Chapter 52 So Beautiful
"I'll go first." Ikaris said, patting the bison's flank to motion it forward.
"Moo."
Horny resisted weakly, his animal instincts and fear of the unknown urging him to pull back.
"Tsk! Don't be such a wimp." The teen clicked his tongue as he kicked his butt.
"MOOO!"
The bison seemed to get the insult because he charged headlong into the vortex, his eyes bloodshot and mooing with defiance as if to prove he was not a coward. Ikaris chuckled and entered the portal just after.
"I'll meet you there." He said coolly as he was engulfed by the wormhole.
Toby was more nervous than he wanted to admit, but in front of the cute Ellie half his age he had to keep up appearances.
" Go ahead. I'll be right behind you." He gestured with a contorted smile meant to be encouraging.
The blond student saw through it but she said nothing. Nodding along, she stepped into the portal. Once on his own, the former military man began to hyperventilate as if he was about to have an anxiety attack.
"Come on Toby, it's just a teleporter portal... Oh screw it! I'm scared shitless..."
"Anytime." The guard repeated a little more coldly, his gaze now containing obvious scorn.
"I'm not afrai-." Toby suddenly felt compelled to justify himself.
"I don't care." The guard replied bluntly. "You have 35 seconds to enter the portal or you will be considered to have missed your departure window. After that, you'll have to get back in line... And pay again."
A shiver of trepidation ran down the Englishman's spine and temporarily forgetting his fear Toby sprinted hastily towards the vortex. A few seconds after he left, the Portal shut down and the guard shouted,
"Next!"
*****
Once inside the wormhole, Ikaris experienced the most bizarre and disturbing thrill of his two lives. He felt as if his body had been stretched endlessly into luminous particles, momentarily losing all sense of time and space. All that remained was his Divine Spark, an immovable speck of light that became his only point of reference.
In this transcendental state beyond flesh and blood, the boy even perceived much fainter glimmers, so faint that he wondered if he had not imagined them. The whole thing formed a strange tree-like constellation with different colors.
"Your Secondary Sparks." Magnus' voice echoed in his head. "Ignore them. Stay focused on your destination. The risk is almost non-existent, but it would be a shame to cast a spell accidentally."
Ikaris listened to the Vampire Emperor's instructions and pulled his attention away from his Divine Spark. When he did, his stretched and dematerialized body returned to its normal density and size and he felt the hard ground beneath his feet again. The transition was so abrupt that he fell to the ground on all fours, barely able to keep himself from vomiting.
Soon after, he heard Ellie crash and throw up her lunch next to him, followed quickly by Toby, who having chosen to dash into the Portal was carried away by his momentum. His vomit left a disgusting trail behind him, the soldier flailing in the air becoming a transitory comet of bile.
As for Horny... His charge had carried him much further. Ikaris looked for him and his eyes widened in astonishment when he found the poor beast wrestled to the ground and held firmly by its horns by two terrifying humanoid creatures.
It was then that the boy realized that they were not alone. He was not outside on open ground as he had expected.
pan,da nv,el They were in an obscenely large hall, the ceiling so high he couldn't even clearly estimate the height. The walls and ceilings were inky black and their architecture vaguely reminded him of a Gothic cathedral. There were some unpleasant mosaics depicting ghoulish scenes of human sacrifice to an indistinct silhouette as black as night.
A tiling of pure malachite brought some flavor to the building. Black metal torches emitted matching emerald green flames, adding the final touch to the eerie atmosphere of the place. In a novel it could have been a typical necromancer's or black mage's lair, maybe even a church for a satanic cult.
This was all the more true, as along the dark walls every two meters a massive humanoid creature was standing, watching every arrival with heavy killing intent.
These things were four or five meters tall, much stockier and more muscular than humans of equivalent size, and entirely concealed under ghastly black armor. Their helmets had no visors, and Ikaris couldn't help but wonder how these creatures saw.
It was two of these monsters that had ended the bison's charge. Horny was terrorized, especially when he saw one of the creatures raising a huge cleaver weighing at least a ton at the very least.
"Moooooooo!!!"
"Stop!" Ikaris yelled, drawing the attention of two more giants who sprang up in a few strides in front of him before he even had time to react.
"Don't make any sudden moves!" Radagad shouted calmly as he let two more guards tackle him to the ground.
The other members of the group, who had just finished throwing up, were petrified, barely able to breathe. As the worst-case scenarios flashed in their heads, the armored monsters released them and took a step back. With uncanny timing, they pointed a clawed index finger down the hall, and even the bison understood what they wanted from them.
They hadn't noticed because of the monsters, but a woman was staring apathetically at them with her sparkling emerald eyes from behind a desk carved from a lackluster wood with shades of color not unlike cloudy gray quartz.
Upon sighting her, even a veteran ranger like Radagad swallowed with difficulty. Escorted by the intimidating monsters in armor, they advanced until they stopped a few steps in front of the mysterious woman's desk.
Up close, and with the dim lighting of the emerald flaming torches, they were able to appreciate her whole appearance and with the exception of Radagad and the bison they all went slackjawed, breathless.
"So beautiful..." Toby muttered unknowingly, his heart pounding like never before.
Even the women in the group were stunned. It was impossible not to complex in front of such a stunning woman. She was an ode to perfection.
She was tall, taller than Radagad. She was at least a head and a half taller than the current Ikaris. Her diaphanous skin was blemish free with a springy, milky complexion that left one tempted to bite into it. She wore a long black sleeveless dress that hugged her curves to the ankles, with a low cut bodice revealing a breathtaking neckline and a firm, voluptuous bosom that aroused men's fantasies. Matching her dress, her long silky jet-black hair cascaded down her back to her knees, swaying mesmerizingly despite the lack of wind.
But the most enthralling thing was certainly her emerald irises shimmering like the most precious gemstones. A supernatural glow emanated from them, and anyone who met her gaze would immediately feel inclined to swear fealty to her, to worship her with all their heart.
Ikaris noticed all of this as did his companions, but he especially noticed their change in demeanor in her presence. He couldn't deny that he was filled with strange emotions as he admired this woman. As a heterosexual man it was virtually inconceivable to remain indifferent.
Yet, he could not understand why Malia and Ellie reacted with the same mindless bliss as Toby and Asselin. Then he noticed that Radagad was sweating a lot, trying hard to stare at the ground and not to look up.
'That woman is dangerous.' Magnus growled in the boy's mind, the latter sensing incredulously some fright from the old Sorcerer. Realizing that he was caught, the Vampire hastened to explain, "My soul is debilitated. My Soul Strength is a shadow of its former self. If she catches my presence, I will perish. In the best case, I lose my mind and become her most loyal minion... I would rather keep a low profile.
Then the charm ceased as if it had never existed. Her companions blinked in a daze as if they had just woken up from a long nap, but they continued to stare at her with a faint glint in their eyes.
"Identification papers and authorization permits." Her sweet voice rang through the silence, a cold chill running through their bodies.