Godnapped!, page 2
“Yes, but why? How? When?”
“I like your quick thinking, keep at it! Mabon has been godnapped by Galdoshian imps, and you’re the only one who can open a portal to their realm, or at least, it’s what your Headmaster believes. So, you’re my man! And I’m Vejuna, by the way. Vejuna Fandango.”
Another flash of red got lost on the wizzer’s cheeks. He tried to apologize some more, realizing who he was facing, but the herbologist didn’t give him a chance.
“Chop-chop!” she said. “We really don’t have much time before it’s too late. Actually, would you mind showing me what you’re capable of and summon a passage—or whatever it is you do—to the Enchanted Forest?”
Chapter 3
Travelling through time and space was a tricky endeavor, one that was best left to the professionals, and there weren’t many. Bolonius, as a matter of fact, was the finest in his trade, and as Vejuna emerged from the slit that had just appeared near Mabon’s den, she found out she had nearly enjoyed crossing the layer of nihil between the Academy and the Forest with his method.
She didn’t so much appreciate the sad vision that greeted her, however: the disease was spreading a little too fast for her liking. The grove that had been vigorous a few hours before, now looked deader than dead, if that was even possible.
The entire Forest was in grave danger. At that rate, there would be no more trees, rivers—no more life in fact—within a couple of days; then, it would extend to the rest of Ze World in a fortnight. They were looking at the death of their planet just in time for Samhain’s night if Mabon wasn’t returned to heal the earth fast.
The Keepers of Ollvyanyul were already trying to delay the inevitable, knowing that if the scourge reached the heart of the Forest, Magic itself was at risk of disappearing. But their powers weren’t strong enough against the illness caused by the Harvest god’s absence.
Ostara had been called for, as she was the only one who might be able to really make a difference and give them more time, but at this period of the year, she was at her weakest, so the odds were slim. The fate of Ze World rested on a herbologist and a wizzer’s double pair of shoulders, and Fate herself didn’t even dare bet on their victory.
Only one person believed they had a chance to succeed, and she based that belief on the need she had to keep this planet alive. Nobody had the smallest inkling of what she had done and gone through to make sure this little ball of earth, metal, air, water and fire got to exist and stay in existence, and nobody would ever know. She wasn’t supposed to meddle; she had already done so too much, but she sure wasn’t going to give up without a good fight. Vejuna Fandango heaved a heavy sigh and turned to Bolonius.
“Alright handsome,” she said. “I deem you fit for the task. Any questions?”
The wizzer stared at her blankly.
“Well, as a matter of fact,” he replied, aggravated, “I do have a few questions… Like, what the heck is going on? I mean, I got the part about Mabon going missing, and how some Galdoshian imps somehow godnapped him; so far so good. But this? And how? The Galdosh dimension has no means to contact ours; there’s no way they could have opened a portal, unless they were helped, but there’s no one there to help them do it! And why? And what’s happening? For crying out loud, woman! You said ‘jump’ and for whatever reason I asked ‘how high?’, but you never said anything about this!”
Vejuna considered her new partner for a second. He wasn’t dumb; he was actually quite smart for a human, even though he’d followed her without even knowing why. Then again, that was the kind of power she had over humans in general, and men in particular. His acumen wasn’t involved. But she’d insulted his intelligence long enough. She owed him at least a brief explanation.
“You’re right. I was so engrossed in the troubles at hand that I forgot to mention what they really were. My bad.” It wasn’t exactly an apology, but she wanted to see his reaction.
Bolonius did nothing but listen, which she appreciated greatly.
