Gate: Eight of Swords

A Chariot Ride

I passed through the vision gate and walked onto a black and white chessboard in a world wreathed in mists.  A spirit in the form of a man driving a chariot with four horses pulled up beside me so swiftly that I was startled at his appearance. “Ride with me,” the chariot driver commanded. “For I have been sent here just for you.”

“Only if you speak your name,” I said. “Where I come from, wanderers do not accept rides from complete strangers. It is not only foolish to do so but potentially dangerous.”

The driver flicked his whip at his utilitarian leather boots, knocking off a bit of earth they had carried from his world onto the chessboard. “I am Mercy and I was sent here from the Land of the Endless Fountains,” he said. “I assure you, you would rather come with me than the one who moves in my shadow.”

“My name is Heidi, Mercy,” I said. “Is your home in the world of the Village of the Lost and Found? I enjoyed that place very much and became wise through its fountain.”

“That village is one of a countless number of small colonies in my world,” Mercy said. “The choice is upon you, Heidi. Ride with me or brave the one who follows. He is not known for his patience or willingness to bandy words with wise travelers.”

“I appreciate the offer of a ride, Mercy,” I said. “You didn’t need to warn me about the shadows for they seem to follow me throughout existence. Please take me wherever it is that I am meant to go.”

Introductions completed, I climbed aboard the chariot and Mercy encouraged the horses forward to the limit of their ability with a few encouraging words and the sounding of his whip over their heads but never upon their backs. Glancing back, I saw a dark figure approaching along the chessboard path. The shape of the shadowed spirit was hard to make out through the clouds surrounding him, but the horses pulling his chariot breathed fire. I shivered in fear at the sight.

Suddenly, Mercy’s chariot cleared the enormous chessboard and entered a new space, rolling to a halt beside an ancient and foreboding forest. Each tree had a grief-stricken human-like face with closed eyes on their trunks and their blood red leaves blew now and again in a breeze that occasionally danced through the place. Other than the breeze, all was silent and still beneath the forest eaves.

“Where are we?” I asked, wrenching my attention from the approaching darkness of the mystery driver as well as the dancing red leaves.

“This is the Forest of Woe,” Mercy said. “You must pass through here and quickly, lest the Great Shadow catch you. I have given you a head start but the hunters from the shadow realms are so fast, Heidi. Do not underestimate their ability to navigate the Inner Worlds or tracking ability upon the paths. I have personally seen their dark warriors move as swiftly as a thought.”

“Wisdom says that my Shadow walks with me always so I have given up trying to escape her, but the shadows of others in the worlds yet frighten me and command my attention when they appear,” I said as I scrambled down from the chariot. “Thank you for helping me outrun your shadow to these woods.”

“I never said he was my shadow. Go and do not look back on the peril of your life,” Mercy said and urged his horses onwards. “Run, Heidi!”

“Wisdom!” I called as I started to race beneath the trees. “Are you with me?” No voice or light came from my heart in response. “Is there anyone here?”

The breeze I had observed upon Mercy’s chariot moved beneath the trees, causing the leaves about the sorrowful faces in the trunks to rattle and click more like bones or beetles than leaves. Out of the corner of my sight, I saw some of the eyes begin to open in the tree trunks as I passed and a disquieted murmuring began to emerge from the trees.

“I smell fresh water,” came a haunting whisper. “Wait for me, water sprite. I want to drink from your fountain. I thirst for your blood. Wait for me, I command you.”

“It must be the other chariot driver,” I said, fear hastening my steps even more. “I wonder why he imagines a woman is a fountain. Maybe he’s from a world without easily accessed water sources? Whoever he is, I don’t like the way he makes me feel hunted.”

Pushing aside reaching branches and cutting leaves in a growing panic, I stumbled into a clearing in the woods where an enormous red and white spotted mushroom grew.  It had a door in the side and a chimney that emitted a thin stream of gray smoke.

“Let me in, please,” I said, knocking frantically on the door. “I am in need of sanctuary!” The door opened under my touch.

“Enter!” a voice called. I gratefully did so, locking the door behind me.

Inside the Mushroom

The interior of the mushroom contained a chemist’s workshop where bubbling vials of liquid smoked and pots boiled.  A spirit in the shape of an elderly man with a pointed blue wizard’s cap on his head and a burning pipe in his hands moved among the chemistry equipment.

“Hello, my name is Heidi,” I said. “Forgive my intrusion. There is a predatory shadow following me and I need a moment to catch my breath.” The wizard serenely puffed on his pipe as he took a good, long look at me. For some reason, I found his attention unnerving. “Who are you?” I asked finally in order to break the silence of the room.

“I am Nobody,” he said with an air of resignation. “No need to apologize to me. Constant interruptions, that’s my life.” The wizard blew a single, perfectly formed smoke ring towards his chemistry table and then returned to his work, ignoring me completely.