《Clavomancy》Chapter 15
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After walking for an hour the orb remained lit no matter which way they pointed it as they explored the tunnel. Even after taking some turns when the path diverged. The distance between the lights never changed as well as the pattern in the walls.
Aggie stopped them finally to tell Dean to mark the path every 100 steps. As they continued walking Dean marked the bricks with little arrows in the direction they walked. Taking a turn they eventually ran into an arrow pointing in the opposite direction they were facing.
“That explains why we are getting nowhere and everything looks the same,” Aggie said as he looked at the arrow then back in the direction they came. “We are in a spatial loop, similar to the labyrinth.”
“The movie with David Bowie,” Dean replied.
“Not exactly but close,” Aggie said, “but that may be easier to explain. I was originally thinking of the legend with King Minos and the minotaur.”
“Oh, but the movie makes more sense now,” Dean asked back.
“The part with the caterpillar and optical illusion wall,” Aggie responded. “We might be looking for something like that. But there are some spatial illusions going on in here also.”
Dean reached out to the wall rubbing his hand against it before asking, “What if it’s like Diagon alley then.”
“In that case, we are screwed,” Aggie replied. “You check that wall and I will take this side but put an X to mark where we started.”
Another hour went by as they continued checking the walls, they found nothing. Dean was beginning to get worried when they ended back up at the X again. Leaning against the wall he slowly sank down to the floor looking sullenly at Aggie.
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“I don’t know what to do now,” Aggie said. “I think we walked into a trap,” he said as he looked back at Dean.
Dean adjusted to get a little more comfortable he reached into his pocket pulling out the finishing nail he still had in his pocket. Tossing it in his hand as he looked at Aggie he said, “I have a plan.
A short while later Dean sat cross-legged with a single finishing nail hovering in front of him. His mind’s eye taking in the nail as he felt a connection to it. Expanding his sense even further he felt nails begin to light up from the other side of the wall. But it felt similar to the feeling he got when he ripped the wall between the two realities.
Keeping his eyes closed and attempting to hold his concentration he said, “I can feel nails on the other side of this wall. But I think it's similar to the apartment and forest.”
“Give me a minute,” Aggie replied, “I took some notes on the spells that created a bridge between those two spots.”
Aggie sat there in his cat form his eyes closed and ears perked up. It was as if he was meditating before opening his mouth and started to make a hacking coughing sound. Like a cat puking up a hairball, Aggie lowered his head and opened his mouth. A rolled-up piece of paper came out of his mouth landing at his paws. Surprisingly dry he kicked it over in front of Dean.
Dean couldn’t help but look at the scroll with disgust letting his concentration falter. The nail falling to the ground he daintily picked up the paper by its corner and unrolled it. A couple of charcoal prints of runes that he saw in Nameless’s apartment were on it.
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“Use these three runes in a powered circle and pierce the center of it with that nail,” Aggie began to explain. “This should create a bridge similar to the one you destroyed. But just be careful as you feed it power. We can’t be sure this area is connected to the tunnel.”
“Where else could it be linked to,” Dean asked.
“A pyramid in Egypt being explored,” Aggie replied quickly.
Dean rolled his eyes at Aggie’s response but still was cautious. He levitated the nail again and slowly began to copy the symbols from the paper onto the wall. Sweat building on his forehead in concentration as he continued his carving. Finishing he took a step back to admire his work as the nail finished the circle.
“Now when using another’s sigil in spell work you need to focus on what the sigils were intended for,” Aggie began. “Based on these sigils and what I have recorded from Fay magic in the past there should be a bridging spell. But without a power source, we will only have a second to jump through but you need to focus on the nails you feel on the other side of the wall.”
Dean nodded his head as he opened his senses to the nails he felt beyond the wall. He began pushing power into the circle as he held the nail in his hand. The Fay sigils lighting up in a golden color Dean began pushing the nail into the center of the spell.
Holding everything in his mind as he fed power into it was straining his limited control. Resistance met the nail in his hand as attempted to breach the veil between the two realities. Piercing pain behind his eyes elicited a groan of pain as the nail slowly sank into the rock wall.
The orb glowing brighter as it lay forgotten to the side of them as Dean ripped the veil of reality separating them and freedom. Finally bridging the space separating them from escape, Dean fell forward the wall disappeared in the blink of an eye.
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