“Here’s the thing,” she carried on. “With the testimony of two drunk squirrels and this…” She showed him a tiny spear she had discovered on the Forest’s ground. One of the attackers had lost it as they were carrying the god back to their realm. It bore a minuscule engraving of a crown, the escutcheon of the Galdosh dimension’s king. “I suspect the Galdoshians were involved. I am just as lost as you as to how they managed to enter our dimension, and I had hoped that maybe you could find some answers using your talent and knowledge. As for the situation we’re facing, it is dire. If Mabon is not returned fast, the whole of Ze World is at risk of perishing. With his sister, they keep the balance of Nature’s supremacy, but with him gone, it’s the whole power that’s shifting. With him gone, Nature becomes Chaos, and all of her creation is destroyed.”
“So, the Galdoshians are declaring war on Ze World by stripping it of its Nature?” he asked.
“I don’t think they’re waging a war on us. They don’t work like this. I believe they only took what they thought would give them what they need. If they even thought that far.”
“How so?”
“Well, the Galdosh dimension doesn’t have Nature, or any of her counterparts. The land is infertile, or rather, devoid of life as we know it, except for the Galdoshians, who somehow pop into existence once in a while. It’s not even a planet, it’s just a dimension, with nothing in it save for its inhabitants.
“Here’s my hypothesis: someone showed them our world and insinuated envy in what serves as their hearts. They don’t mean ill, they just got offered the opportunity to give their dimension what they suddenly craved for: colors and life, matter, elements—heck, feelings! So, they did what they do best: they acted on it.”
Bolonius took time to process this theory. Knowing what he knew about the Galdoshians—a tribe usually considered insignificant and therefore left alone in their dimension—it made sense.
“Ok, but then, who opened the portal for them? Or indeed, who wreaked havoc in their peaceful lives by showing them our world? And why?”
“Aha! Good questions! No idea… One thing though, just so we’re on the same page: please don’t presume of their peaceful nature. Nobody has ever cared enough to get to know them properly, but something tells me they were not at peace to begin with. Maybe the person who ‘wreaked havoc’ in their lives didn’t actually wreak havoc. They just cared enough to listen and give them what they’d always needed.”
“Hm. Fair enough,” he said. “I’ve never thought about it that way.”
“Most people don’t think about it, period.”
Bolonius considered this for a little while. He knew Vejuna Fandango by reputation, and even though his position as a wizzer had always prevented him from saying it aloud, he’d always had a lot of respect for her and what she did. But she was even better than what he’d thought. Admiration loomed in his mind. But the unpleasantness of what had brought them together soon cast a shadow over any good feeling he could have.
“So, what now? I open a portal to the Galdosh dimension, we barge in and bring Mabon back, is that it?”
“Pretty much.” The herbologist’s eyes wandered around, taking in her surroundings. “Except…”
“Except?”
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure we have what it takes to bring him back.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Galdoshians are warriors. They may be tiny, but they’ve abducted a fracking god, no less. They’re strong. And they’re used to fighting and being sneaky at it. That’s all they do in their dimensions: find ever improving ways to fight off their neighbors in an attempt at becoming king. That’s all they have. Pretty terrible existence, if you ask me.”
The wizzer looked at her with awe. “How do you know so many things about them? I thought nobody ever bothered to study them?”
“Ha! Study a species… A very human thing to do!”
“Do you mean to say you are not human?”
“I… Well… But that doesn’t mean I condone everything humans do—or don’t do. Anyhoo, let’s say I have my sources, and they’re very reliable.” She winked at him. “And that’s why I know that we need to prepare a minimum before we jump head first into the nihil to search for this dimension.”
She was smart, definitely savvy, and empathetic. Bolonius had noticed the twinkle in her eyes when she spoke of the imps; they impressed her, and she liked being impressed. He had also noticed how her fervor moved him and prompted him to follow her wherever she would lead.
Chapter 4
They set out to find what they needed. The wizzer opened a portal to Woodruff so Vejuna could get some potions and material. His was a very useful and practical power, she admitted; they were saving a lot of time they didn’t really have and crossing the nihil became an almost pleasant endeavor in his company.
