The Power Carried In

2) Mud Hut

There was the deafening sound of ocean waves, the intense light, and now everything was quiet.  Pilar was uncertain of everything except that she was standing, her eyes were closed, her heart was pounding and her hands were trembling.

"My God, have I been abducted by aliens?' she thought.  She was hesitant to open her eyes, terrified that she was in a space-ship and about to be prodded by a little green man.

"Thanks be to the elements!" said a voice.

"OK - OK they are telepathically communicating with me," thought Pilar.  Then her sense of smell kicked in and she was nearly overwhelmed by the mixed orders of smoke, spices, and something that was pungent and earthy.  It was not pleasant and shocked Pilar's senses, compelling her to open her eyes and look around.

She was relieved to see a human standing in front of her!

It was an old woman, dressed in dirty, torn, rough weaved cloth and scraps of leather, but oddly enough, in a weird way she was attractive.  Her hair was long and gray, some of which was bound up in braids or with cord, and she had small bits of bone and shell tied in it.  She was holding a broom upright in her left hand and was pointing a ruler-sized stick at Pilar with her right.

"Not aliens... definitely not aliens," Pilar thought.  Then she asked, "are you pointing that stick at me?" with a hint of disbelief.

"The book brought you here, yes?  Because I have been waiting for you," stated the old woman in a coarse voice, hissed out like a whisper.

"The book - what do you know about the book?  Where the hell am I, who are you, and what's with the stick?  Is it a wand, are you some kind of witch,  because you look like... like,  a homeless Hermoine Granger!"  The shock was wearing off and now Pilar was pissed and wanted answers.

"I am Jast and yes, I am a witch, and yes the book brought you here, which means I brought you here.  When you spoke the words on the final page, you ignited the magic that opened a portal and carried you here," stated the old woman as she lowered her wand.

"So, you're a witch... can you fly that thing?" Pilar asked with a little trepidation and more than a little sarcasm, as she motioned toward the broom in Jast's hand.

Jast seemed taken aback and looking at her broom stated "this, fly... no, this is for cleaning."

Pilar immediately felt like an idiot, but brushing it off, decided to seek some real information about her situation.

"So why... why, would you rig a magic book to kidnap someone," replied Pilar as she looked around the small room, which appeared to be a dome-shaped hut, made primarily of sticks and mud.  A small stone fireplace protected a dying cooking fire over which hung a metal pot.  Dried herbs or plants hung from the ceiling as did other odd-looking objects including dead animals.

"The book brought you here to help us - before we are all gone."

"So who's we? and what do you mean help you?" asked Pilar, who was just beginning to get her head around the teleportation thing.

"You must help us cleanse the elements... before its too late."

"Too late, what does that mean?"

"Before we die, and you will die with us."

***