Gate: The Chariot

I entered the vision gate and found myself on the back of a white horse.  My mouth was open in a scream of defiance and I held a shining spear as I led the charge of a legion of warriors on fleet horses and we raced across a barren plain towards a towering giant made of shadow. Before we reached our destination, the mounts and their riders changed into water and soon it was as if I rode my stallion upon the foamy crest of an unstoppable ocean wave. As water, the legion and I crashed into the giant, but could not pass through the being of flesh and blood as if he were a wall rather than a spirit.

“Warriors of Light, we must rise like the tide and grow like the mighty redwoods to defeat this shadow!” I said to the waves about me. “As we are, we are too small to make a difference. We will pull back, regroup and try again. My legion are you with me?”

“Where are you, spirit of water?” came a voice from above and the giant reached down with a shadowy hand, raking the waves with his fingers. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.”

In a flash of insight, I realized the giant was seeking The Light Congress and I, and I knew a moment of intense fear and panic that I would be taken by the shadows. When the giant reached down unerringly in my direction, sensing me somehow even though I was tiny compared to him, I transferred my consciousness into the numerous bubbles upon the waves. My vision shattered into pieces and, for a time, I knew nothing else.

When I could perceive my surroundings again, I found myself staring blankly into an inky fog made of coal smoke rather than mist from the ocean.  I had a sinking feeling in my heart because my soldiers had just vanished in civilization’s smoke and I was all alone. As I observed the shadows closing around me as surely as doors on a cage and considered what I should do next to find the lost legion, some arcane energy swirled within the darkness, forming a doorway where there had previously been nothing at all.  I grabbed the door handle as the shadows had left so small a space to exist that I couldn’t breathe without its joy-stealing presence entering my spirit and passed through the gate into another place.

The second I had established myself in the new world within the coal smoke, an enormous sword, wider than my body, came pushing down into the space where I had just entered. “Where are you!” came a scream and the sword was withdrawn. I had only a moment to run a few steps when the sword fell again, exactly where I had been standing. “You are ocean scum!” said the voice. “Surrender now, you fishy bastard!”

“What a rude thing to say,” I murmured to myself as I began to run, dodging the attacks from what I assumed was a malevolent giant of some sort. “I wonder who has vexed him so from the watery worlds that he’s after a harmless wandering spirit like me?”

I raced onward into a world as empty and lightless as the void, dodging one sword attack after another until I came to a place where the shadow was manifest as a sticky substance like tar. This substance dripped down upon me from above and not only could I not shake it from my spirit but the lines of darkness sticking to me changed into chain-like threads the size of my wrist.

“I’ve got you now, water sprite,” said the voice as I found myself trapped in a web of shadow and darkness. “Haephestus’ spirit net always captures the best fish for my table and you are no exception. Let’s get a look at the size of you and see how well I’ll be eating tonight.”

I was lifted from the void into a realm above by the shadow net and found myself gazing into the face of a giant with thick black hair and eyes so blue that they were nearly neon. “Well, what do we have here?” he said as I stared into the giant’s eyes, wordless with terror. “What a pleasant surprise to catch a daughter of water instead of a son. You will be much more tender than their stringy warrior flesh and far less fishy. What fruit shall I pair you with?”

“You can’t eat me,” I said, finding my voice. “I am a messenger from the Creator of All and I come from another world. I’ll vanish from this reality long before you get around to carving me up.”

“Is that so?” the giant said. “You may find it difficult to move between worlds if you aren’t conscious, mouthy fish.” Before I could respond, the giant smashed a fist into the side of the net and my vision dissolved into particles of light and shadow.

When I opened my eyes, I discovered I was in a dank dungeon made of stone and chained by my hands and neck to the wall. Across the cell only a short distance away, there was a spirit in the shape of a man made entirely of shadow. He was bound as I was but entirely conscious and studying me with eyes made of flame as I returned to my senses.

“Hello, Shadowman,” I said when the silence became unbearable beneath the weight of his attention. “What’s the game today?”

“It’s not a game, I’m afraid,” the Shadowman said. “What’s your name, spirit of water? Tell me and I’ll tell your story after he eats you for his supper. Your loss will be avenged in time and your part of the forgotten knowledge will live on in me.”