The Haunting

Necromancy Senses II (Chapter Twenty)

Chapter Twenty

Necromancy Senses II

After the strange lady had left her in the field, Chloe had seen a doorway open.  But instead of immediately going through it, she stayed in the field a little bit longer.  It was a pretty field after all, and she had no idea what hidden horrors that lay in wait for her if she went through.

So she took a little break, Strolling and meandering throughout the magenta fields.  They sky was an orange color, that glowed with a fiery light.  The giant old oak tree that was a little ways away, had a blue trunk and dark pink leaves.  Chloe slowly walked towards it, entranced by the strange coloring.  Then the leaves rustled, and a neon blue squirrel with a light blue stripe running across its body leaped out in front of her.

Chloe stifled a gasp, and leaned towards the creature.  It turned blank white eyes her way, and then skittered away.  It cast one more curious glance Chloe's way, and then agilely ran back up t he tree.

Chloe turned around again, and stared at the ominous looking doorway. She took one more deep breath, glanced around once more at the rather odd scenery, and braced herself as she walked towards the door.

****

"Derek!  Why did you-" Roxanne's voice trailed off, as she saw Chloe lying in my arms.  A calm look came over her face, and she strode towards us.

Chloe's pale body was held in my arms, and as Roxanne saw her, her eyes widened in comprehension.

She gently closed Chloe's eyes, and motioned for me to continue walking.  I did, and she trailed closely to my side, not quite next to me, but not behind either.

"Chloe is in 'amphentan', a state of meditation achieved by journeying through ones soul.  She faces many real dangers there, but I trust that she will not die.  If she manages to complete this, she will have access to consult the aid of her powers, to overcome a problem."

"Why would she have a problem, Roxanne?  What could she possibly need that much help with?" I asked.  In my head, I asked myself why she couldn't come to me for help.

"Our powers are almost alive in their own way, Derek.  They are not quite conscious, but have intelligence, and can observe things that our regular eyes cannot catch.  Only a problem of great magnitude could have sent her into amphentan, it would be a problem of such importance that no other help could possibly help."

"Can anyone do this am...amphetach thing?" I asked curiously.  I wonder how she knew so much about the supernatural side of supernaturals.

Roxanne looked at me gravely.  "Not just anyone can be admitted into amphetan, Derek.  If your soul is weak, it cannot be admitted.  Once you have undergone 'sanchent', or inner projection, you are stuck inside of yourself.  If you fail to complete the tasks that your soul has set up for you, you die, but you never come out.  Your soul does not truly 'die', but it is stuck in limbo, as you would call it. Her body would never rot, never decay, it would stay trapped in youth, forever waiting for the return of her soul.

"However, if she succeeds, she will be able to figure out the answer to her problem, with the help of her personified powers.  The trick of word, and riddles she will be given are designed to test her knowledge.  Her Powers are not going to give her a straight answer.  Her Powers, just the same as anyone else's, will try to trick her, to see if she is worthy or not.

"The previous task she goes through will merely test her strength, courage, and resolve, these will check to see if she is truly worthy, then she will be helped."

I stared at her incredulously.  "How do you know all that?"

She smiled a self-deprecating smile.  "I lived in captivity with a Shaman for the majority of my life.  I am bound to know some things about 'spiritual journeys'."