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"Oh Faeries above, get me out of here," I whispered
fearfully. Amita looked at me, concern written on his face.
The dark violet clouds, the red earth sprawling
expansively around us, the silent lightening, and the dank scent of death… we
were in the place of my dream. "Nooo," I moaned, as I searched around frantically
for the silver Kougra. Backing up, I stumbled over my tail in my frenzied attempt
to search for a way out.
"Essala, what's wrong?" Amita asked urgently.
"I dreamed… this is…" trying to start and failing.
Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself. This may have been the place of my dreams,
but it was not the same dream. The silver Kougra was not here - only my brother,
and he would protect me.
"I have been having dreams about this place,
involving a silver Kougra," I said, swallowing my fear.
He looked startled. "How could you have known
about this place? Not even I have been here - we are probably the first from
the first dimension to ever set foot here."
"I know," I said heavily. "I don't know why
I know, I've never been here either." Shrugging, I concluded, "It's okay, it's
probably nothing."
Amita still chancing suspicious looks at me,
we both started walking. However, we soon realized that everything looked the
same, and the dark clouds above us roiled angrily. A black mist hung in the
air, preventing us from seeing far.
Amita's voice made me jump, as we had been silent
for a long time. "In your dream, which way did you run?" he asked tensely.
Which way did I run? How should I know? Everything
looked the same in my dream too. However, I closed my eyes and imagined myself
in the dream. I was about to give up, when a strange, prickling feeling came
over me.
This way, this way. They shouted in my
head, tugging me in a direction. I couldn't open my eyes, couldn't get out of
my head, only had to listen to the voices and follow them…
Suddenly Amita was there in my head too, swirling
silver and tugging me away from the protests of the voices. The voices hissed
and snarled at Amita, and he lashed out at them, controlling them. We darted
out of my mind, and the land spread once again before me.
"Sorry about that," he said. "I lost track of
you when you drifted to the voices. Those are the lost souls - don't listen
to them. They will try to get them to join you. They hate me of course, because
I keep them trapped in the amulet."
I nodded dully, this depressing place taking
a toll on my enthusiasm. "It's okay. It's this way anyway," nodding toward a
direction in the twilight mist.
We followed for several hours before the eerie
mist dissipated and a shabby group of houses appeared before us. A castle was
in the distance, marking the place of Rasifath.
Trotting toward the houses, we saw figures drifting
in between them. Looking closer, I saw that they were completely colorless,
and a dull look filled their eyes. Their walk seemed purposeless, but it was
clear that these were Neopets, and even some humans.
I ran toward the town, ignoring Amita's shouts.
A Zafara looked up at me, and stared at Amita when he came up to us. Her eyes
widened, and she gasped, backing away, uttering strange, guttural words under
her breath. Amita inhaled sharply, and I looked curiously at him.
"She roughly said 'Get away from me, monster,'"
he informed. Then he peered closer at the Zafara, fur rising on his back, and
making his lashing tail puffed up.
"Wahre?" he questioned uncertainly. The Zafara
looked fearfully at him.
"Erhaw, Rahre'mas'hin," she growled. I looked
at Amita questioningly.
"She said her name was Erhaw… that's Wahre backwards!"
he said, alarmed. "This is Wahre, only colorless. Perhaps all the second dimension
is composed of is different sides of people, colorless and with their names
spelled backwards! The only thing that concerns me… how did she know who I was?
She called me by my formal name…" he trailed off, and understanding built in
his eyes. "Oh! Rahre'mas'hin! Of course! That is my title in this language…
but roughly translated it means 'One Who Exists In One Dimension'. There is
no copy of me here!"
Erhaw backed up and bolted, obviously terrified.
I shuddered, "Let's get out of here before I
meet my copy, who knows what things would happen if that should occurs."
He nodded fervently, "You're right. Let's head
up toward the castle."
We left the little village, whose frail little
houses blew in the gathering wind. Dust started to build up, blowing tiny granules
in our eyes.
"Okay," Amita murmured.
"What?" I said, distractedly.
"Oh, just talking to Shard," he replied, nonchalant.
"Gotcha."
We continued toward the growing castle, lightening
flashing more frequently in the gathering clouds. A thought flashed through
my head - how could this be the Neopia I knew? I could not see happy, flushed
baby Bruces licking their slushies in the snow here. I could not feel the joy
and happiness that was the soul and identity of Neopia. Instead, a dank feeling
of death and despair hung in the air unnaturally. I thought abruptly of the
residents here - how could they live their lives like that? Uncontrolled and
aimless? Could this place even be related to Neopia?
It'ssss not the placccce one knew, came
a garbled, harsh voice flitting through my mind. It had the unmistakable signature
of Amita and I looked sharply at him. Not good idea brinnnging herrre.
"You'll see," and my voice was so dust laden
that I could barely recognize it. "It's a good idea that you brought me." Amita
jumped and stared at me, though he soon recovered his masked composure. "Ignore
the little things you pick up like that. This place is seething with magic,
which will pick up your innermost thoughts and fling them around. I've already
caught several from you."
I nodded wordlessly, hating the way my voice
sounded in this place - so harsh and deep.
Wind whistled and got dust stuck in my fur. All
of a sudden, a man materialized before us - the same man who had tried to hurt
me earlier that day.
"Why Amita… and his little sister! This is great;
instead of us trying to capture you… you come straight into our nets! I had
no idea an enemy could actually be so stupid."
"Hello Hyacinth," Amita said reasonably and
politely. "I have come to have a little chat with Rasifath."
"Yeah, he'll be out in a second, I'm sure he
will be delighted you have come."
After a few seconds of Amita watching Hyacinth's
ecstatic grin spread across his human face, he asked "Why, Hyacinth? Why do
you serve this place? You were not meant to be here, you came here on your own
free will. Why?"
