Danica Pt. 16

"Something is building, and it's not going to be good."

Danica sighed, "And we're helping him."

"We don't have much choice," Celes observed.

"What hold does he have over you? He's threatened to kill my family if I disobey him."

Celes' eyes welled up, but she wiped them dry and took a deep breath while she composed herself. "He has my love's soul. The knife his bastard assassin used to kill her trapped it. He can, and has, tortured her and let me hear her screams. If I don't obey, he causes her unspeakable agony."

Danica wrapped Celes up in her arms. "That's terrible. I'm so sorry."

Celes melted into Danica's arms for a few moments, and Danica could feel the waves of sadness pouring out of her as the woman choked off a sob.

When they broke from the hug, Celes said, "My love tells me not to obey him for her sake. She does it every time, even though he just tortures her worse for it. I just can't bring myself to disobey him and cause her more pain."

"I swear I'm going to find a way to kill him one day. He's too twisted and evil to live. I've had something happen to me, and I've been able to learn true runes with almost no study ever since. There's also the magic here in the library he can't steal and my psionic abilities. Maybe we can find some way to destroy him he can't counter."

Celes looked doubtful. "Maybe, but for now let's concentrate on what we're here for. I'm willing to bet the longer we stay in here the greater the chance bad things are going to happen because we hid from him."

Danica nodded and went to areas of the shelves she had never looked at before. Celes went to another part of the room to look as well. Around an hour later, Celes walked back to a table with a scroll. "Danica, come look at this."

Danica walked over and looked at the scroll, which detailed a spell called Hellgate.

"Have you ever heard of it?" Celes asked.

Danica shook her head in the negative.

"I've seen people use it, so I know Zoraster has it, but it's not anywhere we can reach it. Only his inner circle seems to have access."

"It's some sort of teleportation spell, right?" Danica asked.

Celes read through the description of the spell and summarized it, "A very complicated and dangerous one. It opens a portal into a pocket dimension that is on the fringes of the lower planes. You can pass through it like a rift to nearly anywhere you know and leave it open so others can follow you. You can also stop in the pocket dimension and use the window of the portal to scry areas you don't know and emerge there as well. That's the dangerous part. Beings of the lower planes inhabit the pocket dimension, which is unique to every spell caster. They take on forms and obey the caster, but try to tempt them and corrupt them at the same time. It's very subtle, and the longer you remain there the more dangerous it is."

Moving her finger down the spell description, Celes continued, "It's also impossible to detect someone scrying from within the spell's dimension, and time seems to move differently there. You could spend years there and emerge from the portal seconds later back into our world."

"I can see why Zoraster has kept it away from us," Danica said and chuckled.

"Aye – and it's perfect for what we need to do now. We can move the scrying portal from within and find the tomb below the sand without moving all of that windblown grit. It won't drain us as much as teleporting when we have to take Telanor with us either. He can just walk through behind us."

Danica looked over the spell formula. "If we can learn it. This is complicated. It's making my head swim."

Celes tapped the scroll. "We should try. This spell has too many uses."

"I agree, and we might be able to use it against Zoraster too."

Celes asked about something Danica had mentioned earlier then, "You said you'd begun learning runes from something that happened to you – what was it?"

"A table in the basement of a house in Montbank. It was covered in True Runes, and when I touched it, they just snapped into focus in my head. Ever since then, I've been able to learn others with very little trouble," Danica replied.

"Did Zoraster question you about it?"

Danica nodded and said, "Yes, and he used a truth spell. I managed to dance around the issue and not reveal anything about the table."

"He used the truth spell because he can't read your mind. He can control you to some extent with magic, and I suspect he uses drugs to make even that possible. It's the same with me, although I think your psionic abilities are why he can't sift through your mind."

"What about these?" Danica said holding up the amulet around her neck.

"They can store what we see and what we feel, but I don't think they can steal our thoughts," Celes guessed.

"Another weapon to use against him," Danica said with a crooked smile.

Celes pursed her lips and said, "I fear it's not enough, Dearie, but it's still good to know our minds are closed to him. It's a good thing he fears psionics, because I wouldn't trust my defenses against a strong Psi. You're a different story, though."

