages worth of notes, pertain to this outpost and the regions that the portals extend to. Apparently he used it as a base of operations until he puzzled out all of the secrets he needed to continue on his journey.”

Chipper asked: “Did he find anything special?”

Nelson nodded, and then explained: ‘He mentioned of many hidden rooms, passages, chambers and more areas he had not bothered or deemed important enough to explore. Some portions are rather cryptic, but they speak of a hidden path, the two sets of double-doors, and something he called the ‘path opened by the song within the song.’ There are some subsequent pages that speak of hidden caches of goods, and other secrets within this area but to the best I can determine, he never bothered to find them.”

Chipper nodded and quipped in: “And given the way the journal guards its secrets, layers within layers within layers, we can never be fully sure of our conclusions. Look at how many more pages have opened up for us to examine after we arrived in this outpost. Combined with the others, nearly two-thousand are now discernible to one degree or another. There has to be secrets within secrets, something is the key though we have no clue at this time.”

Nelson shook his head, and said: “I can speculate that the combined lore and information, as it is revealed, is a path to greater secrets. To protect the seven tigers, a true master illusionist, or grand magician could conceal the secrets with significant ease. I imagine they will open up to us once we get past the gateway and begin our real exploration in the cosmos.”

He sighed and continued: “What matters is this: one of the outpost portals, present or still hidden, leads us to the ruins in which great treasures and a monster sleeps. That beast, as the journalist says, is “a nightmare even I shall not risk awakening. The song within the song revealed the next way for me. Thus I avoided having to deal with the creature, and aided my journey with much comfort of haste.’ Other references speak, in contradictory and twisted terms and allegories that one portal will lead us to the first double-doors, or lead us to inescapable doom.”

Chippers shoulders slumped and he said: “Great. A dozen or more possible ways to go for the first moves, and who knows how many more after that; one leads to an old ruin, legendary treasure, and legendary nightmarish beast; then there may be another way to speed us along, and not just this ‘hidden path’ or the first double-doors that will lead us to the third shrine…”

Nelson nodded his head and then Chipper continued: “Get some sleep Nelson, you’ll need it. All of us will need it in the near future. Remember somewhere in this area is that one called ‘Old Sparky.’ It seems we will be safe in the outpost from it; or so I hope, but right now we need rest.”

Nelson never heard Chipper for he had fallen sound asleep where he sat.

Chipper, secretly pleased with the progress that Nelson has so rapidly made, checked upon Elsa, checked the bubbling stew, and called Sparkle over to enjoy it to the fullest.

₰₰


​

Come the next day, Nelson prepared a simple, magically prepared repast of bread, cheese, meat and some steaming tea. His melancholy mood lingered, and he could not shake it. For a time he suspected a magical fear-inducing or emotion-altering spell had befallen upon him. Yet when he used priestly divination spells to inquire of his patron power, no such magic influenced him.

A message had been passed to him in one of these communions: “Beyond the third shrine, compassion and the usage of courtesy will battle avoid, and open the path you seek. The song within the song will guide you on your way.”

“One more mystery to pile upon all of the others,” he said to himself.

He looked at his spirit-companion Sparkle and heard her stomach rumble. When she gave off a hungry warble, he presented his meal to her. He said: “Normally making breakfast helps me get into a better mood Sparkle, but not now. Go ahead and take a bite of it, though you may not like it. This day is going to be another long one…”

Sparkle looked at him, dashed forward and snatched a slice of meat. She retreated, threw it into the air and cooked it with a quick, intense blast of fire. Then she swallowed it in one gulp. She came forward, climbed into his lap, curled up and belched as she quickly fell asleep.

Nelson laughed, his mood now broken by Sparkles antics.

Nelson heard a plaintive mewling sound that instantly caught his attention. He checked upon Elsa, concerned that her condition had turned for the worst. She whimpered and mewled, swept away within the grip of an unending nightmare, or a vision, of her past she cannot return from. Once again, he reached out to her by telepathy, and braced himself for the storm to come: he was driven to the floor in a maelstrom of anger, rage, fear and more which flowed back upon him, plus the active mental defenses which all mind mages shared in common.

Nelson released the link an instant later, shook his head clear. “By now I should have learned. She’s not only fighting against whatever her mind is locked within, but that damned ‘beast-within.’ We’ve been here for three days and I still cannot do anything for her.”

Chipper and Sparkle raced up, and the squirrel said: “I’m in the same boat Nelson. Any form of healing magic we use upon her will only make the matter worse. Hence, we can only hope her heritage will allow her to recover in time.”

He shook his head, and threw his forepaws wide in frustration, “Each one of us is being pushed to our breaking points and then some on this journey. I had no idea, neither did Elsa, that we would be tested by the Labyrinth in so many different ways. If I had, I never would have supported her effort to find the seven tigers…”

Chipper and Nelson looked upon the tiger-images each one bore. Each one was a magical symbol which held unknown meaning, and incomprehensible power and secrets to be discovered.