Woodruff, however, turned out to hate wizzers even more than woodlice, so he didn’t let Bolonius in when he engulfed Vejuna in his entrails.1 The herbologist hastened to change into clothes more suitable to travel through dimensions—tights and high boots, a tunic fitting every line of her curvaceous body, and mittens, because every warrior worthy of the name wore mittens. She braided her hair to resemble the huntresses of Ham-and-Zonia and fixed the sweat on her face with a bit of powder. She usually couldn’t care less about her appearance, but today, she was dressing to impress, and elegance was always a requirement.
Eventually, Vejuna came out of Woodruff2. She took a second to appreciate the look on the wizzer’s face, then walked decisively towards the shack appended to the treehouse. Entering the place required some acrobatic dispositions: she lifted her legs over trunks crowding the passageway, limboed under pipes set between two shelves, tiptoed around boxes and jumped over something that may have been a dead rat. She finally settled at a table in the middle of the shambles and looked around, wondering what could come in handy in a journey such as the one she was about to begin.
Bolonius stood at the door, contemplating with awe the variety of elements that greeted his eyes. The hut was packed from ground to ceiling with junk, diverse paraphernalia, a pristine herbologist’s workshop complete with a huge and intricate copper alembic, gardening equipment and a weird two-wheeled driving engine from another world he had travelled to once—and almost immediately come back from as it had turned out to be too batshit crazy for his own liking.
He was about to ask Vejuna how she had come to be in possession of such an odd object from so far away, but she ushered him out with arms full of stuff, and he got sidetracked.
“What’s all that for?”
She laid down her mismatched tools on the ground before the shed.
“Don’t stay in front of the door and leave it wide open please.”
Bolonius moved aside as a very concentrated Vejuna sorted out her stuff. What she decided she would not need after all, she threw over her shoulder back inside the shack without even looking. The objects flew back into place by themselves, and when she was done, the door slammed shut on its own.
The wizzer looked at the herbologist, flabbergasted. “What? How? I mean, I never knew herbologists had such powers. I’ve always thought telekinesis was a wizzcrafting feat. Or was that a transmogrification of sorts? But that’s a demonist’s skill! And if you say it’s a simple levitating spell, I’ll just cry. What are you?”
“I’m a very multi-talented herbologist, is what I am! Look, sweetheart, I need not remind you we are pressed for time here, right? We’ll get to figure each other out when all this is over, make it a date. That is, if we retrieve Mabon before it’s too late and Ze World withers away, and all life forms with it… So, help me out here, ok! I’ve got my potions, a couple of weapons and a few useful tools. Oh, darn it! I forgot the bag!”
She went back into the shed and came out with a tattered pouch in which she placed everything she had saved.
“Before you get all flustered again, it’s a bottomless pouch I got on the black market in Townunder. Very practical for long journeys.”
Bolonius was very much still staggered. Townunder’s black market was definitely no place for a lady. Then again, he mused, Vejuna sure wasn’t any ordinary lady.
Chapter 5
“So, what’s the plan here?”
They were back at Mabon’s lair; the elves had moved further away into the Forest, still trying to thwart the disease, to little avail so far. Vejuna gazed at the wizzer in expectation.
“Where did the… erm… squirrels say they saw Mabon disappear exactly?”
“Somewhere around here”. She led him to the place.
“Alright. That’s a good place to start. I need to feel for the dimple left by the portal that was opened. It should procure me with essential information to find my way through the nihil towards the Galdosh dimension.” Bolonius took out his wand and began exploring the air around him.
“Have you not been there already?”
“No, no one’s ever been there. We know of it, but nobody’s ever felt it was interesting enough to visit. I guess we should have…”
He searched for the small dent in the fabric of reality and soon found it.
“See? It’s like the air was solid and someone poked it! It’ll fade away eventually, but this happens every time someone opens a portal through time and space!”
“Makes you wonder if it’s really a good thing… Any useful information then?”
Bolonius scanned the notch with his wand, read it, and turned to the herbologist, satisfied enough with his findings.
