[Dream_Weaver]: 35.As The Raven Flies

 As The Raven Flies .

    
         Chapter one Rough Draft




Seline awoke with a start. The room in which she slept in had become unbearably hot, and she had been dreaming a rather unpleasant dream of herself being burnt at the stake. On awaking, she was faintly aware of a rather strong smell. The odour deepened as she recognised the scent of warm blood. She could smell the iron coppery smell, and she felt nauseous. It was about a half hour to sunrise, and the moonlit shadows of wintered trees danced along the walls and ceiling. A macabre dance of shadowed creatures performed for no-one but the darkness.

Rising from her bed, a little cautiously, she slips on her dressing gown over her
tee-shirt nightdress; she made her way to the far wall.
In the darkness, the wall appears black in the moonlight, which lent an eerie tainted shroud to the room.

Putting her hand to the wall, she feels the warm, sticky blood on her fingertips. The blood had coagulated. Seline’s stomach lurched, and she fell back. her hand instantly covered her mouth, then pulling away in sick dread at the realisation that she had put blood to her mouth.

..As Seline backs away, a long, elegant arm protrudes through the glistening, moist blood. Bearing a green ring on the index finger, a black slit through the centre.
It is the Katsci sees all, knows all. It held the very essence to unlock the secrets of the universe. It contained Marraph_ a spirit of the undead.

 Beckoning to Seline, pointing in the direction of a corner table, the hand enthrals Seline, as if the very blood she had tasted had put her into a trance. She glides effortlessly over to the table, picking up a letter opener, giving it dutifully to the hand.
Turning the sharp edge towards Selina, she held out her wrist for the had to do at it’s own will.
The hand strikes with force. Blood oozes from the wound. Selina gazes at the bright red blood trickling down her arm. She licks the sweet syrupy liquid, blood trickling down her lips. She is sent into a psychedelic trance. Wave upon wave of light emitted throughout her body, setting her nerve endings alight. The air was electrified with sheer power and intensity of the forbidden knowledge that she allowed to witness

She is subjected to a series of random catastrophic events…memories. The universe’s memories.. The Big Bang.. Evolution. Images are woven before her very eyes.. The Tapestry of fate, ripped in half, by an unseen hand.

Earth, suspended upon a web of inter connecting ley_lines. The web, strong, like woven silk. These were the very threads of time itself..

Images flood in at her at hyper-speed. She has no idea what is happening. Closing her eyes against the disturbing images but to no avail. The dizzying effects of the spell was too much for Seline, and she held her head in her hands and sank to the floor, sobbing. She had seen it all now. The beginning. She knew the secrets to the universe. She had leant the meaning of life. She had seen the unthinkable, the unanswerable. What could one to with such astounding knowledge?
A the sobs racked her body, a voice inside her speaks softly;

‘Now, child, the secrets that you have learnt,
The questions you have yearned
Many a time such knowledge had burnt
A lesser mind narrow and weak,
Rendered dumb, and obsolete
If you wish to learn first you speak,
Question everything answer to nothing
Become the pupil
The Secrets learned that’s all there is to it
Become the Teacher, Become the Master
But never stop learning’

  She is beckoned to cross the Barrier of Time Slips, a pocket of time which is suspended within her room., between her wall and beyond.
  As she enters the vortex her molecules seemed to ’split’, separate, merging into the vortex creating a ’water-like’ effect. She emerges on the other side, her D.N.A. restructures once more as she passes through the slip stream, intact.

   Selina comes out onto an altar, a plain, simple church.in medieval times
Two child-size coffins stand by a chalice sat atop a ledge which is full of dark, syrupy blood. A flower floats in it.. A white rose. A monk, dressed in brown robes, approaches the table with the chalice. . He does not see her, and picks up the cup, drinks from it. A rivulet of blood trickles down his chin, he wipes it away, with the back of his hand, looking around secretively, eyes .
He mutters Latin Scripture whilst moving over to the coffins. Lifting one of the lids up, a small boy lies inside. Selina looks away, sickened. The boy was blue, twitching in rigor mortis. He had not been dead for very long, it seemed.
The monk threw the rose soaked into blood inside the coffin, shutting it quickly. A black mist seeps out of the coffin, and the monk coughs violently. Moving over to the second coffin, he pulls off the lid, and a flurry of black feathers fills the small church. The old monk steps back, horrified. Mumbling some other language, perhaps a protection spell, he stumbles and cowers in to a corner. Stood before him, a seven foot, see-through shadow with huge, raven wings, and two glowing embers of hot coal burnt evilly within the faceless form. 
  Selina’s heart skips a beat. A girl with an open mind, this apparition blew her mind out of the water. 
  Terror gripping her throat, icy shivers crawling up and down her spine, like hundreds of icy spiders, legs prickling the surface. Perhaps it cannot see her?
  No, it could not… but it could feel her. It spun round, the monk still in the corner.
Guttural breathing sounds came from the creature. It was not of this earth.
Sniffing the air, its breathing became rapid…almost excited.
  It spoke, in a thick, gruff voice.
‘You come from another place, don’t you? I can smell you, woman, and now I have your scent. I will come for you. You will not speak the forbidden tongue of the world.
It is not meant for human ears. How did you become? How did you come to be? If humans learn of the metaphysical secrets of the multi-universe then the very fabric of time itself will be ruptured. We cannot allow that.’’
  Selina freaked She had no idea what the hell to do. Suddenly, the monk spoke.
  ‘Spare my life, and I will give you some infant’s blood to reveal your spy!’
The beast turned to face the monk. ‘Friar Davis, my will is your command. Do so, and I will spare your pathetic, wretched life.’
  The monk rose slowly, side- stepping past the foreigner hurriedly. He slipped into another room at the far end of the church briefly, returning with a small vial of blood.
The creature nodded to where he sensed Selina to be. The monk threw the contents into the air.
  Selina had nowhere to go.
She closed her eyes, hoping she would not be discovered, but she knew it was in vain. After all, here stood before her, was a creature from hell, its searching eyes boring deep into her.
  After a few minutes, her image shimmered, fading briefly, like a fading hologram, then came into sharp focus.
  The beast snarled, showing sharp fangs that could cut through steel.
Selina screamed, muttering ‘Oh my god‘ were the only words to fall from her lips, repeatedly under her breath.
The monk gasped in surprise. ’So… ‘he managed to stutter, after a few moments himself. ‘ your end of the bargain?’
  The Dark Angel twisted its body round to face him sharply. ‘Never trust a creature
from the fires of damnation!’ He screamed, producing a glinting axe from out of nowhere. The axe came crashing down on poor Friar Davis, cutting his head clean off.
Selina turned and fled towards the alter. The creature spun round effortlessly screeching from the top of its black, incinerated lungs. ’There is no where to run! Accept your fate woman, and I will be quick!’
   Selina paused briefly by the wall that she had only an hour ago, passed through. She crossed her fingers and dived through the wall.
Everything grew black. Only the maddening sound of her heart which penetrated through her ears told her that she had made it, and that she was still alive. She had escaped the evil creature. Behind her, she could hear a high- pitched cry.
The Angel had tried to follow her, and had been held back by an electrical force field of white light which burnt and seared its charcoal flesh.
  Selina sighed, relief flooding throughout her body. She was safe. For now. And the sun had risen, to start the day anew.





© Elle Atkinson