Atlantian

becoming Atlantian [7]

Chapter 7

The blackness was filled with a faint whistling that echoed through the abyss. All too soon a glow began to form in the centre of the room, illuminating the rocky walls that created a small high ceilinged space. Faster and brighter the light swirled until the fiery vortex appeared in the centre of the dusty floor, dirt being singed as it was kicked up off of the floor and whirled around in a tornado of chaos. The fire continued to churn in the centre of the room filling the four walls with a deafening roar before it lunged out at the walls. Like whatever had been powering it had snapped, the fire bulged expanding until the entire cavern was consumed flames before quickly disappearing into the brown earth.

The only trace that the room had been an inferno was the flickering torches that continued to light the room well after the vortex had disappeared.

A sharp gasp filled the air as Aubrey's shivering form appeared on the floor, her body singed and blackened as she lay there on the mud. A deep shuddering breath rattled through her body as she blinked her eyes rapidly trying to clear the red blur from her vision. She briefly wondered whether her eyes would fully recover from staring into the bright white of the fire as she lolled her head to the side and surveyed the room around her. It was big enough for about ten people to lie down side by side but it felt oddly cramped. The high walls disappeared into the gloom making Aubrey feel as if she was at the bottom of a pit and completely trapped.

"She's here."

"SHE'S HERE."

"She's here!"

Voices echoed through the place, the different timbres hitting her from every direction. Each was barely more than a whisper but in the oppressive and confined space, it was as if the voices had been shouting at her. Puzzled and confused, Aubrey pushed herself from the floor. Her body trembled slightly before her knees locked and she managed to keep herself upright. Looking a little worse for wear and feeling it too, her eyes darted nervously around her as she tried to locate the source of the voices but came up with nothing.

"Welcome," the voices intoned at the same time. Their voices combined to become something more powerful, seductive yet strangely comforting at the same time. It wrapped around Aubrey like a blanket, pushing away the ominous shadows that flickered on every side of her. "You have been chosen but now you must choose."

A gasp escaped Aubrey's lips as she felt a gentle pressure on her forehead as if someone had just pecked it. For a moment she was reminded of her grandparents who always made a show of kissing her forehead every time they said hello or goodbye rather than kissing her cheek. She allowed her eyes to flutter for a moment, a smile gracing her lips as the scent of Nivea hand cream and Calvin Klein Obsession flooded her senses. Her gran always loved that perfume.

"You must choose," echoed again and again, bouncing of the walls in a harmonious whisper as Aubrey stood there in the middle of the gloomy space trying to shake off the last vestiges of her trip down memory lane.

The black abyss above her messy tangle of red hair became engorged as the air rippled. It was as if there was a film separating the sky from some other world and someone was trying to break through.  There wasn't even a pop to signify the sudden change in atmosphere, the only thing that told her that something had changed at all was the fact that her ears had popped from the sudden pressure within the cavern. A light started to form above her head revealing a gaping chasm in the sky. The light wavered as if there were two pieces of curtain hiding the light from the cavern and a wind was causing them to flap revealing the strange world beyond.

Pulling back a step, Aubrey's mouth dropped open as she stared up at the anomaly happening before her. Over and over she heard those three words as her hair whipped around her and a vortex opened above her head. You must choose, YOU MUST CHOOSE.