Underworld by M. L. Woolley Page A

runes embedded into them
framed by gold adornment.
    I walk over to the shelves and carefully picked up a
box and open the clasp holding it shut. Inside is a
beautifully etched knife with hand carved ivory
handle. The craftsmanship is so exquisite that I have
to take a closer look. Carved into the handle and
blade are tiny horses in flight and delicate flowers.
The blade is long, curved and razor sharp. When I
hold it up to the light, to better see the artwork, it
glows as though it has a life force of its own. On the
blade the words Anathema are glowing.
I amso preoccupied with the knife that I didn’t hear
     
the door open or notice when Tom slipped inside.
My face flushes at having been caught in the room.
     
“Good morning Ivy.”
    Tom looks deadly serious and is soon joined by
Lizzie. Her hair is rumpled and she has an anxious
expression. Then her face looks pale and sweaty and
it seems like she is going to faint.
    I hadn’t notic
ed that the knife had turned a bright
white and was emitting what looked to be white
flames.
    “I thou
ght she might be the one . Anathema is set apart
for the one appointed to wield her strength.” said
Tom, with a queer smile on his face.
“Bravo. That’s very clever of you Tom.” Said Lizzie
with a scowl
    “Come now,” he smiled. “Why the long face Lizzie
?
We both knew the time would eventually come.”
Lizzie gave him an exasperated look but said nothing
more. Suddenly, they looked into the eastern horizon,
and I saw a bank of dark clouds approaching rapidly.
There was nothing but blackness as far as the eye
could see beyond the first cloud. For a second they
stood quiet still and then Lizzie started to panic.
    “Tom! We must get her out of here now! They will
be here within the hour and she must be back on the
other side.”
    I turned to see what all the commotion is about and
noticed the moon had been mostly blocked out by a
series of moving clouds. As I watched I could make
out the shapes of bodies. The darkness was not
clouds.
“Are they – bats?” I said trying to make sense of the
rapidly moving blackness.
“Come with us Ivy.” Said Tom and he held the door
open for me.
    I glanced at the knife in my hand and began to put it
back in the sheath and reached for the box it had been
in.
    “The
knife, Anathema , was meant for you. Come,
there are a few other things that belong to you as
well”.
    Puzzled, I follow Tom and Lizzie at a half run as they
quickly walk down the corridors inside the house.
They rounded a corner and kept going for some
distance. When they reached a flight of stairs the ran
down taking them two at a time. They halted at a
heavy wooden door leading into a room with no
windows. The floors were stone and the sound of
shoes echoed on the floors. The room was dimly lit
and we crossed the room into another, smaller room.
Hanging from the walls, were all manner of weapons.
I noticed a variety of guns in gun cabinets and walked
in that direction.
    “Those will lend you no support. They are made for
the dimension you are from and will not work against
dark forces.” said Tom.
    Lizzie opened a large trunk off to the side of the room
and pulled out a finely made bow and a quiver of
arrows. The bow was smaller than the ones we used
back home but appeared to be well made. She also
took out some clothing that would serve me much
better than the jeans and hiking boots that I was
currently wearing.
    Lizzie directed me to a bathroom to change and gave
me an encouraging smile. I took the pile of clothing
and changed as quickly as I could. The pants were
light weight but made of a durable material. The
boots were of the same fine material but were not
nearly as heavy as the hiking boots. They feel as
though they are well broken in, although they look as
though they have never been worn. Finally, I finish
dressing and put on a coat with a hood.
    “The jacket will blend in with the environment you
are in and will keep you