Chapter 2:

Upon stepping through the portal, I started falling and as I did, I felt the dark power from the portal grow stronger, as if to pull me towards it, a hungry animal opening its jaws. Faster and faster, further and further I fell until something else brushed my back and I felt as if my insides were squeezed through a tube of toothpaste and I was suddenly standing upright staring at hazy glass.

The inside of the containment pod smelled wrong and not just to my regular senses. I could smell old blood and bile slathered on the surface of the prison, but I could also sense a twisted and alien magic that made my stomach churn. I couldn't move but I wasn't bound, so physic bindings then. I tried to push my will against my bindings but there was no effect. Then suddenly the door to my pod opened and I saw a horror.

It was a humanoid creature with grey skin that seemed to glisten as if permanently damp, it was garbed in a grey and purple armour that spiked at the shoulders, reminding me of an insect carapace, and oh yeah it had a squid for a head. The squid headed thing floated closer and held what looked like a maggot up to my eye, and then the thing opened its mouth and revealed rows of sharp teeth as it was placed on my face. The maggot thing crawled towards my eye and then burrowed its way into my eye socket, I tried to scream but all that came out was a grunt of pain and then darkness.

I awoke to an explosion and my pod door opening again. I fell to my knees as I exited the pod and sluggishly tried to take in my surroundings. The inside of whatever building I was in looked alive somehow, every corner seemed to pulse like the inside an animal's stomach. There were more pods like mine and a vat in the middle of the room. I also felt as if the structure was moving rapidly but not so much as to jostle me. So not a building then, a ship? a UFO? Was I just abducted by this world's equivalent of aliens? If the maggot thing was their version of probing, I guess it could've been worse.

There was a loud crashing sound, and the ship rocked enough to send me to my side. It was then I saw there was a fiery hole in the ceiling revealing a blood-red sky. So, to sum up, I just stepped through a portal that sent me nosediving into a hungry darkness, only to be abducted by squid aliens that stuffed a maggot thing into my skull, and from the looks of it, their ship is crashing into a place that, judging by the sky is not particularly friendly. Now might be a good time to get up and find a way off this ship.

I spied my wizard staff next to me and used it to help me to my feet, and then walked towards what I hoped was a door, but it looked more like enclosed flesh. I stepped closer and it opened up in a circular motion which looked like, well maybe best not to dwell on what it looked like considering my earlier stomach description.

I walked into a larger room that held a few desks and what looked like a moving platform, but I ignored those in favour of the collapsed wall leading to the outside. I ran for the outside and looked to the sky again, the ship was definitely flying and crashing. From the looks of it, the sky was definitely red and it was really, really hot, like Florida in the middle of the summer hot and humid enough to choke me.

My instincts screamed a warning, and I looked up to see a female figure flipping through the air and landing in front of me holding a sword to my throat. The figure was female with green skin highlighted with both birthmarks and tattooed war paint on the creature's cheeks, long pointed ears, an upturned reptile-like nose, brown hair that seemed braided on the ends, yellow snake-like eyes and was garbed in silver armour accented with red gems.

"Abomination, this is your end!" the woman spat as she stepped closer brandishing her blade.

"Woah, circus soleil, usually people introduce themselves before they try to kill me." Though of course that wasn't usually the case but it's best to keep the maniacs talking, you survive longer that way.

Before the stranger could respond to my razor-sharp wit there was a flash of pain from the inside of my skull, which was followed by images, of a dragon's wing, a silver sword and my face seen through the woman's eyes. Along with the images a pocket of information was revealed, namely that the woman's species was called githyanki, the ship we were riding on was called a nautiloid created by the illithid or mind flayer empire and we were apparently in the first level of hell.

"My head urgh, what is this? Skva, you are no thrall. Vlaakith blesses me this day, together we might survive." The githyanki said putting away her sword.

"Hells bells that hurt, what just happened and who are you?"

"That feeling was the mindflayer parasites connecting thrall to ghaik and unless we escape it will twist our bodies and minds until we are mindflayers ourselves. And as for who I am, I'm your only chance of escape!" The githyanki said with intense disgust.

I suddenly felt nauseous, to turn into one of those squid things, 'mindflayers' would not only probably kill me or worse, but it would also mean I would be taken away from Maggie.

"Then we need to get off this ship now, what do you suggest?"

"We must get to the helm and pilot the vessel out of the hells, but first we deal with the imps." The githyanki said as she pointed at a group of dead people being eaten by what looked like large pixies that had red skin, bat wings, horns and burning yellow eyes.

Three imps screeched a high-pitched battle roar as they flew towards us. The githyanki pulled her sword out again and made quick work of the first imp cutting it in half by the waist. Which of course gave the other two ample opportunity to come at me.

I had a split second to react. Okay, I'm in hell and it's hot as a skillet out here. I gathered my will and a sliver of soul fire and cast "Arctis". Shards of glowing blue ice burst out of my upraised staff and shredded the two imps to ribbons.

The githyanki looked at me with a hint of approval on her face, "You prove surprisingly adequate in battle."

