Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Episode 15: The Shadowlands


Episode 15: The Shadowlands
by Toni Walker

Lane Larson was there one minute, talking to Cora, calming her down and then the next he was being ripped from the Shadow Realm. She could literally feel him go. It felt almost painful. He let out an excruciating grunt before he left her for good.

"No! No! Lane, don't leave me here alone!"

Without him there the darkness seemed to almost close in around her. She gave a shaky sigh. She tried to have a stiff upper lip but she had no clue how to get out of here.

The woman who had drawn her into the mirror, who had taken her place in the real world, she knew what to do. She could get around in the Shadow Realm. "I wish I had even part of her memories of this place," Cora whispered.

***

Abigail Hobbs thought she had made it free and clear. She was out of the prison Nicholas had put her in. All she could think about was revenge. And she knew exactly the person to help her.

Abigail changed her appearance so she was no longer the reflection of Cora and once again took on her own form.

"Ah, that's so much better."

She drew a circle in the dirt and sat inside it. Then she summoned her mentor, Morgana Le Fay.
"Her wisdom is like Heaven's mana, To this place I call Morgana."

The words had barely passed her lips when something passed over her. It felt like a cool wind but when the breeze subsided so did some of her memories.

Abigail stared at the ground. She looked curiously at the circle around her.

"What is this witchcraft," she whispered. "I will have to consult with Goody Osborne. She will know what this strange ritual be."

Morgana appeared before her suddenly in a glorious light show.

Abigail gasped. Her eyes nearly rolled back in her head she was so frightened. Words barely came to her throat as she hoarsely uttered, "Witch!"

Morgana arched a curious eyebrow. "Witch? What are we, back in the witch trials? Have you learned nothing since you became one of the chosen?"

Abigail stumbled backward. "Wha -- What? I'm -- I'm not a -- witch. You -- you're a witch."

"Why did you summon me? You play games when we have so much work to do?" Morgana raised her hands above her head and whispered a few words. Suddenly, they both disappeared from the circle Abigail had drawn in the ground as the wind blew the dust effectively erasing the imprint from the ground.

Abigail's scream could be heard throughout the Hollow.

***

As soon as Cora Laskey uttered the wish, a gust of wind surrounded her and suddenly she knew more about the Shadow Realm than she ever thought it was possible to know.

With the wind came a barely audible voice. It was male and Cora thought she recognized it.
"Just do whatever he says. Don't make him angry."

Lane Larson's voice whispered in Cora's ear as if his spirit had melted in from the either. It wasn't exactly strong, more like he was talking to her from inside her own head.

Lane had a gift even the Ripper knew nothing about.

Cora Laskey knew she couldn't speak verbally. The Ripper would hear her. She had to figure out how to communicate with Lane.

She strained her mind as the voice of her soul screamed for assistance -- from anyone!

***

The sound of the voice screaming across time nearly knocked over Lincoln Merlin. He was a descendent of the great magician who had been searching nearly all his life for the great city his father's father's father had once been a part of.

It wasn't his only mission here. He'd also been brought to this evil berg to strengthen the binding spell that held the evil inside. An insidious force gnawed away at the ancient majicks binding the residents to this town.

So the sound of a woman's voice screaming in the either had to be strong to get his attention away from his work. Plus, he thought he recognized that voice. It sounded like Lane's new lady friend, Cora.
That was one distress call he was happy to be interrupted by.

Livvie McDaniels appeared at this side in a tinkling of white light. She was never one to announce herself. She popped in when she wanted him to do something or needed him.

She was holding her hands over her ears and looked to be genuinely in pain.

"Make that noise stop! I can't take it!"

"You're hearing it too?" Linc asked.

"Hearing it? All of creation is crying out for the insanity to end. I've never heard anything so powerful before. It must be a new ally against the forces of darkness. If she'd only friggin' quit screaming so I can locate her."

Livvie waved her hands at him. "Do a spell or something. Shut her up long enough for me to hone in on her energy."

"Sorry. I'm all out of spells that keep chosen ones from screaming." Linc already had a pretty good idea where she was. It wasn't easy for a novice to transmit power so fully across time and space without being in a realm between both.

"Why don't you go help her brother, David. Which I'm sure is why Hampton sent you down here anyway. I can deal with Cora. I have a good idea where she is."

"You and your annoying sixth sense. It's just not fair. I think angels should have a sixth sense too." Livvie pouted. She wasn't exactly an angel in full acceptance of all her powers.

"You have more power than you know, Livvie. You just have to learn how to access it."
Livvie huffed. "Easy for you to say."

Linc could hear a light tinkling surrounding the area where Livvie was standing. She crossed her hands over her shoulders and her frown intensified. "Oh, all right. I'm going!" She said to someone neither of them could see.