“I should manage. Be prepared though, it shall be a long voyage, and it might get rough.”
“Is that a promise?” She winked at him; she enjoyed making him blush as it lit his amber eyes with a golden shine.
“Madam, I should never—”
“My dear, you should, always! Now, do your magic, good sir! Off we shall go!”
Bolonius focused for a few seconds. When he opened his eyes, the gold of his irises was glowing. He waved his wand in a geometrical and disproportionate pattern, and cut through the air with it. Exuding confidence, he gave Vejuna his hand, which she took, a delighted smile hovering on her lips, and they entered the nihil with a skip.
Pitch black, as always. Except for the light coming out of nowhere that made them see each other clear as day and lost itself in the inky surroundings. The nihil wasn’t the most welcoming of places, that much was for certain. Drawing continuous patterns in the air with his wand, Bolonius led the way, keeping a firm hold on Vejuna’s hand. If they were to be separated even for a second, they might never find each other again, and the herbologist would be lost to reality forever. And you didn’t want to be lost in the nihil. For one thing, you would wither away without ever really dying, but you wouldn’t be alive anymore either, not exactly. As things stood, the wizzer and the herbologist were presently in a state of unliving. Or maybe they were undead. This much wasn’t clear to anyone, so most people would assume they were neither one nor the other, and keep at that. But the most unsettling thing about the nihil was its inhabitants: gruesome beings scoured the interdimensional unspace in search of lost souls, and in all fairness, you’d rather wither forever than ever cross their path.
“How did they find their way to Ze World?” Vejuna wondered out loud.
“Interesting question. How indeed… They’re not supposed to have the means necessary.”
“Yes, look at everything you have to do to follow them back to their place. Supposing they didn’t have the slightest idea of what they were doing, how did they find their way when we’re having so much trouble finding ours with all our expertise?”
“The person who helped them must have led them through, there’s no other explanation.”
“Do you know of anyone who could have done that? Someone as good as you—or better? No offense.”
“None taken. But no. My art is very specific, and although I teach it—and I have a few exceptional students—I am the only living person I know so far who has the skills, means and knowledge needed to undertake such a journey. Only a god could do better.”
“A god, eh? Hm… Not a bad guess…”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing. I’m muttering to myself, don’t mind me.”
Since time had no influence on the nihil, it was hard to say how long they wandered in the nothingness of this non-place. Bolonius eventually came to a halt.
“This should be it.”
As he started focusing to use his incantation, they heard the ghastliest gasp coming their way. In this lonesome emptiness, the clamor was deafening, and it struck the two companions with unfathomable terror. Bolonius tried to concentrate as hard as he could, but to no avail. Fear overwhelmed him entirely and rooted him to the spot. Vejuna was transfixed as well, especially when she spotted a cluster of long tentacles moving towards them out of the nihil, the tone-on-tone quality of their blackness on the surrounding nothingness only disturbed by the shimmering slime coating them.
“Bolonius! If you want to impress me, now’s your moment! Get a grip, man!”
The wizzer’s eyes were wide open, his gaze fixed upon their impending doom.
“Bolonius! I need you! Please!”
Vejuna had never felt such fear before. She barely regained enough self-control herself to shake the terrified man to his senses, but it was too late: the gasp’s origin was now clearly visible, an immense hole sporting several rows of tiny sharp teeth, and the tentacles surrounding it were close enough to brush their faces in an attempt at grasping them.
A sudden flash of light engulfed them, and they both fell backwards. One second, they were in the nihil, at the mercy of the horrifying creature, ready to die a dreadful death. The next, they were on the floor of a very grim-looking forest, and the slit they had fallen from was closing itself on the tip of a tentacle which fought in agony to open the blocking zipper again. The gap between realities mercilessly severed it from the rest of its body before sealing shut with a tiny pop, and it fell limp on the ground. A gush of black slime dripped from the remaining dent mid-air onto the still limb.