"Great, surprisingly adequate was the final note I got on my GED test."

The githyanki raised an eyebrow at me confused, "Never mind, which way to the helm?"

I followed the githyanki up a ladder that seemed to be made of flesh and bone and into another room that looked similar to the one I was held in except less blown up and I could hear a woman's voice screaming from one of the containment pods.

I rushed in front of the containment pod, "Leave her, we don't have time for this, do you wish to die for a stranger?" the githyanki hissed.

I ignored her and examined the pod. It was connected to what looked like a terminal made of mindflayer flesh. I reached out with my magical senses and detected a hint of psychic energy but the connection seemed incomplete. It probably needed another component to work but there were none in sight and we had little time to look. The old-fashioned way would have to do.

I gripped the end of the hatch and pulled up with all my might. Go go gadget winter strength I mused as I felt the cold power of winter pulse through my veins and the hatch flew open.

The woman fell to her knees on the ground. As she got up, I noticed her features. Caucasian human face, piercing green eyes, black hair with a fringe at the front and a braided ponytail at the back decorated with silver hair ties and short pointed ears. The ears reminded me of some of the high sidhe, but the aura of power was different, rather than the strong yet iritic aura of a fairy lord the power surrounding her was more towards the venue of the knights, the power of faith. This also explained the silver armour and chain mail as the symbol on the chest plate, a triangular shape with lines spreading above and outwards, which was mirrored in her high hair clip, were likely symbols of her god. All in all she looked not bad, not bad al… Goddammit Harry escape now, indulge your libido later.

"I thought that damned thing would be my coffin. Thank you" As the woman spoke my skull erupted with pain once again, feelings rather than images flashed by me. Her gratitude, mixed with weariness due to my gith companion. Once again, I also gained a bit of information, she was apparently a half-elf, the progeny of an elf and a human and she was a cleric, a magical practitioner who gained their power from a god.

"You keep dangerous company" the woman said looking pointedly at the githyanki.

"Dangerous company tends to be good in desperate situations and it keeps things interesting," I responded with a lopsided grin.

"Fair point, let me come with you. We can watch each other's backs and help each other along the way."

"Great, I'm Harry, Harry Dresden."

"Shadowheart" the woman replied.

"Shadowheart?" I responded before the words informed my brain "A tad melodramatic don't you think? Did you choose that or were your parents a bit on the goth side."

Shadowheart looked at me in confused irritation, "I'm not even going to dignify that word vomit with a response."

"Yeah, probably best not to. My mouth tends to go off on its own when I'm nervous, apologies."

Shadowheart looked even more confused like she'd never heard an apology before.

"We don't have time for pleasantries wizard if the kanyank must follow let us move." The githyanki cut in glaring at Shadowheart.

"She's right lead on".

Upon those words Shadowheart grabbed an object from the pod. It was decahedral in shape and glowed with fiery runes, "What's that?" I asked

"Nothing, we need to get moving," Shadowheart said hastily.

While I was curious, she was right. We moved through two more disgusting doors and came across a long corridor that had a large console of flesh and tentacles at the end of it that I assumed was the helm judging by how the githyanki's face lit up in triumph. Unfortunately, there was also a platoon of imps covering the corridor, along with creatures that I can only describe as dogs if they were covered with lava and placed in black armour, and a mindflayer fighting a tall red-skinned man with large horns and bat wings.

I felt the ship rock again, this time towards the ground. We needed a way to the console and fast. A flash of memory hit me, "Alright I have a plan to get us past the devil crowd but you're both going to have to hold onto me tight." As I gave my plan Shadowheart raised a spectacle eyebrow at me and the githyanki snapped, "We don't have time for your fancy plans wizard we can fight through this rabble."

"No, what we don't have time for is to be bogged down in battle while the ship crashes into hell!" I exclaimed. During the exchange, just to prove my point, an imp flew towards the githyanki's face. Before it could maul her Shadowheart spoke a word, and a large globe of light hit the creature burning it in white fire.

"Harry's right we need to get to the helm now", Shadowheart said stepping to my side.

"Fine, this had better work, Dresden."

I raised my hands, positioning my left hand towards the console and my staff towards the open door. The githyanki and Shadowheart grabbed hold of me under my arms, which set off my libido again in concert with the winter mantle. Instead of pushing down the inconvenient feelings of lust, I used them to power the spell I was about to attempt.

I pushed power into my shield bracelet creating a blue half-sphere which I angled around us and focused my will into the staff as I yelled "Forzare". The magical force catapulted us forward and as we reached the console, I angled us downwards and we hit the ground under the protection of my shield. The force of the movement made my head ache and my wrist burn with the expended energy but we were at the console.

I got up and grabbed two tenacles with suckers on the end. Hoping this was the guidance system I put them together and suddenly the red glow of the sky turned to the dark of night. It was then the ship started crashing in earnest and I was flung off the console and towards an opening. I briefly hit a wall and saw an injured mindflayer stare at me with glowing purple eyes, but I had no chance to process that as I felt a blunt whack to the front of my temple. Darkness.