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A War of Shadows...Part 2
2008-02-10 19:35:00 Calling upon the Shadow to speed my travel, I breezed through the last three hundred yards of my journey. I emerged in a large clearing that was more of a shallow depression. Near the center of the roughly circular depression stood the obelisk that I had known would be waiting.The obelisk rose from the center of the depression, its brooding dark presence dominating the space. A quick glance around the far perimeter of the clearing showed the brightly-hued Spirit forms of Herne?s assault team, over twenty strong in all. Herne was waiting in the center of the depression next to the obelisk. Next to him were Cerrydwen, Ravyn, Alana and Jim.I reached out to touch Herne?s Spirit form. He flinched before recognizing my touch. ?Damn, I?m glad that?s you Rusty. Our Spirit vision is blinded by this obelisk of yours.??Herne, there?s not much time to get ready, they will be here soon. I need your guys to get into place quickly. Did you bring the weapons we discussed??He nodded. ?Yes, Jasmine h...
A War of Shadows...Part 1
2008-02-03 16:02:00 The Shadowland whizzed by in a blur of grey and black images as I slowed a move fast trot. It was proving difficult to move too quickly through this stretch of wilderness since thick, twisted and very substantial trees existed both in the Shadowland and in the real world. John had once told me that this only happed in the oldest of forests. ?As trees age, their spirits strengthen, expanding their presence beyond the world of light to the land of shadow. It is almost as if their essence transfers slowly from one world to the next once they reach the height of their majesty. In some places in the Shadowland there are majestic, towering trees where there is now nothing but fields or cement roads in the world of the living. But alas, over time, those forests fade away in the Shadowland as well once the living trees have been gone long enough.?My guess was that this stretch of Alaskan wilds hadn?t been significantly touched by Man for hundreds, if not thousands of years.The howling of my...
Britney and Frances
2008-01-05 16:36:00 Every time you think it could not be any more bizarre in BritneyWorld something else happens that makes you literally gasp and say out loud "WTF????" I will admit, I love to read my gossip rags and prowl my gossip blogs, and Britney has been THE story the last two years (sorry Tiny Tom, Catatonic Katie and Turkey Baster Baby, when the mother ship comes and whisks you away you might be able to compete with BritneyWorld) But come on.... we read gossip items with a huge grain of salt and laugh when the rags finally manage to get one out of 200 stories right... but Britney has been whole other ball of wax. Her antics are so public, so "out there" that the rag sheets do not have to make anything up or even work at a story. For crying out loud---she bedded a married paparazzi last week and did not even bother to try and sneak around (heck not even Paris is that sleazy) The big question has not been whether or not Britney is a whack job, the question was WHY is she such a friggin' wa...
Little Keep on the Borderlands...Part 3
2007-10-08 17:45:00 I gripped the batons in my hands and stepped forward onto the bridge that the Frau had created and led the way towards the shattered doorway of the tower.Jim followed close behind, muttering half heard imprecations under his breath. Ravyn swung back onto the Frau?s humped back, burying one hand into the thick black fur to maintain her balance. With Ravyn secure on her back, the Frau shambled behind Jim, bringing up the rear of our small party.Passing through the portal, I felt a wave of magickal energy pass over me that was similar to passing from one world to another. Inside, the dark grey monotony of the Shadowland was replaced by the vibrant colors and rich textures of the ?normal? world. I was standing in the brightly lit foyer of what could have easily passed for a modern office building. The walls and floors of the place were of highly polished red and white marble tiles while the abundant golden fixtures gleamed in the bright yellow light that they put out.I had stopped in th...
Little Keep on the Borderlands...Part 2
2007-10-02 04:12:00 The Frau?s voice echoed in our minds. ?Once we get inside that thing, we can?t count on Rusty being able to get us back out of there with his power over the Shadow.?I glanced in her direction. ?Why do you say that??She returned the glance before swiveling her back towards the tower and grunting. ?I see El Diablito?s handiwork all over this thing. He has created this tower out of magick that hasn?t been used in centuries, if not millennia.?The Professor was curious now. ?You mean things like this tower have been created before? I don?t recall reading about any of these in my text books.?Ravyn chuckled and gave Jim?s cheek an affectionate pat. ?Of course not, silly! Things like this would only be found in your fairy tales and myths when you were growing up, although now you can find references in all sorts of modern fantasy. The Frau is right though, this more than just a traditional Mage?s Tower.?I looked the thing up and down again, trying to see what it was that made this place see...
