Chapter Eight: Mystic Voices
Marik put his arms up in front of his face as he was shoved through a portal that seemed to consume all light. He knew that the strange man in his cell possessed at least one of the mellinium items. Expecting some hellish dimension, the teen stumbled into his own blood soaked apartment. Blinking rapidly Marik looked around the pitch darkness that was his home.
Alerted by a slight noise in the corner of the room nearest the door, Marik spun around as quick as he could to see the spiked hair of the Pharaoh. Kneeling on one knee to the ancient king, the corner of the Egyptian's eye twitched rapidly. Marik hated the man, and subconsciously blamed him for everything he had lost. His empire, slaves, friends, and family were all gone because of that worthless pharaoh.
"Rise, slave." Came Yami's deep voice from the void. "If you have any sort of intelligence, you already know that your abilities are needed in the battle that we are fighting." Yami wove careful strands of spirit and mage fire into a void spell to his left. As much as he dispised those of low blood, Marik was extremely gifted. The boy didn't even require a talisman to work mage magic. Ability like that hadn't been found for hundreds of years.
Not able to contain his rage any longer Marik stood slowly, looking as if he could barely stand, which was almost true. His head was killing him, but he would never show the pain. With the moonlight from his window illuminating his thin sillouhette he looked like a spirit that had managed to claw it's way up the banks of the river styx and back into the mortal world.
"We? Since when have WE been fighting the same fight?" The blonde's words slid through the air, denying that a physical being had spoken them. " WE didn't kill my father, WE didn't tear my soul in two, WE didn't murder Rishid and cause me to lose Isis!!! And, quite honestly Pharaoh, I don't think that WE will ever fight on the same side." As Marik finished he turned toward the window and tried to suppress the pain in his head.
Yami breathed a sigh of relief as Marik turned away from him. He had been scared for a minute, scared for his life. The younger Egyptian couldn't have nearly enough experience or strength to defeat Yami in a fight, but there was something in the way he spoke that would chill anyone to the bone.
"MARIK!!!" The Pharaoh boomed as the void spell was completed. Through the hole in the fabric of time and space, you could see the pyramids of Egypt bathed in moonlight. "You can't deny your past forever!!! But you can make up for it!!! Your sister still lives Marik. I assure you. But you MUST follow me, and cooperate if you want to live to see her again!!!" Screamed the Pharaoh before he jumped through the hole and onto the landscape of Egypt.
His sister was alive. The thought stunned Marik. He had convinced himself that she was dead. He had known it, and it had crushed him inside. Isis was alive, and he had a cause to live once more. Without a second thought he leaped through the hole in the air, landed adeptly on the sands, and turned to face the Pharaoh in one snakelike movement. Feeling more confident on his home turf, the blonde Egyptian stood tall.
"What is it that you require I do ALMIGHTY PHARAOH?" Said the slave with obvious sarcasm. Of course Yami had ordered the pyramids built, but Marik had grown up in them. There wasn't a secret inside or out that he did not know about those great structures.
"You forget yourself slave" Stated the Pharaoh. He had been lenient so far, but a slave simply did not behave this way toward his master. "I know what you are thinking. This is my home as well, and I know it a good lot better than you do." Yami smirked inwardly at the arched eyebrow of the slave, daring Yami to find one thing that was unknown to him. That would have warranted a beating in the old times, but it was the twentieth century, and there were no whips or flails about.
Yami simply walked over to a spot in the sand about thirty feet away from the pyramid, all the while followed by the shadowy form of Marik. The young man reminded Yami of a dog that was unsure on whether to faun over his master or bite his heels. and unable to do either for fear of being scolded.
"Slave!" Yami called sharply. Marik sneered at the shorter man in the darkness, his moonlit form drifting next to Yami's. "Translate this!" Commanded the Pharaoh as he pointed to a small stone plaque that had been uncovered in the sand.
Marik hesitated. He hadn't known that this was here, and he was sure he knew everything about the desert surrounding the great pyramids. Another reason for his stalling was that he had never seen anything quite like the script on this plaque before. It appeared to be some form of Persian. Mesopotamian and probably so ancient as to be in Hammurrabi's original script. At a glare from the Pharaoh he began his soft reading of the script.
In Arabic it was a song and Marik, assuming Yami knew at least fragments of that tongue, began to chant out the rhythm. About halfway through the script Yami interrupted.
"Slave! Time is of the essence! Read faster if you want to live to see your sister!" Marik picked up the speed of his incantation until the words were almost indistinguishable because, for the first time in years, he actually wanted to live.
No sooner than he had finished the last syllable of the odd song than a light flashed brilliantly in the desert night, and the sands shook so hard that even Marik lost his balance. A glowing rift appeared at the base of the plaque and spread out in opposite directions along the desert horizen.
