The Wanderers of the Water-Realm (67 page)

The call was repeated over and over again, until the witch was forced to open her eyes and take heed to the message that was taking shape in her mind.

“Mother -- Mother -- It is Myra ---- Your daughter -- If you can hear me -- Reach out ---- Reach out to me----.”

Hetty was now wide awake and shook the red-haired policeman who lay at her side.

“Myra is calling to me from across the void. They must be very close to the mouth of the return portal. I must attempt to contact my daughter, without delay; for there is much to be done before my kinsfolk are returned safely to their own reality.”

The witch closed her eyes and projected a psychic message towards the nearby cave in the cliffs containing the exit portal from the Water-Realm.

“My daughter ---- I will be brief -- For we must conserve our mental energies --- Position yourself as close as possible to the portal -- And in twelve earth hours -- I will attempt the ceremony that will part the curtain separating our twin realities -- Assist me as far as your powers will allow -- Reach out to me now -- If you receive and understand my message -- My daughter!”

The reply entered Hetty’s mind almost immediately.

“Mother -- I will do as you say -- Until later -- I bid you goodbye.”

The light of dawn was now entering the cottage and enabled the wisewoman to gather together a collection of accoutrements that she packed into a leather satchel. She worked carefully and methodically for each precious item would be needed to carry out the desperately difficult magical ritual that lay ahead.

Meanwhile, Angus Smith prepared the storm lanterns and the climbing ropes that he intended to carry down the cliff-side path to his intended rescue station inside the mouth of the cave.

The sun was high in the sky before the pair had completed all the necessary preparations and the red haired witch straightened her back and turned once again to address her companion.

“We have worked well and have time in hand!” She said softly. “So let us return to the comfort of our bed-sheets, for I feel a terrible cold gathering within me and I must, feel the warmth of your love!

The policeman opened his mouth and was about to make a comforting reply, when the wisewoman silenced him by placing a finger to his lips.

“Come!” She said. “Please do not say another word. Instead, let your love give me the strength that I so desperately need, my dearest, for I know that a fearful ordeal awaits me. And I am so terribly afraid!”

Hetty’s words were fresh in her daughters mind as the young wisewoman turned to face her two companions.

“We must move at once,” she said urgently, “and discover the shrine holding the entrance to the portal. Mother will soon begin the ceremony that will tear open the curtain for our return. My inner-eye tells me the shrine lies in very close proximity to the base of yonder spire and we should reach it without further delay.”

Darryl and George immediately assented and the little party began advancing towards the spire as fast as the broken ground would allow, but the five suns were high in the sky before Myra pointed towards a small white metal structure lying in the shadow of the dark plinth supporting the great spire.

“It is there, within that building.” She said, gasping from the physical exertions of the march. “My witch’s intuition tells me that we are now very close to our goal!”

The trio advanced at an even faster rate and soon found themselves standing before the box-like metal structure that appeared to be protruding from the base of the spire. An open doorway, about twenty feet in height, offered a way into the building and Myra stepped across the threshold without a moment’s hesitation.

Her two companions immediately followed and the travellers found themselves standing in a large room whose walls were made from the white metal of the ancients. A large semi-circular opening could be seen in the far wall and appeared to lead into a long tunnel whose walls were lined with the same metallic substance.

The wisewoman moved closer to the opening and she saw that the tunnel was illuminated by the same light-source that had enabled them to travel down long sections of the old ruined bridge in the ‘Forest of Oblivion.’

A strange and almost transparent blue-green haze seemed to dance fitfully, hither and thither, in the mouth of the tunnel. She stopped and ordered her companions to go no further.

“We have found it!” She said quietly. “We have found the portal that will lead us back to our own world. I must contact mother at once and assist her in opening yonder curtain, but there is one last thing that I must do before I cast my mind across the void!”

She slipped the travelling pack from her shoulder and opened one of its pockets revealing a small package that was wrapped in narr-skin. She opened the folds of the soft material and revealed three bracelets of burnished copper, each being encrusted with a score of beautifully cut jewels.

“These precious stones,” she said. “Together with the Dark Priest’s diamonds, carefully hidden amongst the remedies in my medicine bag, will ensure that each of us has a prosperous future in our own reality, if we succeed in winning through the curtain. Quickly now, stow them away upon your persons!”

Her companions stood rooted to the spot in amazement. “How did you come by such a collection of priceless gems?” Darryl asked, as he stuffed several of the pieces into the pocket of his narr-skin trousers.

“From the Lady Livia!” She answered as she spread a length of cloth upon the floor in front of the shimmering portal. “Before she entered her bath for the last time, she begged me to accept her personal adornments, for she could not bear the thought of them falling into the uncouth hands of slaves, or worse, coming into the possession of her hated husband!”

