Chapter 13
Breaking in on my thoughts, Dragon gives warning, 'My
Queen, we have more company out here!'
Stopping briefly, I ask, 'Does this new company appearto be dangerous?'
Dragon: 'There is no of knowing right now my Queen. He
has just pulled in, and has yet to do anything.'
Leaning against the wall for support, I demand, 'Letme see this new arrival!'
Through Dragon's eyes I spot our new guest. Sitting
calmly on a huge black . . . no, dark purple, '62
Hardtail Harley is a figure dressed in full black
biker gear. Boots, leather pants, jacket, gloves . . .
all black. The helmet too is black with a full black
face visor. With nothing to distinguish our guest, I
attempt a contact link . . . and am met with static.
Silently observing this guest, I offer Dragon some
advice, 'Keep your eyes on that guest. I don't know
who that is, or why this person is here, but keep youreyes open.'
Holding the link for a few more seconds, I notice that
this visitor makes no move to turn off his bike, or to
make any move toward the building itself. The figure
just sits on that beautiful bike, silently watchingthe dragons circle over head.
With the parting words, 'Keep me posted', I break the
link with Dragon and steady myself. Catching the
concerned and questioning looks from everyone around
me, I quickly explain, 'There's someone out there, and
so far, I can't make contact, and I have no idea whoit is.'
Hellion: 'Do you think it's more help?'
Shaking my head, 'I don't know. I think it's a guy by
the apparent size but I can't be sure of that either.'
DA: 'I'll have Sheetan keep an eye on him.'
Nodding, 'Yeah, that's what I told Dragon to do. Have
Sheetan keep you posted too.'
Dragon: 'My Queen . . . I tried to make contact but
failed . . . It seems as if this human's shields are stronger than I expected.'
DQM: 'Well that would explain why I couldn't make
contact either. Keep me posted.'
Relaying the new info to my fellow companions, we
continue on our way upstairs . . .
***********************************************************************
*Through Dragon's eyes with no link to DQM open*
Slowly driving through the parking lot to stop near
our mysterious stranger, is a '72 black Cadillac low
rider hearse with a gleaming skull just above each
headlight. The bright neon purple on the outside of
the car casts an eerie glow on the airbrushed faces of
Kane and The Undertaker on the back.
As the driver's door opens, a familiar face emerges.
Dressed all in black from head to toe, with a long
black trench coat billowing behind him, is none otherthan . . . Dark Prince.
Slamming into my mind with the force of a wrecking
ball hitting the side of a building, Dragon roars in
recognition. 'My Queen, your brother has arrived!'
Stumbling back at the force of Dragon's connection, I
slam into Kane's chest. Putting a hand on my shoulder
to steady me, Kane asks,
'What has happened?'
Leaning heavily on Kane, I gasp out, "Prince is here!"
Christian and Kane look at each other and shrug.
DA: 'That's our brother, but what's he doing here?'
DQM: 'Dragon, let me see.'
Looking through Dragon's eyes, I see our dear brother
approach the dark biker and engage in conversation.
However, due to the loud growling of the bike's
engine, the conversation is lost to my ears.
Attempting to make contact with our brother, I am again met with static.
Seeing the biker nod in some agreement, I watch as he
turns off the bike's engine and slowly stands upstretching.
DQM: "Damn you guys . . . this guy is huge . . . "
Watching as Prince and the biker walk to the front
door of the building, I feel Dragon sever our
connection . . . 'Dragon!? What are you doing?'
Landing between Prince, the biker, and the front door,
Dragon waits. Stopping in front Dragon, our visitorsjust glance at each other.
Throwing his head back in surprised recognition,
Dragon quickly steps aside and bows deeply.
DQM: 'Dragon!? What the hell is going on out there? Answer me!'
DA: 'What's going on DQM?'
DQM: 'I don't know. Dragon severed our link, and I
think Prince and our mystery guest are in the
building. But I'm not sure because Dragon will not reestablish our connection.'
DA: 'I'm having the same problem with Sheetan. I've
never had this problem before.'Hellion: 'You think this is bad news?'
