The Tale of Amaretto

Twenty-Ninth Grain

In Which the Door is Opened and a Daemon Confronted...

The doors in front of them were covered in gilt and stood tall and imposing in front of the women. The dark maple monstrosity in front of them made Amaretto shiver as she inspected them. Carvings of all kinds were displayed in the wood. Most of them were strange symbols that Amaretto didn't understand. It wasn't that she really wanted to understand them, she realized, she just wanted this whole thing to be over. As she stared at the door she had a rather gruesome thought. She turned to her aunt and bit her lip before she spoke

"So what we are looking for is behind that door correct?"

Katherine turned from looking at the door to look at Johanna. Johanna made a mute nod. Katherine turned back to her god-daughter and shook her head in the affirmative as well. "That would seem to be the case."

Amaretto frowned and then said, "What if there is a squad of goons on the other side of the door?"

Katherine raised an eyebrow. "How on earth did you come up with a squad of goons?"

Amaretto nodded her head emphatically. "I'm just saying, what if there was another set of those IronMen that we have been dealing with this whole time? What if they are waiting just inside the doors?"

Alice pointed her gun at the door. "You have your ring and I have my guns. I think we would be able to handle them."

Amaretto shook her head. "No, that's not what I mean. What if there are more than what we can handle? What if we try to shoot our way in and there are just simply too many of them and they overwhelm us? What do we do then?"

Alice furrowed her eyebrows and then said, "Are you trying to think of a doomsday plan for all of us love? I mean, it sounds more like you are trying to prevent us from going through the door. If the Stone of Communication is on the other side of this door, we should be busting it down in order to make sure that we get what it is that we want."

Amaretto shrugged and looked down at the carpeting. "I'm just saying I don't really want to die at this moment in time."

Alice was about to say something when Johanna placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "She is on strange soil, helping us do a strange deed, in strange times. It is no wonder that she would be concerned for herself and her aunt."

Katherine smirked and opened her purse. After reaching a hand in there, she began to rummage though the contents in a frantic manner. "I might have something that will give us the upper hand, just let me..." She continued to search her purse until finally she said, "I have it!" She looked up at the other women with a maniacal grin. "Just open the door and I will have at them. No need to worry, this is fool-proof." Katherine still had her hand in her purse.

Amaretto pointed to the purse. "What are you hiding?"

"I'm not hiding anything," her aunt said a little hurt. "I just think that the element of surprise will work better. This way if they are truly watching us, which I doubt that they are, then I think this will be an excellent surprise."

Amaretto gave her aunt a withering stare. "If that's what you think it is, then I won't stop you at all. Go ahead and just do it then."

Katherine took a deep breath and then nodded her head. "All right then... open the doors."

Alice took both of her pistols and aimed them at the door. Amaretto held up her ring just a little below her chest. Her breath was a little ragged from having to take out so many of the IronMen, but she was sure that her aunt would protect her. Even still, she was worried about what would happen once the doors opened. As if for a secondary precaution, she quickly thought in the back of her head, "Tempus!"