Gate: A Clock’s Cog
I stepped through the vision gate and stood in a world made of spinning and twisting cogs like the inside of an enormous clock. As I passed through this place, groans came from the cogs as if they were living creatures rather than metal. They moaned and wailed as they turned, creating a cacophony of despair. I moved faster, trying to leave the crushing feeling of the moaning cogs behind.
I exploded out of the side of the clock parts and found myself floating in the air, high above nothingness. Behind me, a clockwork wall extended higher and lower than I could see and towards the horizon, endlessly, in both directions.
As I gazed at the wall, a clock shaped like a cat with its tail forming the pendulum appeared beside me. Its eyes flicked back and forth as it counted the time. Then, the clock spoke. “You came through the wall,” she said. “How extraordinary. Who are you and where do you come from?”
“My name is Heidi,” I replied. “And I come from another world.”
“Must have done, to pass through the wall of time,” said the clock and it stretched and morphed, changing from a novelty wall clock to a tall woman with the head of a cat who was clothed in a long, golden robe. “I am Bast,” she said. “I am a guardian of this portion of time.”
“Guardian from what?” I asked.
“Did you not hear the cries of the monsters that inhabit time, feeding on the death of the hopes and dreams of the weary?” she said and waved her clawed hands. A golden staircase appeared in the air beneath us and the goddess began to descend it, motioning for me to follow. “Fortunes change in the passage of time,” she said.
“To overcome the fears that can descend upon you, one must only remember that the soul is immortal,” Bast continued. “All appear to rise and fall, but in the end, time does not touch the spirit. It cannot for the Creator has decreed that this is so.”
Bast’s staircase led us back into the wall of clockwork but we passed through it as if the landscape were no more corporeal than a mist. “Even the gods are moved in the wheel of fortune and time,” she said. “My star has been sinking for millennia and I am not pleased by its progress but I am not afraid either. One day, my time will come again.”
We reached the base of the stairs and stood inside an ancient Egyptian tomb. Hieroglyphs covered the walls and the room was filled with cats. These creatures moved aside so Bast could pass through them but did not accord the same courtesy to me. I floated above the room so I could follow the goddess without treading on anyone’s paws.
Bast moved to the far side of the chamber where an enormous gray cat whose head touched the ceiling sat, gazing out over the room. The goddess seated herself on the creature’s feet and leaned back, cushioned by the gray fur of the behemoth and I understood this living giant was her throne. From the throne’s neck, a golden pendant swayed gently but rhythmically back and forth, marking the passage of time. As Bast reclined, her throne began to purr.
“I did not know you had anything to do with time,” I said. “I thought your power lay in the home and simple comforts.”
“There are many things you do not know about me,” Bast replied. “But I know much about you. I saw how you ran out of time and fled the cries that issued from it. Something must be bothering you a great deal to have brought you to my door as you didn’t even know I was here.” As the goddess spoke, the cat upon which she reclined ceased purring and began to growl, its fur changing abruptly from gray to black.
“My friend, the tiger Khan, told me of your meeting,” she continued. “He warned me you were more powerful than you appeared. He also said you had little respect for those you meet on your journey.”
“That isn’t true,” I retorted as the entire room filled with the sound of cats growling and spitting. “I have the greatest admiration for those I meet in my travels but I will not grovel and that is what Khan desired.”
Bast opened her mouth to speak again but was interrupted by a commotion arising from the back of the chamber. My badger burrowed his way through the angry mob of cats, clawing and pushing through the crowd. “Heidi,” he cried, changing into his human form and taking my hand. “There has been an emergency.”
As quickly as the throne turned black, it now changed back to gray and Bast yawned hugely, showing needle sharp teeth. “Yes, do run and play, traveler. We’ll talk later. Now is the time to nap.” She laid her head upon the throne and was immediately asleep in the way of house cats the world over. Her coterie of cats slumbered just as quickly.
Badger sneered at the temple as he created a doorway in its side. “Bast is an illogical, petulant brat who deserves to patrol the far reaches of time and languish into forgetfulness,” he said, practically spitting his words.