Nelson said: “Why are we being tested so much? What for? What is so precious about the labyrinth that we have to be turned inside out and upside down so as to ‘discover’ or ‘become’ something we have not the slightest idea of?”

Sparkle piped up: “Papa-Nelson, we are family. Tiger-images allow me to sense you and Mama-Elsa along with chase-and-incinerate Chipper-Elsa-Friend. Mama-Elsa hurt in mind, you cannot heal her?”

Nelson picked up the little dragon and sadly said: “No we cannot, the healing magic me, you and Chipper have would probably kill her. The forces of magic twist her heritage against her own body, and…” He paused, for a wild, desperate thought occurred to him. “Healing magic harms, could the reverse…”

Chipper looked at Nelson and nodded his head sageously and declared: “It might work, if we can modify a healing ritual to combine the aspects of life and death; we may have a means as well to help her contain the ‘beast-within.’ Though how much extra time it will buy her I cannot guarantee in the least.”

Nelson nodded his head and said: “Fine them, but we do this with Sparkle, and focus it through the tigers on our arms. I understand now what we have missed, something Sparkle knew from the beginning. What she calls our ‘family’ means our ability to work in harmony as a team, and as a family in one.” He looked at Chipper with a rueful grin, and continued: “A completely dysfunctional family yet we manage to get results.”

Chipper fist-bumped Nelson and said: “True, and even I can admit that. Now let’s figure out exactly how to do this and help Elsa. So then ‘Brother Nelson’ and ‘Sparkle who-insists-I-am-a-torch’ here is how I think we can begin…any input you have…”

₰₰


​

Exhausted, bone-weary, bleary-eyed, and befuddled-in-thought, Nelson dropped onto his bedroll. As much as he desired to sleep and forget the world for a week or more, he forced his attention to focus upon Elsa, who he saw continued to sleep in a deep, untroubled slumber. He said with a tired smile: “She’s free of the magic that had her captive these last three days. So far Chipper, I have to say, the ritual you devised seems to have worked, and worked well at that.”

He placed a hand on Elsa’s bare shoulder, felt the warmth in her skin and the gentle pulsation of her heart. On a hunch he opened his mind to her, just to see if she had roused enough for communication. “Elsa…Elsa…are you awake enough to…”

He gasped, for he was pulled into the depths of her mind, her very being, and found himself within an deep and dark forest. Instinctively, he knew this to be nothing more than a mental image, to which he could interact with Elsa deeper than just telepathic speech.

In the distance, he heard a terrifying roar from a beast not of the mortal world. That scream cut him to the quick, and froze his limbs, his heart, and the very blood in his veins. Terror greater than anything he had experienced crashed home as he beheld the black, writhing, seething cloud with glowing red eyes advance upon him with relentless determination.

“You are mine human, you have come to the region where I am king and you are my prey…” the creature said, and Nelson understood it was a mental manifestation of Elsa’s ‘beast-within.’ It growled, grinned, and lunged at his paralyzed body.

Or so the ‘beast-within’ assumed.

For Nelson had a trick or two up his sleeve; for when the entity was nearly upon him, and the rank malevolence of its existence battered upon his very psyche, he unleashed a lightning fast, sharp, precise and deep penetrating thrust of mental energy. He grinned as the entity howled, roared, thrashed about and began to back up, for the very core of its being, the ego and super-ego, had been rendered.

Twice more he unleashed this attack upon the ‘beast-within’ and forced it back. Then, unexpectedly to him and the malevolent entity, he instinctively unleashed a great force of mental power; it sought to dominate, subjugate and then crush for all time the living mind energy of the creature and eradicate it from the universe. The ‘beast-within’ roared in pain and terror, and redoubled its efforts to harm the impudent mortal.

Nelson was the quicker, and unleashed a word of power; one of such purity, and of such holiness, that a great portion of the creatures life-force was eliminated. He lifted his hands and unleashed by sheer force of will blast after rending blast of sacred-blessed flame and cold, acid and concussive force. He even managed to summon forth, and guide into battle half-dozen white-hot ribbons of sacred fire which tore and slashed at his enemy.

Sensing victory to be at hand, Nelson proclaimed to the creature as he unleashed a score and more of multi-hued marble-sized orbs, “Goodbye you blasted beast of darkness!” Seventeen of the orbs hit, and scored with sacred fire and acid that rendered more of the beast’s life-force.

Its foul, all-corrupting screams of pain grew an instant later as, from Nelsons side, came a sudden blast of blue-gold lightning. It wrapped around the beast-within, confined it and then banished it to the furthest holds of Elsa’s very being.

Nelson looked over and beheld Elsa, battered and bruised, stagger to his side and collapse into his arms. He smiled at her and stroked her hair, amazed at how real it felt. “Elsa, I didn’t mean to cause any problems here; I tried to reach you and got dragged into this mess…’

Elsa looked into his eyes and smiled, a heated blush came to fruition on her cheeks and she gave off a gentle little squeal of desire and delight. She softly whispered to him: “Don’t worry about it. You meant well, and I must say, handled that aspect of the ‘beast-within’ very well.”