Marik stood horrified as two creatures, older than the living Earth herself emerged. Violent shrieks pierced the dry air and huge wings flapped, shedding sand and sediment all around. A gigantic void ripped through the air with a sound lost among the tumult of the two creatures emerging from the desert sands and engulfed Marik, the unshakable Yami, and the Desert for miles around.
Isis Ishtal stood on the edge of a drop off. Inhaling the fresh air of the Blue Ridge Parkway she began to hum. Softly at first, then growing in volume until her song merged with the lifebeat of the Earth around her. Then, slowly she began to dance in the way that the wild had taught her. She had never known civilization, she had never been human.
What she was, was the present. She was the Earth as it was her. The rocks beneath her feet would not let her fall as her rhythmic pattern carried her across them. The thin air of the mountains rang with the cries of birds, the growling of the bear, and the unmistakable wail of the wolves, and the song she sang could not be separated from it. After a short amount of time, or an eternity, she stopped on a rocky outcropping over a gorge in the mountain side.
The correct way to put it would be that Isis slowed. For, to the Earth, there is no such thing as time. Only day, night, and the seasons. And the living Earth never stops in intirety, for no matter how still you may see the forest, you have simply to listen to her heartbeat to realize the life around you.
Panting, Isis closed her eyes. She had known for some time that her brother was in danger, but this was the first time the Earth had told her that she was as well. When Isis opened her eyes, she saw nothing. Literally nothing. For as far as the eye could see, there was only a bluish white mist, so thick that she couldn't see her own hand. Whereas most people would have panicked had this happened, Isis sat there, perfectly still.
The mountains had weather that could change dramatically in just seconds. The mist would dissappate in about five minutes.
Suddenly, a wolf howl not far to her right sounded. Then one to her left. Then another, and another. Soon the whole sky was filled with the mournful howls of the pack Avalon rolling off the mist. Pack Avalon was called such because, the Alpha couple happened to be introduced from Great Britain. The male was a gigantic, snow white canine as beautiful and terrible as the dawn. His female was an equally humongous black wolf as fierce and stoic as the night.
Isis nearly stopped breathing. The heavy mountain mist cut off all vision, but it did nothing to muffle sound. That was why Isis knew not to move at all as an unknown creature approached her.
Marik put his arms up in front of his face as he was shoved through a portal that seemed to consume all light. He knew that the strange man in his cell possessed at least one of the mellinium items. Expecting some hellish dimension, the teen stumbled into his own blood soaked apartment. Blinking rapidly Marik looked around the pitch darkness that was his home.
Alerted by a slight noise in the corner of the room nearest the door, Marik spun around as quick as he could to see the spiked hair of the Pharaoh. Kneeling on one knee to the ancient king, the corner of the Egyptian's eye twitched rapidly. Marik hated the man, and subconsciously blamed him for everything he had lost. His empire, slaves, friends, and family were all gone because of that worthless pharaoh.
"Rise, slave." Came Yami's deep voice from the void. "If you have any sort of intelligence, you already know that your abilities are needed in the battle that we are fighting." Yami wove careful strands of spirit and mage fire into a void spell to his left. As much as he dispised those of low blood, Marik was extremely gifted. The boy didn't even require a talisman to work mage magic. Ability like that hadn't been found for hundreds of years.
Not able to contain his rage any longer Marik stood slowly, looking as if he could barely stand, which was almost true. His head was killing him, but he would never show the pain. With the moonlight from his window illuminating his thin sillouhette he looked like a spirit that had managed to claw it's way up the banks of the river styx and back into the mortal world.
"We? Since when have WE been fighting the same fight?" The blonde's words slid through the air, denying that a physical being had spoken them. " WE didn't kill my father, WE didn't tear my soul in two, WE didn't murder Rishid and cause me to lose Isis!!! And, quite honestly Pharaoh, I don't think that WE will ever fight on the same side." As Marik finished he turned toward the window and tried to suppress the pain in his head.
Yami breathed a sigh of relief as Marik turned away from him. He had been scared for a minute, scared for his life. The younger Egyptian couldn't have nearly enough experience or strength to defeat Yami in a fight, but there was something in the way he spoke that would chill anyone to the bone.
"MARIK!!!" The Pharaoh boomed as the void spell was completed. Through the hole in the fabric of time and space, you could see the pyramids of Egypt bathed in moonlight. "You can't deny your past forever!!! But you can make up for it!!! Your sister still lives Marik. I assure you. But you MUST follow me, and cooperate if you want to live to see her again!!!" Screamed the Pharaoh before he jumped through the hole and onto the landscape of Egypt.
