Part 6 (2/2)
' Why do you neglect me when you are so near? Why do you neglect me when you are so near? ' '
His voice was raging on and it occurred to Victoria, not for the first time, that he must be much changed from the kind and gentle father she had known and loved so much as a child.
She moved along the torchlit corridors, past the halls and kitchens, trying to remember the way, constantly frustrated by the walls and doors that she could pa.s.s directly through in her dreamstate.
Finally, at the end of a pa.s.sage, she saw the great doors that she knew led to the Inner Sanctum. These were barred by a heavy bolt of wood the size of a plank and she could not simply push through.
' Well? How much longer must I wait? Well? How much longer must I wait? ' '
'Where are you?' she called aloud.
' Here. Alone in the darkness. Here. Alone in the darkness. ' '
The voice came from beyond the doors. She set her hands to the wooden bolt and started to push it laboriously away. Her hands were soon full of splinters, but slowly the barrier was yielding. With a final effort, she yanked the bolt free and started to push the doors inwards.
Inside, the chamber was exactly as she had seen it, with an overturned chair, a torn veil and moonlight that cut in through the broken ceiling like a blade.
She leant against the door in despair. 'Now what do I do?'
she complained aloud.
' I am here in the darkness. Find me! I am here in the darkness. Find me! ' '
'Where?' She walked slowly into the Sanctum.
' Here! Here! ' '
A gentle voice at her shoulder startled her.
'Turn back now, Victoria.'
The Abbot Thonmi had been waiting in the shadows inside the door. His crested hat caught the moonlight like the beak of a huge bird of prey. He carried an ornately carved ceremonial staff. Either there was another way into the Sanctum, or the monks had locked him in for his vigil.
' Victoria... Victoria... ' echoed the voice. ' echoed the voice.
'I have to find out,' she protested. 'My father died far away. On another world.'
The old lama's head turned towards her voice. He edged slowly towards her using the staff as a guide.
'There are many other worlds, other planes.'
She reached out to touch his hand. 'But I can hear his voice in my thoughts. He called me and I travelled all this way.'
'No,' insisted the abbot. 'Demons and hungry ghosts steal many shapes. Please turn away, Victoria.'
' Why do you delay? Release me! Why do you delay? Release me! ' '
Her father's voice seemed to be coming from somewhere below. She noticed a shadowed alcove set into the side wall of the Sanctum. There was another arch inside the alcove from which a green glow had started to filter.
'I know he's here.' She started to move towards the alcove, but the abbot's staff swung up to block her way.
'A second time I ask, what do you seek?'
'What have you done to him?' she demanded. She pushed against the staff, but he held her firmly, forcing her back.
' I am alone in the darkness, I am alone in the darkness, ' the voice groaned despairingly. ' the voice groaned despairingly.
'Do not disturb it,' warned the lama. 'It is not not your father. It is delusion!' your father. It is delusion!'
The staff pinned her to the wall.
' Victoria! Victoria! ' '
'Let me through!' she shouted.
'I cannot!'
It was more than she could bear. 'What are you hiding here? Who is it then?'
'For the third time I ask, what do you seek?
'I want the truth!' she cried in despair.
There were long moments as her plaint echoed away through the cold arches of Det-sen.
At last, the Abbot Thonmi turned wearily away from her.
His will and spirit were finally broken.
'You were expected,' he said quietly. 'My task is ended. I cannot prevent your journey into the dark.' He ceremonially raised his ornate staff towards her. 'Perhaps Truth may light your way.'
Victoria stared in disbelief at the frail and blind old man.
'Take it!' he insisted.
Bewildered, she took the staff from his outstretched hands and watched as he started to grope his way out of the open Sanctum door.
There was a low moan from the depths.
<script>