THE TOUR

©May 1997
By Katrina

Pt 59
Level 3

Tok didn't wait for permission when the door shattered into dust. The creature that was her mistress was in no condition to give it. The daggite charged into the room as fast as her legs could carry her and then leapt, just as the body of her beloved friend began to expand
and to change.

She landed on top, where Izacon's back used to be, and dug her claws in. Then the daggite crouched, pulling her body parts as close together as possible, as she might if she were behind a stone waiting for prey, and closed her eyes. Normally she could keep her eyes open. But she knew what it was like when her Izacon changed.

It felt as if Tok were on one of the inhospitable far worlds again.

As the light and heat became more fearsome, protective membranes formed over the daggite's face, protecting her mouth, nose and eyes. Her skin began to move and the plates and bone that covered her became a shield for her body. This ability was one of the great secrets of the daggites and was what allowed them to roam safely from world to world. Their body shield protected them from the most formidable and dangerous environment.

Tok held another secret within her, one that only a rare outsider knew – Izacon included. She began, calling upon the deep sources of all wisdom, to make the effort to reach her friend.

She pushed her soul-self hard, past all the rage and loss that pulsated like a burning heart until she found the center of the pressing emotion. It was the main need of her mistress, which had
lain dormant for so long, the need for the mate.

Here the daggite perceived images of the first one again and she realized that she'd forgotten what this one had looked like. Now, as she explored this beating interior, she realized that the first one and the warrior were one and the same and that she, Tok, had been correct not to interfere.

This made Tok feel very good.

It also gave her a Way.

Reaching, she plunged a tendril of thought into the red fleshy wall and hoped that her mistress would hear her.

***

Melosa knew her decision to flee was the right one when the ground began violently shaking outside the medical building. Oriena was running beside her when the tiles beneath them began bucking and vibrating and finally snapping apart. The lovers were brutally tossed against each other.

The Amazon Queen looked back. Marcus and Perdicus were still catching up. The dark man was straining to lift the berserk past the rift that had formed beneath them. She waved the two men forward and searched for Salmoneus, the other male in her charge. He was nowhere
to be seen.

There was no more time to look for him though. The bright structure they were running from was shimmering and humming and Melosa was forced to turn her gaze away as bile threatened to rise in her throat. Then there was a creaking and groaning of stone and metal and she just knew.

Shouting out instruction to find shelter and duck, she grabbed her mate's hand and jumped towards the infinitesimal safety of an overturned cart. With a crack louder than thunder and brighter and bluer than lightening the building exploded. Great chunks of stone spewed out, showering those who'd made their escape with a hail of shattered rock and debris.

Melosa pulled Oriena closer under her body and did her best to protect them both from the rain of rubble. She cried out and arched when she felt a good size something bounce off her back and ribs but held on tight to her lover. Biting her lower lip she fought the pain, though a hint of tears escaped from the crease of her eyes.

"Mel?"

"Later."

The shower slowed to a halt. Then there was another noise, sharp and trumpeting and beyond loud. She had to cover her ears, leaving Oriena vulnerable. But her lover was also holding her hands to her ears and turned back to look at Melosa. They shared a moment of understanding, pressing their ears hard and protectively.

Melosa had heard something similar once when she was young. A group of entertainers had passed near her childhood home. Only she doubted strongly that this was one of those gray, wrinkly creatures or even a herd of elephants. The noise changed to something entirely
different. It was like a combination of groans and sound of something bursting its seams on a grand scale. There was an overwhelming sulfurous smell wafting through the air. It was exceeding gross and almost compellingly interesting. With the rain of stone apparently
over, she risked stretching. Wincing sharply, she bravely looked over the edge of the cart.

The honored dead Queen of the Amazons regretted it instantly.

Retching and screaming Melosa raised her arms over her eyes. A muddled recalled image of a creature, bigger than anything she'd ever seen, bigger than the building they'd just been in, was burned into her mind. She saw, over and over in her mind, grotesque stretching, waiving tentacles, fantastic looking wings, and bizarre light streaming from an expanding globular body that seemed to get larger with each thought. She had never seen anything like it. Fear and
bile rose up in her like the ocean tidal wave and though she fought, there was nothing in her to stop it.

She felt something strike her, as if from far away. Then there was blissful dark.