Danica leaned back in her chair and mused, "I don't understand it. I was never really good at much of anything before I came here, and now I'm discovering I have all these abilities – all this power."

Celes lay her hand on Danica's, patting it and saying, "I don't understand it either, but my mother always said that there's a reason for everything. You'll find out some day."

Danica laughed, "My mom always said that too."

"Let's see if we can learn this convoluted spell."

Danica nodded and they sat down to study.

{*****~~o~~0~~o~~*****}

Zoraster squinted and tried to make out something of the image in the mirror. It was hazy, and he could see no details of the room – only that two figures were there. He could make out sounds of speech, but they sounded like mumbling muffled in a pillow, making it impossible to decipher even one word. Zoraster banished the image in the mirror with a snarl. He was beginning to wonder at the wisdom of sending Danica and Celes to this place, now that they had found that cursed temple.

He paced for a moment, and then pushed the thoughts aside. In truth, he held little fear of the pair despite their power and whatever secrets they held. His twisted web of lies within lies and threats kept them in check, and he knew he possessed the power to destroy them if necessary.

Any who stood against him would be destroyed, be they man or god. All would be remade, brought to glorious perfection in the crucible of his will and power. Every day his power and influence grew, the threats to his designs growing feebler by comparison. The time was coming, so close he could almost taste it, yet still just out of his reach.

Leaving the room, he walked into the hallway beyond and found Camilla walking toward him. She bowed upon reaching him.

"Master, Marlena is back. She succeeded in luring most of the soldiers away."

Zoraster curled his lip, "Most?"

Camilla smiled, "A few saw through her pretty little pictures. They returned and saw your agents at work. Most of them were killed quickly, but at least one appears to have escaped. They said he had been driven mad by a spell, but nobody could find him after he ran."

Zoraster growled, "The task was simple, and her power should have been strong enough. Why did she fail?"

"It seems she was a bit distracted. A few of the men took liberties with the women of the village while the others went about their work, and it bothered her I guess. Allow me to punish her, Master," Camilla purred.

"Garthak will administer her punishment. Find that fool who escaped and kill him."

Camilla pouted, "That's work for one of your trained monkeys – send Danica."

"I can't afford to waste her skills on this. Do as I command."

With that, Zoraster passed by Camilla into the private areas of his Inner Sanctum.

Camilla raged, spitting out the words from between clenched teeth, "You will die, bitch. I will burn you," before vanishing with a snarl.

{*****~~o~~0~~o~~*****}

Danica sat studying the scroll, trying to get the words and gestures to congeal in her mind properly. She and Celes had both locked their thoughts on the scrolls for several hours, unaware of anything else going on around them. Two priests, including Harkhuf, had wandered in and out of the library without either woman noticing. Danica was starting to feel the rhythm of the spell in her mind, and she thought she might just have it before the day was done.

Celes' laughter broke Danica's concentration. Danica turned toward her and Celes said, "I've got it!"

"Already?" Danica said with surprise.

"I've always had a knack for teleportation spells."

"I'm sort of close, but not that close. Only one of us really needs to know the spell, so I can finish studying it later. Let's see if it will do the trick."

Celes nodded and moved her hands through the required gestures as she spoke the words of the spell. When she intoned the last words of the spell and spread her hands wide, a shimmering disk of light appeared. The disk was about six feet wide, a perfect circle of opaque light. Danica could see nothing on the other side of the portal.

Celes turned and took Danica's hand. "This shouldn't be necessary, but I'd feel better if we were in physical contact the first time we try this."

Danica nodded and then pushed gently on Celes' hand, indicating she was ready to go. They then stepped through the portal into another place.

Celes looked around, drinking in the sights of the place. The space within the portal appeared as a cavern with a beautiful glade enclosed within it. Soft light shone from between the trees, coming from no visible source. The walls of the place were plainly visible on all sides between the trunks of the trees, and the waterfall that fell into the pool directly in front of them just appeared out of nowhere from above.