The witch turned her back upon her companions and knelt down upon the length of cloth.

“Now my friends, I am about to contact my mother and the two of us will begin the ritual that will part the curtain and allow us to return to our own native reality. Stand away from me and do not interfere with the ceremony under any consideration, but you must both obey me without question when the time comes to move forward and enter the portal.”

The young witch drew deeply upon her mental resources and cast out a message to her mother whom she knew would be waiting on the other side of the curtain.

“Mother! -- Mother! -- Can you hear me? ---- Are you ready to begin the opening ritual?”

The answer entered her head almost immediately.

“Yes my daughter -- I am lying upon the ritual stone that is situated in the centre of an ancient stone circle -- Close -- Very close -- To the mouth of the cave from which you must all emerge if you successfully cross the curtain -- The sacred fire burns before me -- And in a moment I will begin flinging my energies against the fabric of the curtain -- Thus opening the way for your return -- My daughter -- Be ready to aid me with the power of your mind ---- Should I call for your assistance --- Once you have passed through the portal -- You will be greated by a man who is my trusted friend and lover -- Do as he says and he will lead you to safety --- Now I bid you farewell --- My beloved daughter!”

Hetty’s consciousness disappeared from the young witch’s mind and she turned her attention to the shimmering curtain that had suddenly begun to thin and lose some of its colour. She also began sensing the agonizing pain her mother was beginning to suffer as the older woman began prizing open the portal separating the two realities. For a single minute that seemed to stretch into hours, the young wisewoman watched as the curtain gradually faded away until only an opaque disturbance remained to donate its presence. Suddenly, Myra sensed a violent increase in the level of agony that her mother was enduring and a split second later, she picked up the faint echo of the command which the older woman had cast over the void.

“Quickly now ---- My daughter ---- HELP -- Help me to sweep aside this curtain --!”

Myra responded instantly. She summoned up her entire reserve of mental energy and flung it against the failing barrier. For a moment the curtain maintained itself against the massive psychic assault and then collapsed entirely leaving the portal between the two worlds open and completely unguarded.

The young witch leapt to her feet and sprang towards the mouth of the tunnel.

“Follow me!” She called out to her companions. “The way is now clear. But the portal will close presently, so we must run for our lives if we are to reach our own reality in safety!”

The travellers fled down the tunnel for a good quarter of an Earth mile and they eventually began gasping for breath and the pace of their advance slowed.

As she ran, the wisewoman noticed that odd patches of the blue-green haze were beginning to re-form close to the walls and ceiling of the tunnel and she realized that the portal would soon become impregnable again.

“Faster!” She gasped to her companions. “Faster or we are surely doomed!”

The trio made one final effort and managed to redouble their pace and a few seconds later they passed out of the lighted metal tunnel, only to find themselves groping blindly down a dark and narrow underground cave, where rivulets of water trickled down slime covered walls of solid rock.

Myra collapsed upon the soaking wet floor.

“We have passed through the portal!” She gasped out to her companions as soon as she had gathered enough breath. “We are now upon the planet Earth and within our own reality. Now we must find the man who mother said would guide us to safety!”

“Ye already have, lassie!” Said a voice from the darkness and the sudden flaring of a storm lantern revealed the be-whiskered features of Angus Smith.

“I bid ye welcome.” He continued. “Hetty has instructed me to take you from this subterranean place and lead you up the steep cliff-face to the relative safety of the Island lying above our heads. But ‘twill be no easy journey, for a storm of no natural making is raging over the sea and will seek to pluck us away to our deaths as we ascend the cliff-side path. Come now, if you are sufficiently rested and let us depart!”

The returning wanderers followed the lantern-bearing policeman down the length of the cave until their ears began to be assailed by a frightful roaring sound echoing eerily from the rocky walls of the cave.

“It is the storm!” Angus explained. “The night sky is pitch black out there and it’s shot through with streaks of violet light. Never in my …”

“MOTHER, mother!” Myra suddenly cried, clasping the palms of her hands to the sides of her head. “My inner-eye tells me that something terrible is happening to her. We must go to her aid with all speed!”

The young wisewoman would have darted forwards, towards the sound of the sea, had Angus not restrained her with his hand.

“Easy lassie!” He said. “I’m as worried as yourself, but the mouth of the cave lies just ahead of us and we must rope ourselves securely together, if we are to stand any chance of ascending yonder path, for it clings precariously to the side of the cliff and we must proceed with care.”

The policeman produced a long coil of rope and secured the travellers to the cord at five yard intervals. He then fixed the end of the length of rope to the rear of a stout leather belt that he wore about his waist. He completed his preparations by lighting an additional storm lantern and passed it to George. He then bade the little group to follow in his footsteps with the greatest care.