Inner Circle: Periculum of Souls

Part 1

And So It Begins.

The Lady, The Dragon, The Phoenix and The Angel all suddenly collapsed in their respective homes... It was as if some strange affliction had overtaken them all at the same moment in time... And it was the same thing calling all of them... It was the Witchblade, the power of its ancient lineage and magic... Each of the four wore a part of the blade in some sense or fashion... And now those pieces were rendering each of the members of the inner circle immobile.

Thin yet inhumanly strong webs began to spin out from the rings that the Dragon and the Angel wore... These fibers began to entwine the Dragon and the Angel until they were held fast and immobile. The Lady - the wielder of the blade itself was being entwined with tendrils from the blade... something that had occurred once before. The Phoenix was being held immobile by bonds of force set about her by the crystal that resided within her own shell...

Then time began to slow... and indeed it may have even stopped for the four. In the places where they lay immobile, deaf and blind to the world around them... It seemed that something was ensuring that no one would disturb them by separating them in one more way from the rest of the world. It was a strange sight as if four pictures had been taken and the moment was frozen... held as silent captives for what could be an eternity or mere moments.

They were being called to the realm of ancient magic where the blade had been created - the realm that was once a part of their world and was now separated by the lack of believers. There simply weren't enough believers to keep the worlds joined as one. So now they floated alongside each other. The realm now lay just outside the reach of mortal time. Yet there was a sort of time here, for it was time for a periculum of a different sort. One that would require all four of the members of the Inner Circle in order to be completed.

The Phoenix was the first to 'wake' in this strange 'new' world. However it was most likely for the best since she was the oldest and unending and had been here before for this very purpose. And though the souls of the others had been here at one time or another... It was doubtful they would understand what was happening. The Lady might have a slight clue as she had been brought here for her periculum, but this was a different sort of test....all together...