Lighting flashed, striking the ground and arcing from cloud to cloud in the angry red sky. The roiling clouds rushing past an alien landscape, propelled by the gale force winds on the flat plateau that was the top of MT. Kilian. Jordan stood amongst the remains of the endless horde of stone golems he had vanquished so far. They looked like twisted parodies of what the actual bodies of the souls that animated them looked like in life. His knuckles shredded, blood flowing freely, being blown in the wind before drops could form. His once strong, orange aura of Ki surrounding his fists now dim and flickering as his reserves grew low. His companion stood behind him, facing a stone disk that stood in the exact center of the plateau. Her brow furrowed in focused concentration. He needed to protect her long enough until she could open the sealed portal, so they could escape this hellish place. His shoulders sagged in the brief respite between waves of golems as he gazed at the foes before him that he and his companion were trying to escape from. Off in the distance, the demoness stood twenty feet tall and was wreathed in hellfire. her supernatural flames roared in the high winds as she created more golems from the stone around her and forced the tortured souls under her rule to animate the inert constructs and commanded them to kill us.
“LISA!!!!! We are running out of time! I can’t hold out much longer!!” Jordan roared as loud as he could, so she could hear him over the shrieking wind.
“Something is wrong!!! The portal shouldn’t be this hard to unlock!! I think that demon has enchanted it against keys!!!!” Lisa shouted in reply.
A key was a person who could open and close the portals that connected the different worlds of the multiverse together. Keys could only open the one gate they were attuned to. Skeleton keys, on the other hand, could open and close any portal. Lisa was such a person.
“I almost have it figured out!! Hold on for just a couple more minutes!!!” She finished shouting and turned back to the closed portal.
Jordan’s shoulders straightened, and he assumed his battle stance once again. His Ki flashing back into brilliance as he struck the golem that was nearest to him, the force of the blow shattering the golem. He pressed his attack while the demoness laughed evilly in the distance.
Lisa stood, facing the portal, hands out with palms facing the smooth stone surface in front of her but not touching it. A faint white glow emanated from them as she mentally probed the energy patterns flowing unseen inside the portal. She could hear Jordan’s battle behind her and her worry about his wellbeing threated to break her concentration. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and renewed her efforts.
Suddenly her eyes shot open, glowing brightly with a white light. At the same time, an infinity symbol flashed into existence in the center of her forehead, “OPEN!!!!!!!” she commanded the portal. Her eyes and symbols light dimmed briefly then flared incandescently as the portal obeyed her command, flaring brightly with crackling energy as it opened.
“JORDAN!!! LET’S GO!!!” She said as she leaped through the portal without a backward glance.
Jordan glanced back over his shoulder and spun around. The orange glow of his Ki disappeared from his hands and flickered into existence around his feet as he sprang forward and dove into the portal!
Lisa was on all fours on the other side, dry heaving from the effort it took to escape their perilous situation when Jordan emerged. He rolled most ungracefully and came to a stop, lying on his back. He looked up to see the portal wink from existence as he heard the demoness scream of frustration from losing her prey fade away as the portal disappeared from the ancient looking lone tree that contained it.
Jordan slowly sat up to scan their new surroundings. The tree with the portal was in the center of a flower and grass clearing ringed by a dense forest. They appeared to be alone in the clearing, “Lisa, are you OK?” He asked of her while she was wiping her mouth clean.
“Ugh… Yeah, that was tense… If your sensei’s friend who cursed you IS on that world, i don’t know how we will find her Jordan.” She replied.
“<Sigh> I know. Let’s go find out where we are now.” Jordan said, pointing to a small path through the trees he spotted and started standing up.
Lisa turned to look at what he was pointing at and said, “Let me look at your hands first and get them bandaged. They look pretty rough… JORDAN?!” She shouted as she turned back to look at him in time to see him fall to the ground unconscious! Finally succumbing to his exhaustion and injuries.
To be continued...
Lisa and Jordan below.