“I like your quick thinking, keep at it! Mabon has been godnapped by Galdoshian imps, and you’re the only one who can open a portal to their realm, or at least, it’s what your Headmaster believes. So, you’re my man! And I’m Vejuna, by the way. Vejuna Fandango.”
Another flash of red got lost on the wizzer’s cheeks. He tried to apologize some more, realizing who he was facing, but the herbologist didn’t give him a chance.
“Chop-chop!” she said. “We really don’t have much time before it’s too late. Actually, would you mind showing me what you’re capable of and summon a passage—or whatever it is you do—to the Enchanted Forest?”
Chapter 3
Travelling through time and space was a tricky endeavor, one that was best left to the professionals, and there weren’t many. Bolonius, as a matter of fact, was the finest in his trade, and as Vejuna emerged from the slit that had just appeared near Mabon’s den, she found out she had nearly enjoyed crossing the layer of nihil between the Academy and the Forest with his method.
She didn’t so much appreciate the sad vision that greeted her, however: the disease was spreading a little too fast for her liking. The grove that had been vigorous a few hours before, now looked deader than dead, if that was even possible.
The entire Forest was in grave danger. At that rate, there would be no more trees, rivers—no more life in fact—within a couple of days; then, it would extend to the rest of Ze World in a fortnight. They were looking at the death of their planet just in time for Samhain’s night if Mabon wasn’t returned to heal the earth fast.
The Keepers of Ollvyanyul were already trying to delay the inevitable, knowing that if the scourge reached the heart of the Forest, Magic itself was at risk of disappearing. But their powers weren’t strong enough against the illness caused by the Harvest god’s absence.
Ostara had been called for, as she was the only one who might be able to really make a difference and give them more time, but at this period of the year, she was at her weakest, so the odds were slim. The fate of Ze World rested on a herbologist and a wizzer’s double pair of shoulders, and Fate herself didn’t even dare bet on their victory.
Only one person believed they had a chance to succeed, and she based that belief on the need she had to keep this planet alive. Nobody had the smallest inkling of what she had done and gone through to make sure this little ball of earth, metal, air, water and fire got to exist and stay in existence, and nobody would ever know. She wasn’t supposed to meddle; she had already done so too much, but she sure wasn’t going to give up without a good fight. Vejuna Fandango heaved a heavy sigh and turned to Bolonius.
“Alright handsome,” she said. “I deem you fit for the task. Any questions?”
The wizzer stared at her blankly.
“Well, as a matter of fact,” he replied, aggravated, “I do have a few questions… Like, what the heck is going on? I mean, I got the part about Mabon going missing, and how some Galdoshian imps somehow godnapped him; so far so good. But this? And how? The Galdosh dimension has no means to contact ours; there’s no way they could have opened a portal, unless they were helped, but there’s no one there to help them do it! And why? And what’s happening? For crying out loud, woman! You said ‘jump’ and for whatever reason I asked ‘how high?’, but you never said anything about this!”
Vejuna considered her new partner for a second. He wasn’t dumb; he was actually quite smart for a human, even though he’d followed her without even knowing why. Then again, that was the kind of power she had over humans in general, and men in particular. His acumen wasn’t involved. But she’d insulted his intelligence long enough. She owed him at least a brief explanation.
“You’re right. I was so engrossed in the troubles at hand that I forgot to mention what they really were. My bad.” It wasn’t exactly an apology, but she wanted to see his reaction.
Bolonius did nothing but listen, which she appreciated greatly.
“Here’s the thing,” she carried on. “With the testimony of two drunk squirrels and this…” She showed him a tiny spear she had discovered on the Forest’s ground. One of the attackers had lost it as they were carrying the god back to their realm. It bore a minuscule engraving of a crown, the escutcheon of the Galdosh dimension’s king. “I suspect the Galdoshians were involved. I am just as lost as you as to how they managed to enter our dimension, and I had hoped that maybe you could find some answers using your talent and knowledge. As for the situation we’re facing, it is dire. If Mabon is not returned fast, the whole of Ze World is at risk of perishing. With his sister, they keep the balance of Nature’s supremacy, but with him gone, it’s the whole power that’s shifting. With him gone, Nature becomes Chaos, and all of her creation is destroyed.”
