The mage made a comical sight, staring deeply into the mirror with a very serious rabbit sitting on his shoulders. His arms were out-stretched but not in contact with the glossy surface. Gently he touched the magic weave that clung to the mirror like gossamer cobwebs caught in a spectral wind. Gently, he adjusted the strands and felt their power. Careful not to disrupt its delicate balances, he found the weave he needed. From within, Cadbury told him that this was Venger's aura left on the weave, and he felt a sickness inside touching it. Gently, he began to thread his own energies along the weave."Now," he whispered hoarsely, "I need the object that Zakiyah has possessed."
He took the object with his free hand, his other still clinging to apparently thin air as he maintained his thread.
"I... have found the path," he managed to say almost as if asleep. "Now, I must open the way. I will hold the gate open as long as possible. Good luck!"
Words escaped his clenched teeth, but the language was as ancient as time and sounded like rocks grinding in the depths of the earth to untrained ears. Cadbury seemed to mimic her master's actions, and her little pink eyes rolled back into her head. The mirror wavered like an illusion then grew to a larger size. Images flashed across the surface. A castle, guards, a troop of players, a lone girl carrying a Starbuck's cup making faces into the mirror. The images became chaos, and Thothalas' chant grew to a straining yell. The glass became liquid, bubbling and frothing as if with great heat. Suddenly, the silvery fluid exploded outward and drug the entranced mage into its swirling vortex. He and Cadbury were both half submerged in the bright surface. There was space on either side of him for the others to pass.
"Hurry!" he croaked. "I'll try.... The pain!!! No, no, I'm all right. Find Zakiyah."
He continued to mumble his chant. Spittle ran from his mouth, and a bloody tears ran down his cheek. Cadbury lay as if dead against her master.
Thothalas
