Introduction
Welcome back to Maledicturs Terra. This is a Chain Story between myself and @lex-zaiya, meaning that we each write the parts alternatively.
If you have not read Maledictus Terra Book 1: Mortis Custos yet, it starts HERE at Part 1 and ends at Part 101 HERE. At the end of the Part 101 post you will find links to all 101 Parts!
The previous part by @lex-zaiya can be found HERE.
Lex did an Uno-Reverse Card on me last week. I led her towards writing a scene and then she managed to divert it all, logically and pass that scene preparation right back to me! Classic!
Well... I don't think I will dodge this one... But I too... have a sneaky plan!
Part 35
The moment Adrian touched the stone he felt the heat increase in it dramatically. He had thought to make full palm contact with the stone, just in case it was a one-use item.
He now regretted it as the stone flared up like an ember, it felt as though he had run hot wax on his palm. But it increased and swelled with power and intensity, the heat growing to feel like a hot coal.
He did not know when he started screaming. He stared down at his hand, expecting his whole arm to ignite with fire. It did not however, it was just the pain that was real.
His scream rose to a shrill level and he looked up from it to see Magna's reaction. Surely his sister would try to remove the stone from his hand. He needed to tell her not to. He needed this. He needed answers.
But she was not there. Nobody from their party was in the cave. He realized then that he was not standing in the cave either. He was someplace else. It was dark and he could not see any walls or ceiling.
He looked up. He was not outside either. It just stretched up to nothing. There were no edges to this almost impossible indoor room.
Incorrect He thought. There is ONE edge.
He looked down at his feet to see what he was standing on. The floor was smooth and grey, like a flagstone but it had no joins. It was as though everything had been made with a single slab, which was impossible. It went on in every direction without end and seemed to be completely level.
Again he looked in all directions.
Nothing.
Suddenly he realized that his screaming had stopped and so had the pain. He looked down at his hand and sure enough, the stone was still in it. He had grasped the stone in his left hand. Something that he had done intentionally. He was sure that if he broke contact, that he would probably exit this place.
But was he really where he thought he was? Was he inside the memory yet? Adiran... the elder personality... had been full of contingencies. He supposed that he too, would develop the same cautious attitude when setting up magic that can be picked up and handled like this.
The pain in his had had most likely been part of the deterrent.
He looked around him again, turning slowly on the spot.
This was another deterrent.
He realized that this was just one more barricade between intruders and the real information within the stone. This was only the door.
Door?
He realized now that he did not feel much pressure here. This place would certainly have been built around the concept of the natural world, otherwise he would not be able to fathom it at all. But he was fairly weightless.
He thought about it for a moment and with a chill, realized that with the pressures in him mind, the way he was thinking of it made that he was no longer standing on the floor of some massive inside space, but rather he was standing next to it. Like a fly on the wall, he was looking up and down, left and right on a massive stone wall.
He did not feel too much pressure. No gravity to tell him which way into the expanse was really down. He felt like he could fall in any direction at any time. But nothing happened. He stood there for a minute, feeling the ghost of a wind blowing in his mind. It was like a fear that sought to destablise him and knock him from this wall.
Wall? Was it a wall? It had been a floor a moment ago, then his perception changed. Now it was a wall... a wall... or a ceiling. He realized that now he felt as though he was upside down. But there was no downward pull to what he thought of as down and nothing kept him where he thought of as a ceiling.
Suddenly he was standing again and he was looking up at the sky.
It's all based on perception.
He looked down at the floor again. This was it. He did not need to go anywhere. He had found the door.
Door
This was the way through to the real mysteries of the stone that he held.
Adrian fell forward, to crash into the flagstones. No. To pass through the doorway and into....
He was standing in Adiran's study. The fireplace roaring and throwing a golden hue over everything. There was the usual clutter of books and magical items. There was something slightly off about it all.
"My goodness! Another one!" A thin voice proclaimed.
Adrian turned around to find a wizend old man sitting on a sofa. The man's hair was all white and he was extremely wrinkled. He pointed with a gnarled hand. "Could you kindly not stand between me and my fire? The cold always seeps right into my bones. This cold... oh how terrible!"
Adrian stepped to the side.
"Ah! Much better!" The old man had a long beard that streamed past his belt and sitting, haunched over as he were, it nearly touched the ground. Adrian was sure that he had never met anyone as old as he.
The old man was puffing on his pipe, staring at the flames.
"Excuse me." Adrian said after a long silence. "Who are you?"
The old man turned to look at him with watery blue eyes. A shine seemed to stir in them suddenly. "You mean you don't know?" The old man smiled.
"I don't think we have ever met." Adrian explained patiently. The old man must be slightly senile.
The old man couched out a raspy laugh. "If you're here, then that's highly incorrect! No my boy, we have definately met!"
Adrian's eyes widened.
"Yes! You've figured it out!" The old man beamed a smile. "I am Prince Adrian of Dragonshold!"
Ta-dah! hehehehe. Over to you Lex!
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