“So, the Galdoshians are declaring war on Ze World by stripping it of its Nature?” he asked.
“I don’t think they’re waging a war on us. They don’t work like this. I believe they only took what they thought would give them what they need. If they even thought that far.”
“How so?”
“Well, the Galdosh dimension doesn’t have Nature, or any of her counterparts. The land is infertile, or rather, devoid of life as we know it, except for the Galdoshians, who somehow pop into existence once in a while. It’s not even a planet, it’s just a dimension, with nothing in it save for its inhabitants.
“Here’s my hypothesis: someone showed them our world and insinuated envy in what serves as their hearts. They don’t mean ill, they just got offered the opportunity to give their dimension what they suddenly craved for: colors and life, matter, elements—heck, feelings! So, they did what they do best: they acted on it.”
Bolonius took time to process this theory. Knowing what he knew about the Galdoshians—a tribe usually considered insignificant and therefore left alone in their dimension—it made sense.
“Ok, but then, who opened the portal for them? Or indeed, who wreaked havoc in their peaceful lives by showing them our world? And why?”
“Aha! Good questions! No idea… One thing though, just so we’re on the same page: please don’t presume of their peaceful nature. Nobody has ever cared enough to get to know them properly, but something tells me they were not at peace to begin with. Maybe the person who ‘wreaked havoc’ in their lives didn’t actually wreak havoc. They just cared enough to listen and give them what they’d always needed.”
“Hm. Fair enough,” he said. “I’ve never thought about it that way.”
“Most people don’t think about it, period.”
Bolonius considered this for a little while. He knew Vejuna Fandango by reputation, and even though his position as a wizzer had always prevented him from saying it aloud, he’d always had a lot of respect for her and what she did. But she was even better than what he’d thought. Admiration loomed in his mind. But the unpleasantness of what had brought them together soon cast a shadow over any good feeling he could have.
“So, what now? I open a portal to the Galdosh dimension, we barge in and bring Mabon back, is that it?”
“Pretty much.” The herbologist’s eyes wandered around, taking in her surroundings. “Except…”
“Except?”
“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure we have what it takes to bring him back.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Galdoshians are warriors. They may be tiny, but they’ve abducted a fracking god, no less. They’re strong. And they’re used to fighting and being sneaky at it. That’s all they do in their dimensions: find ever improving ways to fight off their neighbors in an attempt at becoming king. That’s all they have. Pretty terrible existence, if you ask me.”
The wizzer looked at her with awe. “How do you know so many things about them? I thought nobody ever bothered to study them?”
“Ha! Study a species… A very human thing to do!”
“Do you mean to say you are not human?”
“I… Well… But that doesn’t mean I condone everything humans do—or don’t do. Anyhoo, let’s say I have my sources, and they’re very reliable.” She winked at him. “And that’s why I know that we need to prepare a minimum before we jump head first into the nihil to search for this dimension.”
She was smart, definitely savvy, and empathetic. Bolonius had noticed the twinkle in her eyes when she spoke of the imps; they impressed her, and she liked being impressed. He had also noticed how her fervor moved him and prompted him to follow her wherever she would lead.
Chapter 4
They set out to find what they needed. The wizzer opened a portal to Woodruff so Vejuna could get some potions and material. His was a very useful and practical power, she admitted; they were saving a lot of time they didn’t really have and crossing the nihil became an almost pleasant endeavor in his company.