Hyacinth's grin vanished as soon as he had appeared.
"What do you know of it?" he snarled. "It's none of your business." He shifted
nervously and angrily from foot to foot.
Amita nodded, "I'm sorry it had to turn out
this way."
"I'm not!" Hyacinth burst, in a last ditch attempt
to regain his upper hand.
"Hello, Rahre'mas'hin," said a high voice from
behind us. I whipped around, and before me stood the most hideous creature I
have ever seen. He had a gaunt face like a skull, with things in the shape of
antlers sprouting from his head. His gnarled fingers ended in jagged claws,
and his eyes glowed a deep, blood red. He was very tall, and he towered over
us.
Amita stood his ground, not twitching a muscle,
while I backed away from the two. I tore my eyes away from this monstrosity,
and looked at Hyacinth, only to watch him grow. I shook my head, but he continued
to get bigger, his figures and limbs lengthening and growing darker. Wings sprouted
from his back and his eyes turned a deadly red.
I screamed, and Shard whipped around, though
Amita still watched Rasifath. Shard grew and morphed, his ice color and sapphire
eyes remaining. I gasped as the two dragons took to the sky, lunging and snapping
at each other. They were both evenly matched - when Hyacinth made a lunge so
did Shard. Both dragons roared and danced in the sky, and I was amazed that
Amita didn't seem to notice. When Shard took a hit from Hyacinth's gleaming
teeth however, Amita visibly flinched and tensed.
"Why do you keep following me, and endangering
those I love?" Amita shouted over the blistering wind and cracking thunder.
"Does it even matter?" came Rasifath's high-pitched
reply. "I desired you for the power you contain within the amulet. It would
be useful at the court."
Amita glared. The two seemed to be in a different
place than the gathering storm around us, they ignored all but each other.
"Useful?" Amita snorted. "Useful? I am useful
where I am. I am useful to my world and myself. If you're looking for my 'use'
I think I can remain where I am."
Rasifath looked confused, his face twisting
into an expression of puzzlement. "But," he said, "This was not how it was supposed
to be…" The conversation seemed to dim, and Rasifath threw a bolt of pitch-black
energy at Amita. I gasped and nearly inhaled my tongue, however, the bolt disappeared
when it neared Amita as though it had fallen down a hole. Amita's fur ruffled
with the closeness of the encounter. Rasifath looked unsure of himself, and
Amita's face was a mask of complete un-emotion.
Rasifath slung several more, each meeting the
same fate as the last. Amita never moved, never even blinked an eye. He also
never used anything but defense. I realized that he was not going to waste his
efforts on cheap shots, and was diverting all his energy to finding Rasifath's
true weakness. I began to feel encouragement, that is, until they came.
At first I only felt a tug at my consciousness,
which I ignored in the light of the battle. Come with us, voices said
excitedly, whispering at me. In my distraction, I was easy prey for them, though
I jumped and pulled away from them. In horror I realized they had me caught
in a web I couldn't escape. Do not be afraid. Let us control you. I writhed
away from them, trying to regain control of my frozen body. When I tried to
move a limb I couldn't, I couldn't even blink an eye. Panic rose, and I tried
to fight it down, afraid they would use it against me, but it was too late.
I blinked, but I realized with a chill that I hadn't tried to. I was tied in
a chair in the corner of my mind, only able to watch while the voices controlled
me.
I took a step, then another, walking more and
more swiftly towards the center of the battle. Noooooo, I begged silently. Rasifath
hesitated, than shot a bolt of power at me. Amita's strangled cry rung in my
ears as I saw the giant thing bowl toward me, unable to do anything about it.
My head turned toward Amita, and I saw his face. He saw my eyes and realized
the facts - the lost souls had taken me over.
He quickly shot a bolt of power at Rasifath's
to neutralize his, and plunged inside my mind recklessly.
Snarling at the voices, which turned on him
in turn, he ignored them and lunged toward me, curled on the floor in ropes.
Clawing at the ropes frantically, he didn't notice when the voices combined
and changed into a new form, towering behind him. Gagged, I couldn't say a thing.
He tore apart my ropes and I yelled at him to
turn, but it was too late. The new shape pounced on Amita, dragging him, kicking
and yelling. They disappeared when I screamed in terror for Amita, and I returned
to the second dimension. Amita's sprawled form appeared before me. Rasifath
lowered his hands, confused, and for a second, everything was silent, even the
wind. Shard fell from the sky, plummeting toward the ground.
The next moment, color burst from Amita. White
lines lashed through the dust-mangled air, shooting towards the heavens. Ocean
blue and blood red streamed through the blinding white and curled around the
pillar of light. Emerald green and sharp yellow added itself to the column of
white. Shielding my eyes, everything disappeared before me. Hyacinth and Rasifath
collapsed to the ground. Everything was overloading my senses: noise, light.
Then, everything fell silent and dark.
At first I thought I was dead, but I realized
that my breath was still rasping and panting. I uncovered my eyes, and surveyed
my surroundings. Everything seemed dead; the sky was pitch black and the air
hung lifeless and stagnant. The silence was deafening.
I rushed over to Amita's limp form, shaking
him. He was colorless, the snow white gone from his coat to be replaced by a
dusty grey. "Amita," I whimpered fearfully. "C'mon. Wake up." His side was rising
in an even and slow manner, but he showed no sign of waking. I shook him, blinking
away tears of despair, but nothing happened.
My vision trailed from his crooked and bent
whiskers down to the amulet. In shock, I looked closer. The white lines in it
I had seen earlier were gone, leaving only a lifeless pendant. Peering closer
however, I saw a tiny speck of color, and the land, as I knew it disappeared
in a swirl of light.
To be continued...
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