Danica wasn't paying attention to the scenery at all – she was looking at Celes. Danica's breath caught in her throat and she stood in wonder, still holding on to Celes' hand.

Celes turned with a curious smile and saw the stunned look on Danica's face, almost entangled in her turn by Danica's tight grip on her hand. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

Danica released Celes' hand and slowly raised her own toward the other woman's face, a face that appeared as it should be without Zoraster's curse. Within this place, Celes was again young and stunningly beautiful.

It was only then that Celes realized what had happened to her. She looked down at her hands, again smooth and young. Reaching up to her head on the side opposite Danica's hand, she pulled a lock of hair before her eyes. No longer was it the iron grey of age, her raven black hair shined with the glow of youth.

Reaching down, Celes tore open her robe and saw that her breasts were likewise firm and smooth. She cupped them in her hands and felt Danica's hands rest atop the firm globes as she did so. She looked up at Danica, and saw that the tears welling up in her eyes were matched in Danica's.

Danica leaned in to kiss her, and Celes shuddered with an almost violent intensity. Her juices flowed in a torrent, and she reached down to knead Danica's buttocks as they kissed.

When they broke the kiss, Danica started to fumble with her linen robe, trying to get out of it while never letting her eyes leave Celes.

Celes again shuddered, and then noticed something moving at the edge of her vision. The movement broke her out of the state of bliss she had come under upon realizing that she was young again. "Danica, stop. This isn't right. It's the spell. It's the demons," Celes said, looking in the direction of where she had noticed movement.

Danica turned in the direction Celes was facing and they both saw the creature emerge from its hiding place at the same time. It was a beautiful young woman, blonde haired, tight bodied, and completely unclothed. She strutted toward them and they saw others appear at the edge of the place. All were beautiful young women, and all were smiling brightly as they approached.

"Don't let us interrupt you. We could bring you soft blankets to lie upon as you make love. We could join you if you would like," the first woman Celes had noticed said as she reached them.

Celes growled and pulled her robe closed. "That'll be enough of that, demon. I know your tricks and I'm not falling for them."

The blonde creature pouted. "No tricks. We just want you to be happy. You seemed so happy in her arms with your breasts pressed so tightly together, your hands full of her soft flesh."

Celes raised her hands and shouted, "Get back, the lot of you!"

The creatures cowered and stepped back, away from Danica and Celes.

"Is it an illusion then?" Danica asked, still having difficulty tearing her vision away from Celes.

Celes shook her head. "No, it's real enough. I can feel the difference now that I'm paying attention. I truly am young again here. I don't feel the pains and weakness, my body is firm and young. I should have thought of this and been prepared for it. It's an obvious temptation."

"For me too, and I'm not sure I want to resist it."

"Get dressed, Dearie. These things would love it if we lost control and gave in to the temptation. We would be absorbed in each other and the foul magic of this place would seep into our bones. We would be almost devils in our own right by the time we stepped back out of this place – if we ever left at all," Celes said as she cinched her robe up tight.

Danica nodded gravely and tore her gaze away from Celes to straighten her linen robe.

"You lot can fetch us a couple of bloody chairs is what you can do, and put on some clothes. You can tempt me, but I can hurt you if I wish – I know that."

The women cringed and stepped backward, bowing. As they bowed, gossamer wraps of cloth surrounded their bodies.

"That's not enough, you stinking scum. Cover up your fake bodies or I'll..." Celes said, raising her hand.

Again, the creatures cringed and robes much like Danica's appeared on their bodies.

"Good enough. Now get us a couple of chairs."

The creatures complied, manifesting the chairs. Danica and Celes sat down in them, facing the pool.

"Now get out of my sight," Celes growled to the beautiful demons.

Danica laid her hand on Celes'. "I want you so badly."

Celes sighed. "I know – I want you too. We need to concentrate on why we're here and get the hell out quickly, before we surrender to the temptation."

Celes gestured, and the shimmering disk of light appeared again directly in front of them. Celes moved her right hand in a slow circle, and the light spiraled in response.

An image slowly coalesced from the disk of light, and both women gasped. Lying directly in front of them was Andrea, the toy Danica had made for her buried inside her, her back arched as she gasped in pleasure from an orgasm.

