Down into Darkness (Part II)

Floating in the Between, I stared at the sphere containing the Hell-Plane I had so recently discovered. Trapped within it, I now knew, were thousands of innocent humans, victims of a scheme I had never heard the like of.
I had been staring at it for I don't know how long, trying to work out what to do. There was power beyond anything I could deal with backing this undertaking. I was forced to admit to myself that, to get anything done, I was going to need help.
But who would help me? I had met many spirits, Positive and Negative, in my travels through the Planes, but they were almost invariably limited in their ability to travel. Most couldn't leave their own Plane, and even those who could were only able to travel limited distances. A Positive spirit is, by nature, unable to enter a Negative realm.
Except one. I recalled that I had once, just once, seen a Positive spirit travelling through a lower Plane. A Unicorn.
It was a slim lead, but it was the only one I had, so I decided to follow it up. So that just lead to the question: How does one find a Unicorn?
After all, they're notoriously hard to find. I'd only seen one once by pure luck, and the few tries I'd made since then to find one had been unsuccessful.
I needed advice, I felt. I knew a place where I could probably get it. But I'd need a bribe for that. So before I could hunt for a Unicorn, I had to go hunting for gold. I returned to the Physical Plane.
London isn't a place I like to visit when I'm out-of-body. It's an old, old city with an unsavoury past. There's a lot of spiritual debris lurking around. But I didn't have any choice. I was looking for a jeweller's shop I had been to before.
It was an old, well-established jeweller. The owner was a well-known goldsmith who was very dedicated to his craft. He lived above the shop, and I entered his bedroom through the window. He was fast asleep.
I reached out and touched his face. A blur sped past me, and I was standing in his workshop. I had reached his dream-self.
He was hard at work, putting the finishing touches to a golden goblet. It was probably only half-finished in the physical world, but in his dream he saw it complete. It was obviously something he'd spent a lot of time working on, and thinking about.
"Hello," I said. He looked round, startled.
"I didn't hear you come in."
"You must have been concentrating too hard," I replied. "I'm here to collect the goblet."
He looked down at it. "But it isn't finished," he protested.
"Looks fine to me. I'll take it as it is."
He looked baffled. "But.. but I haven't finished it."
I sighed. People can be very recalcitrant in dreams, and arguing doesn't do a lot of good. He'd devoted a lot of effort to the goblet, and wasn't really ready to hand it over. But I needed it, so...
I looked him in the eye, and concentrated. People in dreams are usually more receptive to outside influences than when they're awake. He looked confused.
"I'm here for the goblet," I repeated. "Please hand it to me."
Still looking puzzled, he nodded, and slowly held the goblet out to me.
"Thank you," I said. I felt rather guilty about the whole thing, but I didn't have time to do it any other way. Besides, I couldn't believe that a man should dream all night about the same thing he'd been working on all day.
"It's a lovely piece of work," I told him. "But it's finished now. You should take a break and go outside."
He nodded. "A walk would probably do me good," he agreed. I opened his door for him. It lead to a large, grassy clearing in the middle of some woods. The sun was shining brightly. "After you," I said.
He stepped into the outside, and walked away. He seemed to have forgotten me already. I returned to the Between.
As I had hoped, the goblet was still with me. It had dominated its maker's thoughts so long it no longer needed his attention to stay in existence; it had become a stable part of the Astral.
Now that I had the gold, I could use it to pay for the help I needed. I opened a gateway to the Plane I needed to go to, and walked into a desolate mountain scene. The whole place seemed made up of grey, craggy stone. Very little plant life was visible, and there were no streams at all.
In front of me, though, was a valley, with a small, dark pool in it. There was no path down that I could see, so I jumped instead. I landed just beside the pool, and looked around.
Under an overhang, just as I remembered it, was a small, dark hole. A cave. I couldn't see more than a meter or two into it, it was too dark.
True darkness is very unusual on the Astral - humans have too much of a tendency to think that, if something is there, it should be visible. But this cave was truly black, there was nothing at all visible inside. I knew there WAS something inside though.
"Will you come out, Raknor, or do I have to come in?" I shouted into the darkness.
In response, there was a loud hiss, which reminded me of a steam train. Then two jets of white-yellow flame roared out of the cave, passing on either side of me barely inches away. In addition to making me jump, they also burned away the darkness within the cave.
No longer hidden by the shadows he had created, I saw Raknor, curled up on a pile of gold. Only one of his red eyes was open, and it was glaring at me.
I forced myself to remain composed. I had almost forgotten how impressive dragons were. His thirty-foot body was long and snakelike, covered with dark red scales. His wings were folded tight against his body, but his claws were painfully evident. The spines running up his back; the crest on his head; and the long moustache-like whiskers on his nose were a bright pink, but they in no way softened his menacing image. The sound of molten rock trickling down the hillside behind me didn't help much either.
