CHAPTER 4
Raven had found a chair near one of the big stakes tables. A man had bought her a drink and her stare had driven him away. The glass sat untouched near her elbow. As she pretended to watch the game, she forced all the noise and motion in the room from her mind. It was difficult, but after awhile, she was able to sink into concentration. Beast Boy was on alert. He scanned the crowd with beady eyes, looking for anyone who might try to approach Raven. A few of the women caught his eye, but he forced his attention back to the task.
Raven's breathing was deep and slow through the fur on his back. It would have been ticklish if he hadn't been so preoccupied. She shivered once and he wrapped his tail more protectively around her bare shoulders. She didn't move or speak again for another hour.
The room had wavered in her vision as the trance had taken over. It had faded away and she had slowly become aware of two intersecting lines of energy through the room. The spot where they met radiated a steady glow of power. All the human beings in the crowded room had faded to specs of light. Tendrils of energy flowed between the specs and the intersection. She wasn't able to tell which pulled energy from the other. She tried to focus harder, to see a way in.
A prickle went up her spine as she felt eyes again. This wasn't the awed, violating 'watched' feeling from before. She turned to find the source of the stare and found a creature in the room. It was so golden, it was almost white. It had a human face set into a leonine head and a long, undulating mane. It stood balanced on four pairs of long, clawed legs and huge, butterfly-like wings ran down it's back. It was bizarre, but very beautiful.
It looked at her sadly then turned and walked to the glowing intersection point. The shining wings opened and the creature leaped at the spot, tearing at it with all eight legs. It clawed at the spot as if trying to tear it open. Its human face was contorted with anguish and longing. Raven suddenly sat up suddenly, jostling Beast Boy. He turned to follow her gaze, but saw nothing,
"Raven?" he whispered. "What is it...?"
"Is...that the way?" she replied, not seeing or hearing him. "The way in?"
"Raven? Are you ok?" Beast Boy waved a paw in front of her face. Her eyes began to glow and two black orbs of magic appeared around her hands. "Whoa!" he yelped. "Raven? What are you doing??"
"I'll help you!" she cried suddenly as people turned to stare. Beast Boy sweatdropped. "We'll both go!"
"What??" screeched Beast Boy. Raven unleashed her power onto the room. The crowd screamed and was thrown wildly around like confetti. A guard ran at Raven and Beast Boy turned into a cobra. He struck at the man, driving him back until he was caught in the spinning power and sent reeling with the others. Raven screamed something very much like a battle cry. She flooded the place with her power, using more than he had seen her use against Trigon.
Chaos broke loose. The whole room seemed to suck into a whirlpool. As the physical world's layer was destroyed, the glowing portal became visible for him to see. Even the lion/butterfly beast faded into view. It was still attacking the intersection and that's where Raven had focused her power. He changed to a monkey and clung to her for dear life.