Threads

Chapter Twenty: Part 2

            “Now try to release your tension, relax your muscles starting at your feet, all the way up to the top of your head. Become aware of your physical being, your space in time. Stretch out your subconscious like you do to reach the threads - but reach into yourself instead.”

            Alice struggled to do as he instructed, feeling like she was groping around in the dark.

            “In every one of us there is a barrier separating the physical from the magical - it’s what makes some mortal and some magician. You have far less of that barrier then anyone I’ve seen in centuries. Find that crumbling barrier and pull it down completely, Alice. Let the magic in. Good.”

            She didn’t have any idea why he kept saying “good” like that. As far as she was concerned nothing was good.  It was like searching for a needle in a coal pit.  There had to be a glimmer in the darkness somewhere, but she wasn’t having any luck finding it.  Alice searched inwardly for the barrier, for some kind of mental block and came up with nothing.

“It’s not working,” she said, frustrated

            “Relax,” Ambrose purred. “It will come.”

            She tried again. Her mind was like a bright corridor, all the doors open to her, everything was normal. Where was this block supposed to be?  She paused in her inward exploring…perhaps there was something there, a dark, still little spot in her sub-consciousness. Alice turned her full focus on that spot and found that there was indeed an unexplored place there.  She pushed against it gently, experimenting.  It wasn’t strong - the barrier resisted her briefly and then it was abruptly gone without warning. Alice gasped as an electric flood ran up her fingers and stopped in the palms of her hands, tingling furiously. Her hands felt warm, like she held them before an open flame. It was the same tingling warmth that occurred when she touched the threads, but this time it was on the other side of her skin.

            Her eyes snapped open; the skin on the palms of her hands was glowing.

“What the…”

            “Don’t worry,” Ambrose said, watching her hungrily. “It’s a normal side effect. Magnificent. I haven’t seen an in-taking in years.”

            “What happens now?” Alice stared at her hands suspiciously, sure that a person’s body parts were not meant to glow regardless of the circumstance.

            “Take my hands and I’ll do the rest. Whatever happens, just relax and don’t fight me.”

            That’s reassuring.  Alice shut her eyes tightly as Ambrose took her hands.  His fingers were cold, and she suppressed a shiver.  Soon the warm tingles began to retreat, slowly draining from her palms to the ends of her fingers, until they were gone completely, leaving her hands chilly. She felt Ambrose’s hands grow warmer, and opened her eyes to see that the glow had transferred to him.He released her, breathing deeply in ecstasy.

“At last! It’s been years since my last Sorceress was drained. How long I’ve waited!”  He regarded his hands with a fierce happiness. “These hands,” he said softly. “They have woven spells beyond your wildest dreams, patterns that encompass the whole earth. These hands have created life, they have moved mountains, they have drained seas dry.  They have raised the dead and healed the dying.”

            Alice stared at him, horrified. When she glanced at Azura the older woman’s face had gone ashen. Ambrose continued speaking, his eyes gazing at something far away, and Alice thought he must be in another time, maybe even another world. His face was set in a mask of savage joy.

“How long has it been since I have wielded true power? I could scarce remember this feeling.  This glorious feeling! It’s as if I and the world were new again. I am creating life with my brother. Ah…if only he’d not stolen Zeus’ fire! Zeus!”  Ambrose lowered his hands and glared around the room in angry confusion.  “How could he do it? Cast me down to this place; strip away all that I am.”

            Alice stepped forward cautiously, daring to touch his shoulder, flinching back when he spun around.

“Ambrose please…Maya…you promised.” She gestured to the still form on the bed.

Ambrose stared at Alice blankly, and she wondered, with a sinking in her stomach, if she’d made a terrible mistake.  Then his face fell and he bowed his head, turning away from her to the bed where Maya lay. With a sigh he placed his hands over her neck, his palms glowing brighter still.

            Alice would always remember it like this: it was as if someone had videotaped the damage done to Maya’s neck and then played it back in slow motion, in reverse. They watched in astonishment as the flesh seemed to knit itself back together, moving in slow, rippling motions. Alice nearly had to turn away, it was so unnatural looking, but she forced herself to look. She should watch how he did it. What if she had to do it someday?

Finally, Ambrose raised his hands, fingers splayed, and looked at his work.  Her neck was whole again, stained with dried blood. Alice spotted a sparkle of magic as it made its way up Ambrose’s arm. It traveled over his shoulder and up his throat, making the skin just below his chin glow eerily. He leaned over Maya, parting her lips with gentle fingers. Then Alice watched in astonishment as he opened his lips and blew steadily into the girl’s mouth. There was a subtle glow in his breath, a sparkle, and Alice shrieked as Maya’s still form suddenly jumped. The girl’s entire body twitched.

            “This isn’t sleeping beauty,” Ambrose said grimly as he stood back, “So ready yourself. It won’t be pleasant.”

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