Chapter 1

The dark skinned woman was upon one knee her breathes coming heavy as she tilted her head up to look through her twitching white hair. Her hands on two different shaped swords points into the smoking ground beneath them as she leaned on them her face covered by the silvery white hair that fell to the ground. The great streaks of red in it showing even through the blackened and burnt areas.

As she stood her lips came into a mocking little smile as she twirled the swords one pointed out to the wall of strange beings the other resting upon her shoulders in a seeming out of place rest. Her hair settled and yet it still twitched in agitation as if alive not with the breeze from the wind and fires.

She had no clothing and where she was not burnt or wounded the lines across her body glowed a soft silver and some blue. The strange designs evoking a soft gasp from some of the people behind her or perhaps it was her ears pointed and bejeweled, that stuck out from the ocean of white hair that almost touched the floor.

Her one foot came out and moved aside some of the broken almost metallic tentacles that she had cut.

The soft strange language came from her lips like the leaves rustling around upon the ground as her eyes narrowed. “Nau felah orn dos alun.” The sword upon her shoulder dropped behind her back the tip barely above the stones. “Nindolen ph’arl ussta varn.”

The aged woman behind her smiled softly as she looked at the woman as she realized they had summoned someone out of history, though not the one they had wished. The children were about her as Grant in his slightly burnt and ripped suit stood nearby. His eyes fixed upon the strange woman between them and the horde of reapers.

His eyes looked around as more seemed to be going around the outside of the ancient temple dig. His voice came panicked. “Miss Demerly I do not think this person can help us the reapers are surrounding us.”

Her frail hand came up and waved slightly before pulling one of the children closer to her. “Do not be so sure.” The words from the woman had awoken in her mind something she had almost forgotten.

It was then a group of four reapers, the cube shapes hovering silently, spread out and the tentacles, weapons and tools for them lashed forward, as if part of the cubes. Grant had missed when the woman seemed to step from the air what had happened.

Yet he knew nothing in the world could break them, He watched transfixed as the woman seemed to tilt forward some then stood before one reaper and it was then the tentacles fell to the floor from the reapers twitching and leaking fluids and sparking and three fell to the floor in various bits. with a soft hissing crash.

She stood tiny before the one that had come forward her head tilted and he saw she was twisting the sword that was almost as tall as she inside the reaper.

He watched as her head tilted as if puzzled then she pulled it sideways out of the reaper, that then fell silently to the floor.

The hundreds beyond began to glide silently forward and she turned her back to them. As she pulled the straps from her body and placed the sword in them.

The reapers stopped and soft hums came as they seemed to hit an invisible wall. The woman walked silently toward them her cold blue eyes looked upon him and narrowed as she seemed to look straight through him. He shivered and knew she knew even as she passed him the scent of roses flowed to his nose.

She stood there, for a moment looking down at the huddled mass before her, then knelt next to the children cowered about the aged scientist. Her words came softly almost a song as she smiled at them all and held out her hands. “well I guess we must be getting away from here. Is everyone fair?”

Grant saw them all look at her and the fear in their eyes and voices left and the smallest began to laugh and smile and it seemed to catch to the rest. This frightening woman who was naked and stood to reapers, “Who?” Grant thought had they summoned in this old temple.

“Why are you naked?” a small voice came. Leave it to a child to bring such a question as this. “The woman smiled. “Because ladies like me have no need of clothes. We celebrate our beauty our bodies and our strength.”

Her words came in their language yet there was a slight lilt to her words. Musical as if her words always wished to be music.

Her eyes looked up at the aged woman and it was as if she silently sighed. “I would ask Warder how you came to such a sad state and why your world is dying. But we have not much time and these cubes are persistent.” She looked at Angela Demerly with an almost disapproving look. She looked at Grant. “You.” came her voice almost disapproving and dripping with a tone of warning that even the children picked up on as her hand pointed to him. “Make sure this is all that are here, we will make our escape in a few moments.”

“How in the Empress’s name can you get us out of here?” his voice found itself as he moved away to get the children he had hidden from their places. “Just who in the hells do you think you are!?”

She ignored him as she pulled the jewelry piece from her neck and manipulated it with her fingers and kissed it and seemed to whisper to it. Her head turned. “Warder have them all join hands please.” Behind her she heard the papery voice of the Warder, aged and dying tell the children to hold hands. “Miss Demerly why does she call you Warder?” The soft reply came with the papery voice, “We will talk later child for how hush and be quiet.”

Her eyes looked up with swift glances as the cubes these people called reapers stacked upon one another swiftly along her barrier.

She spun the jewelry that now looked like a globe and it hummed and hung in the air. She smiled and looked upward.

“Darkness they are yours they have no fear so just drive them back to give us time.” she spoke outloud to seemingly the thin air.

Yet from all around the soft hissing voice came. “As you command mistress.” And it seemed the fires died down and the shadows and darkness rushed out and covered everything as Grant returned with the four children to the group and the aged woman made them join hands with the others.

Soon only the light from the humming globe before the woman was the only soft light that was in the darkness and beyond there was a roar unlike any had heard and the children screamed and then all the eyes of the hundreds of reapers disappeared as the great sounds of crashing came and they all slid down the barrier motionless.

“Thank you darkness.” the woman spoke and in a twirl of the dark beside her there was for a moment the face of a dark haired woman with silver eyes before it disappeared as if a ghost.

The woman looked at them the soft glowing lines on her body seeming to now begin to pulse with the globe. She smiled as she looked at them all and her soft lilting voice came again. “Now everyone close your eyes. Keep your hands together and do not let go. You will feel itchy all over but when I say open your eyes then you can scratch ok?”

The small chorus of voices made her smile as she looked and saw little eyes all scrunched shut and she touched the globe. She heard the little surprised squeals as she knew their bodies were itching.

Angela Demerly and Grant felt the cool air and heard the silence except for the children’s soft moans fighting the sensation. Then her voice came. “It is dark where we are but open your eyes and scratch if you have to.”

“Where are we?” came the soft yet scratchy voice of Angela Demerly.

“A place that was made upon the world long ago by she you all worship. My student and friend.”