Little Keep on the Borderlands...Part 1
2007-09-25 05:27:00 Visibility in this place is always limited, as Shadows flit about, drawn to light sources like moths in the mundane world. Here, our vision was further obscured by the thick, almost bubbling fog that rolled over us in successive waves from the direction where the troll had come from before pooling around our knees. It gathered around the now dissolving mass that was the troll.Undaunted by any unseen dangers that may have been lurking, I stepped into the mists towards where I had felt the location of El Diablito?s stronghold to be. I soon found myself on a rocky path between steeply rising walls of wet, black stone. The path would have been barely wide enough for that troll to walk through without brushing its shoulders against the sides.I heard others as they followed behind, Jim right behind me, with the Frau and Ravyn guarding our backs.The path continued at a slight up hill angle for a few hundred yards, twisting first right and then left. The fog was so thick and flowed so stron...
From the Frying Pan into the Fire...Part 5
2007-09-11 05:10:00 As I called the Shadow, I formed a heavy, protective bubble around the four of us. The only light in this bubble came from one Ravyn?s small red stones that she held forth in her left palm. The stone?s soft red glow gave the space the feel of a submarine. ?I?m going to take us to the place in the Shadowland where Nicholas was taken by Rose and then made the wrong choice by choosing Rose?s door?which led to a cell. We didn?t get to see all of the different doors in Nick?s memory orb, so I think that is the place to start. I?m not sure if that corridor corresponds with a single actual location or serves as sort of Transit Station within the Shadowland linking multiple different locations. Hang on!?With the power of my Will, I sent our little capsule hurtling through the Shadowland towards a place we had seen only briefly through the memories of a man I had never met.The passage didn?t take all that long, but the tension inside the capsule grew thicker with each passing moment. Jim pas...
From the Frying Pan into the Fire...Part 4
2007-09-07 05:16:00 After the initial surge of adrenaline passed, Jim looked back to me. ?Wait a minute, are you sure this is the best idea? Won?t you need this weapon if we face any powerful foes??I shook my head. ?If we were going in to make an all out attack and to cause damage, then yeah, I?d keep the blade with me and leave you somewhere safe. But right now we just need to get in, find as many of our people as we can, and get back out again. I also don?t know where we would be able to leave you where you would be safe right now. We don?t know who our mole is, other than it is likely not any of the four of us, and so I don?t think it is wise for us to split up in any way.?The Frau nodded. Her voice came through telepathically again. ?I agree with Rusty. Excalibur seems to be OK with you holding it, so let?s not argue about that. I also agree that splitting up is not a wise idea. We?re going to need to move fast and stay together so that Rusty or Ravyn can get us out of there in a hurry if things ge...
From the Frying Pan into the Fire...Part 3
2007-09-05 05:45:00 The transit through the Shadowland and into another world was brief and almost random in nature as I felt the need for us to land in a place that I had never before been and to which it could not be predicted that we would retire to. I had to reject two worlds because they presented survivability problems for my friends, and third world was rejected because the portal would have taken us to a strange looking city teeming with inhabitants of unknown dispositions. The fourth attempt finally resulted in place that was less than ideal but seemed to meet our immediate needs for safety and privacy.I closed the portal immediately.As soon as she regained her bearings, Ravyn knelt down next to Jim. ?Are you all right Jim??Jim groaned once and retched onto the ground away from her. His let go of the bat and grabbed his temples. ?Ugh. I don?t think trans-dimensional travel is going to help my concussion any, but it was probably better than another punch in head from Papa Locks.?The Frau gave t...
Sole Asylum...Part 4
2007-08-20 06:25:00 Hurtling sideways through the ether of the Shadowland while holding onto the rear bumper of an F-150 Ford pick-up truck is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the easiest place to try and summon up the concentration needed to open a portal to the ?normal? world. When you add in the complications of needing to open a portal large enough for a truck to go through and the concern for the safety of the occupants?and of any potential bystanders who might be nearby?the task only got harder.But it was absolutely critical that I find a way to solve this problem in a way that left open the possibility for a safe landing. My one advantage, other than sheer desperation, was that working with the Shadow was extremely easy in the Shadowland itself.So, ignoring the precarious position that I found myself in, I began weaving the strands of Shadow together into a web-like bubble. I was careful not to seal it up completely until I had some idea of where we would land.Before I could seal the bubb...
