From alt.pub.dragons-inn Sun Oct  9 10:03:52 1994
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From: motherc@cse.fau.edu (Christopher Motherway)
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [DreamQuest] "Soul" Searching...
Date: 6 Oct 1994 15:27:07 GMT
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Well, here we go with only the second solid storyline I've generated myself.
Even though my time grows short on the net, this won't be the last string...
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
[Timeline: approximately a week after the end of the [Housestorming] party.]

     The rain that had recently visited Generica had broken before sunset. 
The Primus moon, full in face, showed its light for the first time in a number
of days.  A number of blocks away from where the wildest house warming party
had occurred a few days ago, the Dragon's Inn was packed to the rafters with
patrons again.
     Upstairs in Room 13A, Lance and Blaze were preparing to turn down
for the night.  Most of the day was spent moving new furniture into Andrea's
house, the same one they had helped relieve of an abundance of traps last week. 
Blaze had often told Lance about how full and rich Andrea's life was, now that
she, her sister, her ward Jay and the new woman-once-unicorn would be living
in the house.  She envied Andrea somewhat.  But, in the same thought, she
was happy for the young thief.  The members of the house were a family,
sticking up for each other, caring for each other and their needs.
     Family.  Blaze used that word quite often when describing Andrea and
her troupe.  It almost seemed to Lance as a strong hint.  He, too, was happy
that Andrea has found a permanent foothold into Generica.  After all, with the
past she has spoken of, it was a miracle she and her sister have lasted this
long.  Through the murdering of her parents, the transforming of Sheryl, and
the pursuit of them by Raykor, Lance thought that, maybe. the poor girl has
seen enough excitement for a while.  But as for Blaze's talking of family, it
seemed more ABOUT him than AT him.
     If only she knew.  If only this brave knight could tell his magical mate
why he kept turning the subject of family life away.  Besides, he thought, she
never questioned him when he didn't wish to talk.  She always knows that he'll
talk about it sooner or later.
     Little did Lance realize that what was holding him back was about to
come face-to-face with him.
     That night, Lance had finished washing his face in the basin and was
heading to the bed, where Blaze was awaiting him.
     "Oh, my back!", Lance said as he lied down.  "Someone should have
told me how heavy some of those tables can be.  It felt like lifting a horse,
even _with_ two other men helping!"
     "Oh, quit complaining," replied Blaze.  "How bad do you think my
levitation powers were stretched in redecorating?  It has been quite a day for
both of us."
     "Well, if you are as exhausted as I am, you certainly have a strange way
of showing it."
     "Oh, it is not that.  It is just nice to get a good-night's sleep after a 
long day."
     "Yes," Lance mused, "it seems you have been looking forward to the
end of the day more and more lately."
     Blaze sighed and said, "Oh, beloved, since Raykor has been gone, I
have been able to soul-walk again.  It has been wonderful, to be able to wander
amongst the stars high above Generica after all this time!"
     Lance smiled at his mate.  "Sometimes, beloved, I could down-right
hate you."
     A little shocked, Blaze asked, "Why, Lance?"
     "Because you have a gift that appears to have evaded me:  the use of
magic.  I have heard you talking about your travels high above, and have
always wished I could go along with you.  The thought of flying soul-to-soul
with you sounds so wonderful."
     "I understand.  Sometimes, I feel lonely up there without another soul
along side of me, to share my travels."
     "It sounds so beautiful," Lance replied.  Then, his face lit up.  "Blaze,
how did you take your first soul-walk?"
     Blaze thought for a moment, trying to clear the mists of time that
shrouded her memory since leaving Bevillsca.  Then she said, "My father took
me on my first soul-walk.  As I laid sleeping, he took a hold of my soul and
slowly took it from my body until I could see him, floating above our bodies. 
He took hold of my hand and we started drifting throughout the kingdom.  Time
seemed to be meaningless after a while, but by the dawn, he brought us back
to our house.  There, my father slowly placed my soul back into my body.  I
awoke and saw him, smiling at me.  It took me a few tries to lift my own spirit
out, but I got the hang of it."
     Lance then asked, "Could...could anyone be taken on a soul-walk like
that?"
     "My father told me that he would not recommend taking any person on
such a journey, but he did make an exception for those I would be in love with. 
Of course, I was a mere child of nine years then and the _last_ thing I was
thinking about was love."  The archmage laughed at what she just stated.
     "So, a person _could_ go on a soul-walk.  The person need not be
magical."
     "Beloved," Blaze said, "I know what you wish for me to do, but I do not
think I can, in all honesty, attempt it."
     Lance, confused, said, "But you had just said that..."
     "I _know_ what I said, beloved.  But my father said that attempting it for
those without any magical powers would prove difficult.  Love for the person
would lessen the burden, but it would still be great."
     Lance gently placed his hands upon Blaze's shoulders and said, "Blaze,
I...I cannot quite comprehend it, but...I feel that, if I cannot brave just one 
travel with you, I may prove unworthy to you...to myself!  Please, I am certain
of the dangers, and I accept them.  I love you, my beautiful mage, and I am 
willin to face what risks there may be."
