The Magician’s War (Chapter 8)
The 4th Level Of Hell was pitch black.
Anika gave all night vision sight for that.
The panthers instantly turned black again.
What they saw looked pretty grim.
Barren land with many crags and boulders.
Like it was wrecked by a bull dozer
The sun seldom shined on this planet.
All was dark, even the granite.
The wand indicated the way to go.
It was time to start this little show.
They came to a narrow pass.
Looked like a cave, but rather crass.
High cliffs on each side coming closer at the top.
With a very narrow passage. Dead end, or not??
They started on their way through.
Then, overhead, something flew.
They saw indescribable critters everywhere.
Outlined in a violet glow that would scare.
All looked deadly in multiple ways.
They were approaching on their prey.
Anika pulled out her sword and frowned.
The sound of the sword echoed all around.
She knew she could make a bright light.
But, that would destroy their precious sight.
She hacked and chopped and cut her way.
The others fought like hell that day.
The panthers were raising holy hell.
Pern was attacking flying things as well.
They made it a long distance down the pass.
To many critters. They were trapped, at last.
They knew the ending was coming soon.
Then, something changed. They had room.
The critters were all going away.
Light was coming in. It was day.
They ran out the end of the pass.
The portal was close now, at last.
They saw the path of the sun.
Only up for a very short run.
Then darkness would come again.
The next time, it would be the end.
They saw the portal open wide.
They ran through to the other side.
The 5th Level Of Hell opened to a sea.
They were on shore, but they could see.
What happened here I can’t now repeat.
I will tell you next time we meet.
———————————R.W. Johnson—–(2017)