"I'll stay out here then, shall I?" I asked. His eyelid fell, but his eye didn't quite close. He was quite clearly watching me.
"I've brought you something." I continued.
He snorted, then spoke. "Nobody gives a dragon a gift. What do you want, mortal?"
One good thing about dragons, they're curious creatures. They'll always stop and chat before they do anything drastic.
"I need to find a Unicorn," I said.
He laughed. "I don't seem to have one in my cave. They aren't very fond of my living conditions."
"I'm sure," I said dryly, "but I'm also sure that you can help me find one."
"Perhaps," he hissed. "What's in it for me?"
I brought the goblet out, and held it up. "This."
He opened both eyes, and stared at the goblet. Then, in a mass of clinks and slithery noises, he rose up and slid down his pile of gold and over the ground towards me. He stopped barely a meter away, and stared interestedly at my golden bribe.
"Interesting," he said. "Very good work, but a very unusual style."
"It's recently-made," I explained, "by a goldsmith." Most of his collection was either centuries old, or had been made by magical means, rather than by a true goldsmith.
He extended a hand towards me. "May I..?"
It's very hard to say no to a dragon with six-inch claws hovering in front of you. Besides, in their own way, they're very honourable creatures. He wouldn't steal it. "Be my guest."
He took the goblet with astonishing delicacy, and examined it closely, turning it all about. Eventually, he nodded. "Very well. Stay here." And with that, he slunk back into his cave.
I stood very still. Dragons can be very temperamental when it comes to their hoard.
After a few moments, he returned. "This is only a loan, you understand," he cautioned me. I nodded.
He held out his hand, and I saw a silver ring resting on it. Slowly, I reached out and took it. In my own, rather smaller, hands, I realised it was a bracelet rather than a ring.
"What do I do with this?"
"Let it guide you to where it thinks you should go. Then, wait."
"How long for?"
Dragons aren't built for shrugging, but Raknor managed it. "Until it works."
"Thanks," I said sarcastically, "That really helped."
"Take it or leave it," he hissed. "You could always try hunting one down on your own."
"I'll take it," I said, sliding it onto my wrist. "Thanks for your help."
"Bring it back when you've used it," he hissed, then turned and went back into his cave.
"Nice to see you again too," I muttered, then turned away. I knew from past experience that it would be extremely difficult to open a gateway in the valley; Raknor guarded his privacy closely. I flew up and away from his lair, studying the bracelet. There was no obvious way of following it, so I decided to try for a random jump and see where I ended up.
The world blinked, and I was in a forest clearing. It was night, but a full moon shone brightly from above, illuminating everything clearly. There was a slight breeze, making the trees rustle very softly, but other than that, there was no sound.
I walked across the grass, and saw a small lake, fed by a stream on the far side. It was mirror-smooth, I could see the moon reflected in it clearly. I was tempted to go and look at myself in it, but I've never liked to look at myself in Astral mirrors - they can show very odd reflections.
Just wait, the dragon had said. There didn't seem much else to do. I laid down, and stared down at the moon's reflection.
Time passed. If I'd been in my physical body, I would probably have developed pins and needles quickly, but Astral forms are not subject to such frailties. It was quite relaxing, just sitting and watching the stars. It occurred to me that I spent very little time in the Astral just relaxing: I always wanted to be doing things.
My contemplation was ended by a gentle interruption: Ripples disturbed the reflection of the night sky. I looked up.
Just meters away, the Unicorn was drinking from the lake.
I blinked. I hadn't heard the slightest sound of its approach. And you don't expect something that size to be able to sneak up on you.
Unicorns, whilst definitely being graceful creatures, are not small or frail. The size of a shire horse, with the same fur-covered hooves, it was dazzling pure white all over, Positively glowing in the moonlight. And it's horn was the brightest of all. I could almost believe it was generating its own light.
I wondered how to make myself known. Unicorns are famously shy, I didn't want to cause it to run away.
It solved the problem for me, as it finished its drink. It looked up from the water, and stared straight at me.
I rose up slowly. "Hello."
It nodded its head slightly.
Still not quite sure how to deal with the situation, I asked it "Do you know why I'm here?"
Another slight nod.
"Can you help?"
It paused, a look of great sadness in its eyes. Then, regretfully, it shook its head.
Damn, I thought. "But I've seen a Unicorn in a lower Plane before. If you can travel to them, why can't you help me?"
The glow of its horn grew brighter. The very tip became a bright dot of pure white light, and when it moved, it left lines in the air like a sparkler on firework night.
In the air, it traced a U-shape. As I looked at it, I realised that the shape it had traced was not just light: It had become solid, a glass jar floating in the air.