"The Powers agree with you. I have to find David. Why can't the Powers agree with me for a change?" She was still talking to herself when she suddenly disappeared in a blinding flash of light.
"Goodbye to you too," Linc said.

He could hear her "farewell" whispering around him.

***

David Laskey didn't know what had happened. During the fight between Merlin and Morgana someone had hit him with an energy blast. He felt himself and the statue around him drip down to the floor beneath. It was the most bizarre sensation and not one he wanted repeated anytime soon.

Here he was a puddle of goo and he was happy about it. At least people stopped shooting at him AND he was finally out of the statue! That knowledge took precedence over his current situation.

A trembling pot thrust out from the shelf and David knew someone else was in the room with him.
"Hello," he said. "Somebody there?"

"No," the voice replied. "Please go away."

"Figment? Is that you?"

Another pot fell off the shelf and out walked Maurice the cat.

"Figment? Figment? I don't think I've been so insulted in all my life."

"Maurice? What are you doing here?" David asked.

"The last thing I remember was being in the Forbidden Zone with Lane. He wanted to try and extract Excalibur from the stone. I was attempting to dissuade him from it when a strange wind came and deposited me here." Maurice stuck his nose out of the shelf. "Where, by the by, is here?"

"We're in Morgana's castle. And if you hadn't noticed, I'm a puddle of liquid me. Is there anything you can do to help me? Put me back in my real form?"

Maurice screeched. "Morgana's castle? We must leave. We can't be here. Nicholas would not approve. Morgana could use us against him."

"Hey, buddy. Chill. We'll get out of here as soon as you give me back my body."

"Oh, no. I'm not strong enough to do that. My magic wouldn't keep you together long enough to find my sister. I'm afraid you're out of luck."

Suddenly a shining light came down from Heaven. A blond woman appeared as the light dimmed enough to see her face and body. Then, in an instant, the light seeped into her skin and the dungeon was dark once more.

"Someone looking for some luck?" Livvie McDaniels smiled at Maurice and the puddle on the floor. "Where's David?" she asked the cat.

Maurice pointed to the puddle.

"You've got to be kidding me. Hampton! Hampton! Get your angelic butt down here. I need a little assistance."

***

"Thornswell!" Nicholas de Charme yelled. "Who in the hell was that man and where has he taken Ella?"

The elder man sat the tray full of tea and scones down. "I have no idea, sir. He was there one minute and gone the next."

Katherine Laskey, aka the Oracle of Delphi, appeared in the doorway.

"Why don't you try asking me that, lover boy?" Kath nearly glowed with her newfound power. Regeneration was always a good look for her. She was stunning. Nicholas was happy to see she'd put some clothes on since her last appearance.

"Why don't I ask you? Kath, getting answers from you always comes with strings attached."

"How about something for free, then?" Katherine raised her hands in an arc summoning the ancient power she'd been gifted with at birth. Her eyes turned violet as the flames of energy rose around her.

"A brother has come to you this night. Once was wrong, but now right. Together two the Ripper and he, Separated forever, Jack is free."

Katherine's prophecies were never exactly the most ground-breaking thoughts to break free from the universe. But tonight the "powers" had given him a true gift, if he was to believe the Oracle.
His brother, Jackson had some how escaped the clutches of the Ripper!

"How can I believe what you say?" Nicholas approached Katherine and shook her soundly by the shoulders. "How do I know Jack's still alive after all these centuries?"

A smug look came over Katherine's face. "Honey, I don't make them up, I just spit them out."

***

"What in the hell just happened?" Ella Morris dusted herself off and looked over at the smiling man standing next to her.

"We fell through an energy window," Mac Marlowe said as he helped her up.

"An energy window?" Ella said with a skeptical tone in her voice. "I've been around long enough to know a few things and I've never heard of an energy window. Not even in ancient writings."

"Yeah," he said slowly. "Windows in time, dimensions, it's not exactly the easiest thing to manipulate. When you open one sometimes another opens on its own. It's a fluky thing. Nature doesn't like to be unbalanced for long."

"Thanks for the assist but how about taking me back to Nicholas' house."

Mac wasn't listening to Ella. He was looking at the sign that said Tolemac Lake. A knowing smile came across his face. "I can't be," he said slowly.

Fog rose from the lake in wisps of mist but there was enough heavy air between the fog to see a castle peeking out from behind the pea soup.

"Oh, no," Ella said, spying the castle. "It's forbidden to trespass on sacred ground."

"Do you know what that is?" Mac asked. "That's Camelot."


Ella sighed. Now they were never going to get out of there.

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