UnSeelie Dreams Chapter Three Page 8

Thomas saw a vision of twining bodies, he could smell the musk of her sex, and hear the animalistic cries. He watched as his own face rose over her howling in victory. Hungry and anxious; his canine’s itched and he ached to bite into her deliciously silk until she submitted.

“No.” Thomas shouted and abruptly the vision stopped. “I am not an animal. You are a demon sent to test me and, by God, you will not win.”

Touch the earth.

“No, demon.”

Trust me. Trust your nature.

Compelled by the other, Thomas reached out and felt the cool stone surface beneath his hand. It was the same mirror surface he had fallen through before. This time he pushed against it, testing its give and found it melting up to his wrist. Startled, he tried to pull back only to discover that he could only push forward since the portal would not release him.

Soon he was surrounded by a liquid coldness that bit deep into his soul and went beyond his comprehension of reality until he was totally immersed within it. He fell through and into a space which opened up into infinity. Before he could loose his sanity he landed with a hard thud on the other side. The room grew dim as he lost consciousness.

Dazed he lay there letting the cold sink into his bones, his heart beat resounded all around him and his stomach rolled with nausea. Thomas gingerly pushed himself up heaving with dizziness; he could not comprehend the crimson as it dimmed from his sight as he grew light headed from the effort. He fell back to the floor with a moan. It felt like a mace had hit him in the head, he gritted his teeth. At least the mace would have the mercy to kill him.

Thomas cautiously lay on his back and stared up at the cathedral ceiling of a Great Hall. The room was massive with delicately carved arches high above him. The columns curved like ribs up to the arches both the color of bone. Intricate butterflies and other insects enter laced, spiraled about the hollow stones. They seemed disappear into the shadows deep inside the marble. He forgot his discomfort as he lost himself inside the light and dark floating high above the floor. He ached to touch them, to discover their secrets. The details were amazingly clear that they appeared to be moving.

His stomach pitched again bringing him out of his enchantment. He couldn’t remember how long it had been since his last meal. The sweet scent of apricots filled the air and his mouth watered. He sat up and waited for the dizziness to pass. Thomas began to notice the base of the columns were made of onyx and carved just as delicately as well. He stood fascinated by the leaping wolves etched deeply into them. He watched as the wolves chased the butterflies up to the ceiling. Thomas shook his head to clear it. He had to find a way out.

The floor was not covered in rushes but gleamed like spilt blood. Between the columns a row of tapestries hung from the snow white walls. The room spun and he leaned against one of the carvings. Something brushed his leg startling him as it pushed him from the stone. Thomas glanced down but found nothing there.

He looked around but found the hall completely empty of life. There were no windows but the room glowed with a beautiful bright light. If he did not believe this was Hell then it would have shone like Heaven. Thomas took his time as he walked around the hall. As he passed by the animals, insects and the pictures in the tapestries he caught movement from the corner of his eyes but found they stilled when he looked directly at them.

Slowly the room darkened. Whispering voices floated about with the barest hint of discussion. Thomas stopped in front of a scarlet and gold tapestry. A maiden sat with a unicorn in her embrace. The woman’s beauty was haunting and seductive, her long wild tresses shone like the rising sun and she was as fair as cream. Her azure eyes gleamed with life and seemed to call to him. He stood transfixed by the vision of her. He could not pull away from her eyes. Thomas wanted to sink down and kneel at her feet, lay his head on her lap and merely rest for a while. As he reached out to the fabric, to touch her, he heard the growl behind him.