The Unicorn lowered its head, pointing its horn at the ground, then raising it up slowly again. As it did so, sand rose out of the ground and poured upwards into the jar, filling it to about quarter of the way up.
Then it gestured to the water of the lake, and like the sand, the water poured into the jar, until the jar was half-full.
Then, it pointed to a tree. A liquid came from its leaves, filling the jar another quarter. It looked like vegetable oil.
Then, the Unicorn pointed again at the jar. The jar shook violently, shaking up its contents.
When the jar stopped moving, the contents started separating out. The air bubbles rose very quickly to the surface, the oil and water separated nearly as fast. The sand drifted slowly downwards and settled at the bottom.
"Like attracts like" I murmured. "I know that, but I've SEEN a Unicorn in a lower Plane."
The Unicorn gestured at the jar again. I looked closer, and realised I had missed the fine detail.
Although the ingredients were mostly settled out, the edges were still somewhat undefined: Droplets of oil and water floated next to each other. Some grains of sand floated in the water, and even in the oil.
And as I looked even closer, I saw that there were even greater discrepancies. Sand floating at the very surface of the oil, stuck to a bubble of air. Tiny air bubbles trapped within the sand. And I thought understood what the Unicorn was telling me.
"Planes can wind up in the wrong places?" I asked.
The Unicorn nodded. It pointed at the jar yet again, and as I looked closely, I saw a tiny point of light in the jar. It would have been too small for physical eyes to see, but as I looked, I saw the light was actually an image of a Unicorn, the size of a grain of sand. In fact, it was standing ON a grain of sand, a grain that was stuck to an air bubble.
The bubble burst.
The grain of sand sank into the oil, the Unicorn still standing on it. It sank down to the water, and even further, until it settled on the layer of sand.
Then the Unicorn moved to the grain of sand next to it, and then to the next, and the next. It came to a droplet of oil, and stood upon it. The droplet broke free of the sand, and floated up through the water, until it reached the oil layer, carrying the tiny Unicorn with it.
I stared up at the Unicorn. "You can enter a Plane when it's in an accessible level, and ride it down to the lower levels?" I asked.
It nodded.
"And then when you're at the right level, you can move around the other Planes?"
Another nod.
I was fascinated - It had never occurred to me that Planes might be able to get mis-aligned. The idea that a Negative Plane could get displaced and temporarily stuck at a Higher level was a true revelation.
"So if I could change the nature of a Plane, move it from a level you can enter to the level the Hell-Plane was at.. could you help then?"
It waved its head around. I realised it was indicating that it was unsure - it might be able to enter the place, but whether it would be able to do anything once there was impossible to say.
"Well, I've nothing to loose," I said. "Let's try it."
My first idea was based on my experience in the Valley - a Positive Plane that had been influenced by Negative entities. Enter a Plane at a level the Unicorn could enter, and drag it down to the Negative level.
I rejected the idea as soon as it occurred to be. From a moral standpoint, it was unforgivable - dragging a Plane full of pleasant spirits down into Hell was simply not on. From a practical standpoint, it was no better - I'm no saint, but I'm nowhere near evil. I stood no chance of generating enough Negative influence to drag a Positive Plane down that far.
So, other way round - find a Negative Plane and drag it UP. More do-able, and more ethical.
"Okay.. I think I know what I'm going to do. If you'd like to lead the way to wherever you'd like to travel from..?"
The Unicorn nodded. It turned, and trotted away. I was amazed again at how graceful and silent it was, and actually had to remind myself to follow it before I started moving.
It lead the way into the forest, and the trees soon closed in around us. I could sense that the Unicorn was doing something, but I wasn't sure what. Until it stopped.
I walked up beside it, and looked. We appeared to have come to the edge of the world. The ground ended abruptly just in front of us, and beyond it... was the Between, the Plane Spheres floating around as ever.
The Unicorn looked at me. I nodded, and leapt over the Edge. Gravity caught me, and I dropped like a stone.
Spheres rushed past me as I fell. I had a hard time avoiding some of them. I could have entered them and tried to drag them up, but there would have been no point: They were too big, and not low enough.
Finally, I was far enough down. The Spheres around me were unpleasant dark shades, and I felt cold. I didn't like being in this part of the Planes.
I looked at the Planes nearest me. One seemed slightly smaller than the others, so I selected it. I floated over to it, and reached out to touch it. It felt like oil, slimy and course.
I punched it as hard as I could, and my hand penetrated it. I was sucked in.
Inside, a forest. Dark, and dead. A small pool of stagnant water was visible in the small clearing I was at the edge of, and the smell of decay was everywhere. The trees were dead, leafless and rotting. And there were Things, moving in the shadows.
This, I thought, is not going to be easy.
I looked up at the sky. It was dark, filled with black clouds. I concentrated, putting all the will I had into making the sky change.