Celes clenched her fist and screams erupted around her. Celes opened her hand and said, "If you do that again, I'll not relent so quickly."

The image vanished and Danica asked, "Another illusion?"

Celes shook her head. "No, they just moved the focus of the portal. It was real. They were trying to tempt me again."

"Tempt us both."

"We've got to be careful using this spell. It's more dangerous than I thought."

Danica nodded and gestured toward the portal.

Celes smiled and again raised her hand to make the lights in the portal swirl.

This time the image of sand and desolation they had seen earlier while scrying came into focus. Celes concentrated and moved the focus of the portal downward to the ground. For a few moments, all was black as the focus fell beneath the sand. Celes concentrated and moved the viewing portal around, searching for the tomb beneath the shifting sands.

At last, a faint glimmer of light appeared as the portal found the tomb. Danica and Celes looked around, but could see nothing save faint light coming from magical torches along the walls. As their eyes adjusted, they could just make out the features of the room.

"That looks like some sort of offering nave," Danica observed.

Celes nodded her agreement and added, "A place for the family and priests to bring offerings for the deceased in the afterlife. It's as good a place as any to enter, and I can find it instantly next time. We can be in within moments and we won't have to stop here next time."

"Let's go get prepared," Danica said, rising from her chair.

"Aye, we need to get out of here before I bury my head between your legs," Celes said with a note of wistful longing.

"That's not a good argument to leave," Danica countered with a crooked smile.

Celes sighed. "I know, but we have to do it anyway."

Celes stood up and waved her hand before the portal. The image shifted to show the library in the temple of Sekmamun, and she stepped through it with Danica right behind her.

Celes looked down and sighed at her old body. Danica put her hand on Celes' cheek and then kissed it as well.

"Let's go get what we need and pick up the cutpurse," Danica suggested.

{*****~~o~~0~~o~~*****}

Danica quickly gathered up the magic items she thought she would need for her and Celes. She had constructed a false window in her room of the new outpost and carved runes on it allowing her to use it as a rift to nearly any location she knew well. This was something she planned to do in her other houses scattered through the world when she found the time.

She and Celes then sat on the bed, with Telanor sitting in a chair across the room from them. "Your job is to keep your eyes open for common traps. We'll watch for the magical ones that are sure to be there," Danica said staring at Telanor.

"I know what I'm here for. You just keep the fireballs off my ass."

Celes said, "An' we're likely ta be facin' a gaggle o' mummies. If'n I'm for bein' right, they'll be hurlin' spells and prayer magic at us too. They'll be hurtin' from some fire, but I'm fer thinkin' t' priests an' t' wizard is gonna be protected from that a bit."

"We have no idea how strong they'll be, so we have to be prepared for powerful magic. These things have been down there for hundreds of years, and the people here are afraid of them. We better assume they haven't wasted those years and have been studying."

"Ye can be holdin' yer own a bit if'n ya need can't ye?" Celes asked Telanor.

"I've got Zoraster's charms to protect me from magic, I'm quick, and I don't think they'll like this much." Telanor unsheathed a dagger and a short sword, both of which burst into magical flame.

Danica rolled her eyes. "Okay, let's get this over with so we can get him out of here. I don't want his stink fouling my room."

Celes chuckled and cast the Hellgate spell. She turned to Telanor and said, "Yer prolly gonna be a bit shooked up when ye come through. Just be walkin' through, don't be jumpin' or runnin'. Stop soons as yer through ta get yer wits back about ye."

With that, Celes stepped through the portal. Danica and Telanor followed right on her heels. The group emerged on the other side of the portal and Celes immediately closed it. Looking around, Danica realized they were indeed inside an offering nave – a place for the family to leave offerings that was not actually connected to the tomb. A false door revealed the location of the actual tomb, however.

Danica whispered, "We can passwall through this, but let's see what's on the other side first." She then whispered the words of her clairvoyance spell. The false door shimmered in her vision as the magic revealed what was beyond. Unfortunately, all Danica could see was a long sloping passageway that opened into a room at the bottom.