Chapter Twenty—Questing in the Dark

Darius moved through the expanse of the void, his aural tether anchored by that of his sorcerers. He couldn’t be lost here.

Not unless his tether was cut and he couldn’t find the place from which he entered. But there was little chance of that, especially after the sacrifice they had made. It was all done to strengthen his ability to return.

As he moved across the empty expanse, searching for Jessmine, he pushed forth with his magical aura—like a beacon.

All was still and quiet and cold.

How long had she been lost here? Darius didn’t know. It could not have been before that strange foreigner had taken her from the ancient temple of Mebkubazir.

So, after that. The reason doesn’t matter, he thought, only that I find her.

It hadn’t been long. Her mind would not be broken—as he had heard of happening before with those trapped within the void.

Closing his eyes, he summoned his magicks, magicks imparted to him, not wholly by Jessamine, but surely bolstered by her. With those magicks, he quested out, looking for her, looking for any sign.

His entry point had been close to Jessamine’s territory, as the lamp was a portal to the void, even now in his unconscious state in the world of his physical existence.

Shiro was beginning to feel that this was useless. How could he find Jessamine in this darkness, this vast unending void?

“Do not lose hope, Shiro. Even now, I hope that one day I may fine Archaemenes.”

“You still haven’t found your friend.”

“No,” Debaku said. “And I never will if I stop looking.”

“Hmmm.”

“Quest, Shiro! Quest outward with your magic!”

He did has he was told and closed his eyes, feeling his way about. It was like being under water, searching for a golden trinket in the murk of the night.

It was frustrating.

Gritting his teeth, he lashed out at the darkness.

“Yes!” Debaku said. “Do that. Anything to get her attention. If she senses you—it will be like a beacon in the night, Shiro. Continue!”

There was something in the darkness. Such a faint nothingness, that Darius wasn’t even certain he had sensed anything.

But it was there.

He had felt it.

Spirits rising and his heart beating faster in anticipation, he moved through the void with great speed, moving toward that flicker.

He felt it again.

Yes, that is something.

“Shiro!” Debaku hissed.

Shiro stopped lashing out, glanced behind himself at his tethers. One connected to Debaku, the other lead up and apparently was his way back to the physical world. “What is it?”

“Wait.”

Shiro said nothing, but he did glance about the void, looking for whatever had Debaku spooked.

And then, as Shiro felt it, Debaku glanced at him with those pale blue snake eyes.

“I…”

“Yes, Shiro. You felt something.”

“Jessamine!” he called. “Jessamine!”

“If it is her, she cannot hear you, Shiro.”

“Why not?”

“The void is vast,” he said. “What you perceive to be sound here is not what you think, and it does not work the way it would in our world. You must quest with your mind—with your heart, and your soul.”

“But…” he began, sensing that disturbance. “I can feel it getting closer.”

“I can feel this presence,” Debaku said. “If it is Jessamine, she is coming.”

“If it is Jessamine?”

“The void is vast, but there are other spirits and visitors, though encountering any of the like is extremely unlikely. It must be Jessamine. Your connection to her was our entry into the void. You are special Shiro.”

Heart hammering inside his chest, Shiro glanced about wildly as if he expected her to come forth from the darkness. Then he turned to Debaku. “I am sepcial?”

“Yes,” Debaku said. “The void encompasses all that exists within the other realm. You are not naturally of Abassir. You were brought by magic, and the void senses this. That is why your aura is different than mine.”

That disturbance had an urgency to it, and it was moving toward them fast. This much, Shiro could tell, even though he knew nothing of magic and the void.

“She’s almost here!”

“Yes.”

Debkau smiled, but Shiro thought he saw a flicker of sadness there. Clearly because of his own loss in the past. He said nothing concerning that.

“The aura is coming close, Shiro. Tell me, what does it feel like? Does it feel like Jessamine?”

“I…” he tried to feel what Debaku was speaking off.

Jessamine is… he thought, trying to think of what she “felt” like to him.

“She is a curious observer,” he said. “Playful. Jesting and impetuous.”

“Hmm,” Debaku noised.

“The approaching aura is upon us Shiro,” he said. “But I must warn you, that what you describe is not what I sense from this individual.”

And then Shiro realized that this aura coming near at great speed was nothing like what he had just described. This aura was one of malice, of ambition and greed.

He had mistaken its haste for Jessamine.

Shiro’s eye’s widened.

“Ready yourself, Shiro!”

Leaning over the two men, Ali felt their heartbeats—counted them. He was immediately alarmed, as their chests began heaving as their breathing quickened considerably.

Are they—?

Do they need me to pull them out?!