Chapter 28 Realm Crosser

Sample chapter of the novel Mental Damnation

Child

The headaches of passing.
Place you in pain.
Pain that is pushing.
How can you handle?
Something so straining.

Child!
I am most excited.
You’re scared, I see.
Don’t be, the worst is rapid.
Then you’ll see why.
Why we must merge blood.

Child!
Focus your thought.
Time is irrelative.
Resistance will make you rot.
Listen to the teacher.
For words of wise,
Is what he has taut.

Child!
Upon entrance.
I will meet you.
Enter your trance.
Don’t dare be scared.
Take a chance.
Please.
So we may dance.

Words once of rambling cease their nonsense and start flourishing into words of truth, and teachings. These words and phrases tell of passing to another world, where one waits.
Her hair was knotted and in a mess, sheets tattered across the room. Blood still remained from old.
The dim light that the moon offered spread across her back lighting up her scales. Her face buried into the pillow made it difficult for her to notice the beauty of the night.
Despite the pain, Krista ignored her hands’ constant cries for her to stop. She continued to clutch her pillow " but why?
It was uncertain for her when she woke. She rolled onto her back and stared at the roof, realizing the meaning of the constant dreams she had been having every night. They were clear teachings, someone wanted her to cross into Dreadweave Pass.
Shaking her head Krista sat up and noticed she had never slipped from her clothes " even her coat was on. It was difficult to remember what exactly happened in the night, she recalled talking to Marilyn about the murder, Malpherities helping her with the words and returning to her room once the sun set.
”I must have passed out.” She spoke aloud.
Her words surprised herself realizing that no one was here to reply.
Krista was scared, scared of her dreams and of Dreadweave Pass. She decided to shake the thoughts away, but the more she tried the stronger the pain was.
The pain which rose from her head, that constantly put pressure amongst her forehead. Krista was unaware that she had the headache until she woke and was able to think more clearly. She had plenty of headaches before since being on the surface world but this one was different " far stronger and most unbearable.
Krista screeched and grabbed hold of her head as she fell to the floor. She had finally returned from her dreams and to reality, where the headache was alive and most unfriendly.
She didn’t think it was physically possible for her body to withstand such headaches, the pain was like a thousand mountains pounding on the inner and outer of her skull, showing no compassion in their ruthless blows.
Krista rolled on the floor as the headache attacked; she felt no control in the movements " her body twitched and moved without warning. She tried to move her hands as her fingers clawed into her scalp, penetrating the skin causing blood to ooze into her hair.
Her attention was brought to the crack where Malpherities first appeared, his smoke rose once again and the ghoul appeared.
“Mal-!” Krista stated but burst into tears before finishing his name. “Make it stop!”
The ghoul showed no emotion as he watched her.
“Please!” She continued to cry.
“The time has come, Krista.” Malpherities stated.
A wave of pressure flew into Krista’s mind throwing her head hard against the stone floor, forceful enough to knock her mind silly.
Her eyes still saw, her thoughts were empty as she watched Malpherities stare down at her.
“Relax your mind, let go.” He whispered.
Krista was forced to relax, as her body had no master, her mind had lost its puppeteer leaving her to watch blindly as the world shifted.
The stone floor twisted and turned aggressively reshaping itself into new. The walls collapsed with the roof and disintegrated into thin air leaving blackness around her. However this blackness was not to last as it too swirled around forming trees, fog and skies. The floor finally forged itself into a new earthly ground.
As for Krista, her pain, her unrestrained body faded and she gained all the control. Landing on this new ground she slipped from the mud and rolled into a strange liquid.
She screamed as she fell, surprised that the command returned to her.
Krista squirmed in the liquid and finally managed to gain the upper hand of the situation and reached the surface recognizing that the liquid only reached her hips.
“Malpherities!” Krista cried.
Licking her lips she tasted the liquid to realize the salty tang to be blood. She gasped and quickly ran out of the small pool of blood. Krista squirmed and tried to shake the blood from her hair and clothes but it was thick and gooey " having no plans of leaving her.
 “Krista!” Malpherities buzzed from the top of the mud hill whence she came.
“What is this?” She exclaimed running to the ghoul.
The two stopped when they were eye level, fear struck Krista’s eyes and joy filled Malpherities’.
