Granny's Cabin I

Pulling up to the cabin, Damian saw that little had changed since their last visit.

The trees here were ominous, not really someplace you wanted to cross into willingly. But once through, the forest edge revealed a peaceful little field, with an abandoned cabin resting on the flattest spot of the wobbly land. Something about the way the light hit the building made it always inviting, no matter the time or weather.

“I love this spot,” Ash said as she pulled up to the front. “Life feels easier here.”

They collected their gear and shut the doors on the car with a satisfying FWOOMP. “Don’t jinx it,” Damian said. “You may as well walk in and announce ‘I’m headed to the basement! Alone! In case any people-eating canyon-cracks want to swallow me whole!’” Damian smiled, pleased with himself.

“Yeah, well jokes on you, Breachbait, because there IS no basement,” Ash said.

“The Breach’ll just make you one,” Damian said, his amusement fading at the idea.

“Yeah, fair,” Ash replied. She jostled the doorknob, gave the door a thwudump with her fist and the door creaked open, welcoming them in.

“Let’s head to the loft, there’s good light in there,” Ash said.

They worked their way to the back of the cabin to a small raised room on the ground floor. It was only up a couple of steps, but on their first visit, Ash had said it was “like being in a loft” and the name stuck.

Sunlight streamed in through multiple windows, including through a cleverly integrated skylight that didn’t quite fit the style of the space, but somehow worked anyway. The light flooded this room with a magical quality, elevating it from the rest of the cabin.

They each dropped into a chair, little poofs of dust poofing their best poofs.

“Alright,” Damian said after a moment. “Let’s do it.”

Damian and Ash sat down across from each other around the small table. They skipped the chairs that were there, and sat on the floor. Settling in to what looked like any other meditation pose, they both relaxed, breathing opposite each other and creating an energetic wave between them.

As they sat, they each worked their own magic in their minds. Ash had always wondered what Damian’s must look like to him — she imagined his was much more structured than hers. She saw colors weave around in circles in her mind. She found the purple, and pulled it forward in her imagination until it filled her mental view. While she did this, Damian located the right shade of purple from the color wheel in his mind, and imagined pulling it toward himself, until it filled his mental screen.

They held their hands out as though they were warming them on invisible fires. Each concentrating on their colors, the cabin began to rumble. Damian opened one eye, peeking around room to make sure the only thing rumbling was the furniture, and not a new Breach. So far, so good, and he closed his eye to match the other one.

The rumbling settled into a low hum, as the cabin and field found resonance with each other. With their eyes closed, neither magician saw the violet glow growing above the table between them.

Damian called to Bob in his mind. Hey man, you ready?

Bob squirmed in agreement. He had waited too long already.

Damian pictured Bob in his mind, moving him toward the purple. He directed Bob toward the light in his mind, as he had done with the Bobs before this one. Meanwhile, Ash imagined her color as support, like she’d been taught, and pushed it in her mind toward Dame.

Damian didn’t know what this process achieved, not exactly — no one did, it was just what they were taught. He knew the Bobs would “move along” somehow, and he knew it settled the tremors in an affected region. But where they went, what was happening, no one seemed to know. He didn’t understand why no one questioned it, including himself. Especially himself.

Bob eagerly raced forward, and the cabin walls growled.

Not so fast, Bob, Damian thought. You’ve got to go easy or you’ll blow the connection. Bob slowed his roll and moved toward the bright space in Damian’s mind. He was almost toward the cross-over point (cross-over to where, to where) when a rumble started in the table.

“Dame…” Ash said, nervously, her eyes closed. “Damian, I think it’s here.”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Damian muttered. Suddenly Bob’s careful movements toward his goal felt impossibly slow.

The rumbling in the table seemed to transfer to the room, where it met the quaking that was already happening in the ground outside. Dusty trinkets began slamming to the floor in the tiny cabin, just as they had done in the apartment building miles away. Thankfully already sitting down, Dame and Ash kept their minds on task.

“He’s almost there,” Damian said, as Bob entered the light. “He’s—“

Just as Bob crossed into the center of the purple portal that should have sent him safely to (wherever they go) a loud KEEERACK echoed through the forest. Tree after tree was splitting in two, cracking the air as they imploded.

“Damian!” Ash cried, as her eyes flew open.

Damian looked out the window. A large Breach was ravaging the earth directly toward them. He’d never seen anything like it, it was as if it had followed them here. Like they were being hunted.

“Fuck!” He yelled.

Just as the Breach was about to hit the side of the cabin, white exploded through the air leaving nothing visible (with everything visible).

The shaking stopped, and the brightness receded. The two magicians stared at the middle of the room.

Bob was floating over the table.