It was a lot harder for Ariel to calm down than it should have been. She still could not believe what she had just witnessed. The walk had been quiet – both her and Kessler had been immersed in their own thoughts. None of them felt like voicing what went through their heads.
She sat down on her knees and leaned forward so her forehead touched the ground. She placed her hands besides her head with palms downward. At the giggle from Kessler she shot him a stern glance.
“No interruptions, or you should leave”.
“It just looks like you’re praying. You look kinda silly. Sorry. Do you really think Mother Nature speak to you?”
“She speaks to us all. Some of us are just better at listening”. Not confusing that as obeying. “It helps me focusing”, Ariel said irritated. “Touching the ground, that is. Go. Be quiet. I need to concentrate. Make sure nobody disturbs me”.
Kessler shrugged but his eyes said it all. He sat down on his skateboard while he scanned the area around them. He started humming until she shot him another glance.
“Sorry”, he mouthed.
Ariel closed her eyes and wished she was naked. It would be so much easier. It was not Kessler or any of the others that prevented her, but more the thought of being way to vulnerable when she was not quite sure what to expect. The effect was a two way street.
She extended her senses outwards through her limbs and forehead. The ground greeted her with a soft vibration waking up to her awareness. She extended her senses further towards the pyramid greeting the plants she encountered. They guided her without problems to the base of the temple. The air felt warmer as her awareness touched the stones. Still crawling upwards the breeze told her of cracks hidden from human eyes.
The air rippled in a pattern that indicated something mechanical and Ariel guessed it had to be one of the drones. Which made her aware that there was no indication of life near the pyramid. Only plants but no echoes of any living creatures.
She probed deeper into the earth. There had to be insects there at least. None. She probed the cracks in the stone. Still none.
The quietness was the first warning sign. The ripples beneath her fingers the second. By the third warning Ariel had opened her eyes and lifted her head. She tried to control her breathing, but earth clung to her face making it difficult breathing.
“Come on!” she said disbelieving. “I didn’t do anything!”
Her voice snapped Kessler to attention.
“Everything okay Ariel?”
“No not really. But don’t come near me! And don’t do anything!” She would have held up one of her hands to stop him but dared not move it off the ground.
The earth began to shift under her and now the moisture was prominent. Ariel felt it seep up from the ground as if she had called to it. Earth began to change into mud underneath her and she sank just a centimeter.
“What is happening?”
“Would you believe me if I said welcome committee?”
She sank faster and now she could feel the panic starting to set in. She lifted one of her arms and groped for drier earth. Her hands found only grass that turned into the same vines that covered the pyramid. She sighed in relief as they turned out to be firm.
Slowly on all four she crawled out of mud hole that had formed around her. Kessler stood anxious and watched, his skateboard in both hands and, Ariel was sure ready to cast some sort of spell that just would make everything worse.
Finally she felt solid ground and she gasped for breath as she lay on her back. Everything around her was calm again. Her arms hurt. So did the rest of her body that had been immersed in the mud. Small scratches covered her arms and legs where stones, roots and vines had cut into her. She really wished she was back home in her nice little shop talking to nice customers. Instead she was here.
“I’m fine now, Kessler. You can relax”.
“Lord! What happened there Ariel? Were you attacked or something?”
Ariel wiped her face with her sleeve while she considered her answer.
“Or something”. She really needed to heed the covens teaching more. Old school had never occurred to her. It made sense though. Not many witches around these parts.
She had received the message. Loud and clear.
“I know where we can enter the temple. And I need to make a sacrifice”.