His sister was alive. The thought stunned Marik. He had convinced himself that she was dead. He had known it, and it had crushed him inside. Isis was alive, and he had a cause to live once more. Without a second thought he leaped through the hole in the air, landed adeptly on the sands, and turned to face the Pharaoh in one snakelike movement. Feeling more confident on his home turf, the blonde Egyptian stood tall.
"What is it that you require I do ALMIGHTY PHARAOH?" Said the slave with obvious sarcasm. Of course Yami had ordered the pyramids built, but Marik had grown up in them. There wasn't a secret inside or out that he did not know about those great structures.
"You forget yourself slave" Stated the Pharaoh. He had been lenient so far, but a slave simply did not behave this way toward his master. "I know what you are thinking. This is my home as well, and I know it a good lot better than you do." Yami smirked inwardly at the arched eyebrow of the slave, daring Yami to find one thing that was unknown to him. That would have warranted a beating in the old times, but it was the twentieth century, and there were no whips or flails about.
Yami simply walked over to a spot in the sand about thirty feet away from the pyramid, all the while followed by the shadowy form of Marik. The young man reminded Yami of a dog that was unsure on whether to faun over his master or bite his heels. and unable to do either for fear of being scolded.
"Slave!" Yami called sharply. Marik sneered at the shorter man in the darkness, his moonlit form drifting next to Yami's. "Translate this!" Commanded the Pharaoh as he pointed to a small stone plaque that had been uncovered in the sand.
Marik hesitated. He hadn't known that this was here, and he was sure he knew everything about the desert surrounding the great pyramids. Another reason for his stalling was that he had never seen anything quite like the script on this plaque before. It appeared to be some form of Persian. Mesopotamian and probably so ancient as to be in Hammurrabi's original script. At a glare from the Pharaoh he began his soft reading of the script.
In Arabic it was a song and Marik, assuming Yami knew at least fragments of that tongue, began to chant out the rhythm. About halfway through the script Yami interrupted.
"Slave! Time is of the essence! Read faster if you want to live to see your sister!" Marik picked up the speed of his incantation until the words were almost indistinguishable because, for the first time in years, he actually wanted to live.
No sooner than he had finished the last syllable of the odd song than a light flashed brilliantly in the desert night, and the sands shook so hard that even Marik lost his balance. A glowing rift appeared at the base of the plaque and spread out in opposite directions along the desert horizen.
Marik stood horrified as two creatures, older than the living Earth herself emerged. Violent shrieks pierced the dry air and huge wings flapped, shedding sand and sediment all around. A gigantic void ripped through the air with a sound lost among the tumult of the two creatures emerging from the desert sands and engulfed Marik, the unshakable Yami, and the Desert for miles around.
Isis Ishtal stood on the edge of a drop off. Inhaling the fresh air of the Blue Ridge Parkway she began to hum. Softly at first, then growing in volume until her song merged with the lifebeat of the Earth around her. Then, slowly she began to dance in the way that the wild had taught her. She had never known civilization, she had never been human.
What she was, was the present. She was the Earth as it was her. The rocks beneath her feet would not let her fall as her rhythmic pattern carried her across them. The thin air of the mountains rang with the cries of birds, the growling of the bear, and the unmistakable wail of the wolves, and the song she sang could not be separated from it. After a short amount of time, or an eternity, she stopped on a rocky outcropping over a gorge in the mountain side.
The correct way to put it would be that Isis slowed. For, to the Earth, there is no such thing as time. Only day, night, and the seasons. And the living Earth never stops in intirety, for no matter how still you may see the forest, you have simply to listen to her heartbeat to realize the life around you.
Panting, Isis closed her eyes. She had known for some time that her brother was in danger, but this was the first time the Earth had told her that she was as well. When Isis opened her eyes, she saw nothing. Literally nothing. For as far as the eye could see, there was only a bluish white mist, so thick that she couldn't see her own hand. Whereas most people would have panicked had this happened, Isis sat there, perfectly still.
The mountains had weather that could change dramatically in just seconds. The mist would dissappate in about five minutes.
Suddenly, a wolf howl not far to her right sounded. Then one to her left. Then another, and another. Soon the whole sky was filled with the mournful howls of the pack Avalon rolling off the mist. Pack Avalon was called such because, the Alpha couple happened to be introduced from Great Britain. The male was a gigantic, snow white canine as beautiful and terrible as the dawn. His female was an equally humongous black wolf as fierce and stoic as the night.
Isis nearly stopped breathing. The heavy mountain mist cut off all vision, but it did nothing to muffle sound. That was why Isis knew not to move at all as an unknown creature approached her.