     Blaze took Lance's hands and clasped them together.  She did so love
Lance, and feared that she might lose him if she tried this very unorthodox
move.  But she knew that she could not look into her lovemate's eyes and deny
him any request he might make of her.  Something inside her said that Lance
was telling the truth;  that, somehow, this walk with her would bring them
closer. 
     She finally said, "Very well, Lance.  Lay down."
     Lance did not show any sign of  anticipation as he placed his head
down upon the pillow.  He knew well enough to wait for what you want to come
and, if it doesn't, to just forget it.  He settled down and closed his eyes.
     "Now," he heard Blaze say, "picture a serene setting.  A place which
eases your mind the most.  Keep that image in your mind as you go to sleep."
     Lance put into his mind a portrait of a field near Wolverton that he often
went to when he was younger.  It was there where he would practice
swordsmanship, write songs with his mandolin and, generally, relax his mind. 
The image started taking life as his dream began.
     Blaze could sense the instant Lance was asleep.  She then laid herself
down and closed her own eyes.
     A minute later, Blaze opened her eyes and saw the ceiling of their room
just inches from her face.  She turned around and looked down upon the two
bodies laying motionless on the bed.  Hers was still breathing, as the removal
of a soul does not interrupt the physical functions of the body.  Lance's was
next to hers, and she saw the dull white aura of his soul.  Blaze was told that
the aura would be non-existent if she was not in love with him, and, had he
had magic flowing through him freely, it would be quite bright.
     She went down to Lance's body and lowered her hands to grasp the
shoulders.  She remembered when her father showed her how to take a soul
out of its body and return it.  She started to, slowly, deliberately, lift up 
Lance by the shoulders.
     In his dreamscape, Lance could feel something lifting him up, although
his dream would not let on.  He kept his thoughts on the ongoing images,
keeping the fantasy going in his mind until Blaze was finished.
     Blaze hadn't a doubt in her mind as Lance's spirit was starting to
coming free of his body.  She couldn't, as a rule, have any doubts.  Any break
in concentration could prove disastrous.  Slowly, the white image of Lance
emerged.  She kept lifting until the image was completely separated from the
earth-bound form.
     She had done it.  His soul was hovering four feet above the bed.  She
let it remain motionless for a minute.  A sudden awakening would send the
soul, literally, reeling.  She examined the figure before her.
     A soul looks, essentially, like the body it came from.  It was naked,
except for a cloak that differs from spirit-to-spirit.  Blaze's own, as her 
father told her, draped over her right shoulder and snuggled tightly around the 
waist and hips, reaching to her knees.  Lance's was, likewise, much like a...
what was that word 'Raelf used at the last party?  Oh, yes:  toga.  It slung 
over his right shoulder and drooped down to the middle of his thighs.  A crest 
was upon the cloak's chest:  the crest of Wolverton.  To Blaze, it was the most 
beautiful of all cloaks she had seen.
     Blaze leaned over and whispered in Lance's ear, "Awake, beloved."
     Lance opened his eyes.  In the past, Blaze had teased him by levitating
him a few feet above the ground just as he was awaking.  So he wasn't _too_
started to find himself closer to the ceiling than when he last closed his eyes.
He was a _bit_ startled to see his love, in a ghost-white form, looking him
straight in the eyes.
     "Relax," she said.  "All is well.  Take my hand and, no matter what, do
not let go. Any break in contact could send your soul flying away to the valley
of the dead."
     Lance simply nodded, still dumfounded by the vision in front of him.  He
had thought Blaze as a lovely creature before.  But, now, it was as if he was
looking through his heart at the absolute exquisiteness of Blaze.  Slowly, his
hand grasped hers tightly.
     Blaze lifted her arms up and the two spirits rose up and through the
ceiling.  Through the above, unoccupied third floor room and out through its
ceiling, Lance and Blaze ascended ever higher.  Above the Inn, and even
higher, until all of Generica was visible.
     Looking down, Lance shuttered at the height.  He wasn't afraid of high
places.  It was just that he had never been THIS high up before without any
visible means of support.  That shock quickly passed as he marveled at just
how big Generica was.  It was about thrice the size of the castle in Wolverton,
and appeared to have more people than in his former kingdom.  He just stared
in awe at the view.
     Then he looked up...
     The stars were not any closer, but their brilliance was stronger than
ever before.  Above the foggy air that hovered over the town, the stars seemed
as bright as the moons.  The moons, themselves, appeared closer and as
bright as the sun.
     But the moons and stars could not outshine the brilliance of the
two souls.  Had anyone been able to see souls,  the brightness of the lovers'
spirits would have certainly eclipsed any heavenly body in the night sky.
     "It...is...beautiful!" was all the knight could manage to speak.
     Smiling, Blaze said, "It gets better..."

TO BE CONTINUED

Chris Wolvie					motherc@sunrise.cse.fau.edu
Disclaimer: If music be the food of love,...I need to change stations!
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Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton (The Rat's Mouth), Florida
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"The only good dragon is...a GOLDEN dragon!"
		-Eric the Cavalier, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS (The Animated Series)