Sole Asylum...Part 3
2007-08-19 18:35:00 Shuffling around like silent zombies, we loaded up Jim?s truck with a few overstuffed bags of clothing and personal items and several boxes of groceries from the Frau?s enormous pantry. Ravyn and I piled into the narrow back seat of the truck while the Frau rode shotgun. As we set off through the quiet, narrow back country road that would take us north to I-94, the winds began to kick up as the edge of a large, dark, bank of clouds rolled over us from the west. By the time we reached the highway entrance ramp, enormous drops of water were splattering on the hood and windshield of the truck. Jim pushed up the bill of the second cap. ?I didn?t think that rain was in the forecast for the next week.?A flash of lightning was soon followed by the rolling booms of thunder, signaling for the real downpour to begin. Sheets of water sluiced down across the road.The Frau chuckled, pushed up her own glass and pointed towards the clouds with her cane. ?My bones are telling me that this is no ord...
Phoenix Down
2007-07-14 04:10:00 The scene I returned to was vastly different than the scene that I had left. I emerged from the Shadow directly across the street form the Coop compound, just on the chance that a trap had been laid by the Dream Weavers. But there was no sign of them.Instead I saw the flashing lights and heard the idling motors of several fire engines. Emergency personnel crowded the streets as firemen moved to hook up hoses, police officers were keeping the growing crowds of spectators back, and camera men moved to get clearer shots of the orange flames that were so greedily consuming the Phoenix Coop. I didn?t see anybody I recognized from the Coop in the gathered crowds or being assisted in any way by emergency response crews, so I summoned the Shadow before I was noticed and slipped back into the Shadowland.The normally dull and silent landscape of the Shadowland was a kaleidoscope of clashing colors formed by crowds of people, the chaos of the battle that had just been fought, and the physical...
Hell's Bells...Part 5
2007-06-30 04:44:00 Ravyn turned to me, her rage burning brighter in her eyes than in her still flaming fist. ?Rusty, take these two to Cerrydwen and come back as soon as you can.? She glanced back at Naomi, ?You remember the emergency password don?t you, darling??Naomi nodded. ?I do.??Good. When you get to Cerrydwen?s place, make sure you tell Rusty what they are, OK??Naomi nodded again as she stood up with Alexa before grabbing a small bag that she had managed to pack. ?I?m ready.?I turned back to Ravyn. ?Are you going to be alright??She shrugged. ?I?ll be alright so long as I know that these two are safe. If you hurry back, you can help me to save as many of the others as possible.? She glanced back down the hall before looking at me again. ?Get these two to safety. We can?t let Alexa fall into the arms of these monsters.??I?ll be back.?A tear rolled down Ravyn?s cheek as she turned away and stalked off to do battle. ?Good.?I sheathed Excalibur and picked up the rucksack that I had dropped earlier. ...
Homeland Insecurity...Part 5
2007-04-16 02:46:00 Before Commander Stennos could reply, the tall man in the dark suit arched his eyebrow at me and spoke up. ?This is a Homeland Security matter, Agent Bones, I?m not entirely sure that the Bureau should have been brought into this incident.? I saw that this could quickly devolve into a pissing contest over turf, so I ignored the man and looked at Stennos square in the eye. ?Commander Stennos, are you the current Incident Commander?? Stennos nodded, obviously unsure of where I was going with that question. ?I am. These folks are here to brief me on the assets and capabilities that their agencies can bring to bear on the situation, just as you are Agent Bones.? I shook my head. ?No, I?m not here for that.? That set him back on his heels and seemed to raise the hackles of both of his companions. ?What do you mean by that Agent Bones?? I smiled, making sure to show my less than pearly whites and my blackened gums in the process, knowing how much that tended to unsettle folks. ?I?m not he...
Homeland Insecurity...Part 4
2007-04-14 22:46:00 I was glad that Commander Stennos was waiting for me on land. I emerged from the Shadowland and into a dark storage room at the Coast Guard station at Long Beach, California. I was kind of dreading the next trip that I would have to make through the Shadow, since it would necessarily involve trying to land precisely on a ship that was traveling across the ocean. The open water was one of the most dangerous areas of the Shadowland. The creatures and entities that lurked within the chaotic, turbulent oceans and lakes of the Shadowland were very reminiscent of the monsters that ancient mapmakers drew along the edges of unknown waters. I had learned that lesson the hard way very early on, but that will be a story for another time. Stepping up to the closed door of the storage room, I discovered that it was locked. I didn?t want to destroy the door, and I didn?t really want to emerge from the Shadow in full view of the maintenance crews working in the repair bay on the other side of the ... |
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