Chapter 22 (Raw)

It's been many hours, days or weeks since Eddie had been confined in a windowless dungeon with no doors or gate, filled with debris. There was no way Eddie could tell how long timed had Anxiety was starting to get the best Eddie as he was screaming for help and in return all he got was his voiced, echoing off the brick walls of the dungeon. Luck finally found him when he found passage through the pile of debris and ruined furniture. He was covered in filth, scouring through what appeared to be remnants of an old fashion shelve for toys. The felt insects crawling over him. Light began to dim as he squirmed more profoundly. Small light beams seeped through the openings of the debris were only his light source.

His vision slightly blurry. Observing his surrounding to get a better picture where he was, he found himself, locked in a spacious dungeon room filled with rubbish and debris. There was no door. On the brick walls, he saw skeletons of human remains shackled and hung alongside the dungeon brick walls. Most children his age would have screamed, but he was more intrigued and astonished than scared.

The passage was too narrow that only children could fit. The tunnel beneath the pile had some twist that made it more difficult to maneuver. How long he had been under the wreckage he couldn't tell, but he knew he had been crawling for quite some time. Eddie lifted his shirt and shield his face from the dust that he might inhaled. Mom told him that most house dust contains germs and bacteria.

The air around him suddenly shifted as the silver key in his hand started to glow in his pocket. Eddie shrieked as the floor suddenly beneath him gave away. He slid through slope face first. Bracing himself for impact, he protected his face with his arms, sliding out from the slipway. He landed in a haystack. His shirt and pants were filled with hay. He removed much of them as possible before glancing about a the slipway.

“Grandma?” He shouted. “Is anybody up there?”

No response. Eddie's stomach churned. Was this the punishment that Grandma had in store for him because he could possibly killed his own mother? There had to be a logical explanation to all of this. Of course, Eddie thought. It's all the work of seidr. Observing his surrounds, he was one in a dungeon of a castle. There were mounted torches that made the room more visible. It was not a dungeon at all. He was in an very ancient outdated armory. There racks filled with melee weapons on the left side. The right, had all the archery from crossbows to bows, musket and rifles.

Forwardly, passed the set of weapons had nothing but pitch black. Eddie picked up a pebble the size of quarter coin and flung it into the dark. He waited a minute and there was no sound. It picked up another pebble, but this time choose to toss it up right and let if fell onto the brick floor, leaving a loud echoing thump. The first stone had traveled father than he thought.

“Whoa!” he exclaimed awfully. “What is this place?” Eddie stroked the longsword with his index finger. To his surprise, it never accumulated dust at it would normal do after many years or centuries. This placed looked as it was well maintained. Hauling it was a mistake that nearly cost him his right arm. The sword was too heavy to for him to wield and it feel out of his hands very dangerously, clattering on impact with the ancient stone floor.

“Oops,” he berated himself. The longsword was too heavy to hoist over his head, so he leaned it against the wall, making sure it would not fall. A hideous roar caroused through the slipway had made all the hairs on the nape of his neck pricked. His skin was crawling with goosebumps. “That does not sound like good news.”

The roar came again very louder that it shook the armory like an aftershock. The ceiling cracked as showers of wall dust rained upon him. Eddie's heart raced. Gathering hit wits, he removed one of the wooden traditional bows from the rack. The length of that projectile weapon was nearly the length of him. Studying it, it was the first generation recurvebow from Renaissance Era.

Testing the dexterity of the bowstring, Eddie drew the bowstring. Failing to do so, so he disregarded it and selected a more modern brand. He selected a compound bow that doesn't require any strength to nock an arrow. This bow was made out of black stainless steel and it was a compound crossbow. Eddie trained with bow and arrows since he was five years old back in Michigan. His precision and accuracy was superb for a mere child his age. He could shoot a soda can hundred yards away. Eddie drew the bowstring and locked in the notch. A compound bow would certainly increase his firing range.

The spillway light up with spectacular orange eyes. Now he could hear the beat of drums playing. Maybe it was the racing beat of his heart. Grabbing the quiver off the rack, fastening it around his waist, the archery rack suddenly shifted rapidly into the abyss corner of the armory and vanished from sight.

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“Okay,” he said to reassuring himself, “this is starting to get weirder by the moment. I must be dreaming.” He glanced at the melee weapons. The drums were getting louder that Eddie spontaneously reached out and grabbed the the ten-inch survivors hatched. Like the set of long distance weapons, the shelve with the melee weapons vanished.