Walking down the hall and turning the corner to go to
the stairs, we come face to face with our dear brother
Prince and his mysterious friend.
Sizing up our new guest, Hellion whispers, 'I know you
said this guy was huge, but this guy is really HUGE!'
With the visor still in place, we all wonder about ournew guest.
Facing Prince I demand, "What are you doing here? You
aren't supposed to be here."Smiling devilishly, Prince shakes off his trench and
tosses it over his shoulder. 'We came to help, but
when we got to your place, you had already left. We
figured you were already here, so we came as fast aswe could.'
Hellion: "Ok, well that's fine. But who the hell is
your friend here? The Jolly Black Giant?"
Laughing to herself, DA puts a calming hand on
Hellion's arm. "What my sister is trying to say is, we
don't want anyone else getting hurt here." Looking
over her shoulder at Christian, 'We already had enough
injuries today. We don't want anyone else hurt.'
Slowly and deliberately raising a black gloved hand to
his visor, a soft deep voice emanates from within the
helmet . . . "You need not worry yourselves with my
well being. I have learned how to take care of myself."
Raising the visor to display the face, we all stand in
shock . . . The red hair falling over piercing green
eyes, standing before us, in pure raw splendor, is ourown Lord of Darkness.
Before us stands The UNDERTAKER!!!!
Hellion: "but you're . . . you can't be . . . but . .. how . . . you're . . . "
Looking at Prince, DA asks hesitantly, "How? How didyou get Him here?"
Before Prince can answer, the helmet is removed and
the long red hair is shaken out. Tossing His head back
to remove the hair from His face, we find ourselves
drawn into the deep green depths of His eyes.
"Prince alerted me to what you three were planning and
asked if I could try to talk all of you out of doing
this." Looking around at each of our small group, He
continues frowning, "It seems as if I came too late."
Edging closer to Prince, I whisper, "You actuallytalked Him into coming here?"
Tossing His helmet into the corner and taking His
jacket off to toss that aside as well, our Lord stands
before us. Standing tall with hands on hips, bare arms
showing all the tats, Taker watches us closely.
Finally calming down and finding her voice,
Hellion
stares into those green eyes and asks, "Will you helpus now that you're here?"
Crossing His huge arms before Him, and looking at each
of us in turn, Taker nods, "I came to talk you out of
this, but instead I find you all in deeper than
expected. You will need help," looks at Kane and
Christian, "and it looks like you already have some,but I will stay."
Staring into those deep green eyes and finding
ourselves strengthened by His presence, we see our
Master in a new light. We are His Creatures and We
fight for Him, but as His Creatures, we will foreverbe under His protection.
"You will need all the help you can get."
Chapter 14
Looking past me to share a knowing smile with Taker,
Prince admits, "I didn't actually have to talk Him
into doing anything." Turning his attention back to
me, Prince continues, "You told me what you had
planned, and I told Him. It was more His idea to talkyou all out of doing this.
Seeing the brief nod from Taker, and cutting off any
more questions, Prince simply states, "we went to your
place, you were already gone, so we came here. I knewyou wouldn't wait."
Feeling a large presence behind me, I turn. Standing
between myself and DA is Kane. Staring at His older
brother, Kane makes no move toward Him. And yet we all
feel His mind trying to reach out . . .'My brother . . . you came . . . '
Seeing the blank look on Kane's face it's apparent
that he has received the same "static" that we allfelt.
Reaching out my own mind, I tentatively touch the shields surrounding our Lord.
Snapping His head around to glare at me, the one who
would dare to try to pass His shields, I feel myself
starting to loose strength. Hearing a booming voice in
my mind, I hear this warning, 'Don't ever try that
again! You have NO idea what stands before you!'
Seeing the momentary rush of fear pass over my face,
He reaches out a steading hand. Grabbing me by the
shoulder, Taker stares into my eyes, 'I said to you
once that you had no reason to fear me. I did not hurt
you then, and I will not hurt you now.'
Reading the relief in my eyes, 'But do not
misunderstand, my mind and all that it holds, is mine.
And mine alone. No one enters without my go ahead.Understood?'
