Template:Featured Articles/4-2024
~I had to learn this somewhere.~ Hope tossed back as she watched the last few chains hit the floor and she headed for the door. ~Doug only taught me a little bit about knives and how to fire a g... ugck...~ Her hands flew towards her neck, scrabbling at the necklace that had suddenly tightened. ~Hope!~ It was their bonds. The same bonds that held Radha's followers secure to each other also tied them to Radha herself. Loyalty, love, fear -- those connections all pulled taut, and what had been a necklace had become a noose. ~They do not wish to leave!!!~ The insight came in a sudden flash of understanding as the ‘noose’ tightened even more and Hope was forced to take a small 'step' back. ~Their bonds with Radha and each other... but each person has bonds with people outside too...~ Strands of light unfolded from the necklace through the French doors, glowing in all shades of colors... love, affection... grief, even hatred. Another flash of insight followed. ~We need to remind them of those... help me touch them!~ Light flowed from the blade like water, streaming up her arm to pool around the construct at her neck. Drops of power beaded down the strands leading away from Radha's dimension, lending them weight and definition. Slowly, the opposing force began to counter the pull of Radha's world. ~It's you who carry us, not we who chain you,~ came Haller's thoughts from within the sword. The tether that connected Hope's astral body to her physical one glowed into existence, and the glittering ties began to knit around it, reinforcing their connection to the world beyond Radha. Soundlessly, almost too fine to see, a hairline crack formed on the blade. ~H-here,~ the voice in her mind faltered. ~Here you . . . are the master.~ 'Here... I am the master...' How to strengthen those ties... what ties keep me there? An image of Sue popped into her head. 'Love...' A strand of green and pink intertwined started to vibrate in the tether. 'Friendship...' Another colored strand flared up as images of Topaz, Tandy and other friends floated past. Images after image floated past, strands of multicolored lights in her tether starting to vibrate and flare up more and more. And as they vibrated, the ties knit around it started to vibrate and flare too, strengthening, as the attention of the 82 lives in her hands were slowly drawn to the ties they had in the real world, no matter how faint they might be. Slowly the necklace loosened and Hope didn't hesitate, spurting out through the French doors, only to stop at the edge of the balcony where waves rolled angrily against the cliff. But this sea was not scary... this one was an old friend... Hope didn't even notice the slight weight lifting from her face, vanishing along with the French doors behind her as she raised her arms. The waves responded to her call, becoming higher and higher as the waves in the back of her mind rose as well. With a final gesture of her hand, the waves crashed over the balcony and Hope was swept away, pulled under water. She calmly floated through the mire, since there was no need for breathe here and set her focus on shifting herself and the people she carried with her back to the normal world. Alone she'd never be able to accomplish this, but with a final pulse of power from the sword and a deepening roar of the sea, the astral plane spit them out. Emerging into reality felt like breaking the surface of the ocean. |