A golden crack appeared in the overcast sky, breaking the sick black monotony. Heartened by the change, I kept at it, and it widened. The darkness of the forest faded slightly, as the golden light shone upon it. I willed the light to illuminate more pleasant things, to show leaves and growth where there were only skeletons and decay.
The strain was terrible, but I kept at it. Suddenly, like a rope under strain snapping at last, the clouds burst asunder, and the sun blazed through.
Screams of fear, rage and pain sounded from the forest. The Things that lived in here did not like the sun. And I doubted they liked the lush greenery that the sunlight had illuminated either.
Looks nicer, I thought. Hope this is working.
I was still fighting to keep the sun out, and the forest green. I turned slowly to look at the lake. As I turned, I was willing it to be a true pool, not a stagnant pond any more. I concentrated on it being pure water, and when I looked at it, it was clean.
The forest was almost pleasant to look at now, in the bright sunshine. Green and pleasant. But the sounds of the Things within it were not nice.
Straining even harder, I imagined birdsong. Loud, shrill birdsong. Slowly, my imagining became real, and music sounded in the forest.
The screams were still audible though. I kept pushing, and the singing became louder, more voices joining it, until the whole forest was alive with birdsong, and the screams were barely audible.
That's it, I thought. It looks and sounds nice, I can't do anything more to improve this place now. I just hope the Unicorn can get here.
As though the thought had been a summons, the Unicorn suddenly leapt into view. It had made it!
"Nice timing," I muttered. Slowly and carefully, I began to relax. The clouds crept across the sky, and the sunlight began to fade. As the light faded, the singing became quieter, and the greenery slowly disappeared from view.
It grew darker and darker. Finally, the clouds closed up completely, and the sun was gone. Rot and decay was once again all that was visible.
Except for the Unicorn. It had stayed as white and dazzling as though it were still illuminated by the moonlight of its drinking pool. In the darkness of the dead forest, it shone like a star.
"Well, we made it," I said. "What now?"
The Unicorn reared up. For a moment, I was afraid. Then its hooves crashed into the ground, and smashed through it. We dropped into the hole it had created, and found ourselves in the Between again, at the level I had first found this Plane.
"Neat trick," I commented. It looked at me, its expression unreadable.
I looked around. "The Hell Plane is over there," I pointed. "Can you make it?"
In answer, it leapt away. It landed on another Plane Sphere, ran along it, and leapt again. I flew after it, and was barely able to keep up - it ran fast!
"There it is!" I yelled to it. "Hell dead ahead!"
It slowed slightly, and I caught up with it. Together, we charged at the Sphere, and smashed through.
"Yow!" I cried, and leapt into the air. I'd forgotten the floor burned. It occurred to me that Unicorns were not noted for being able to fly. How would it cope?
I turned and looked at it. Even in the red glow from the rivers of fire, it remained pure white. Its hooves were planted firmly on the ground.
Impressed, but puzzled, I looked closer. Almost hidden by the fur that covered its hooves, I saw something shiny.
I looked at its face. "Silver horseshoes?"
It snorted, and walked away from me. Amazingly, it avoided treading on the worms, somehow finding bare rock to plant its feet on every time.
I floated along behind it. Seeing the vile place again, I wondered how we were possibly going to do anything.
My thoughts were interrupted by a loud crack. The Unicorn had not gone unnoticed. One of the demon figures had struck at it with its whip.
I swallowed hard. The Unicorn appeared unhurt, but I couldn't imagine what would happen now. Slowly, it turned its head to look at the black monster.
Apparently unimpressed, or perhaps scared out of its wits, it raised the whip again, and aimed a second blow at the Unicorn.
This time, the blow was not a glancing one. The whip coiled around the Unicorn's horn, and wrapped around it.
The horn flared up to an unbearable brightness, overpowering even the ubiquitous red glow from the flames. The light surged along the whip, and flooded into its wielder.
It screamed, and imploded. A sickly black vapour was all that remained.
I looked at the Unicorn. The glow faded, and it resumed its walk. A little apprehensively, I followed it. I hadn't realised just how powerful Unicorns were until that moment.
The Unicorn trotted along the cave until it reached the lake. It stood and stared across it at the island in the middle.
"That's where the boss guy is, right?" I asked quietly. It nodded in response.
"Can you cross it?"
Regretfully, it shook its head. I looked down in defeat.
The world blurred, and I was back in the Between. Startled, I thought for a moment I had lost concentration and willed myself away, but the Unicorn was still with me. The Hell sphere was just below us.
The Unicorn rose up into the air, and drifted upwards. Like attracts like, I thought, it's being pulled up to its proper level.
I flew up to it. "Is that it? You came, you saw, you left?"
It snorted, and tossed its mane. Then it raised its head and looked upwards.