“We all have our place and function in time,” I said. “What did she do to anger you?”
“She behaves like a cat, running when we need her to stay, playing when we need her to be serious,” he said, taking my hand. Together, Badger and I passed through the doorway.
“Who is we?” I asked.
“Odin,” said Badger and we stood in a room in front of a large bed with four oaken posts. At the head of the bed, perched on either side, sat two enormous ravens. Their mouths were wide open and a steady stream of light and mist issued from them, illuminating the figure upon the bed. It was Odin, his hood upon his head still concealing his features but his breathing was labored and the sheets on him were stained with the bright red of his blood. As I watched, the raven’s feathers began changing from black to dark gray as their power began to drain into the god.
“I found him in front of Merlin’s mushroom, passed out from the pain,” explained Badger. “Odin told me Kronos had grabbed him and injured him grievously but not what had transpired to bring him into the mad god of Time’s realm.” I rushed to the bedside.
“Heidi,” the wanderer god whispered, reaching out with trembling fingers for me.
“How do we undo this injury, Odin,” I said, taking his hand in my own. “Will love bring you back?”
Odin chuckled. “Not this time,” he said weakly. “I need a tear made of blood and pain or I will pass from this realm into nothingness.”
“I have one of Gaia’s tears,” I said, drawing a large tear-shaped diamond from the air.
“No,” gasped Odin. “Hurry, Heidi, and find the tear of blood.” His hand fell from my grasp as his consciousness left him. The god’s ravens continued to spew their power into the bed but their feathers were quickly changing into stone.
“Once, I met a boy who wept rubies,” I said, springing from the bedside and drawing Badger along with me. “But he was taken by Gaia for a time of rest. I think we may find him in the Garden of the Mother.”
“We haven’t much time,” said Badger as I drew a doorway in the air. We stepped through it into the star-filled waters of the Garden of the Divine Mother. I threw myself face first into the sparkling pool and found myself sinking effortlessly through it then entering the glowing spirit tree that stood beyond it to follow the umbilical cord of the plant down to where the Mother reigns in perpetual splendor.
Badger and I crashed through the final doorway into the garden but all was dark and unilluminated. The vines previously filled with the Divine Mother’s light stood dry and dusty. “Where is she?” I exclaimed as we ran towards the goddess’ star-covered throne. Evil laughter filled the place and I saw a giant seated upon the Mother’s throne.
This being’s body was transparent and I saw, trapped in his clear stomach, the Divine Mother and her glowing thoughts. The Mother’s eyes were closed and she seemed asleep, gently glowing with her brilliant inner light. “Seeking someone?” asked the giant as he leered down at us.
“Kronos,” growled Badger, showing his teeth. “Release the Mother now.”
In response, the giant opened his mouth and some of the fairy thoughts of the Divine Mother streamed out. Somehow, in their passage through the giant, they became twisted and dark so that when they hit the ground, they changed into creatures made of darkness and pain. These shadow monsters dragged themselves towards us- claws reaching to tear, rend, and consume.
“I am a mother too,” I said, bending down and touching some of the Divine Mother’s trailing vines. As I did so, the plants lit up, filling with the pure light of presence and the creatures changed back into the brilliant, flickering lights of the Divine Mother. Kronos’ only response was to vomit more of the twisted, captured power.
The restored fairies flew to my ear and whispered, “Summon the cat goddess. She’s a natural enemy of Kronos. The play and carelessness of cats combat the ravages of mad and devouring Time.”
Badger rolled his eyes. “Must we?” he said. I ignored him and visualized the strange, black cat clock I had recently encountered.
It appeared and immediately stretched into Bast. She ran at me, arms thrown wide, and when I stepped into her embrace, we melded together and changed into an enormous black cat. Howling with rage, we ran at Kronos, cat claws extended, swiping and tearing.
