The names, characters, places and events in this story are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. All characters are over the age of 18. Any similarities to real persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
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"The most merciful thing in the world is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents." H.P. Lovecraft
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Listen to me and I will tell you of the old days -- those days long gone, never to return, when jeweled cities still stood by the sparkling seas and the world was in harmony. Yes, I was there. When multitudes lived in the cities of stone where now only lizards bask and the screech-owl cries. I will tell you how horror and chaos came.
But despite their bodies being sated from their lovemaking, their sleep was disturbed and during the night both women tossed and turned and muttered in their sleep. Both had nightmares but as soon as they awoke, their dreams faded away like smoke before a strong breeze. Ardys dreamt that she was in some kind of passageway; a long, dark tunnel that led endlessly on. As she moved down the tunnel; drawn-out, impossibly thin green arms grew from the walls and grasped at her, trying to snatch her and keep her with them down in the dark forever. She tried to run, to break free, to reach the end of this horrible tunnel, but the more she tried to run, more and more of these snake-like arms reached out trying to snare her. One ripped at her robe, another at her tunic, and the feel of those arms on her bare skin was just disgusting. She awoke, panting and sweating but after a few minutes of staring into the darkness, her heart-rate slowed and soon the dream, apart from a few fragments, had vanished from her mind.
Gwen also slept badly. Her dream was less well-formed but she imagined her beloved mistress to be in great danger. Something about a giant green boa-constrictor crushing her in its folds and not letting her go.
Neither woman spoke to the other about their night-terrors. Worries can be temporarily forgotten but they resurface the next day.
Gwen woke early and, wrapping a shawl around herself, she slipped downstairs to relieve herself, wash and prepare breakfast. She had really enjoyed herself with her mistress last night and wished they could be intimate more often. But Ardys was married to Wulmar, a good man she truly loved, and Gwen herself lived with a slave foreman, Guni, a man who had fathered her last two children. But it was so pleasant to lie with a woman who understood her needs. The men had no issues with their love for each other as they were secure in their woman's love for themselves.
In the kitchen she prepared a breakfast of dried fruit, bread, cheese and fresh milk for them both and took them up to the bedchamber. The guards Wulmar had sent with them were still snoring and Gwen noticed a couple of empty wineskins in a corner. She shook them awake and reminded them that Ardys would need them later in the morning.
When she reached the chamber, she set down the food and after they had eaten, she helped her mistress wash and dress. Fetching out a travel cloak, she fastened it with a silver brooch, and then knelt to slip a pair of sandals onto Ardys's feet.
"Do you really need me to come, mistress?" she asked submissively as she planted a kiss on her mistress's foot.
"Are you really that scared, Gwen? It's only Viridis. You know her -- you used to play with her when she was a girl."
"When she was a baby, yes, mistress. But please don't make me come."
"I won't force you, Gwen. You stay here, then, I'll be safe with the guards to protect me."
"Thank you, mistress." With that, Gwen covered her owner's feet with kisses of gratitude.
Taking the three bodyguards with her, Ardys walked through Tingis's colonnades admiring the richly dressed women and men in their fine silks and embroidered robes, many of whom were attended by slaves. They passed intricately carved marble statues of gods and heroes and fountains depicting sea-creatures spraying cooling water into the air. The air was filled with scents of spices from near and far as well as aromatic perfumes. Traders enticed customers to their shops or stalls and everywhere was hustle and bustle.
She was sorry when they reached the towering walls pierced by the Dolphin Gate leading to the harbor area beyond the walls. The City Guards stood aside and bowed as she passed, escorted by her bodyguards.
Beyond Tingis's walls, the street led downhill and the further from the walls they went, the rougher and dirtier the street and buildings came. It was a polyglot crowd and within a few hundred yards she heard a dozen languages spoken. The people, likewise, were mixed and she wondered from which part of Dreamlands they had come from. Despite the day's heat, some were heavily robed and masked and she wondered if all of them were completely human beneath. However, the people took one look at the three big Goth warriors escorting her and stepped out of their way. Meanwhile, a clamor of child beggars swarmed around them, imploring them with hands outstretched for a few coins. Further away, down towards the docks, she could hear a large crowd gathering for the Festival of Tiamat and the uplift of their voices as they chanted to their ancient goddess.
Closer to hand, the buildings leaned and tottered against each other and despite their decay and near ruin in some cases, people leaned and called out to each other from the windows. However, it was those upper rooms which were firmly shuttered, guarding unwholesome secrets, which she did not like. On the lower floors was daubed graffiti, some of it obscene, but there were hideous symbols that made her shudder inside even though she did not understand their meaning.
Hrolf stopped one of the child beggars and offered several copper coins if he would direct them to the Street of Echiura where Viridis's warehouse could be found. The lad trembled but his need for money won out. In his dialect he told them, "It's a bad place, sire. I'll take you but won't wait."
The street lad took them down some stinking alleys so that even the Goths were lost, past a strangely deserted square with a dead tree in the center, hurried past the shunned chapel where a cracked gong rings at times of the day and night which follows no system of measuring time known to mankind, until they arrived at what had once been a warehouse. As they walked, the crowd of child beggars fell away until they were alone apart from a few furtive figures lurking in shadowy doorways or peering with hostile eyes out of narrow alleys and passages. By now, the lad was visibly shaking and his eyes were staring into the shadows as if he expected something terrible to emerge from the darkness.
"The witch is in here. Give me my money, please," the lad implored.
Hrolf paid him off and immediately the young man fled uphill as if all the bats of the abyss were after him. The Goth rapped on the wooden door of the warehouse and then pounded it with the hilt of his seax when there was no answer.
Finally, an iron-bound hatch in the door creaked open a few inches and a shrouded face appeared from the gloom within and peered at them. They could make little of the face except for a sharply pointed nose and chin.
"I have come to see Viridis," Ardys said, stepping forward.
"She is expecting you," the voice said. It was an old voice, very old, and Ardys was unsure whether it belonged to a man or woman. However, the door remained firmly closed.
"I am her mother and I have come a long way to see her," said Ardys. "Tell her I am here."
