Chapter 4

By Carycomic

Amal Gam (not her real name, of course) had been born in the International Settlement of Depression-era Shanghai. Her parents- -a Korean-born Hakken* theurge and a Russian Silent Strider ahroun- -had first met while studying kailindo with the Stargazers of the Zephyr sept. Tragically, however, they had both died, during World War II, while helping Kaulder rescue some missionaries from a cult of cross-dressing sorcerers, called the Wu Keng, in Japanese-occupied Burma. More specifically; they had been killed while battling a conjured-up entity called a rakshasa that had resembled nothing less than the love-child of a tiger and an octopus!

Feeling honor-bound to repay their courageous sacrifice, Kaulder had brought the now orphaned ten-year-old to the Phoenix School. With Headmistress Magga gratefully agreeing to raise the girl as her own. Twenty years after that, he had helped her emigrate to the Big Apple, under her present assumed name, so she could continue giving martial arts lessons as a front for recruiting new members into the Daughters of the Phoenix.

All these thoughts ran through Kaulder's head as he succumbed to the narcoleptic properties of the webbing that was beginning to cover him- -quite literally- -from head to foot. Most of his concern being for the second-best friend he had ever made after Dolan 36. Indeed, the only thought Kaulder had for himself was the realization that he was starting to lose his balance!

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. (1999)

They orbed into Daedalus' lair, beneath the night club known as The Haven, around half-past-seven that night. The Charmed Ones were already there, having been brought by their Whitelighter on a previous trip. In addition to them, of course, there was also Daedalus, himself, the Nosferatu primogen; his Gangrel counterpart, Cash; Colin Mallory; and Sirius Black. Harry Potter, Jr. had not been able to join them as he had to stay home and study for an important test scheduled for his first class at high school the next morning! So, he had bid his two newest friends good-bye in the privacy of his bedroom before Leo Wyatt orbed them to the rendezvous.

"Are we all here?" said Cash somewhat impatiently. "Good! Then, let me introduce you to 'Night John' Jones of the Akunanse Laibon. Gangrel Prince of Oakland!"

A regal-looking black man stepped out of the shadows behind Cash. He wore a brown kaftan that exposed nothing but his interlocked hands and bare feet. And as he stood back up from his bow of greeting, it was quickly obvious that he was intermediate in height between his two Kindred hosts. That is, shorter than Daedalus, but taller than Cash!

"I am told that two of you wish to avail yourselves of an Athasaia's power."

Colin and Sirius raised their hands as one. With the former adding. "No offense, sir. But, is that what your people call a phase spider?"

Night John smiled. "Not _my_ people. The Ananasi. Behold!"

To Phoebe's arachnophobic horror, a whole swarm of little spiders began crawling out from the same shadows that Night John had been hiding in. And, what was almost worse (from the point of view of her nauseous stomach) is that they were dog-piling on top of each other! Mounting each other, higher and higher, until they were almost parallel to Leo's forehead!

Then, and only then, did they solidify into a slightly less nauseating humanoid figure. Albeit; one that still had a face with eight eyes plus an egg-shaped carapace.

"Allow me to introduce Aranea. Viskr of the Tenere; and caretaker of the Athasaia."

The spider-mage bowed just as regally as Night John had. Only then, did he/she/it speak (with a rather high-pitched sibilance).

"It has been decided, by Our Beloved Queen, that your request shall be granted. For it is the duty of my caste to maintain the integrity of The Weave. The web of interconnected life your kind call 'the multiverse'! Therefore, we shall leave, now. I warn you, however. It will not be easy! There are dangerous creatures that dwell in the spaces between the strands of The Weave. Some of them, so much more frightening of countenance than I, that to look upon them would drive you mad! So, the two of you will need to be cocooned for the duration of the journey. For your own protection!"

Both Colin and Sirius nervously gulped in unison. Yet, they still managed to nod in agreement.

GREENWICH VILLAGE YWCA,

NEW YORK CITY (2014)

Aranea managed to capture the webbed-up witch hunter before he hit the floor. He/she/it then turned around and uttered an outcry that could only be described as half-hiss/half-whistle. Whereupon, a blue-and-white Athasaia, in Pithus form, phased into view.

"Take him to the lair and stand guard. But, remember; no harm to him, whatsoever!"

The enormous arachnoid blinked all eight of its eyes in acknowledgement. It then raised its front pedipalps and took Kaulder's sleeping form in a strong-but-gentle horizontal grip. All before phasing from view! Aranea then turned to the webbed-up woman on the back wall of the office and bowed, apologetically.

"Forgive me, venerable one. But, this could not be avoided! The Weave is in peril, and your friend is our only hope. I will, however, release you- -and all the other occupants of this building- -before I follow the Athasaia's thread back to my lair."

