Khaendan
Greyson glanced over the itinerary for her upcoming trip. The heavy
cream paper, embossed with the insignia of the Talamasca, detailed
the meetings, flights, briefings, and other such activities for the
upcoming expedition to Bavaria, Germany, high in the Alps, to study a
recent chain of paranormal occurrences the Elders were interested in.
This was Khaen's first real assignment outside of London and the
outlying cities. Despite being in the presence of the Elders when the
news was delivered, she jumped and squealed for joy, and nearly
hugged one of them before coming to her senses. Thrilled by the
prospect of not only visiting another country, but to be part of an
observance such as this, she began to ready herself immediately. The
week since she had received the news had been filled with
preparations, shopping, and research of the reports from that area as
well as the local people and any illnesses they may expect. Even
though she had completed medical school and believed in modern
medicine, her minor in anthropology and her studies thereof had lent
a hand to her use of homeopathic remedies. She packed accordingly,
hoping her herbs and such would arrive safe and unharmed.
The flight
from London went directly to Munich and the small group of
Talamascans found themselves in Bavaria within five hours. They, of
course, were met by another group of the same from the motherhouse
located in Southern Germany, who brought them up to speed. There was
reason to believe that the occurrences were caused by witches, though
the Mayfairs on New Orleans denied any involvement to their
knowledge. “Observe the dark realm but be not of it.” Her
mentor had reminded Khaen before she departed London. This was the
one of the founding principles of the order, one that Khaen found
difficult to abide by. Her curiosity was enormous, often landing her
in trouble, but she felt that it was worth the knowledge she gained.
Once
settled into the motherhouse, located in Schwangau, at the base of
the castle Neuschwanstein, Khaen was eager to set to work. Forget the
jet-lag and sampling of local cuisine (which she intended to do while
she was there); she wanted to get out there and get her hands dirty.
Armed with her cell phone, a small first aid kit, a journal, and
trail mix and water, she bundled into her newly acquired cold weather
attire and saddled a horse, taking off towards to mountains to
explore and investigate.
The
scenery alone was enough to make the trip worth her while. Khaendan
found herself deep within the forest within hours of departure from
the motherhouse; it was as if the forest itself was enchanted, and
for all she knew, it was. The Talamasca had, no doubt, seen stranger
things than an enchanted forest. The air around her seemed to hum and
every piece of foliage glowed with life. She took pictures of
everything, suddenly thankful for her overly large storage card in
her camera. She hoped that maybe she may even find some evidence of
the supernatural activity they were tracking on her photographs while
inspecting them later on. She frequently jotted notes in her book,
all of which were probably nothing, but she didn't want to miss a
single detail.
Several
hours of riding and walking had started to wear on Khaendan. She was
fit, but she opted to spend most of her time in a lab or with her
nose in a book rather than outdoors. She found a clearing and tied
the horse to a tree and walked to the center of the clearing,
stretching her arms above her head. As she went to sit on what
appeared to be a pile of rocks, her eyes caught something else. An
opening in the rocks, almost like a cubbyhole. Kneeling down, she
reached her hand inside slowly, unsure of what she may encounter.
Feeling around, she found several objects and pulled them out. A
chalice, a bowl, several bundles of herbs, candles.
She knew
what she had stumbled upon. This was an altar. The items were
engraved with runes; she couldn't decipher what they meant but she
was sure there was something in the Talamascan database that could
tell her. Snapping several pictures of each item, she placed them
back and took a few shots of the altar itself and the surrounding
area. She didn't wish to linger any longer than she had to, lest the
owner of the altar return, but she wasn't ready to return to the
motherhouse.
Due to the
lush canopy of the forest, she was unable to see the graying skies
above her that signaled the coming rain, freezing rain that would
soak her to the bone. Pulling her jacket tighter, she mounted up and
continued on her journey deeper into the forest, heading closer to
the mountains. Within one half on an hour, the rain began to fall.
She panicked, knowing that she was too far from the town to try and
turn around. Mountains like this always had little caves, openings,
something to shelter her from the rain. Or at least, they did in all
the books and movies. She dug her heels into the horse, spurring it
forward. The rain was seeping through her clothing faster than she
cared and if she couldn't find shelter soon, she would surely catch
her death in this storm.
There,
just ahead! She saw something that looked like an opening in the
mountain wall. She prayed it was big enough for her to squeeze into;
not that it had to be huge, she was a tiny little thing, barely
standing over five feet and weighing maybe 130 pounds soaking wet.
She rushed forward, practically leaping off her horse to investigate
the entrance. She quickly grabbed her saddlebag and rushed into the
cave. She hadn't thought to bring a flashlight and she wasn't sure
how deep the cave went, so she opted to sit right inside and wait out
the storm. Exhausted, she felt her eyes slip closed; she fought the
sleep but knew that it was futile. The sounds of the rain lulled her
to sleep and she slid down the wall until she was a tiny heap on the
floor.
A crash of
lightning crashed and Khaen awoke, screaming. Her voice echoed
through the cave, coming back to her with eerie resonance. The rain
had slowed outside, but not enough to venture home. She sat up and
wrapped her arms around her to help shield off the cold, hoping that
the rain would stop and she could find her way back to food and a
warm bed. She heard something moving deeper in the cave, or was it
just the wind and the rain blowing outside? Either way, she just
wanted to get back to the motherhouse where it was safe, dry, and
warm.
