Reign Of Fayala

Spasms

Ohas did not sleep well that night in fact she had hardly slept more than a few hours over the last three days. She could feel the effect of the stress and anxiety building on her as she made her way down the central corroder of the inner sanctum. Ignoring the greetings from servants and other priestesses she tread down a little used hallway and entered an antechamber located in a much older section of the temple.

     This part of the Sanctum had been constructed before Fayala began to increase in size thus was designed more for normal human use than a sixty-five foot tall Goddess. It had become a place Ohas could go for personal reflection, here she could be alone with her thoughts, meditate and relax away from the hectic commotion of the Inner Sanctum.

Ohas sat cross legged in the middle of the floor, she laid her hands across her knees, closed her eyes and slowed her breathing. She felt the tension of the last few days begin to ease away as she cleared her mind, soon she was completely relaxed. She slipped so deeply into the meditative state that in her exhausted condition she soon fell asleep.

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Ohas awoke to find that she was in a pool of water, not sinking nor floating, a soft haziness seemed to be everywhere blurring her vision of all that was around her. From above two gigantic blue hands emerged through the mist lowering into the water beneath her. She was gently scooped into the soft palms and lifted up into the clouds.

     Her sight was obscured by the heavy mist but she knew who it was. "Goddess!" she shouted, "is it you Goddess Fayala?" She was lifted up past the translucent torso and chest of the giantess until she could make out a face, the soft bluish complexion and startling eyes of her Goddess Falaya. Feeling a sensation of exhilaration Ohas shouted, "Goddess!" But there was no response.

Something was wrong, the blue hands that held her, each with only three long fingers, the bluish face suddenly appearing before her, giant piercing yellow eyes , a broad mouth so large it could swallow her.  Ohas felt fear as an unfamiliar countenance  loomed into her vision. "Hello Ohas," It said ominously.

"Who are you?" Ohas shouted, "you are not the Goddess, how do you know me?" The face quickly transitioned from a blue skinned giantess to that of a human girl. The hands she cowered in now had five fingers and were flesh colored. She looked up and saw it was Tanarah that now held her.

"Tanarah," she shouted, "help me!" But it appeared as if the young priestess was growing larger, impossibly larger. The gigantic representation of Tanarah looked down on Ohas with an expression of disdain on her face. Her hands suddenly shifted beneath Ohas and parted. She screamed as she began to fall, she kept falling as the body of Tanarah faded into the distance.

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Ohas gasped as she was startled into wakefulness. Her heart pounded in her chest and she gulped for breath. It took several minutes to regain her composure but the dream was still vivid in her memory. The dream felt real, never had she experienced anything like that. Perhaps, she thought,  it was not a dream but a vision. A Goddess like Falaya, but not Falaya, someone ... else, in the guise of Tanarah? No – in Tanarah. She thought back to the old stories of the giants, blue giants that caused the destruction of the original human homeland and forced her ancestors to flee west across the great river.

Her vision was telling her that those evil giants had returned and one of them now inhabited Tanarah's body! Ohas began to tremble fearfully at the thought of it happening again, "I won't let it, I will stop her!" She said aloud.

"Stop who?" Ohas looked up and scowled at the placid face of Tanarah. "Stop who from doing what?" said the voice from Tanarah's body.

  "I know what you are," declared Ohas rising to her feet. "You are a demon that has taken over the body of priestess Tanarah, you destroyed our first home and now you are here to do the same."

The expression on Tanarah's face suddenly became serious,  "no you do not understand," she said. "It is not like that, I was not like that, I am here to talk with you."

"No, I will not listen to you demon!" Declared Ohas as she stepped past the young priestess.

Tanarah grabbed Ohas by her arm, "please let me explain –"

     "No!" Shouted Ohas, she shoved at Tanarah with both hands causing her to fall  backwards slamming into a wall, her head bouncing off the hard stone stunning her. She fell to her knees as darkness filled her vision, her stomach seemed to roll over inside her and she felt like she was going to vomit.

Ohas hesitated for a moment startled at her own behavior as she had never committed a violent act in her life. Then, looking out a high arching window she noticed the sun had passed midpoint in the sky. Dr. Waterford, he might be at the gate by now, he will know what to do she thought turning and running up the passageway towards the inner sanctum.

"Come back!" Shouted Mira,  she tried to stand but a woozy feeling in her head forced her back down to her knees.

Ohas reached the inner sanctum, she ducked down a small passageway that led to the outer wall, at the end of the tunnel was a human sized door. Ohas flipped a lever unlocking the door and pushed it open. The door was flush to the outer wall about one hundred or so steps further down from the huge main doors to temple.   It was used by priestesses to enter and exit the inner sanctum without having to open the massive ornate doors.

     Ohas spotted Dr. Waterford standing at the main temple doors and waved him over to where she stood. He waved back then turned and look back down the passageway and to one of the foyers in the temple to his left.

He slowly approached her glancing off to his left as he did so. Curiously Ohas could hear the shuffling of many feet echoing throughout the shadowy temple.

"Please hurry Doctor," implored Ohas. "It is as I thought, Tanarah has been taken over by a demon, I am afraid that we are all in great danger."

A man stepped out of darkened halls followed by several more. "Demon, no one said anything about fighting a demon," he said nervously.

Ohas eyed the men suspiciously and took note of the weapons each carried. "Why are these men here, it was only supposed to be you, I cannot let them into the inner sanctum, it is forbidden," she declared.

  A man she faintly recognized suddenly stepped forward. He was a large pot bellied barrel chested man that smelled strongly of spirits. Jargon grabbed Ohas by her arm as she started to retreat back into the door. He brusquely pulled her out into the outer temple where she fell to the floor. "Remember me priestess, you got me banished from town, now it's payback time."