WALDORF ASTORIA HOTEL

(TWO HOURS LATER)

Lynn and Bianca Smith should have been treated as nothing more than material witnesses. But, as all the other witnesses at the crime scene basically agreed about the "funny-looking knives" that these two had thrown, they were arrested, instead, for carrying concealed weapons. Yet, as soon as Lynn was allowed to make her one phone call, she used it to contact the local branch of Wolfram and Hart!

A redhead named Lilah Morgan had them out on bail less than ninety minutes.

After escorting them to their hotel room door and promising to come by for them in the morning, she left. Whereupon, Lynn promptly went into her bedroom and brought out a snow globe that she immediately handed to her daughter. It was a special kind of snow globe, displaying a scale-model replica of the Empire State Building with King Kong upon it. In commemoration of the previous year's seventieth anniversary of that classic monster movie! Although, that was not the reason Lynn ordered Bianca to gaze into it.

"We were had! Kaulder wasn't hunting Rayne for being a simple chaos-worshiper. Did you see his shimmering? The man's a half-demon. Maybe even a vampire-gone-Baali! Either way, we've got to find where he took those girls before Kaulder declares war on our whole sisterhood!"

So, Bianca sat down on the sofa and shook the globe in order to send the white "snowflakes" flying. She then stared into the watery scene before her. Imagining the Empire State Building as if it were an aerial shot in a travelogue film. Then, she imagined that "shot" zooming in for a close-up. Closer and closer! Until, suddenly, all she could see was the observation deck on the roof of the world-famous skyscraper. And, after that; one of the coin-operated binocular telescopes for taking in the breath-taking view. The lenses of which her eyes now seemed to enter for remote-viewing Rayne's present whereabouts.

The latter was evidently in a doctor's office.

Dr. Ben Wilkinson closed and re-locked the bottom left corner drawer of his desk.

"Just so we're clear," he said, "I do this one thing for him; and I'm permanently square with Sahjahn?"

"Account paid in full, mate," replied Ethan Rayne with a triumphant grin.

Whereupon, the somewhat good doctor handed over a pair of hermetically sealed test tubes filled with some kind of glowing liquid.

"Courtesy of the Children of Knowledge," intoned Wilkinson.

"I knew a few of those blokes, back in the Sixties," replied Ethan. "They sure did love partying with the Cultists of Ecstasy!"

"Figures," the physician muttered before further adding in fair warning. "You do realize it's never been used on more than two people before."

Ethan shrugged, "You know what they say. 'First for time for everything'."

Wilkinson refused to be one-upped.

"As Jerry Seinfeld once said, 'I don't know who 'they' are. But, I wish 'they' would just shut up!' "

Ethan had the courtesy to at least semi-legitimately laugh before shimmering away.

"Well?" demanded Lynn. "Where is he?"

"Right behind you, love."

The two Phoenix Daughters spun as one; drawing their spare athames in equally perfect unison. But, the vampirized chaos-worshiper proved faster! He threw down one of the test tubes right on top of the coffee table in front of the sofa. And the moment the glass exterior broke they were both engulfed in Greek fire.

"Let that be a lesson to you, ladies. Don't spy on the Avatars!"

He then shimmered away as the smoke alarm started beeping. Only to be drowned out, almost immediately, by all the screaming.

Kaulder sat bolt upright, gasping for air. For the first two or three seconds, he was completely disoriented. Then, he remembered what had happened. So, purely out of reflex, he went for where his broad sword should be.

Only to find it missing.

"Your weapon of choice was left behind on your native world, Kaulder of Earth. Fear not, though. We will provide you with something equally lethal when the time comes."

The witch hunter looked to his left and beheld the spider-mage who had ensnared him in the first place.

"At the risk of sounding like a bad movie; where the frig am I?!"

"You are inside what is left of a temple, in the ruined city of Myth Draenor, in a desert wasteland between the Three Kingdoms, on a continent called Midazeroerth, on a planet called Zeist… in a parallel universe."

Tbc

Kailindo: A martial art of the Stargazer Garou. Roughly translating as 'Way of the Wind', it emphasizes/enhances speed and agility (re: self-defense and counter-offense).

Laibon: A Swahili term used by African Kindred for a vampiric bloodline.

Viskr: The Ananasi equivalent of a Garou theurge (shaman/wizard).

Tenere: The Ananasi ruling caste. Most of whom worship a spider-goddess known as the Great Weaver.

Athasaia: The Ananasi equivalent of a Garou metis. Usually raised in a spirit realm called the Umbra.

Phase spider: A D&D monster that feeds on extra-dimensional creatures called "ethereal filchers."

Children of Knowledge: Post-15th century alias used by a certain order of alchemists.

Cultists of Ecstasy: Mages who originally used psychedelic drugs just to foretell the future. Not so much anymore!

Baali: Kindred term of contempt for demon-worshiping vampires.

Hakken: Japanese Kinfolk of the Shadowlord Garou.

"Night John" Jones: An in-joke reference to two of Carl Lumbly's best-known roles.