CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: THE VOYAGE OUT

The Ways of God, as in Providence, are not as our ways; nor are the models that we frame in any way commensurate to the vastness, profundity and inscrutability of His works, which have a depth in them greater than the well of Democritus. – Joseph Glanville

No more than half an hour after the events of Chapter Fifteen, Makoto and Telessa departed with the blessings of all their friends ringing in their ears. Before long, they were soaring over the River of God. The immense waterway stretched more than six thousand miles, so that one end knew day while the other endured night. Temperature differences bred winds that herded oceans of fog over the water-filled chasm, which was at least two hundred and fifty fathoms deep. Makoto had been here before, but the fact that he now knew the River's origins made him see it in a new light and invoked a sense of terror in his mind – terror at the Eye of God's immense power.

The southward portion of the journey was uneventful to the extent of monotony. When the time came to make the great southwesterly turn, however, the calmness ceased. Makoto and Telessa became eyewitnesses to awesome displays of Nature's power.

The sky blackened and came alive with tremendous bursts of lightning. Rain beat down like innumerable war-hammers and the sphere of air serving as Makoto and Telessa's mode of transport was buffeted by forceful winds that howled like tortured souls. Telessa was triumphant in staving off the strong air currents but the lightning bothered her, and she descended to wave-top altitude as an evasive measure. The river's colossal waters then reared their heads above the duo like humungous demons of the deep, but before Telessa's magic, they were like demons confined to simple threats, and unable to destroy.

It was Makoto who spotted the surf heaving beneath them and shouted a warning. Telessa swiftly raised her hands and bathed the sphere in a protective, element-repelling aura of great energy. She acted not a moment too soon – an enormous waterspout erupted around them a split second afterwards.

The sphere gave a wild lurch to starboard. Blind panic gripped Makoto and, for some seconds, he clung tightly to the hem of Telessa's robe, not daring to open his eyes. Then, he took courage and joined her in looking once again on the scene.

Never would Makoto forget the sensation of horror, amazement and admiration with which he gazed about them. The sphere appeared to be hanging midway down upon the interior surface of a funnel vast in circumference and prodigious in depth. This shaft's perfectly smooth sides might have been mistaken for ebony but for the bewildering rapidity with which they spun around and for the gleaming and ghastly radiance that they shot forth, as the rays of the moon – it was nighttime by now – streamed from a circular rift in the clouds above in a flood of golden glory along the black walls and far away down into the abyss' deepest reaches.

Telessa showed not a shred of doubt or fatigue as she kept the raging vortex at bay with her sorcerous might. For a moment she stood quietly, as if waiting for an ideal moment. Then, with a broad sweep of her arms, she imbued the pillar of water with the purifying spirit of fire and transmuted it into an immense cloud of steam, which she dispelled in the blink of an eye by conjuring up a brief but intense gale.

Makoto was left speechless upon witnessing Telessa's prowess, but inwardly groused about not having a camcorder to immortalize the remarkable feat on video. The weather abruptly cleared and all became tranquil once again – it was almost as if Mother Nature herself was impressed by what had happened. The way to Fortress Monad was now clear.

END OF CHAPTER SEVENTEEN