Where Oriena found the strength, she didn't know. She placed her arms under Melosa's and lifted, pulling her lover's body over her shoulder. Odd cast shadows made from the nauseating light behind her caused the road to appear as if it were bending under her feet. It was a struggle to even move, but the Amazon warrior willed herself up, for her lover.

"Marcus! Perdicus! Sal! Follow Me!"

She wasn't even sure if she'd been heard over the cacophony.

There were people, things, fleeing all around her. She heard the beat of wings above her head and she dared to look up to see scores of the colorful Tartarans fleeing in terror past her. The ground was starting to buckle and tear. She staggered under the weight of the queen and the press of disorientation. But somehow she managed to awkwardly pick her feet up and place them down again, and the next thing she knew she was running hard in the same direction as the
crowd.

She ran an uncountable time and length. It felt like forever. It could have been a few moments. There came a point, however, where she had to stop.

The long blonde woman looked to her left and right, for anything that might shelter. It was so bright now, even brighter than when she and her companions first entered the city. And she was beginning to feel unbearably hot. She could hardly see, but Oriena thought she saw an alleyway. Spare blue shadows inspired by tall, crowded buildings beckoned her. She knew it could be dangerous, that whatever was behind them could no doubt destroy these shelters too, but could not think of what other thing to do.

Taking a chance she broke from the crowd and hoped that her tribe-mates followed. She had no voice to call them. Her chest felt as if it were going to burst and Melosa was already beginning to slide from her grip. She passed a door and stopped and backtracked. The door was set into the building, providing a dark inviting space.

Taking a chance she stepped into it, pulling Melosa down so she was holding her from the front. Oriena was breathing hard as she leaned against the marvelously cool surface of the left wall. She closed her eyes, holding her lover to her and tried to catch her breath.

"Let me take her."

Oriena looked up to see Marcus, his face streaming with sweat, reaching out for the Queen. She shook her head in the negative and pulled Melosa up and closer to her bosom. "I've got her," she
huffed.

"Barely." That was all Marcus said before he too leaned back against the cooling surface of the wall. Perdicus joined them, and declined the offer of his lover's arm.

Oriena knew they couldn't stay there forever, but she couldn't make herself go any further. She looked past the two men, out at the overly bright street and realized they were missing someone. She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Where's Salmoneus?"

***


"I have to admit to being surprised though. What makes you want to go back?"

Salmoneus looked up at Hades. "I never thought I'd be the one to say this," Salmoneus said with hesitation, then his expression firmed, "But send me back to Tartarus. People I care about are
there. The one I love is there."

"But…She's a demon."

"I know. I still love her."

"No accounting for taste." Hades shook his head ruefully.

"You see, I'd been sitting by Penho's bed when things went," the man's arms waved wildly in the air, "Kablooey."

"You don't have to explain how you got here, Sal. I keep my word, but we agreed that you were searching for Gabrielle, not some other person. I can't send everyone willy-nilly to whomever he or she wanted to see. It would be Chaos! I'd have warlords seeking out old enemies. I'd constantly have to deal with ill-fated lovers." Hades strode back and forth on the steps of his dais. His cloak waved behind him, snapping in emphasis with his points. "No. I won't do
it." Hades said firmly, making stopping motions with his hands.

Sal looked grieved. Then his eyes lit up. "She's a friend of Izacon's."

"Is she?" Hades forced himself to appear disinterested. But a glimmer of possibility began percolating in his mind. "No. That doesn't matter. A rule is a rule."

"But I'm on a tour. How can I get back to my group if I don't have a guide."

Hades' eyelids narrowed a bit and the smaller, bearded man gulped.

"That is a good point, but you forget, I am a God. I can just wave my hand and send you there."

Salmoneus' shoulders slumped and gazed at his toes for a moment.

"I still can't send you back to her judgement place. It isn't my right. Her judgement is her judgement. The only reason I let you go to find Gabrielle's is that Xena knew what she was punishing herself about. You'll have to meet up with Penho someplace else."

Salmoneus nodded, but didn't look totally confident in his chosen lot. "I understand, but I will need a few directions."

Hades waved his hand in the direction of the portal and it opened. "You can ask one of the guards," he said dismissively.

Salmoneus paled. Then he straightened his back and sucked in his gut, which for some reason seemed a bit sleeker than Hades recalled, and without a further glance at the God of the Underworld, went through it.

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