The Curse of the Black Piper

Then suddenly, as the group stood on the foredeck by the Tablets, a burst of brilliant light suddenly exploded from the key and like a bolt of lightning, joined with the Tablets which then exploded like a super nova in a burst of ethereal light that momentarily blinded the crew. And when the intense blast of light dispersed and their eyes could see once again, a prodigiously blissful and divine presence could be seen floating in the air off to the starboard side of the Swan. Its light was so overwhelming that it could not be looked at directly and it pulsated with an awesome energy that was pure, powerful and benevolent. “Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!” said Lynne as Bob crossed himself and fell to his knees. The rest of the crew could not speak or move. The creature from Hell had stopped dead in its tracks as the heavenly being hovered and drifted from the starboard side of the Swan to a spot over the boat by the mast. And as the light- being moved, the creature grimaced and held its scaly claws up to shield itself from the penetrating light that emanated from its presence. Then as the crew recovered from their shock, they all noticed that they seemed to exist in a different world, a different dimension perhaps. It was as if they were all in a still life painting. The waves on the ocean that were previously turbulent ceased to move and the wind became non- existent and the clouds had become stationary. In an instant all time had ceased. And yet, they all could see a divine energy everywhere. They could see that the temporal nature of all things was little more than a thin overlaying gasket on the permanent omniscient energy comprising the foundation of the eternal. Then the crew heard the angelic presence speak. It spoke not through symbols or words, but through the pure essence of its intentions. Pulsating with bright ethereal light, it imparted: “that is enough, Wegreog. As you have waited for centuries to return and reap revenge on the world and my disciples, I also have been waiting for you! As the word enabled you to return, the word shall also see you return to your dark and evil domain. You have done much damage in your short time in this realm, but your lies and arrogance will now see retribution. It is time for you to return. This Key has made it so.” Holding its scaly claw up to shield the light, the creature rebutted “you cannot make me go back! The word is not enough anymore. The souls of mankind are lost in a sea of blood, greed and war. Now I rule this realm, Troth. It is you who must return” it screeched in a high pitched whine. “If you wish to make me return, you shall have to force me!” “Let it be done then!” said the heavenly entity. And in the blink of an eye, the incandescent light coalesced and took the striking and imposing form of an ancient Egyptian warrior in battle dress. It was neither man nor woman, but rather a combination of both. Its face exuded breathtaking feminine beauty but it was tall and sinewy and its shining golden hair was pulled back in a braided pony tail which extended halfway down its backside. On its head sat a brightly colored flaming head dress and its muscular upper body was covered with a shimmering gold breast plate. Around its neck was draped a jeweled and inlayed gold and silver brocaded apron. The crew was speechless. At its side a long curved sword with an emerald and ruby inlaid ivory handle was sheathed and in its strapping right hand it held a spear of gold ten feet long. The piercing light from its deep blue eyes shined like two stars in the heavens. And as its whole being radiated with pure light and energy, it raised the spear skyward and a burst of energy like a nuclear blast shot up into the ether and ripped a hole in the static painting-like panorama of the surreal sky like a hot knife through butter. Cringing in horror at the opening of the portal, the creature suddenly transformed itself, this time into a horrifying giant winged griffin with the head of a gargoyle. And in an instant, it soared up into the still frozen sky, emitting a petrifying prehistoric screech as it called back the storm clouds of the tempest from Hell. “Is this really happening?” said Lynne. “I’m afraid so” said Bob. As the storm gathered around the evil beast, the warrior had once again become a bonfire of pure pulsating ethereal light and then fragmented into a hundred smaller balls of light which shot up into the air like ping pong balls from a Super Soaker. Chasing the griffin and its turbulent elements up into the firmament, the spheres of light circled the tumult like sheep dogs, herding the winged beast and its storm back through the portal which had been slashed open by the explosive light from the warrior’s golden spear. But the malevolent creature had its own ideas. Whipping up the previous violent elements of the storm once again, it began to bombard the portal with electric charges, causing the inter-dimensional gash in the stationary heavens to split into two parts like a dividing amoeba. And as the two entities divided, the crew could see two opposing universes develop within the voids of the apertures. One was black as night with wisps of black feathery darkness enveloping the outer edges while the other held light which displayed an opulence of luminosity gushing out through a tunnel like the head light beam from a locomotive. As the crew looked upward, astonished that this all was occurring, the griffin, like a shifty tailback, faked an entry into the black hole and then turned on a dime, dodging between the light spheres. Temporarily outmaneuvering the spheres, it zigged and zagged its way to another space in the heavens where it emitted a deafening roar which thundered from the skies. “EEEEEEEEEEVOOOOOOOOORRRRRR!” came the roar as the crew looked up, covering their ears. And before everyone’s eyes, a third hole in the ether momentarily opened up like a crack in a vase, into which the griffin quickly slipped and then disappeared. The spheres, realizing they had been outmaneuvered, turned also and before the crack could close completely, followed the creature through the same crack and also disappeared, at which time the two other openings disintegrated into nothingness before their eyes. As if waking from a dream, the crew looked at each other and then all around. The physical world had been restored. The wind was blowing again and the frigid swells were once again breaking over the foredeck. Some stars could be seen as the clouds dispersed. And although a great sense of relief and gratitude that they all were still alive settled over the group, they were also still speechless from what they had witnessed.