Directly above us, a long way up, was another Sphere. The Unicorn seemed to be pointing to it.
"It's another Plane," I said. "What's special about it?"
The Unicorn didn't respond, it just continued floating up towards it. Eventually, we reached it. "Do we go in?" I asked.
Without answering, the Unicorn plunged through. I followed.
Inside, I found a cathedral. No other word fit: It was like a church, but huge, stretching almost as far as the eye could see. The ceiling was arched, and decorated with paintings of thousands of beautiful birds, depicted in flight. Decorated pillars were everywhere, and all over the floor were people, kneeling in a worshipful pose and chanting a hymn of some kind. Scattered through the whole place were what looked like angels without wings; humans in white robes, laying a comforting hand on the praying people every now and then.
Strips of rich red carpet ran across the floor in places, leading to a central structure, an intricately decorated wooden building. It was almost totally covered by the kneeling prayers, which made sense to me - why kneel on a hard wooden floor when there's carpet around?
Is it a hymn or a chant? I wondered. I wasn't quite sure, but it filled the whole room. It was a beautiful sound, but somehow sad as well. I couldn't make up my mind whether I liked it or not.
I turned to the Unicorn and whispered to it, "What IS this place?" But even as I asked, I was struck by a feeling of déjà vu - I knew this place, it was overwhelmingly familiar. But I was sure I hadn't been here before.
Without answer, the Unicorn trotted away towards the central structure. It stepped carefully, to avoid disturbing the kneeling crowd.
As we walked near one of the walkers, I asked one, "What is this place?"
He looked at me, and said, "A refuge."
"For who?"
He gestured at the crowd, "For them."
"What's wrong with them?" I asked.
"They are praying for the sufferers."
"What sufferers?"
His eyes seemed to overflow with sadness, and he said softly, "Themselves."
Uncertain what to make of this, I turned away and caught up with the Unicorn. It was nearly at the building by the time I reached it.
"This place is weird," I said to it. I thought about this for a moment, then added, "Weirder than I'm used to, that is."
We reached the building. It reminded me of the confession chambers I'd seen in churches occasionally, only somewhat larger.
The unicorn stamped its leg on the ground three times. Moments later, the door opened. Behind it was what I can only describe as a white Silhouette. It was a human figure, but either it was two-dimensional, or it was such a uniform shade of white you couldn't see its outlines. I could almost feel my eyes water as they tried to focus on depth that just wasn't there.
"Hello," he said. "I'm glad you made it."
"Uhh... you were expecting me?" I said, surprised.
"Oh yes," he replied placidly. "We were hoping you would make it here."
"Why?"
"Because someone had to. The situation must be resolved."
I started to feel hopeful. There were hundreds of people here, if they all helped me I was sure we could find a way to put a stop to the Hell-Plane. "So you can help me?"
"No."
"What?!?"
He shook his head. "Not in the way you mean, no."
"Then in what way?" I was getting very frustrated by this time.
"Think of us as the medicine that will cure the illness that is Hell. We can only work when we are brought to the place of the infection."
Damn! Like attracts like strikes again, I thought. "What about the Unicorn's approach?" I asked. "I could try and get you down there."
No smile was visible on the Silhouette that was his face, but he sounded amused. "You think you could raise Hell itself this high?"
I had to admit he had a point. "No. I couldn't. So how CAN you help?"
"You are familiar with the saying about mountains coming to you?" it asked.
"You want me to take you down to Hell?" I asked incredulously. I could see the logic in it - put enough Positive souls into Hell, and maybe instead of them being pulled clear out of it, they would pull the Plane itself up. But surely..?
"No," he said, to my relief. "You could never generate enough negativity to get us far down enough."
"So.. what DO you want me to do?"
"Find somebody who CAN generate such negativity," he replied simply.
"How?" I asked helplessly. "Even if I could find a being that powerful and evil, how would I ever find one that would be interested in helping? Benevolence isn't in their nature."
He nodded. "True. But selfishness is. Whilst most of those trapped in the Hell-place are innocents, some are not. They would have gone to some other Negative Plane, had they not been waylaid. Thus Hell has deprived other Negative beings of their victims."
This did seem to make some sense. But.. "If that's the case, can't I find some higher Plane that's also lost souls? Wouldn't it be better to bring Hell up than to force you and your people to be dragged down?"
"It would," he agreed, "but I fear that higher spirits are less jealous of their inhabitants. Besides, there are other concerns."
"What concerns?" I asked.
He waved his hand dismissively. "I cannot explain. Not yet. Believe me, I have considered this problem for a long time."
His voice carried echoes of his meaning, and the sense of time it conveyed made me shudder. "How long has this been going on?" I asked.
"Too long," was his only reply. "Now, go. Seek the aid we require."
I nodded. "Alright. Where do I start?"
"With the bracelet."
