Into Oblivion (Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

dimensions,” Farouk replied. “I felt the same thing near Kronos’ temple. What I have learned is that the temples of the Firstborn are portals into parallel dimensions. It is in the temples that the barriers between realms are… thinner. That is, the fabrics of different realities are closer together.”
    Though Aeli nodded in understanding, Adder scratched his head, chuckling. “You lost me,” he said.
    Farouk grinned. “Fortunately, your place is here in the forest,” he said. “And you fill the shoes of your predecessors well, from what I hear.”
    “They were big shoes to fill.”
    “Tell me,” Farouk began. “When you felt the presence, was it a physical sensation or simply an intuition?”
    Adder stood, shaking his head. “I’m not sure; perhaps a little of both.”
    “And Jodocus?” Aeli asked.
    “He was more attuned to the physical,” Adder said. “It seemed that way, anyway. The rest of us just felt an intuition. It was the same feeling you get when you know you are being watched. Whatever was here passed through without a sound. It was as if it weren’t really here, and could only be felt.”
    “It returns,” Farouk said.
    Adder and Aeli both sensed the presence again, training their awareness on the movements it made. Again, there was no sound, only the increasing sense of its presence. Belo stopped, hovering in the air near Farouk.
    “It’s coming closer,” Adder said.
    Aeli stepped forward, holding her staff before her. Sadness began to appear on her face, as if she were feeling the same emotions that Jodocus had described. Farouk felt it as well, and he looked to Adder to see if the Ranger could feel.
    “Great sadness,” Farouk said.
    Adder shook his head. “Nothing,” he said. “Only its presence.”
    “I wonder if it is aware that we are here,” Aeli thought out loud.
    “It may not be attuned to these things,” Farouk explained. “But then, Adder should not be, either. It is only his skills and training that makes him sensitive. Whatever is here may not even be aware of us. However, it seems to be looking for something.”
    “You have abilities that none of us have, Farouk,” Aeli said. “Perhaps you should investigate. I should be returning to Jodocus. There is nothing I can do here.”
    Farouk nodded in agreement. “There is no threat to the balance,” he said. “None that I can feel. But, like you, I am curious.”
    “What will you do?” Adder asked.
    “I think it is time to test my new abilities,” Farouk said. “I will try to enter its realm.”
    Adder looked to Aeli in question as Farouk stood facing away from them.
    “The Universal Powers have given me abilities unlike those of my peers or my predecessors,” Farouk explained, turning to Adder. “And the life forms within my staff’s gem have accentuated these powers.”
    “I still don’t understand.”
    “Multiple dimensions exist within the same space, Adder. They are separated only by variations in the frequency in which they vibrate, so to speak. These dimensions lie side by side, like sheets of fabric. Sometimes, as they oscillate, areas of two or more dimensions may drift closer together; even collide. When that happens, travel between them is possible.”
    “So if I understand correctly, this being is in another reality, and its own reality is closer to ours in this area of the forest?”
    Farouk grinned. “That is essentially correct,” he said. “Perhaps you should have been a philosopher rather than a thief.”
    “Correction, sir,” Adder interjected with a sly smile. “I am a Ranger now.”
    The Druid chuckled, turning back in the opposite direction. The two watched as he held out his staff, apparently getting a sense for the strongest area of the disturbance. Aeli watched in awe, hoping that someday she, too, would be able to cross dimensions.
    “I am envious,” she said. “It would be an extraordinary thing to travel to different worlds.”
    “I have enough trouble keeping