Nodding slowly, I lower my gaze and apologize,
"Forgive me Taker. You are our Lord, and I had no
right to try to enter your mind."Sneaking a look at the others, I notice the
questioning glances, *no one knows what just happened.
They didn't hear any of it.* Shaking my head, *And I
thought that was just a dream*Shaking His massive head, red hair flying wildly,
Taker's voice breaks the uneasy silence, "That was not
'just a dream'. That was as real as you remember it.
"DA: "what dream?..."
Hellion: "You never told us about any dream . . . "
DQM: *still uneasy* "It doesn't matter. We have too
much to think about right now."
Taker: "No. They need to know. They have their doubts
about where I stand in this. They need to know why Icame . . . "
Nodding slowly I agree . . .
Chapter 15
DQM: "All right, here's my dream. And this is how I
know that Taker is here to help us."
DA, Hellion, Prince, Kane, and Christian all stand to
the side near the wall, listening attentively. Taker
stands just behind me and off to the side.
Leaning against the wall and closing my eyes I relivemy dream . . .
**************************************************
"It was the middle of Spring, and I was with three of
my dearest friends. We were out on the town siteseeing . . . "
**************************************************
Hellion: "What town??"
Snapping my eyes open, "I don't know. I know it was a
big city somewhere, there weren't any 'Welcome to . .
. ' signs. But that doesn't matter anyway. Just listen. . . "
Bowing my head again, I continue . . .
**************************************************
"We were just out spending time together and running
around town. All day we had the creepy feeling that
someone was watching us, but every time we looked,
there was no one there. Finally we just decided that
we were imagining it all, and we just concentrated onenjoying ourselves.
It was around the middle of the afternoon that we came
to this beautiful park. There was a huge white marble
fountain in the middle of the park, no design to itreally, just abstract.
We decided to sit next to the fountain and rest for a
while. The mist from the fountain was so cool compared
to the heat of the day. It was really relaxing. But as
we spent more time sitting there, we felt that same
feeling of someone watching us. We all looked around
and there was no one there, the park was empty.
Feeling a creepiness inside, we decided to leave.
However, when we got up to leave, it was like we
slipped thru a crack between worlds . . .
In front of us stood a massive building.
It looked like a cross between a mansion and castle.
It wasn't as big as a castle, but it had the towers,
spires and even what looked like battlements. The
outside was gray stone and crumbling and this terrible
wind picked up and started to howl.
We spun around looking back toward the fountain, but
it wasn't there. The fountain, the park, the city, it
was all gone. Everywhere we looked was just dense gray
fog . . . but in the fog we could see figures tryingto emerge.
Fearing whatever it was that was out there, we ran for
the mansion. I guess that was a dumb idea, but it'sthe only choice we had.
Running thru the huge front doors, we slid to a stop,
staring at the interior. All around us was rotting
tapestries hanging on the walls, and crumbled stones
laying on the floor, no doorways. As we turned back to
the door we had just come thru, we found ourselves
facing a long dark hallway. There was no door.
Not having any idea where the hell we were, or how to
get out, we decided to split up.
It was me and Dee, then Don and Beth. We went our
different ways each agreeing that if we found
anything, we'd yell. Watching Don and Beth go off down
the hall, Dee and I went the opposite way . . .
As Dee and I walked down the twisting corridors, all
we found were doors that couldn't be opened, more
rotting tapestries, and large stone statues. Most were
gargoyles and monsters from myth, like minotaurs anddragons . . .
We kept searching for a way out, but we couldn't find
anything. As we turned down this one hall, we suddenly
felt something right behind us . . . We spun around
and all we saw was a huge shadow on the wall and it
was getting bigger. We could hear the scrap of claws
on the stone floor, and we ran . . .
We kept running down corridors, and turning corners,
but whatever was behind us never got too far behind.It was still after us . . .
We turned this last corner and came to a dead stop in
front of a pitch black stairwell. We couldn't even
tell if the stairs went up or down or both. There were
two stone pillars, one on each side of the stairwell
and Dee grabbed my arm and tried dragging me toward
one. But something kept my attention locked on the stairwell . . .