I was startled by this. "But.. the bracelet is to take its wearer to Unicorns.. isn't it?"
He laughed. "No. It is far more than that - it is a guide to whatever you may seek."
That took me aback. No wonder Raknor had been so adamant I return the bracelet after I finished with it. The ability to find anything you seek on the Planes was an impressive one. I made a mental note to be sure to return the bracelet very promptly - I had no desire to be hunted down by an enraged dragon.
"Okay. I'll see what I can do," I promised.
"I know you will," he assured me. "That's why you were chosen."
I almost stopped at that: The mechanism by which tasks were given to Projectors was a matter in I had a lot of interest but very little knowledge. But I told myself that delays could not be allowed. I had to get Hell shut down. But I promised myself that I would ask the white Silhouette all about it afterwards.
Back in the Between, I looked at the silver bracelet. "Take me where I need to go," I told it hopefully, and flew downwards.
I passed the now-familiar sphere that contained Hell in what seemed like no time. I was nervous, very apprehensive. Drawing the attention of a powerful and evil spirit to myself was not something I wanted to do. My stomach felt like it was filled with ice-cold balls of lead, bouncing all over the place. And my surroundings weren't helping. It was dark, and cold, and I felt like I was being squeezed by the pressure of keeping myself in such an alien situation. I felt... not exactly dazed, but certainly not normal. It was hard to think.
In retrospect, I suspect that going to a level of the Planes with a nature so different from my own, I had to use levels of my mind which I am not really familiar with to think. Certainly, the thoughts of sadism and violence that filled my mind were not usual for me. It took all my self control to keep them from drowning out the voice of my own thoughts.
In my distracted state, it took some time for me to notice I had stopped moving, and was floating before a large, dark sphere. This, I assumed, was where I needed to go.
I took a deep breath, and charged in.
Inside, it was dark, and cold, and somehow blurry. This level was not easy for me to comprehend, and it showed in the fuzziness of detail. I seemed to be in some kind of ruins, a dark city that had been torn apart by war.
What it was that guided my stumbling feet to the right place, I don't know. I was having enough trouble standing without worrying about where I was walking to. But I walked along the streets as if I knew where I was going.
Suddenly, a group of blurry humanoid figures were rushing towards me, yelling aggressively. Before I could think, I unleashed an energy attack on them, orange flames scything through the crowd and lightning crashing down on them from the sky.
Their yells of anger became screams of pain, and they fled. Even when they were gone from sight, I continued the attack, blasting buildings, the ground, and thin air. I was too confused to realise I wasn't under attack any more, and attacking felt good somehow.
I raised a hand to throw flame at another building, and Raknor's bracelet shone on my wrist, a razor-sharp band of gleaming silver. The sight of it knocked me back into some semblance of normality, and I stopped my pointless assault on my surroundings.
I can't stay here much longer, I thought. I have to find the demon and get out of here.
I ran, somehow keeping balance, until I came to a battle; men fighting in the streets. Towering over them, a huge figure, a human all in black.
I yelled at it. I have no idea what, but it turned and looked at me.
I was back in the Between. It stood there in front of me. I felt a lot better, now that I was out of that vile place, but I was still desperate to return to the higher levels I habitually roamed.
"What are you doing here, mortal scum?" the figure growled at me.
I made myself stay calm. "There is a demon, who's tricking newly-dead humans into thinking they must go to his Plane. He's taken people that should have come to your Plane. To stop him, you have to bring his enemies down to his level, I can tell you where..."
"Wait," he interrupted. "How is he tricking them?"
"He makes them think that, instead of being automatic, the Plane they go to after death is assigned by judges. But the judges are disguised demons and they just sentence everybody to Hell."
He appeared stunned. "Even those who are not evil?"
I was surprised he cared about innocent people suffering, but confirmed that this was indeed the case.
"Unbelievable," he murmured. "I must report this."
"Report?" I repeated. "Report to who??"
"You must come with me," he said, ignoring my question. "I believe you can survive the journey."
He raised a hand, and a transparent bubble suddenly encased me. I reached out and touched it, and found it rigid and utterly unyielding.
My whole body went icy cold. A soul-sphere!
I had heard of them quite some time ago, and been intrigued. The little I knew was that, by surrounding your physical body with a soul-sphere, you could create a barrier your Astral form could not penetrate. In effect, you would shut yourself out of your own body.
Since I was still having trouble staying out as long as I wanted, I was intrigued by the idea. If I created the barrier when I went Out, and left it in place until I wanted to return, could I guarantee myself a nice, long projection?
According to what little I knew about them, soul-spheres were sometimes generated by people unwittingly, trapping their minds outside their physical bodies, with the result that their physical forms were largely mindless. So I had visited several mental institutions, and eventually believed I could safely create and destroy my own soul-sphere.