Woodruff, however, turned out to hate wizzers even more than woodlice, so he didn’t let Bolonius in when he engulfed Vejuna in his entrails.1 The herbologist hastened to change into clothes more suitable to travel through dimensions—tights and high boots, a tunic fitting every line of her curvaceous body, and mittens, because every warrior worthy of the name wore mittens. She braided her hair to resemble the huntresses of Ham-and-Zonia and fixed the sweat on her face with a bit of powder. She usually couldn’t care less about her appearance, but today, she was dressing to impress, and elegance was always a requirement.
Eventually, Vejuna came out of Woodruff2. She took a second to appreciate the look on the wizzer’s face, then walked decisively towards the shack appended to the treehouse. Entering the place required some acrobatic dispositions: she lifted her legs over trunks crowding the passageway, limboed under pipes set between two shelves, tiptoed around boxes and jumped over something that may have been a dead rat. She finally settled at a table in the middle of the shambles and looked around, wondering what could come in handy in a journey such as the one she was about to begin.
Bolonius stood at the door, contemplating with awe the variety of elements that greeted his eyes. The hut was packed from ground to ceiling with junk, diverse paraphernalia, a pristine herbologist’s workshop complete with a huge and intricate copper alembic, gardening equipment and a weird two-wheeled driving engine from another world he had travelled to once—and almost immediately come back from as it had turned out to be too batshit crazy for his own liking.
He was about to ask Vejuna how she had come to be in possession of such an odd object from so far away, but she ushered him out with arms full of stuff, and he got sidetracked.
“What’s all that for?”
She laid down her mismatched tools on the ground before the shed.
“Don’t stay in front of the door and leave it wide open please.”
Bolonius moved aside as a very concentrated Vejuna sorted out her stuff. What she decided she would not need after all, she threw over her shoulder back inside the shack without even looking. The objects flew back into place by themselves, and when she was done, the door slammed shut on its own.
The wizzer looked at the herbologist, flabbergasted. “What? How? I mean, I never knew herbologists had such powers. I’ve always thought telekinesis was a wizzcrafting feat. Or was that a transmogrification of sorts? But that’s a demonist’s skill! And if you say it’s a simple levitating spell, I’ll just cry. What are you?”
“I’m a very multi-talented herbologist, is what I am! Look, sweetheart, I need not remind you we are pressed for time here, right? We’ll get to figure each other out when all this is over, make it a date. That is, if we retrieve Mabon before it’s too late and Ze World withers away, and all life forms with it… So, help me out here, ok! I’ve got my potions, a couple of weapons and a few useful tools. Oh, darn it! I forgot the bag!”
She went back into the shed and came out with a tattered pouch in which she placed everything she had saved.
“Before you get all flustered again, it’s a bottomless pouch I got on the black market in Townunder. Very practical for long journeys.”
Bolonius was very much still staggered. Townunder’s black market was definitely no place for a lady. Then again, he mused, Vejuna sure wasn’t any ordinary lady.
Chapter 5
“So, what’s the plan here?”
They were back at Mabon’s lair; the elves had moved further away into the Forest, still trying to thwart the disease, to little avail so far. Vejuna gazed at the wizzer in expectation.
“Where did the… erm… squirrels say they saw Mabon disappear exactly?”
“Somewhere around here”. She led him to the place.
“Alright. That’s a good place to start. I need to feel for the dimple left by the portal that was opened. It should procure me with essential information to find my way through the nihil towards the Galdosh dimension.” Bolonius took out his wand and began exploring the air around him.
“Have you not been there already?”
“No, no one’s ever been there. We know of it, but nobody’s ever felt it was interesting enough to visit. I guess we should have…”
He searched for the small dent in the fabric of reality and soon found it.
“See? It’s like the air was solid and someone poked it! It’ll fade away eventually, but this happens every time someone opens a portal through time and space!”
“Makes you wonder if it’s really a good thing… Any useful information then?”
Bolonius scanned the notch with his wand, read it, and turned to the herbologist, satisfied enough with his findings.