“This is Dreadweave Pass, welcome to my home.”
Krista spun around several times examining her surroundings, seeing that the pool of blood was one of millions spreading for miles around and fading into a grey fog. The trees rose to her attention seeing that they too had faces, and the bark breathed.
She backed away from the nearest tree and pointed at it. “It’s alive!”
“Yes, aren’t your realm’s trees alive?”
Krista lowered her hand and smeared some blood from her face. “I, I don’t know.” Pause, she barely was able to grasp the situation. “I suppose I never thought that they were.” Glancing around again Krista shook her head. “I don’t want to be here, take me back.”
“I can’t.”
“Take me back!” She shouted moving up to the ghoul. The aggressiveness surprised herself, she had sized herself up with Malpherities in a very primitive manner. She lowered herself and brushed her blood-drenched hair aside. “Please, Mal.” She didn’t intentionally start, but found it easier shortening Malpherities name
The ghoul stared at her, no emotion were in his eyes. “I can’t Krista.”
Her mouth trembled, she felt a tear fall from her cheek, she was horrified and only wanted to go back to her world.
“Only you can take yourself back.”
“How?”
“You must settle your mind to cross realms”
“Then how did I come here to begin with? I was far from relaxed last night.”
The ghoul shrugged. “Must have been in your sleep, at one point " even the slightest moment of peace will activate your ability to cross realms.”
Krista sat down on the ground, her limbs shook as she sat. “Okay, so sleeping is the key?”
“It can be.”
She lied down on the mud. “Then I’ll sleep, I’ll wake up in the real world.”
Malpherities shook his head. “Don’t be a fool, you’re not going to have a restful sleep.”
“Why not? Apparently the skull splitting headaches are relaxing!” She shouted.
The ghoul hissed.
She closed her eyes and ignored Malpherities. Krista didn’t like this Dreadweave Pass, it was frightening and had a horrible smell to it. The mud was cool and her skin sunk into it while she lay down.
Time seemed to go by little by little and she found it impossible to sleep, the zone was in complete silence and paranoia overwhelmed her.
“This is pointless.” Malpherities growled.
Krista sat up. “I can’t fall asleep.”
“You won’t. Even if you do, you’re in shock and can’t calm your mind.”
She frowned, not liking the ghoul’s advice.
“Get up, we should leave this place.”
“Where are we?”
“The Blood Swamp.”
“Where does the blood come from? Why doesn’t it dry up?”
“The blood of mortals, from your realm.”
Krista was unsure what he meant.
“Where did you think blood went when you washed it away? Leave it to dry then scrape it off? It ends up here " and feeds the trees.”
“Icky.” She mumbled returning to her feet. Krista found the mud too slippery and she fell into the blood pool again. Screeching she managed to crawl out of the blood. “This is disgusting!” Krista cried.
“That’s why we should leave.”
“Where?”
“There’s several towns we could go to, so you will be safe. The wild of Dreadweave Pass is not forgiving.”
“Fine, help me up.” She demanded.
 The ghoul offered his claws as support. They were sharp and weren’t very friendly but they acted as support so she could get out of the rut.
“Follow me, we’ll reach the main road.”
Krista found it difficult to follow Malpherities as he didn’t walk and she couldn’t follow anyone’s footsteps. Her attention was brought to the actual ghoul, as his smoke was not fused with her shadow. It only floated on its own, as if he were a ghost.
“How can you live here?” Krista asked, wanting to start small talk to calm her nerves " her heart raced with intense emotion.
“It’s my home.”
“But it is horrible.”
“To you it is, but for me I am attuned to it. Give it time and you’ll be just as friendly to it as I am.”
“But you told me that this Weaver wants me.” She licked her lips, tasting the blood again. “Is he after me now? Now that I am here… in his realm?”
“Yes, he is.”
“I want to go home.” She cried.
“You have no home.”
His response surprised her. “Yes I do.” She defended her pride.
Malpherities chuckled. “Where?”
“The barracks, the underworld.”
“You’re despised by your own people, the humans hate you " what do you call a home?”
“A place you live in.”
“Home should be safe, your places aren’t safe. Therefore you have no home.”
“Dreadweave Pass is safe for you?”
“Yes, I am safe here.”
The two traveled in silence, Krista was unsure what else to ask the ghoul. He was very blunt and showed little emotion in his words " as if he’s dealt with her situation a million times before.
They agreed to be honest with one another, but it still didn’t prevent him from not telling her everything. His answers were still vague, obviously he knew more than he wanted to share.
“The road is just up here.” Malpherities announced.
“Where? I don’t see.” She could only see endless fog and trees.