I only tried it once. I was too scared to ever do it again.
What I hadn't realised was that, by shutting yourself away from your body, you loose your sense of where your body IS. Normally, to end a Projection or to return to the Physical Plane during one, you simply feel for your body, and go to it. This is not possible when your body is sealed within a soul-sphere.
The shock of realising I couldn't feel my body lead to me falling into a nightmare Plane, and also temporarily loosing lucidity - I forgot that it was an Astral Plane, and thought it was real.
Eventually, my lucidity returned enough for me to get out of the Plane, but it was sheer luck that I was able to return to my body - I had left a Beacon in a nearby location, and was able to use it to return to the Physical, and from there get back to my body and destroy the sphere.
The experience left me with a permanent dislike of the idea of soul-spheres. But it had never occurred to me that another being could place me in one. The thought that this vile being had placed me in a prison I couldn't get out of was terrifying.
"Let me out of here!" I yelled at it.
"No. It's the only way to get you there," he returned, and then we were plummeting down.
Inside the sphere, I was dragged down against my will. Even in the relative neutrality of the Between, I was affected by the lowering of levels. It grew ever more darker, and my whole body throbbed as the pressure seemed to build ever higher. If the creature had released its sphere, I knew, I would have rocketed up so fast I'd have been snapped back to my body by the Astral G-forces. But he didn't. The sphere remained unbreakably solid, and I stayed within it.
Finally, at a depth lower than I had imagined a human could ever get to, we stopped. I could barely make out the Spheres of the Planes. I could barely make out my hand in front of my face. But the Sphere we were going to... I couldn't miss it. I had never seen such a massive Plane in my life. And the shock that washed through me when we entered it was terrible.
This Plane I would never have been able to travel to on my own. I was quite literally unable to comprehend the mindset this Plane represented. I could barely see, and I was almost unable to think. All that registered was an all-pervading black with occasional smears of red.
I don't know how long it went on. It seemed like forever, and I couldn't see what was happening. But suddenly, unbearably suddenly, it was gone. The world lurched, and I felt clarity return to my mind.
Unbelieving, I looked around. I was still in the same place, still so low down... and yet I felt almost normal. I couldn't make out any more of my surroundings than I had previously, but it was no longer a blur that made my head ache when I saw it.
"What happened?" I asked shakily.
"I have buffered the sphere," came the reply. " You were no good to me in that state."
"Thank you.. I think."
"Don't thank me," came the reply. "Just concentrate on your memories of this Plane you tell stories of."
I did as instructed. I racked my memory, trying to recall everything I had seen and experienced since the start of the whole thing. Ready to give a report, I started, "Okay, I was travelling..."
I was interrupted by a wash of blackness through my mind, blacker than the darkest night. And I realised that I couldn't remember any of what had happened since I projected that night. All my memories were gone!
"Unbelieveable!" said a voice, softly. Then, in a roar louder than any sound I have ever heard, "How DARE he?!"
Darkness washed through my mind again, and my memory returned. I stared into the blackness around me incredulously. Whatever being was out there, it had been able to actually pull my memories out of my mind and study them itself! Things I had never even considered to be possible dangers were being thrown casually around by the beings of the lower Planes, and I found myself desperately longing for the time when I had been beneath their notice.
"Return to your own level," I heard the voice say. "I will take care of this."
Then, a moment of confusion, and I was floating in the soul-sphere, just outside the Hell Plane. To my left, I could see... something. Even now that I was back at a level I could function at, the being from the abyss was beyond my ability to resolve into an understandable form. It was just a presence of unimaginable negativity, and the power bound up in it terrified me.
A spark leapt from it, and touched the Hell Sphere. Where it struck, a hole was torn in the Sphere, and I could see into the Hell within. I had tried and failed to make an opening in a Sphere in the past, so I could see into it without entering. Seeing one ripped half-apart so casually made me shudder.
The Beast beside me spoke. "Come to me, maggot, or you shall be brought."
I looked to the Sphere. I could just see the castle at the centre of the lake of fire. A shape was coming out of it, heading towards us. It seemed to be flying, but erratically, lurching around. Remembering the judge-demon's claim that the Plane was actually a representation of the Master-demon's soul, I wondered just what effect ripping the Sphere in half would have had on the demon itself.
Finally, it reached the edge of the Sphere. It was a black humanoid Silhouette, and it was barely able to stand.
"Master, wait!" he cried out. "Just let me..."
"Silence!" roared the Beast. "There can be no excuse for your actions!"
I was surprised at this. Why did a being of such utter blackness care so much about innocents suffering? An answer of sorts was provided as it continued:
"You have sundered the Twilight Covenant itself with your scheme. And you have done so under MY NAME!"
Twilight Covenant? I thought. What the blazes is the Twilight Covenant??