We heard the creature behind us getting closer, and we
knew if we didn't get out of there, we'd be dead. Just
as the creature was about to turn the corner, a
massive figure leapt from the stairwell in front of me
and pushed me aside as it raced down the corridor to face the unknown creature.
Grabbing me again, Dee pulled me beside the pillar . .
. She asked me what that was and all I could tell her
was 'Whatever it was, it was black and had glowing green eyes'.
Listening closely, we could hear the dying screams of
what we prayed was the creature that had been chasing
us. We couldn't move as we heard heavy footsteps
drawing closer. We were frozen with fear.
Whatever had jumped from the stairwell was coming back
for us. Somehow I pushed Dee toward the stairs as the
figure turned the corner. She didn't want to leave,
but I pushed her and told her to go . . .
I looked back over my shoulder and the figure was no
more than 10 feet away . . . I backed up against the
pillar and slid to the floor in fear . . .
The green eyes glowed brightly as the figure
approached. It was dressed in a long black hooded
cloak. The hood was pulled low over its face, hiding
it in shadow. The figure was massive!! Not just in
height, but something about this figure demanded attention.
Still scared out of my mind, this figure reached out a
hand and I could barely make out the marks around the
wrist as tattoo's. Stealing myself against what I
might find, I raised my eyes to look into the hood . ..
Somehow there was enough light to just make out the
face. If I was scared before, I was even more so now.
This being before me, the one who had killed the creature, was Taker."
**********************************************
I raise my head and open my eyes and look at everyone.
Their faces full of surprise and shock, I look toward
Taker. With a curt nod from Taker, I finish my dream .. .
**********************************************
"It was Taker. I didn't know what to think. He held
his hand out to me and in my mind I could hear his
voice. He said, 'You are right to fear me, but know
that I would never hurt you. I have been watching you
all day, but it wasn't you I was after.' Looking over
his shoulder, he tosses his head toward the other
corridor, 'It was that creature that was after you. Iwas after the creature.'
Reaching up a shaking hand, I take his hesitantly. It
was cold but generated a heat all of its own. With a
gentleness that defied his size, he lifted me to my
feet and pointed to the stairwell . . . 'You will find
your friends outside by the fountain.'
Keeping my eyes on Taker, I back toward the stairs,
his voice still echoing in my mind . . . 'I wouldnever hurt you.'
I went thru the stairwell and found myself blinking in
the bright sunlight again. The fog was gone, and when
I looked, the mansion was gone too . . .
Walking to the fountain, Don got up, "What the hell
happened in there? Where were you?"
Dee just looked up and stared at me, "that wasn't adream, was it?"
Sitting next to Dee I shake my head, "I have no idea
what that was, but it wasn't a dream."
Snapping my head around, I can feel someone watching
us again. Don notices the figure first. The figure is
standing at the edge of the park near a tree.
I had to stop Don from going after the guy because he
said he would kill him for following us. I told him
"If it wasn't for that guy, we would all be dead right
now. Yes he was following us, but it wasn't us he was
after. Dee and I almost had a one on one meeting with
whatever that creature was, but He saved us."
Pulling Don back to the fountain, I look over my
shoulder but Taker isn't there anymore. I look around
and find Him standing on the other side of the park.
Standing the shadows of a near by tree, all I can see
is His glowing green eyes. Bowing my head slightly, I
send out a brief message, 'thank you'.
Tipping His head in acknowledgment, Taker slips intothe shadows and disappears."
********************************************
Opening my eyes, I look for everyone's reaction . . .
Kane and Christian just stare at me and then at Taker,then back again.
DA and Hellion have their mouths open in a silent'ohhhh'.
Prince stands with arms crossed leaning against the
wall. Smiling slightly, he shakes his head in amazement.
Looking at Taker, He nods.Nodding in return, I face my friends, "Now you all
know why I know we can count on Taker being on our
side . . . 'as if we had any doubts' . . . "
Pushing away from the wall, Prince addresses the
problem at hand. "We have a lot to do still. Let's getgoing and get this done."
To Be Continued...