Silence.
“Mal?” Krista spun around, he was nowhere to be seen. “Mal?” She shouted. “This isn’t funny.” She turned around over and over trying to find the ghoul, he had completely vanished.
Thoughts buzzed in her mind where he went, but were shattered as an ear piercing scream echoed through the swamp. The sound was close, as it seemed to echo for miles around.
She didn’t want to find the source of the sound and began to run. Run where Malpherities said the road was, it was possible he was waiting for her. Fear ran down Krista’s spine, her heart pounded and her legs sprinted faster than she ever ran before.
Each step she made, avoiding blood pools she could hear a copy of footsteps, quickly multiplying. She didn’t dare look back in fear that she was being followed. However she was forced to when her path was blocked by a man.
Skidding to a stop Krista noticed that the man was naked, and missing the majority of his skin. She screamed sliding to the ground, the mud made it difficult to stop.
The man hissed at her revealing a second pair of jaws inside his mouth, with dual tongues.
Krista backed up and returned to her feet wanting to run the other way only to be blocked by a wall of horrific monsters. So many deformed and warped from anything natural. They hissed violently at her, no weapons in their hands only savage claws.
Her legs trembled and she fell to her knees as they closed in on her. Krista couldn’t see any way to escape, the creatures had blocked her in.
“Don’t kill me.” She wept.
As the creatures closed in on her Malpherities dived into the crowd knocking several to the ground. Krista’s hope was renewed seeing him, but seeing the mechanics of his crash she knew that he was thrown into the crowd.
The ghoul screamed.
When Malpherities hit the ground Krista noticed a spear was pierced into his arm, sealing him into the mud.
 The creatures lost all attention in Krista and prepared for combat glancing around the swamps.
“Mal!” Krista whispered moving towards him.
“I’m stuck!” He hissed.
“Can’t you poof out?”
Malpherities squinted. “What?”
“Like how you vanish in my realm.”
“I’m only a spectator of your realm, only seen by those willing to see me " like you.” He grunted. “Here I am real.”
The creatures screamed as a being came bursting from the fog, sword held by both hands lit by a bright white flame.
It landed with a heave splash in the puddle of blood with fire in its eyes. With the being in a still position Krista could see it was a female " human. However the dangling necklace is what caught her attention, seeing that it was the same holy symbol seen on Paladin.
“A paladin!” She exclaimed.
Malpherities screamed, a scream similar to those of the creatures.
The paladin moved swiftly charging one of the creatures moving her blade with enough force slicing the creature in half. The white flame from the sword ignited the creature burning it to a crisp.
The squad of monsters moved in on the paladin, thinking they could strike from behind.
Without a moment’s hesitation the girl flung her blade around throwing them back with an invisible force.
The blow threw them hard enough that they broke several brittle trees.
A four legged monster rushed towards the paladin trying to hack her with his spiked hands roaring vigorously.
Without effort the paladin dodged the attack, her necklace began to glow white, and surged into her skin lighting up her blood veins and flowing to her free hand.
Using this glowing hand the paladin pushed it towards the creature’s chest. The white flame fused into his body moving into its veins and combusting into flames from within.
Krista watched as the previous creatures returned to their feet and charged at high speeds towards the paladin.
However the human was ahead of them and rushed the monsters swinging her fiery sword at rapid speeds.
Before impact the creatures’ eyes lit up with fear, as her blade rushed into their deformed flesh bursting them into holy flames.
Their screams were of a dozen souls, as the flames roared in and out of their bodies without mercy burning them to a crisp.
The holy flame was quick and relentless lasting only several seconds but leaving its victim with no resemblance from before.

















































It ended quickly, leaving the tainted creatures in crisps and chunks.
Krista sat in awe at the paladin’s strength and courage.
The admiration was brought to an end as her sword was not sheathed and she approached Malpherities, pulling the spear clean from his arm and lifting him with her free hand.
“Wait!” Krista shouted. “Don’t kill him!”
Malpherities tried to squirm free from her grasp, but was of no use.
“I shall cleanse this land, rid it of such unholy spirits!” The paladin shouted, voice booming endlessly as she brought her sword back " ready to strike.

Author's Note

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