More torches had lit further away. He was now able to see the entire room. He was in an underground sewer. He could see multiple spillways on from right to left side of the sewer much higher up. Forward, there was an altar or murals, glowing green. The distance to the other side of the sewer was half a football. Eddie starting jogging, putting the drumming and roars behind him.

Suddenly, the drumming came to a complete stop. Then suddenly, the spillway was flooded with swirls of inferno. The blazing flames ravaged the sewers as it took form of a gigantic beast nearly two stories high. Fear had mad him fumble a arrow. He had no time picking up from the floor as he reached for another from his quiver and hesitatingly took a shot at the gigantic fiend. The arrow was on target as it passed through the fire demon's mouth. The arrow was incinerated. The menacing beast roar with anger.

The bow fell out of his hand instantly as he sprinted full speed. The strap kept the bow slung to him. It was dangling from the side of his waist. Heat wave after heat wave surged pass him. Eddie sprinted into the abyss like corridor trying to put distance between him and the inferno creature. In moments all light and audio became silent. The corridor was pitch black that he couldn't see a thing. Then the most eerie feeling besides not being able to see thing is that he could not feel his feet making any contact with the floor as if he was floating.

In the far distance, a shooting star zipped past him on the right. Then the room came to life with the image of constellation of stars and outer space. Eddie floating into as stars and meteorites passed him. His body drifted out of control as if he were swimming in a stream. He approached a meteor field. He imagined colliding into of those monolithic meteors would be very unpleasant. Using his swimming instincts, he swam clear of the meteor only to have another to obstruct his path.

Weaving around each meteor got cozier. As he made the final past immense meteor, he drifted clear of the field. Ahead was an asteroid that glowed florescent green. Drifting closer, he passed several debris that were ruined ancient statues of an unknown civilization. He could see a ruins of was once to be an advance kingdom, ruled by far superior beings that gone far beyond the limitations of mankind, seated very well on the asteroid.

There were busted stone stairs leading up to the ruins as the magical gravitational pull was wheeling him in closer. All

gravity had return once he stepped foot on the steps. There was no way he could get to the higher floor without the stairway intact. A yellow shimmering light blinded him. His dukes were shielding the bright golden beam from his eyes. As the light decimated, Eddie opened his eyes and saw a spiral transparent rainbow pathway that led up to the ruins. Testing the path with his right foot, stomping the rainbow. It was solid as concrete. Eddie cautiously walked the pathway cautiously. There were nothing but stone pillars that stone pillars that once held the upper floors of the hall or chamber in place.

Debris from the ancient ruins great hall or chamber had no gravity to them, so they remained floating and drifting all around. Out of curiosity, Eddie pluck one floating pebble and observed it with curiosity. Nothing about the pebble was out of the ordinary. Eddie released, thinking that it would still float. Instead, it dropped as it had gravity, clattering next and anchored there.

“Woo! That's weird. This place is very strange.”

“Indeed it is young one.”

“Who said that,” he jolted. “Who's th-there?” he said it faintly without courage.

“Welcome to my domain, young master Ferguson. I have been waiting for your arrival for a very long. You are worthy of knowledge that only a few humans in your world possessed.”

Eddie thought he was staring at an apparition as it appeared out of nowhere. What he was staring at was a silhouetted face of a dragon's face about six feet fall, embedded in flames. One monster after another, Eddie thought as he became more frightened.

“Do not be alarm. Come closer. No harm will come to you.”

“Where am I Am I in the dream or something. I do not understand what I'm seeing—”

“And experiencing? Not very far from the truth. Your body is resting in a comma while your mind has been pulled to my domain. This domain operates in deepest part of your subconscious mind. I can control your intellects and all matter that makes your mind. I can manipulate the images you see, feel and experience every mirage I create. I have complete control over your senses.”

“I don't understand,” he shrugged, “Hows this happening? Did Grandma punished me this way?”

“Your grandmother loves you dearly, young master Ferguson. She will never abuse you in any manner. This is no punishment. They do not know that I'm speaking with you.

“Where am I? Who are you? What are you?”

The creature chuckled, “You already know the answer to that. I have been with you almost your entire existence. I have been in hybridization for nearly ten years but I know whats transpiring around you through your eyes and ears.”

“Your that Fire Elder Dragon ?” Eddie shuddered.

But at the same time, he was excited to meet such a godly creature in person.

“I'm am Sigmund. The Nine-winged dragon of the Nine Worlds. As for this location, this astral plane is or was once Asgard. The kingdom of the Aesir Gods all in ruins.”

“Asgard . . . wow! Nine-wings? Awesome! Just like the Nine-tailed fox inside Ramen Ninja Boy!”