OOM: Geburah, Part I
[From here]
Wes wasn't surprised by what he found on the other side of the Door. He had heard all about Bar's sense-of-humor, and after all, where better to send him than to one of the Death Realms? This was the Twilight World, by the look of it, which meant he would have to be careful. Especially when the slate clouds parted, and the icy moon overhead banished all the shadows. He had read about this place, and he knew it was far from empty.
Great holes secretly are digged where earth's pores ought to suffice,
And things have learnt to walk that ought to crawl.
He ducked back against a broken stone wall, and scanned the landscape around him. Cityscape, more like. The Great City, he suspected. An assemblage of urban spaces from many worlds, jumbled together side-by-side. Towering hulks of crumbling cement and buckled steel, surrounded by townhouses and brownstones which seemed huddled together in the vain hope of hiding themselves from the yawning gulfs of starry sky above.
Wes was, to say the least, in over his head.
He held his breath for a time, straining to hear if anything was moving nearby. Nothing.
That was some relief, though he suspected some of the very worst things in this place moved in perfect silence. But Wes knew he couldn't stay where he was. He doubted Bar had sent him here just to view the local colour, or lack of it. Best to keep moving, find whatever it was he was supposed to find, and hope that she had left some means for him to return from here. Though if she hadn't, Wes guessed the final resting place for errant former Watchers probably wasn't far away.
The stone wall at least gave him some protection along two compass points, so he quietly unslung the small shoulder bag Bar had given him and placed it carefully on the ground beside him. Moving quickly but deliberately he pulled from it a stalk of dried yarrow; some bay leaves and other herbs; three short branches: one rowan, one birch, and one ash; a strip of blue cloth; a silver coin, and some silver thread. And finally, the four candles he would have to light, despite the danger that something might see them.
Because if he hoped to survive a journey through this place, he would need an amulet to protect him.
Resigned to the risk he was taking, Wes sighed as he set the four candles in a square and lit them. The air around him began to whisper, but each of the flames burned straight on its wick, untouched by any breeze. That was enough to make Wes move as quickly as he dared, assembling the herbs and branches on the blue cloth, placing the coin on top of them, and then folding the cloth in a special pattern to make a small bundle. Finally he tied his makeshift amulet shut with the silver thread, and immediately put out the candles.
It wasn't much, especially against the sort of things that dwelled here. And the amulet was a mix and match of at least three traditions. But it was better than nothing, and it might even buy him enough time to escape whatever he might encounter here. Anyway, it made him feel at least slightly more confident, and that had to count for something. He slipped the amulet into an inside pocket of his jacket and zipped it shut.
Returning the candles to the bag, Wes slung it back over his shoulder, buttoned the front of his jacket, and taking a deep breath, moved deeper into the sepulchral city.
[Continued here]