Issue # 45- A Shattered Clasp

A Shattered Clasp

*~~~~*

“A pox on him,” Ephra mutters eying the tightly closed portal.

She had hoped against hope to find the gate open as she had driven here but she supposed she should have known Mikel would not be so lax. She smiles sinfully as sleet batters her cheeks; Mikel was anything but lax in anything he did. She may not possess the powers of the Guardian but she did have powers that would get her into the nether realm despite her lover`s firmly bolted door.

The witch quickly casts a cloaking spell about her small form then allows her lashes to drop to her red cheeks. Traffic overhead is muted now. Ephra inhales slowly envisioning the other side of the massive gate then silently recites the tryping incantation. She used the teleportation spell sparingly since it required a great amount of her power, but drastic times called for drastic measures the witch thinks as the last line passes her tender lips.

It happens rapidly, the sensation of time and light streaking past and she keeps her eyes tightly closed to ward off the nausea that came with the jolt through earthly matter. Her first attempt to tryp had found her upside down in her aunt`s old elm vomiting violently. Thankfully she was no longer a novice of ten she thinks as she lands with a rather lurching motion. Heat sweeps over her. Heat and wind and the stench of brimstone and roses wrinkle her nose as she allows her lids to sweep upward.

“Dear goddesses favor me with your presence,” she whispers peeling off her thick coat and leaving it beside the glistening gate. She would not need it here she knows. Her finger glows softly as she hastily covers her forearm with a protection charm. Now, the witch ponders as sand and wind lift her golden hair up into her face, which way did Mikel and the bestial go?

Any tracks in the red sand would surely have been erased by the gritty winds. Her slim fingers dig into the front pocket of the jeans she wore. She had brought only a few hastily grabbed items. Tugging the amulet from her tight pants Ephra holds the octagonal necklace up before her face. The gold seemed to glow scarlet from the surroundings, the large bare tree with four stout limbs worked into the eight-sided flat bauble also reflect the red skies overhead.

“Goddess of the living ones who dwell within the bark guide your sister,” she implores softly. Her blue eyes crinkle with a smile and she whispers a thank you as one of the limbs begins to move ever so slowly, its gnarled end pointing to the East. Once the amulet is back inside her pocket she quickly applies some Chap-Stick. Why she brought lip balm she didn`t know but perhaps Mikel would need it when he had to kiss her ass for saving him?

“That alone will make the trip worthwhile,” she snickers as she heads east.