She whacks me with the cane over my bare arms. It’s not too harsh this time around, though.
“Are you softening up on me, old crone?” I tease with a smirk.
She whacks my sides, not as gently. I wince.
“Talk some more and see where that takes you,” Kazh deadpans.
And here I thought we were bonding.
With a sigh, I close my eyes and engage my core. I tense the muscles as hard as I can.
“Your buttocks! Don’t want to see no loose buttocks, dipshit.”
I obey her. Not sure how long I can hold the tension like this. The burn builds quickly.
Kazh begins to tap her cane. Then to rattle her bracelets.
The symphony of sounds is uncomfortable. Not because it’s annoying to the ear, but there’s something about the rhythm and the notes that makes me uneasy.
I acknowledge that feeling and let go of it.
“As you hold the tension, reach deep within your mind,” Kazh orders.
I do, wading through my cleared mind towards the darkness that looms at the edge.
“Don’t force it,” she says, her voice sounding a little farther away now.
The tapping and jiggling is just as present, though. As if she were doing it straight in my ear.
“Surrender to your mind. Be present within it. Observe.”
I do as she says.
Inch by inch, I get closer to the misty fog, but I don’t push against it like I did the last time. I let it linger there while I linger on the edge.
“Don’t let go of the burning of your muscles,” Kazh orders. She’s even farther away now. “Do you see the door to your subconscious anywhere?”
I scan the landscape of my mind. It takes me a while to notice the door that appears out of thin air on my left. It’s glowing red.
Bloodred.
“Yes,” I murmur.
It’s my lips moving, but the sound of my voice is foreign to my ears.
“Focus,” Kazh says. “Focus on the burning of the flesh and enter.”
I pause. My heart races in my chest, and for a moment I think I can’t do it.
But then, I reach for the handle and before I know it, the door’s open and I’m stepping through it.
Pitch-black darkness envelops me. The burning of my muscles eases a tad, the sound of the rattling and tapping dulling.
“Remain grounded in your physical body.” Kazh’s voice is barely audible now.
To my surprise, here I find no fear. Just serene quietness.
That’s until a familiar figure appears in front of it. Daegel.