Bast’s cat minions appeared within the vines of the dead garden as well and attacked the prowling shadow creatures. Like a surgeon’s knife, my claws tore into the stomach of Kronos and he exploded outwards in a cloud of mutated sparks and shadow. The cat army chased these tiny pieces and consumed them until there was nothing left of Kronos. I swooned and passed out upon the now empty throne of the Divine Mother.
When I came to, my hair was being stroked by gentle hands and I saw brilliant light. The glowing vines and clouds of fairies were back and I was seated with my head in the lap of the Divine Mother herself. A great, gray cat also sat in her presence and Bast looked at me through her feline eyes, purring in contentment. “Great One,” I said, lifting my head. “I was afraid I had lost you.”
The Mother’s laughter filled the Garden. “I slept for a time within Time’s belly,” she said. “He can consume but never truly contain me.”
“What’s to prevent him from attacking you again?” I asked. “Mothers and their children need your succor.”
“You have provided me with one of the ancient guardians against Time’s ravages,” said the Mother, stroking Bast’s fur. “I will be quite safe.”
“Please, Great One, I have come seeking a tear of the Indus. Odin will pass from this existence without one,” I said, the memories of what brought me to the Mother’s garden coming back to me all at once.
“Now that would be a shame,” she said. “I so enjoy his stories.” One of the fairy thoughts flew out of the Mother and skipped along the vines. Moments later, the goddess’ fairy returned with one shining, perfectly shaped, red gem.
“Indus’ tears have dried. In fact, this is the last one,” the Divine Mother said. “Give it to Odin along with this message: he will find what he seeks where the giants walk and love sleeps.”
The Divine Mother pressed the tear into my hand and one of her thoughts flew out of her head, engulfed Badger and I, and we found ourselves standing at Odin’s bedside once more.
His ravens had turned to stone and, without their illuminating power, Odin was fading fast. I slapped the tear down into the wound on the god’s side. There was a flash of bright red light and suddenly the god was standing, his staff in his hand with one raven on his shoulder and the other circling his head.
When the dazzle of Odin’s recovery faded from my eyes, I said, “The Mother bid me to say- you will find what you seek where the giants walk and love sleeps.”
“I am in your debt,” said Odin. “Will you take my other eye in payment?”
“I would never consider such a thing,” I said.
“Then, how about a story?” Without waiting for my reply, the god produced the ruby tear I had procured for him and ground it to dust between the palms of his hands. He threw the remnants into the air where it showered around us, becoming like drops of rain falling from the sky, and I saw images in the drops as the god said:
“I traveled once to a far land where blood fell from the sky like rain and the plants that grew from this water were twisted and obscene like mouths with teeth for leaves. With much difficulty, I passed through this jungle and within its deepest reaches, there lived a tribe of the most beautiful women I have ever seen.
They had hair of blood red and eyes like the bluest sky though the sky never showed its face there from beyond the blood rain clouds.
I was enchanted from the moment I laid my eyes on the first denizen of that far land. They challenged me to my maleness because the women said the plants within their realm consumed all male creatures. I explained I was no ordinary man, but a god and I would walk where I willed. Again, they challenged me so I bedded all of them in turn.
After three years, three months, and three days, they were finally sated and convinced of my manhood. They took me even further into their realm where sat a palace constructed of a single blood red shell. Within this shell, sat the Queen of the realm, her red hair the longest of any of them, filling the palace with its lovely waves. I had to tread upon it to reach her, but when I did, she unrobed for me, revealing one final beauty for my enjoyment.
I lay with her and when I did, she changed into a sea of blood. I drowned within her waves and when I opened my eyes again in the land of the living, I was suspended from the great tree by my leg, the blood of the Queen herself dripping from my body.
That was the second time I died and came back to life.”
The drops ceased falling and I perceived Odin walking away from me. “Wait, Great One,” I said. “What does it mean?”
The god turned back, his one eye sparkling from the depths of his hood. “I only tell the stories, youngling, I do not interpret them.” When he turned away again, I fell out of the gate and there my vision ended.
The Light Congress 