ELDRITCH NIGHT (Rough Draft)

Chapter 46: Volatile Responses

It didn't take me long to find another of the areas powering the dome. The ribbons of golden runes were easily visible to my senses, and each generator produced sparks of red lightning that lit up the sky like a bonfire. I might not be as powerful as Telvy, or as smart as Sebbit and Tiller – but I had a deeper connection to the eldritch than any of them. I was even able to sense the remnants of the spots Telvy had destroyed, and where she was now.

The archmage was as easy to track as paw prints on wet sand.

She had moved north and was circling counterclockwise back towards the river. She had already destroyed three generators and was attacking a fourth. Her attacks created fluctuations that spread out from where she was attacking like ripples in a pond. She lacked finesse, but the brute force method seemed to be working for her.

I purposefully chose to move in the opposite direction. I needed as much space between myself and that chain wielding madwoman as possible. My path would also keep me closer to the Yorktown. I believed Telvy to be strong enough to single-handedly hinder my plan to distract and escape from the Peacekeepers.

Before I had to worry about that, I still needed to get past the first step of my plan.

I let out a breath before taking a step into the dome. The dome was solid, but I was able to push through with only minimal resistance.

It was like submerging myself in a pool of liquid lightning. The snapping clicks of static drowned out the howls of the wind and a chilling tingle ran up my spine. As the tingling sensation grew a soft pressure began to fight against my push inwards.

Red sparks crackled and clung to me like the coils of a fiery serpent.

The pressure gradually became stronger as I pressed forward. The feeling was like trying to press together opposite sides of a magnet, if that magnet were fighting its way through a hurricane and had really pissed of Zeus.

My pace was slowed, but only slightly. I pushed further into the wall of energy and before long found myself completely cut off from the outside world. I could see only darkness and concussive flashes that were preceded by twisted lines of crimson lightning that held briefly upon the sky like a skeletal hand. No other light could break through the thick fog that billowed up from beneath my feet.

Hiding within the fog were eyes. I could feel them on me, watching and darting around me. The wind carried barely heard murmurs, whispers just low enough that I was unsure if they were real or imagined. Whenever I turned to confront these phantasms I would find nothing but an empty red haze.

My feet became heavier with each step. My mind began to race with half formed paranoia.

As I continued forward I could feel a pressure beginning to form in the back of my head. It was like the precursor of a headache.

A feeling of vertigo caused me to stumble and I landed on one knee. As I pushed myself up a face appeared before me. The quickness with which it arrived startled me, and I yelled out. It was a disembodied and gruesome visage, a shifting mask of translucent smoke. It was not alone.

A wall of ghostly figures had sprung up unseen. If I tried to focus on one for too long it would disappear into the constantly moving horde. Their forms were hazy and inconsistent, each was constantly shifting both shape and location.

I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing for a moment. I could sense the attack on my mind. It was much like the fear caused by the Eye of Madness, but different at the same time. This feeling was less primal, and without the feeling of revealing truth. It was an insubstantial fear, but nonetheless one that was as insidious as it was infectious.