1. The mad scholar
The Three Moons Mythos, Book 1: A Queen of Light and Shadow, Act 2
“Alhazred was the greatest dreamer, seer and mystic of all time... What if they were to discover that, far from being mad, Abdul Alhazred was so terribly sane that others dubbed him mad simply because they could not bear the burden of the facts he uncovered?”
Robert A. W. Lowndes
“We have arrived.”
The van’s speakers clearly transmitted Da Jie’s voice, without the tinny small speakers it was clear, her Chinese accent softening the English words, beautiful, playful and feminine, delicate even.
Rick could hear her smile, the helping smile.
The faint sound of buzzing remained.
“Sapphire, stay with CJ, your lover needs your care. Thank you my lioness and my falcon, my chariot could not be pulled without you both. Rick, my herald, take me inside, to the penthouse, to the temple of starry night, to the priestess of the void. I take fell council from the outer spheres.”
Sapphire didn’t look up, her eyes and mind fixed upon her mistress. Rick carefully placed the freezing cylinder inside his backpack, condensation shimmering with a strange radiance, his fingers painful from the cold. Moving as if by instinct.
He walked up to the lavish entrance, a Knightsbridge penthouse. The London rain was falling thick and heavy, muting sounds and sight. The cool rain was a welcome break, it washed down his face and he drank in a few drops. He savoured this little moment and took a few deep breaths, stretching his aching back.
‘Fuck, there was a doorman. He looks massive, I’m in no shape to take him on. What was Da Jie going to do? Jedi mind trick him?’
‘Possible but no need Rick. The priestess has heard my summons, her servant is aware of our coming.’
Was Da Jie was in his head? No must be a small speaker in the backpack right? Her English is so arcane, Chinglish right? It’s just a lost in translation issue, right? Rick was starting to feel confused again, it happened a lot around Da Jie he noticed.
The huge doorman seemed to sway as he stood, rocking back and forth slowly. He almost seemed to float, as if gravity wasn’t quite affecting him fully. Rick smiled and waved. Then he saw his eyes. Pits of shadow, starlight dancing in the void. The man simply pressed a button below the desk and the lift was called. He beckoned silently to the elevator and then bowed slowly, a full deep bow, the bow to royalty.
Rick waited until he was in the elevator.
“What the fuck was that? Am I still tripping? His eyes were like starlight or something.”
‘I cannot confirm or deny if you are experiencing delusions Rick, but the Priestess of Starry Night does not allow as much freedom as The Queen does her workers, she dwells beyond the rim of the void. We are lucky to have secured an audience. Her mind rarely dwells here, upon the earth, she has passed beyond human concerns.’
The lift seemed to take an age, with ornate panels and mirrors reflecting a distorted version of Rick, he couldn’t look at the strange reflection. Then he saw one. A swimmer, just in the back of the mirror. It stared at him for a second, tentacles twitching slowly, before drifting out of view.
The elevator door creaked open painfully slowly, seeming to pause and then finish opening. This house was long abandoned. Heavy sheets of dust sat upon the floor and on every available surface. It stank of staleness. Mould grew upon the carpets and the heavy cloying feeling of dust and grime was everywhere.
They advanced slowly down a hallway, decorated in the ornate Persian style, heavy rugs and huge oil paintings of members of some Iranian family, presumably long gone.
As they passed on there was no sign of life or movement. Rick coughed as stale dusty air stuck in his throat. The hallway seemed to distort and bend, angles slightly off. He had seen such things before, when they took his liver, when he last drank the foul ichor, when he last tasted Bliss.
Down to the end of the hallway, they passed an open door. There was a single skeleton collapsed in a chair, it had long rotted away to nothing but bone. There was a broken Turkish teacup, split in three pieces, covered in more dust, laying upon the floor.
He didn’t want to keep looking and pressed on. On to the end of the hallway. On to the vast double doors, the doors of the library of Al-Hazen.
Arc of the Covenant
“You and I are very much alike. Archeology is our religion, yet we have both fallen from the pure faith. Our methods have not differed as much as you pretend. I am but a shadowy reflection of you”
René Belloq, Raiders of the Lost Arc
He paused, he knew there were instructions coming.
‘Rick, it is essential that you listen to me now. When we enter you must close your eyes, you cannot open them Rick, no matter what you hear, no matter what you feel, if you open them you as you know yourself will end, a fate worse than any death. Gaze on the priestess and you will end and with your life the strands of fate close. This world, the entire human race, depends on you staying blind inside this room. Can you do it Rick?’
“Ok how’s it go again? Marion, don’t look at it. Shut your eyes, Marion. Don’t look at it, no matter what happens! Raiders rules, got it!”
‘This is no joking matter Rick.’
“I’m not joking, it’s my favourite Indiana Jones film, I’m very serious about this stuff. This jacket? Exact copy of the one from the Last Crusade.”
‘Then keep those eyes closed Dr Jones, for all our sakes.’
“Will do boss, will do, I promise. Here, tell you what, I will do you one better.”
He bent down and tore away a part of the rotting curtain, several moths escaping as he did. He wrapped it a few times around his head and tied it tight. It smelt moldy and felt rotten but it held.
“One thing you learn in recovery. Willpower doesn’t work. Plan to win yeah?”
“Thank you Rick. Willpower, like most layers of reality, is indeed an illusion. Prepare your mind, guard your thoughts. The priestess, scion of the house of madness, will not be gentle. You must bow before her.”
Chapter Links Act 2
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Chapter Links Act 1
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