"No, master!" he cried out, "I did..."
Those were his last words. Even protected within the soul-sphere, I was stunned by the shockwave as a blast of darkness slammed into him. He went flying over the cavern, thudded into the wall on the far side, and rebounded into his own lake of fire.
The Beast turned to me next. "Now you will bring me the fragments."
"What?" I asked timidly. "I don't understand."
With a tinge of impatience in its voice, it said "The praying beings in the Higher Plane. The humans he tricked into being in his Plane were kept there by having their higher aspects blocked from them. They made their way to their natural level, and came together as the place the Unicorn lead you to. You saw how familiar it was, did you not?"
Stunned, I finally realised why I had felt such déjà vu in the Plane the Unicorn had taken me to. It was a higher-level reflection of the Hell Plane!
It continued: "I am Negative by nature. I cannot heal. But I can reunite the divided spirits and take away what they suffered. Go to the Plane, and I shall pull you down to this level."
"Won't that just pull me and leave it behind?" I asked.
"See that it doesn't," it snarled. "Now go!" And I was rocketing upwards suddenly.
I was still in the soul-sphere, but now I could control my direction. I ascended to the Sphere, and re-entered it.
The white Silhouette stood before me. "We are ready," it said.
"I hope I am," I muttered. Just on the off-chance, I asked "Can you help me at all?"
"Perhaps, a little," he replied. "You must anchor yourself now."
I nodded, then concentrated. I raised my hands, and pressed them to the side of the soul-sphere. Glowing white rays of light speared out of my fingers, and embedded themselves into the walls, wrapped themselves around pillars, and bound firmly to the roof.
The white Silhouette placed his hands on the outside of the soul-sphere, just behind mine, and they began to glow with light as well. The rays of light I had attached myself to the cathedral with became thicker, and brighter.
And then, the pulling began. The pressure was unbelievable. It was like being a link in a chain that's pulling a mountain along the ground. Had I not been trapped within the soul-sphere, I doubt I could ever have stayed in place. As it was, I just had to hold on to my anchors, and hold on I did, though it felt as though it would tear me in two.
Amazingly, the longer it lasted, the worse it became. I realised that, as we were pulled ever lower, the Plane would become ever more eager to return to its proper place.
Finally, I could bear it no more. One of the anchors snapped. Then another. The whole Plane lurched with each breakage.
"Hold on!" cried the white form behind me, "You must hold on!"
"I can't" I yelled, "It's too much!"
Another anchor snapped. I could feel the rest, straining to their limit, about to break as well.
And then, the Unicorn stepped into view. I had forgotten all about it, had thought it returned to its own Plane. It stood before me, and light lanced out of its horn, and blazed into me.
Into me, and through me. It burned into the anchors, and reinforced them. The terrible strain eased. I renewed by hold, and felt the Plane resume its downward journey.
Finally, I felt everything stop. I wondered what would come next.
The world lurched. There was a ringing like an enormous bell being struck, and suddenly the cathedral and the cavern of Hell were both visible, one superimposed on the other. And then, they shattered.
I was back in the Between. All around me, the inhabitants of the Planes were floating. Worms, prayers, angels, demons, they were all there. And they were merging. Reunited at last with the missing sections of themselves, they became human again. Almost before they were restored, they began moving, mostly drifting up, but some few sinking slowly down.
To my surprise, there were still many worms staying put. I couldn't resist asking the Beast, "Why are they still here?"
"They," it said, "are the experience of Hell that this fool put them through." The black Silhouette was laying prone before the Beast. "Every twinge of pain, every feeling of horror, every moment of madness. All the suffering he inflicted on the souls he stole, I have taken away from them."
"You can DO that?" I asked, incredulous.
"Yes," it replied simply.
"And what will happen to them now?"
The Beast lifted the Silhouette, and held him up. "I shall return them to their owner," it snarled. And, like iron filings drawn to a magnet, the worms were suddenly pulled towards them.
When the first worm was sucked into the blackness of their maker, he started to scream. And there were thousands of worms remaining. As more and more were forced into his soul, his screams grew louder and louder, until he was so overwhelmed even screaming was beyond him.
Finally, it was over. There was nothing but me, the Beast, and the Silhouette hanging limply.
The Beast spoke. "It is done. The Covenant is restored."
"What IS the Covenant?" I asked.
It glared at me. "Do not presume too far." The soul-sphere shattered. "You are free to go." And with that, it left, sinking back down into the depths of the darkness.
I looked around me. Somehow, I felt that there was still something here that I should be watching for.
And, sure enough, the Unicorn trotted over one of the Spheres. It stood looking down at me, glowing against the darkness. It reared up onto its hind legs, and its horn blazed with light. And then, it was gone, returned to its own level.
I smiled, and followed its example. I rose upwards, into the light.