Contents
Twenty-Three
Overview
Stoned but resolute, the group attempts a ritual to contact King Sorrow using water scrying and collective intent. The Briars convulses, the hall opens into the Long Dark, and a dragon’s golden eye peers in. Amid shifting objects and visions, Allie plays, Donna scryes, and Arthur confronts his Other Face, receiving wordless instruction.
Summary
In the study beneath the butterfly wall, the friends sit stoned around the card table, deciding intoxication gives them cover if the ritual fails. Colin recounts mythic lore of King Sorrow—his lineage, cruel bargains, love of riddles, and appetite for pain—blending journal fragments with invention to forge a shared belief.
They form a “radio dish” circle with fingers on the table, calling to King Sorrow. Arthur, jolted by a wink in his whiskey’s reflection, demands water for lecanomancy. Colin produces Wolf Messing’s helmet as a basin. They resume the call; objects seem to shift between helmet, conch, and mirror as reality loosens.
The house reacts: the door slams, the knob turns, and The Briars groans as if twisted by a giant hand. Allie, trance-like, moves to the player piano to play “Puff the Magic Dragon.” Donna scryes in a cracked hand mirror while Van steadies her, briefly appearing with sand dollars over his eyes before returning to normal.
The hallway opens into impenetrable blackness—the Long Dark—and a vast golden eye, veined red, blinks at them before withdrawing. Arthur sees a double of himself crossing the snowy patio, feels dislocated, and then returns to the table as the door yawns again, the eye looming larger.
Colin sets the water before Arthur. In the reflection, Arthur’s face speaks in a voice only he hears; a black, forked tongue flickers from the Other Face. Arthur silently learns what King Sorrow expects of him.
Who Appears
- ArthurReluctant leader; initiates water scrying, sees his double, and receives instructions from his Other Face.
- ColinProvides lore, guides the ritual, produces Wolf Messing’s helmet, and anchors the séance.
- AllieSlips into a trance, treats the conch like a phone, then plays “Puff the Magic Dragon.”
- DonnaTaunts the unseen presence, startles at slamming doors, and scryes in a cracked hand mirror.
- VanJokes, supports Donna, briefly appears with sand dollars over his eyes, steadies during the house’s lurches.
- GwenInsists they commit to the ritual, maintains composure, and keeps the group on task.
- King SorrowManifests through a vast golden eye in the Long Dark and speaks to Arthur via the Other Face.