She giggled at the horrified expression on his face, and continued: “Yes, my love. You only beat a very small portion of it; the full truth of its power is something you must never confront, unless you are accompanied by me in this region of my mind.”

Her thoughts trailed off in another direction, as desires burst to the fore as her body burned to unite flesh with flesh. Her tail twitched and caressed his thigh which induced a shudder in Nelson. She said: “I for one am glad you came in when you did Nelson. The ‘beast-within’ came after me, and we commenced yet one more dance in our unending play; it sought to take control of my body if it could.”

“From my end it looks like you handled that thing fairly easily,” Nelson said with an impish smile.

Elsa contemptuously snorted at his comment. She shook her head and struggled to make him understand what had truly happened, and the danger involved: “For your own sake Nelson, please try to understand. That wild magic area twisted my telepathic link into a nightmare; and then you, Chipper and little Sparkle, manage to secure my freedom. The beast took its chance and nearly won. Another minute or two Nelson, and I would have lost. Soon after it would have killed you, Sparkle, and maybe Chipper, if he failed to stop me.”

Nelson cringed at those words. He recalled, all too clearly, when Chipper explained that Elsa had given him detailed orders. Orders to the effect that, if the ‘beast-within’ ever won control over Elsa’s body, and tried to slay Nelson, then Chipper was to destroy her completely without hesitation. To further guarantee this, she had phrased them so completely and perfectly that her spirit-companion had no choice but to comply if the time ever came.

He grasped her shoulders and desperately said: “It did not come to that Elsa, not this time and not in the future. There has to be some way we can help you control, contain, or even get rid of that thing once and for all. We just have not found it yet; but there has to be a way…”

Nelsons words were cut off by more urgent demands on his attention…

Elsa collapsed against him, her head resting upon his chest. She reveled in the scent of his body, the thunder of his heart; the constant surge of his blood; the power, purity, faith and strength within his very soul. For her, Nelson and his love had become an anchor, a means to keep afloat in a world gone mad when the beast-within struck out to gain control.

She said to him: “Nelson, you know I love you to no end. You mean everything to me, more than anyone else ever has in the past; and I do not want you to get hurt due to my mistakes.”

Elsa let her tail run up along his inner thigh, and gently giggled as he startled when it reached his loins. She lifted her head and looked into his eyes, a loving smile upon her lips. “Now, to answer the question you have been dying to ask: this woodland is a fabricated reality, similar to the waterfalls when we first awoke your abilities of mind magic. And of course, such regions as where we have, uh,” she felt her cheeks flush and her eyes lower as she fondly remembered those times, “interacted with one another romantically.”

She looked upon his eyes again and continued: “In this area, some things are vastly different. This is where my subconscious mind interacts with the living spirit. Here, as in all beings, is where battles of wills are waged; in the real world, a battle such as we waged lasts but an instant, here it may drag on for hours or days. Time flows at a vastly different rate in this area of the cosmos.”

Nelson gasped, horrified as an aspect of the battle slammed home. “Elsa, I used that blast of holy power to drive it back. My stars, I forgot in my panic that such magical might hurts your body…” he shuddered and continued: “what damage did I inflict upon you? Am I about to see you fade from me and cross into the next world?”

“I’m fine Nelson, in mind and body.” She stroked his cheek and then kissed him on the lips, “my physical body, and for that matter my higher consciousness, slumber away. Somehow you reached deeper into my being, and thus…” she gestured with her hand to the woods, “here we are. Before you ask, no I have no idea how it occurred, save that the healing ritual you, Chipper and Sparkle performed may have forged a deeper link between all of us. It’s something to explore at a later time; and under much safer circumstances.”

Nelson breathed a sigh of relief, and a lecherous grin crossed his lips. “So if we are all linked together and I and you go for a roll in the moss…” He whistled as Elsa stepped back and disrobed to let him see her naked body.

She raised one eyebrow, placed on hand on her hip and wiggled them suggestively. Her tail seductively slid along her leg and hip, tap-tapping perceptively with her building desire. She said: “Shall we find out if they can share the experience or is it just for the two of us alone?” She held her arms out as Nelson came over and then the two embraced to begin the ‘experiment’ which lasted for a long, long time.

₰


​

In the outpost, Chipper looked on in wonder, for Elsa awoke and smiled at Nelson. He exuberantly called out to her: “All right, now Elsa is hale and whole again…” then halted in mid-word, shook his head and headed off to get some well-earned rest of his own.

He grinned, shook his head and twirled his tail about as he muttered, “Why do I even bother with those two love-birds? They only have eyes for one another…”

Behind him, Elsa had snuggled into Nelsons arms, and, once again, fell fast asleep.
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Snow, Snow, SNOW,

You KNOW that malapropisms are one of my pet peeves (high on the list) and you still let this one cause my reading to stutter. I shudder to think what else you have allowed into your works. Luckily, I know how well you write outside of this difficulty to be able to get back into the story but I had to make this comment first.

SHEESH ! ! !

 

I understand, blasted spell-check at times gets the gremlins out most of the time: not always.

So did you see the connection of Charity and Elsa?