“I should manage. Be prepared though, it shall be a long voyage, and it might get rough.”
“Is that a promise?” She winked at him; she enjoyed making him blush as it lit his amber eyes with a golden shine.
“Madam, I should never—”
“My dear, you should, always! Now, do your magic, good sir! Off we shall go!”
Bolonius focused for a few seconds. When he opened his eyes, the gold of his irises was glowing. He waved his wand in a geometrical and disproportionate pattern, and cut through the air with it. Exuding confidence, he gave Vejuna his hand, which she took, a delighted smile hovering on her lips, and they entered the nihil with a skip.
Pitch black, as always. Except for the light coming out of nowhere that made them see each other clear as day and lost itself in the inky surroundings. The nihil wasn’t the most welcoming of places, that much was for certain. Drawing continuous patterns in the air with his wand, Bolonius led the way, keeping a firm hold on Vejuna’s hand. If they were to be separated even for a second, they might never find each other again, and the herbologist would be lost to reality forever. And you didn’t want to be lost in the nihil. For one thing, you would wither away without ever really dying, but you wouldn’t be alive anymore either, not exactly. As things stood, the wizzer and the herbologist were presently in a state of unliving. Or maybe they were undead. This much wasn’t clear to anyone, so most people would assume they were neither one nor the other, and keep at that. But the most unsettling thing about the nihil was its inhabitants: gruesome beings scoured the interdimensional unspace in search of lost souls, and in all fairness, you’d rather wither forever than ever cross their path.
“How did they find their way to Ze World?” Vejuna wondered out loud.
“Interesting question. How indeed… They’re not supposed to have the means necessary.”
“Yes, look at everything you have to do to follow them back to their place. Supposing they didn’t have the slightest idea of what they were doing, how did they find their way when we’re having so much trouble finding ours with all our expertise?”
“The person who helped them must have led them through, there’s no other explanation.”
“Do you know of anyone who could have done that? Someone as good as you—or better? No offense.”
“None taken. But no. My art is very specific, and although I teach it—and I have a few exceptional students—I am the only living person I know so far who has the skills, means and knowledge needed to undertake such a journey. Only a god could do better.”
“A god, eh? Hm… Not a bad guess…”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing. I’m muttering to myself, don’t mind me.”
Since time had no influence on the nihil, it was hard to say how long they wandered in the nothingness of this non-place. Bolonius eventually came to a halt.
“This should be it.”
As he started focusing to use his incantation, they heard the ghastliest gasp coming their way. In this lonesome emptiness, the clamor was deafening, and it struck the two companions with unfathomable terror. Bolonius tried to concentrate as hard as he could, but to no avail. Fear overwhelmed him entirely and rooted him to the spot. Vejuna was transfixed as well, especially when she spotted a cluster of long tentacles moving towards them out of the nihil, the tone-on-tone quality of their blackness on the surrounding nothingness only disturbed by the shimmering slime coating them.
“Bolonius! If you want to impress me, now’s your moment! Get a grip, man!”
The wizzer’s eyes were wide open, his gaze fixed upon their impending doom.
“Bolonius! I need you! Please!”
Vejuna had never felt such fear before. She barely regained enough self-control herself to shake the terrified man to his senses, but it was too late: the gasp’s origin was now clearly visible, an immense hole sporting several rows of tiny sharp teeth, and the tentacles surrounding it were close enough to brush their faces in an attempt at grasping them.
A sudden flash of light engulfed them, and they both fell backwards. One second, they were in the nihil, at the mercy of the horrifying creature, ready to die a dreadful death. The next, they were on the floor of a very grim-looking forest, and the slit they had fallen from was closing itself on the tip of a tentacle which fought in agony to open the blocking zipper again. The gap between realities mercilessly severed it from the rest of its body before sealing shut with a tiny pop, and it fell limp on the ground. A gush of black slime dripped from the remaining dent mid-air onto the still limb.
